Chapter one of The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle is approximately three pages long. Three pages. That’s how long it took me to become fully, completely, dangerously hooked.
Dangerously, you see, because I picked this book up at about 10:00pm on a weeknight, thinking, “I’ll just read a chapter or two.” And then I read about 100 pages, forced myself to stop, and then lay awake thinking about those 100 pages.
The first chapter opens in 1863 with cat-boy John, running; his heart pounding, his chest aching, as he tries to escape some unseen evil. We know he’s young, we know he’s terrified, we know tears are slipping down his cheeks. We hope desperately that he’ll escape, even as the evil thing draws closer with a rasp and a click. And then we hear a whispered curse, and the boy wails with the terrible pain of losing his soul.
Could you have stopped reading there?
The next chapter opens in current day London (which, in this case, is 1940), and we meet the Bateson children. Twelve year old Katherine, along with her younger siblings Rob and Amelie, have just been told that they are being sent to Rookskill Castle Children’s Academy in Scotland to escape the bombs falling on London. Their father, a repairer of clocks, has arranged everything from somewhere in Europe, where he is currently working his other job as a spy. No big deal.
Kat is not thrilled about this arrangement, but she has promised her father that she will stay calm and look after her siblings, and if some run-down old Scottish castle is where he wants them to go, then that’s where they’ll go. Before leaving, Kat’s Great-Aunt Margaret calls her into the library. She gives Kat her chatelaine, a family heirloom with three charms—a pen, scissors, and a thimble—and speaks some nonsense about the magic of the charms and the protection they will wield over her Kat and her sibling. Auntie has always been a bit fanciful, unlike Kat who has both feet planted in the real world, but this takes things to a whole new level. Reluctantly, Kat takes the charm, but it’s a bit sad to see her Auntie’s mind start to slip, she thinks.
Arriving at the castle with another London refugee, Peter, the children immediately feel uneasy. Rookskill castle is old and drafty, ruled over by the cold and formal Lady Eleanor. Somewhere in its twisty maze of halls is her bed-ridden husband, Lord Craig, but the children couldn’t find him even if they wanted to, because they are confined to certain areas of the castle. Should they or one of their few fellow classmates stray outside that area, the maid Maggie mysteriously appears and corrals them to the dining room, or their living quarters, even going so far as locking them in their rooms if the need arises.
So yes, right away, it’s creepy. But aren’t all old castles? And Lady Eleanor is a bit strict. But so are other headmistresses, right? Especially creepy castle school headmistresses.
Then stranger things start to happen. Mysterious children also roam the grounds. Children who seem to appear and disappear into thin air—a hunchback boy, a girl by the well, a boy with his cat. Then there are the beautiful singing voices that seem to come from everywhere and nowhere. And the scratching noises that seem to come from within in the walls at night.
And the staff. In addition to Lady Eleanor, there’s Maggie, who always seems to appear in time to stop any exploration but becomes easily confused. Hugo, a giant of man who stays mostly in the stables, and is rarely seen. Cook, whose mind is muddled, but who has a soft spot for the children. The three teachers—Storm, Gumble, and MacLarren, who all seem to have secrets of their own. It doesn’t take long for the pragmatic, nimble-minded Kat, with the help of Peter, to figure out what one of those secrets must be: Lady Eleanor is harboring a Nazi spy.
Well, it’s not good news, but at least know the children know what they’re up against. With Kat once again taking the helm, they come up with a plan to catch the spy, or at least evidence enough to turn him in.
Until things twist again. One by one, the children of Rookskill Castle go missing. And as much as Kat wants to deny it, there’s something more going on here than just a hidden Nazi spy. It’s something much darker, much more powerful, much more magical than she could have ever have imagined. By the time she admits that the goings-on of Rookskill Castle can’t be explained away with logical reasoning, it may be be too late. With the children vanishing one by one, it’s only a matter of time before there’s nobody left to discover the truth.
Reading The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle is like spiraling deeper and deeper down a very dark hole. Author Janet Fox’s storytelling is so gripping that you can’t pull yourself out (trust me, I had the bleary-eyed, morning-after look to prove it). You’re along for the ride, wherever the story takes you, even as you kind of want to pull back because you’re not sure you like where the story is going. The ending, when it comes, is complete and satisfying, allowing this book to be read as a stand-alone. And yet, she leaves the door open for a continuation of the tale. And I, for one, hope that I’ve not seen the last of the Bateson siblings.