Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris Read online

  251

  Drat and bother! I scurried back to the main street, being sure to hobble convincingly. Luckily, when I reached the sidewalk, she was looking the other way. "Here I am, Miss Sharpe."

  She whirled around. "You're walking," she said, her tone accusing.

  "Yes! Isn't it grand? It appears it was only a twist, not an actual sprain."

  She didn't look as though she thought it grand at all. She seemed quite disappointed that I wasn't writhing in pain.

  "Dolge said he'd be over as soon as he was free, but now it's clear you've just wasted everyone's time. Come along." She turned her back to me and began walking to the museum at a brisk clip, never looking over her shoulder to be sure I was following.

  Even so, I made sure to limp all the way back to the museum, just for good measure.

  ***

  We spent the rest of the afternoon doing sums. I loathe sums. Not because they're hard. In fact, they're quite easy. But governesses always make you do scads and scads of them--for practice, they say. Honestly. It's not as if the numbers have changed their values since the last time you

  252

  did sums! The answers still work out the same way. Besides, I was anxious to meet up with Will. Hopefully, he and Snuffles had made their way back to the museum and were waiting for me to get them a message.

  I had to find another way to get free of Miss Sharpe, at least for a few minutes. Deciding desperate measures were required, I cleared my throat. "Miss Sharpe? Could I be excused for a bit? I have to ... use the facilities."

  She blushed slightly at my indelicacy, as did I. It was mortifying to tell someone I needed to go to the loo, but it was too important that I speak to Will. I was willing to suffer the pangs of embarrassment (just one of the many sacrifices I had to make). "I might be a while," I added, patting my stomach. "Last night's dinner didn't agree with me." Then I disappeared out the door so she wouldn't see the mortification flaming in my cheeks.

  And unfortunately, I came nose to nose with Stilton, who was lurking right outside. No doubt trying to protect me.

  Had he heard my miserable excuse? I was afraid he had-- he stepped away rather hastily and let me pass. The requirements for covert operations weren't for the faint-hearted or overly modest, let me tell you.

  Once I was away from the prying eyes of curators and scorpion bodyguards, I rushed over to the west entrance, where, just as I'd hoped, Will was waiting.

  253

  I scanned the area to be sure we were alone. No Grim Nipper, no watchful scorpions--only Snuffles a short distance back, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "It's clear," I whispered.

  Will popped up like a bobbing cork, then followed me inside.

  "Am I glad to see you!" I said. "Although I haven't much time. I'm expected back at my studies in a moment or two."

  "Well, quit jawing and spill it, then."

  I blinked. Will wasn't normally this prickly. "Very well. There's some information you must get to Wigmere. Tell him according to a Dr. Moribundus, the staff not only has the power to raise the dead, but to kill as well. When it's submerged in water, I think it creates the Fog of War."

  Will whistled.

  "Exactly! Now you see why I was so desperate to meet up with you!"

  "I'll get this news to him right away, miss."

  "Good. Hopefully he'll know what our next move should be. Were you followed this morning?"

  His face went immediately blank. "Followed?"

  "Yes. By that Grim Nipper fellow who's been at your heels all week."

  Will's face paled at the name. "I don't know what yer talkin' about, miss."

  254

  "Oh, don't be ridiculous! I saw the two of you arguing earlier today, over by Cavendish Square."

  Will narrowed his eyes. '"Ave you been followin' me?"

  "Of course not! But when you're following me, and someone else is following you, I can't help but see. And you are most definitely being followed. And then today I accidentally overheard you two talking."

  Will snorted. "Accidentally, my bum. You're a blooming eavesdropper, you are!"

  I gasped. "Am not," I said automatically. (Although, of course, I am. But only for the best of causes. Like a friend being in trouble.)

  "Are too. A wretched busybody, you are. I'll thank you to keep your nose out o' my business."

  "But I was worried about you! I heard Inspector Turnbull talking about the Grim Nipper. He sounds like a horrid person, and I hate the idea of him jeopardizing your new job with Wigmere."

  "I can take care of me own self. You just stay out of my business. Now, you got anything else for Wiggy?"

  "No, but--"

  "That's all, then. I gotta go," he huffed.

  "Wait!"

  "What?"

  255

  "I wanted to give you this. It's for Snuffles."

  Will looked down at the clean white handkerchief in my hand. "We don't take no 'andouts."

  Stung by his rejection of my gift, I shoved it at him, snatching my hand back just as he closed the door, leaving a tangle of bad feelings in his wake.

  I heard a grunt and a scuffle. "It's mine!" a muffled young voice said. "She gave it to me! I 'eard!"

  "Oy--if'n you want it that bad, you can 'ave it," was Will's equally muffled reply, and then all fell silent.

  Well, at least Wigmere would get the message about the staff. Will wouldn't be so mad that he'd ignore his job duties, would he?

  I lifted my chin. I wasn't going to let one prickly hedgehog of a pickpocket get under my skin. I'd simply have to deal with this alone, as I had most of the problems I'd encountered in my life.

  And my next step was to find out what Chaos had planned for the staff. No matter how I looked at it, I simply couldn't come up with a decent explanation as to why they needed so many mummies. No, their reason for wanting the staff had to be tied up with its darker, more evil powers. It was all too easy to accept that Chaos would have occasion to use the staff to kill. The problem was, I couldn't be expected to

  256

  provide all of London with Blood of Isis amulets, now, could I? Of course not.

  As I passed the medieval exhibit, I heard Miss Sharpe trilling for me. Remembering how much she loathed raising her voice due to its not being ladylike, I kept quiet, hoping to force her to screech.

  "Theodosia! Your presence is required in the reading room at once! We've lessons to attend to!" The tone of her voice promised immediate retribution. I glanced longingly at the chain-mail shirts hanging nearby. Wouldn't those provide lovely protection against Sharpe's pinches! Unfortunately, Father would be most irate if I began wearing six-hundred-year-old chain mail. I did, however, snag my coat off the rack as I passed. It was thick, sturdy wool and would help dampen any vicious little reminders from Miss Sharpe's bony fingers.

  I really needed to find a way to get rid of her. Right after I discovered what Chaos was up to.

  257

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO A JACKAL ON THE LOOSE

  ***

  THE NEXT MORNING I got up extra early, even before our maid knocked on my door. Although I usually slept much better in my own comfortable bed than in the sarcophagus, I'd ended up tossing and turning the whole night. Trying to put the time to good use, I'd come up with a couple of plans of action.

  I loved having plans. They gave me hope.

  Plan #1: Rid museum of newest vile spirit before it settled in for a long stay.

  Plan #2: See if Wigmere assigned spies to Chaos to determine what their next move would be. I simply couldn't do it all by myself, and I was stuck until I executed ...

  258

  Plan #3: Get rid of Miss Sharpe as soon as possible, as she was sorely getting in the way of my truly important work.

  It was my most sincere hope that my parents and I would arrive at the museum before Miss Sharpe did so I'd have a chance to tackle the new angry spirit. But first I needed to conduct a purification ritual--just like the priests of ancient Egypt had done before t
hey performed serious magic. Ideally, one should do this every time one is going to do any magic, but the truth is, one can't always predict this sort of thing. But on this day, I planned to be as ready as possible

  THEODOSIA'S QUICK AND SPEEDY PURIFICATION RITUAL

  1. Remove any wool or leather clothing. Wear nothing that has come from any animal of any kind.

  2. Wash face, neck, hands, and behind the ears, with fresh water. (It should really come from the Nile but because that was impractical when living in London I used fresh water from the pitcher on the was stand.)

  3. Put on clean linens. (Just for the record, I did put on clean linens every day. Well, every when I was home and I had access to them.)

  4. Rinse mouth with natron. (Only, I substituted salt--it was wretchedly difficult to get a hold of natron.)

  259

  Once I was properly purified, I slipped into a heavy serge frock and combed my hair. Just then, our maid came into the room. "Oh! You're all ready, miss!"

  "Yes, Betsy, I wanted to get a jump on the day. Are my parents up yet?"

  "Yes, miss. They just sat down to breakfast."

  Excellent. That meant Father was wanting to get to the museum early, which coincided nicely with my own plans and saved me from having to try to convince him.

  At breakfast, I saw that Cook had prepared a rasher of bacon to accompany our eggs. In an act of fortitude rarely possessed by one as young as I, I did not put any on my plate, even though bacon was my favorite breakfast food. It was because of the wretched purification thing. Ancient Egyptians were prohibited from consuming the oxyrinchus fish. I didn't even have access to oxyrinchus fish, but it felt as if I had to substitute something. I knew many cultures considered pork to be unclean, so I figured it was the next closest thing.

  With a self-pitying sigh, I heaped extra eggs onto my plate, grateful that they, at least, were not considered unclean. A girl couldn't be expected to face evil spirits and curses on oatmeal alone.

  Mum glanced at my plate as I sat down. "No bacon, dear?"

  260

  "Not this morning, I think. I'm not all that hungry."

  Father peeked out around his newspaper. "Then why have you put a small mountain of eggs on your plate?"

  Father did pick the most inconvenient times to become observant. Thankfully, there was a timely pounding at the front door.

  Father scowled, my eggs quickly forgotten. "Who on earth could that be?"

  Mother picked up her napkin and gently dabbed her mouth. "I have no idea," she murmured.

  I began shoveling eggs in as fast as I could. A visitor during breakfast was not a good sign. There was a very good chance the meal would be over within minutes.

  We all listened as Betsy went to see who it was. Shouting ensued. I bolted down my eggs even faster. Seconds later, our harried-looking housemaid reappeared. "There's an Inspector Turnbull to see you, sir. I asked him to wait, but he was most insistent on--"

  "Throckmorton? Where are you?" Turnbull's voice boomed off the walls of the breakfast room. "By gad, you've gone too far this time."

  Furious at this intrusion, Father stood up so fast that he knocked his chair over. "What are you doing here at this hour? And what are you blathering on about, anyway?"

  "The mummies! You've taken all the mummies again!"

  261

  Father threw his napkin down onto the table like a gauntlet. "I have not!"

  "Well, they've all gone missing again!" Turnbull shoved past Betsy, who looked undecided as to whether she should stand aside or try to block the man's entrance.

  "What makes you so sure I'm the one to have taken them?"

  "Because I headed for your museum first thing and forced that watchman of yours to let me in. Oddly enough, you're the only man in all of London who still has his mummies! That's too big a coincidence for me, Throckmorton."

  The amulets! The very thing I'd done to protect our mummies was now incriminating Father! The eggs in my stomach wobbled unpleasantly.

  "Nonsense," Father said. "We just have better security than the other places."

  Turnbull snorted through his mustache. "I have half a mind to haul you down to headquarters right now."

  "On what grounds?" Father thundered back. Honestly. It was like listening to a fight between two bull moose.

  "I don't know yet, but I'll find them. Where were you last night?"

  "Here in my own home with my wife." Turnbull turned his hot, angry gaze to Mum, who nodded her confirmation.

  He dismissed it with a brusque wave of his hand. "It's not

  262

  like you'd tell me if your husband snuck out for a couple of hours, is it?" he scoffed. With one final glare of disgust, he stormed out.

  Father stared after him for a moment. "We're leaving for the museum. Now."

  ***

  It was a tense, silent ride to the museum. When we arrived, we were greeted by an even bigger crowd than the last time.

  "Perhaps it would be better if we went around to the side entrance," Mother suggested.

  But Father was in high dudgeon. "I will not run from this rabble, Henrietta. I have nothing to hide."

  A wall of constables lined up against the museum kept the crowd at bay. We alighted from the carriage and began working our way toward them. Lord Snowthorpe was in the thick of it, as were a few of the newspaper reporters who'd been here three days earlier. I spotted Peter Fell--Petet--and quickly looked away. I did not want to deal with my scorpion bodyguards at the moment, even though, if the crowd's mood was any indication, we might need them.

  "What 'ave ye done wi' our gold?" a heavyset man in a butcher's apron called out.

  "Burn all the mummies!" an older woman with a sour face

  263

  cried. She was dressed all in black and brandishing an umbrella.

  Father began using his cane (none too gently, I'm afraid) to force the crowd to make way. With one final shove, we reached the entrance. Constable Biggs recognized us immediately. "Inspector Turnbull is waiting," he informed us.

  Once inside, I saw Father look at the far wall, frowning when he saw it was empty of mummies. "Well, where are they, then?" he asked.

  Vicary Weems stepped forward. "They're all still in the exhibit room, where they belong. Sir," he added as an afterthought. He looked suspiciously cheerful, almost as if he were calculating just how much his salary might be when he took over Father's position.

  Interrupting Father's conversation with Weems, Turnbull addressed all of us in the foyer. "No one leaves until I question them, understood? Beaton! Kimble! Search the entire building. If there are any mummies that don't belong here, I want to know about it immediately. Biggs, you get everybody lined up for questioning. I'm talking to everyone personally." He glowered at us all from under his bushy eyebrows, as if daring us to disagree.

  This was going to put a big fat crimp in my ability to sweep the museum free of evil spirits. The redheaded policeman,

  264

  Beaton, headed upstairs to conduct his search. The second man, Kimble, headed down the hall toward the loading dock. He paused when he came to the door leading to the catacombs. "What's down here, then?" he asked.

  Weems and Fagenbush looked at each other while Stilton glanced over at Father before speaking. "It's the basement, sir. Where we store items not currently on display."

  Turnbull narrowed his beady eyes. "Any mummies down there?" Turnbull asked Father.

  Father glanced over at me. "Um, yes. If I remember correctly, there are ..."

  I sneezed.

  "Bless you," Mum muttered. "Go on," Turnbull said to Father.

  I sneezed again. And again. And again. Then four more times.

  "Eight!" Father said, his voice firm. "There are eight mummies in the basement." Excellent! He'd gotten my message. Sometimes Father wasn't completely hopeless. He tossed me a look that said, Well done.

  Kimble gave a nod, then opened the basement door. I tensed. While I had been able to turn the A
nubis statue back into stone, I had never gotten around to completely removing the curse from it. Kimble was a large, robust man, which meant he most likely had a strong life force. Not to mention

  265

  he was carrying a very bright electric torch. All I could do was cross my fingers and hope for the best.

  A moment later, a loud, sharp bark erupted from the stairwell, followed by a shout of surprise. Then there was heavy thumping as Kimble came racing up the stairs, the jackal close on his heels.

  "There's a mad dog down there!" he cried, trying to close the door on the jackal, who was already halfway through. Giving up, the constable raced back into the foyer and joined the rest of us, possibly hoping that with a variety of targets the creature wouldn't zero in on him.

  "What in the blazes ..." Father began.

  "A dog?" Mum shot me a suspicious glance, no doubt remembering the barking she had heard a week before. "Do you care to explain that, Theodosia?"

  My rescue came from a most unlikely place. "It looks more like a jackal," Father muttered.

  Growling and baring his teeth, the dog faced the constables. Turnbull bore down on Father, furious. "Is this your idea of a joke? Siccing a guard dog on my men? Why didn't you warn us?"

  "Because I didn't know he was down there!" He paused a moment. "Did you know he was down there, Theodosia?"

  Uh-oh. I could just imagine how well my explanation would go over with this lot. Why yes, Father, The Old Kingdom

  266

  statue we have of Anubis came to life when I was down there last. So this meant, unfortunately, I had to lie. "Perhaps whoever let the mummies into the museum three nights ago left one of the doors open and a stray got in? Oh! And perhaps that's why our mummies are still here! Perhaps the dog chased away the mischief-makers!"