“You now have three of the five items I need. I am so proud of you all. Which will you hunt for next, the six sacred scuta from a single Nile crocodile or ten grains of sand of the Sun?”
“Sorry, Gadeem,” said Kate, “I know you explained before, but exactly what is a scuta?”
“Oh, I had one of those when I was young,” interrupted Ramses. “Mine was made of wood, so it broke, actually, several of them broke. Being the eldest son of Seti I, I never had to worry about breaking my toys. I remember once–”
“Idiot,” Kate said. “We are talking about scuta, not scooter!”
“Do you know, young lady, it is not the wisest idea you have ever had to call the greatest pharaoh the world has ever known an idiot! It is also becoming somewhat of a bad habit!” The evening had been light-hearted so this chiding was also light-hearted. “Well, Margretti, my old friend, what do you make of youngsters these days?”
“I am glad that I am no longer young. Back then, I knew all the answers. Now, I do not even remember the questions!”
“Scuta was the question.” Kate reminded them. She also felt the need to spell it out, so there could be no confusion this time, intentional or unintentional.
“We ancients used the word scuta. It was later taken into Latin as scutum, which means shield.” Gadeem thought for a moment. “I suppose you would most probably call it a scale, when it is actually a bony external plate, which, technically, is slightly different.”
“Actually, Gadeem, I have been thinking. In view of the reason you called me here, I believe a change of plan might be in order.”
“Gadeem called Dr Margretti here?” whispered Kate, as she looked at Alex in astonishment.
“Apparently so,” replied Alex, also in a whisper, with an equally astonished look on his face.
“I am here, the three youngsters are here … even if only two of them appear to be awake … and my transport is downstairs, so we could leave straight away.”
“I awake,” said Cairo as he sat up.
The young adventurers each had the urge to ask where they were leaving for, however, they did not get a chance. Gadeem spoke with authority, “No … they will not be leaving right now, Doctor, though if you are thinking what I am thinking, then I totally agree with your change of plan.” Gadeem glanced around, so did Kate, Alex and Cairo. There were almost imperceptible nods from everyone, even Thoth R and Thoth N. “We must be seen to break this meeting up as if it was a normal get-together. You know as well as anyone here,” he said, addressing his comment directly at Dr Margretti, “that the warlock has his spies.”
“Yes, I was being impetuous. You are right as always, my friend.”
“He always was, he still is, and I am pretty sure he always will be,” added Ramses.
“So where are we going and what for?” asked Kate.
“For the moment you are all staying right here, isn’t that right, Gadeem?”
“Yes, Rose, it is.”
Alex put his hand in his pocket, so he could roll the button with the head of Cleopatra on it in his palm. He had taken to doing this whenever he was thinking. Having picked it up after it had become detached from Aryamani’s coat, his ancient relative, he had kept it as his good luck charm, not that he really believed in such charms. He had also not believed in there being any form of life after death, until he had met ancients that was. So, he was willing to put just a little faith into a good luck charm. If it did not bring him luck, what harm could it do?
Ramses started telling a long-winded story about the time he had been convinced that Gadeem was wrong. Apparently, he had told him so, in no uncertain terms, in front of his troops, before he had marched them up a long hot valley for several hours only to reach an impassable void. Both he and his troops were exhausted by the time they had returned, many hours later, to where Gadeem had said he would be waiting for them. There were several more amusing anecdotes along with much banter, especially as Ramses was in one of his mischievous frames of mind. At one point, he portrayed Gadeem as lying on cushions in a luxurious tent, whilst his every need was being attended to by scantily clad maidens.
Several cushions hit Ramses, most thrown by Rose. Bast laughingly told him he could get an innocent man hung. Dr Margretti urged Ramses to carry on telling his stories, as this was just like old times. Nakhtifi had smiled on several occasions, though he had added nothing to the conversation. Joe was standing with Thoth R and Thoth N, on the Nile side of the roof, they had also said nothing.
Alex spoke to Kate and Cairo very quietly, “Have you noticed how the Doctor and Joe are both sitting outside of the area of the ancient roof? If you remember when they arrived–”
“I wasn’t here when they arrived.”
“No, sorry Kate, I forgot that.” Alex went red.
“I remember, Mr Alex, as they walk funny.”
“What do you mean ‘walk funny’?” asked Kate.
Cairo explained that though Dr Margretti and Joe had arrived by the stairs, with the Doctor being really pleased to see his old friends, there had been no physical contact. Alex added that only now, as he became fully aware of just how well the Doctor knew both Ramses and Gadeem, it had dawned on him. The Doctor and Joe had purposefully kept away from the area of the ancient watchtower.
With the cinnamon damage to the roof and the canopy already repaired, it was easy to see where the top of the ancient watchtower finished. Both the Doctor and Joe were more than a safe distance outside of the ancient area.
“So, what are you saying …” Kate started to say, but then something dawned on her. “That now makes sense.” Alex and Cairo looked at her as if they were overeager puppies. “Dr Margretti said that I would understand without him telling me.”
“Understand what?” asked Alex.
“What?” asked Cairo.
“He said I would understand why we had to do everything from inside the Batmobile.”
“What?” both the boys said as one.
Kate explained that neither the Doctor nor Joe would get out of their vehicle when they were at the very end of the Valley of the Baboons. “Do you know, they would not even open a door? Everything was done either by phone or walkie-talkie.” Kate paused as she thought. “Come to think of it, Joe did all the talking. The Doctor gave the instructions, but it was Joe’s voice everyone outside of the Batmobile heard. Why do you think that was?”
“I have an idea–” was as far as Alex got.
Their conversation, having started as a whisper, had obviously increased enough in volume for at least Dr Margretti to hear. “For once and for all, young lady, it is not a Batmobile.”
“Then what is it?”
“If you really want to know, and I do not usually tell people this, it is my Amphibious Rapid Movement Private Investigation Transport.” The Doctor rather stuttered as he said private.
“You drive around in an ARMPIT!” exclaimed Kate incredulously.
“And what is wrong with that?” asked Dr Margretti, who had obviously become so used to the acronym that he no longer saw it as strange.
Kate went to speak, though Alex put a hand on her arm as he said, “Hold on Kate, I think the Doctor is trying to distract us. I am correct, aren’t I, Doctor?”
“Well, well … well!” was all Dr Margretti could bring himself to say before going silent.
Joe stepped in to help him. “Quite correct, Alex, as the vehicle is actually called an Amphibious Rapid Movement Paranormal Investigation Transport. That is why you noticed the good Doctor stutter.”
“That still makes it an ARMPIT,” said Kate. “Batmobile sounds so much cooler.”
“Hold on, Kate,” said Alex yet again. “The Doctor does not care what we call his transport, he just wanted to stop the conversation from going in the direction it was, because there is an important reason why he and Joe are avoiding ancient land at all costs.” From the look of relief on the faces around him, Alex knew that he was correct in his assumption, though equally, he was well aware
that he had missed something. This had not been the revelation they had been expecting him to come up with. He had missed something of much greater importance.
“Well, Gadeem, if we are to make today appear like any other day, Joe and I will leave now. Once we have thrown enough red herrings around the Winter Palace to confuse any spy, we will be back here for the youngsters.”
Within a few minutes it was only Gadeem and the three young adventurers who were sitting on the roof of his villa. “I am finding this a particularly fine glass of red wine,” he said, in an attempt to reduce the tension, as Kate, Alex and Cairo all worried about what was to come.
Chapter 22
-
Sand, not Scuta
“As you have no doubt understood, we have changed the order of the remaining two items. You will soon be off on your quest to find ten grains of sand of the Sun. After which, if you do indeed succeed, we will need nothing more than the six sacred scuta from a single Nile crocodile,” said Gadeem.
“I thought this was our adventure, where we were supposed to have our own ideas and memories. That is how it has been impressed on us until now.”
“To a point, Alex, you are correct. None of us ever expected Dr Margretti to come back to Luxor, not after what happened last time.” Gadeem held up a hand in a gesture which could not be mistaken. There was no point in any of them asking what happened last time because he was not going to say. Gadeem had only mentioned this to impress on the young adventurers that Dr Margretti would not be here if it was not vitally important for him to be here. “I personally believe it is exceptionally brave of him to offer to help you. We ancients are extremely indebted to him, and you will be too. As you will all be leaving with him soon, I would like to tell you a few things that previously I had thought it unwise to tell you. Even now I am unsure that I should be telling you, but without this knowledge I cannot see how any of you will survive where you are going.”
Fear instantly came across their faces, though this was soon replaced by unshakeable resolution. Kate held out a hand to both Alex and Cairo which they grasped, before she said, “We are ready to listen.”
“We are ready to beat the warlock,” added Alex.
“I also ready,” said Cairo, though he added, “but I be more ready on full stomach.”
“Do not worry, Cairo, as I am sure food will be arriving any second now, as time is of the essence. Now let me tell you a few things, and if possible do try not to ask too many questions, because once Dr Margretti is here, you will need to be off.”
“Where are we going?” asked Kate, though both Alex and Cairo shushed her. She gave an elongated “Sor-ry!”
“What I would like to tell you, is that I have not been totally truthful with you, though for very good reasons.”
“There really is no point in telling us that you already knew where to find all the items for the spell.” Kate and Cairo shushed Alex, but he was having none of it. “Everybody says how brilliant you are, yet despite hunting for … what was it … several hundred years, you could not remember that you had Dried Bullsblood. Do give us a break. What do you think we are, stupid? We all saw through that lie.”
Kate had opened her mouth to tell Alex to shut up and let Gadeem speak, she was about to tell him in no uncertain terms. The stutter in her voice was barely noticeable as she actually said, “Yes, we all saw through you, didn’t we Cairo?”
Cairo really did not know what to say, though he did manage to stutter a single word, “Yes!” He was saved from further embarrassment as food arrived on trays carried by Rose and Bast. Upon each was a drink and a plate of sandwiches. Cairo’s tray appeared to contain many more sandwiches than any other. He did not complain.
“They really must learn things for themselves, Gadeem. If they do not work it out, then it will not be locked into their minds for future generations who ‘see’.”
“Bast, we seldom differ, but on this I can assure you I am correct.”
“I am sure you know best.”
“Yes, Bast, on this occasion I do, because if I do not give them just a modicum of assistance, they will not survive. Then none of us will have to worry about the ancient memories of future generations, because there will not be any future generations.” He had stood as he spoke, raising his voice probably more than he had intended to. “We have all our eggs in one basket. This has never happened before … never. In the past there was always a family member who did not ‘see’. Even after the carnage of so many failed attempts, it was they who carried the ancient memories forward in their children. Right now, if these three fail, the family fails. We would have no future, and he,” Gadeem pointed behind him in the general direction of where the warlock was in the Theban hills, “yes, he knows this. This is not all over by a long shot.”
The word ‘carnage’ stuck in the minds of Kate and Alex as goose bumps sprung up all over their bodies. Gadeem had been speaking far too quickly for Cairo to be able to take in what he had said, and anyway, he was enjoying the sandwiches. Both his own and Kate’s, as his hand had inadvertently wandered several times.
“Whatever you are going to tell them, Gadeem, I suggest that you tell them now, as I fully expect the Doctor to be here any moment.”
“Yes, Rose, you are right, and sorry, Bast, I did not mean to shout.”
Bast, still in female form, purred at Gadeem as her way of saying ‘I quite understand, apology accepted’. They both wished Kate, Alex and Cairo all the luck in the world as they left the roof.
“Well-reasoned, Alex … indeed, well-reasoned one and all.” Gadeem knew the reasoning was all Alex’s, though he had no wish to demoralise any of them before they left on their virtually impossible quest. “I had thought that by finding Dried Bullsblood so easily, it would give you the confidence you all needed.”
“It did,” said Alex quietly.
“Sorry?”
“I said, it did. You are a very clever man, Gadeem, and we all know you would never do anything to hurt any of us.”
“That is why I am sending you off, probably to your deaths. Of course I would not do anything to harm any of you, but others will, so you must be vigilant at all times. Alex, if you are not going to eat those sandwiches, then do give them to Cairo before he breaks something.”
In Cairo’s eagerness to try and ‘borrow’ a sandwich from Alex’s plate, he had failed to register what Gadeem had just said. Alex thrust his plate towards Cairo, who in his excitement promptly fell off the back of the seat.
“Now let me get through this quickly,” said Gadeem.
“You do not have to be that quick,” said Kate in an attempt to return to centre stage. “We have not heard that Dr Margretti is on his way yet.”
“And neither will we with the warlock knowing so much of what you have done or are doing, you only have to think back to Awamya, Television Street or the rock face up by the tomb of Ay. It is our hope the Doctor will be cunning enough to get back here and be away with the three of you, before whoever is reporting back even realises he has gone. Now, let me say this without interruption, as this is of vital importance to you all. Magic can never work by words alone. Magicians, as we call them, warlocks, as you call them, always carry their favourite spells around with them. Just in case of an emergency.
“Nobody, and I repeat for the sake of clarity, nobody can just say the right words and the spell works. It always relies on the right words being combined with the right ingredients. This means that no warlock, however powerful, has unlimited magic at his disposal. Oh, I do hope that I am making myself clear.” Gadeem could see that he was not making himself clear from the vacant faces looking back at him. “Think back to Luxor Temple and that Victoria Ramolino woman. The only way she could have made that granite block fall was if she had the mixed, that is an important point, the mixed ingredients which went with her words. It was a simple shifting of inanimate objects spell, which is why she had so little control over where the block landed.
“As you know it almos
t killed her, because she had no option except to pull every piece of magic from the spell that she could, in her attempt to move such a heavy block. Magic does drain the person using it. Her attempt to move something so heavy with an insignificant amount of mixture was extremely dangerous for her.”
“It was flipping dangerous for us,” said Kate.
“Quite so! Some spells are so dangerous that when they are used, and they can be used to great effect, they take the life of whoever is using it.”
“So, we must beware of a follower of the warlock who uses magic, as the warlock would be happy to sacrifice anyone except himself.”
“Exactly, Alex.”
“The only trouble is that we do not know who any of the followers of the warlock are,” said Kate.
“But you will, once they show themselves. There are two points to be considered here. Firstly, they may be effective with their magic, but then they may die, or, if they live, they are likely to be vulnerable, as not being from magical families, they are unlikely to have any other spells on them.”
“Does ‘effective’ mean that one, if not all of us, die?”
“Yes, Kate, it does, and welcome back to the conversation, Cairo. I will not pull any punches here. Unless you all work together, and I do mean totally work together, you will not get through this even with the help of Dr Margretti. Full cooperation between you all, at all times, is a must. Go with your gut instinct. You may well be able to feel magic a fraction of a second before it happens, react accordingly. It is better to dive out of the way of no magic, than to stand there and realise too late that your feelings were correct. Three pairs of empty, smoking shoes, is no good to anyone.”
Kate and Alex could both picture their shoes smoking after magic had obliterated them. Cairo was unusually happy upon hearing this, as he knew he would be okay, because he only wore flip-flops.
Luxor Lost and Found Page 17