Theodosia - The Serpents of Chaos

by R. L. LaFevers

  The shopkeeper motioned the customer back behind a draped doorway. I hesitated, dying to follow. Of course, I’ve seen plenty of mummies, but never (to my knowledge) a black-market one.

  Just as I went to step inside, I felt a tug on my sash. “Missy not go back,” Nabir said. “Not safe.”

  “Whatever do you mean?” I asked.

  He wouldn’t explain further, but he also wouldn’t let me take a step closer, herding me down to the next shop, which boasted piles and piles of multicolored scarabs. After looking at those for a bit, we headed to the next stall, passing a stone archway as we went. I gave a start when I saw a mummy propped up in the doorway, right out in the open.

  I leaned in for a closer look. It was hard to tell how old she was—and it was a she. I could tell that much by the veil that covered the lower half of her face.

  Faster than a striking cobra, her long bony hand reached out and grabbed my wrist, drawing me closer. I bit back a scream and tried to pull away, but she was surprisingly strong for a mummy, er, old woman.

  Her bright black eyes studied me intently as she said something I couldn’t understand. My hand still clenched in hers, I looked over my shoulder at Nabir. “What’s she saying?”

  “She offering to tell missy fortune,” he explained.

  “Ask her if she’ll let go of my hand first.”

  Nabir translated this and the old woman cackled and let go of my hand. The motion sent the silver bracelets on her arm to jangling.

  “Very well. I wouldn’t mind having my fortune told, but tell her I have no money to pay her,” I asked Nabir.

  Again he translated, and she replied with something that made him frown.

  “What?” I asked. “What?”

  “She say she will tell missy fortune for free because missy marked by the gods.”

  Her words gave me a sharp thrill, but I couldn’t tell if it was fear or excitement.

  The fortuneteller shook a small black bag, then dumped the contents out onto the dirt. There were shells and bits of wood and what looked like bones.

  She rocked back and forth murmuring as she studied the objects in front of her. She poked at a bone, watched it closely as it rolled over, then her eyes glazed and a rapid string of words began flowing out of her mouth in heavily accented English.

  “Chaos swirls around you. It dogs your heels like a jackal. But the thumbprint of Isis lays glowing on your forehead. Isis will protect you. Look to the ancients for help. They smile down upon you.” Her eyes widened, then she looked up at Nabir. “They are coming,” she whispered.

  At her words, a sliver of icy fear wormed its way into my heart. My senses had been heightened all morning, but I’d assumed it was because I was in the land of antiquity itself. And while I may have occasionally felt I was being watched, whenever I checked, there was no one there. I had thought it was the merchants being as curious about me as I was about them.

  I muttered my thanks and backed away from the door. I looked down the street, half afraid I’d see giant serpents undulating toward me.

  Instead, there were three men in billowing black robes, with turbans and scarves wrapped around the lower half of their faces, headed our way. They didn’t stop to look at any of the shops, but kept moving relentlessly forward. Something else wasn’t quite right.

  It was the way they walked. It wasn’t fluid and graceful like the other natives I’d seen, but stiff rather.

  Then I noticed their coloring.

  They were fair-skinned.

  “Nabir…” I said, beginning to inch away. “She’s not joking.” I turned on my heel and broke into a run, tearing down the street, weaving my way between the stalls and the milling people. Nabir was close behind.

  I dodged a heavily laden donkey and just missed tripping over a rolled-up carpet sticking out of a stall. I sorely missed Will. He would have known exactly what to do in this circumstance. “Nabir!” I called out. “Where can we go that is safe?”

  “A mosque!” he shouted back.

  A vivid picture of Stokes trying to claim sanctuary at St. Paul’s Church came to me. These people didn’t believe in sanctuary. “Something else!” I called back.

  I turned onto another street and saw a tramway station. There was a whole mob of people waiting to board. “Over here!”

  I ran full tilt into the crowd, annoying several people, but I didn’t slow down until I was smack in the middle of them, hopefully hidden from my pursuers. The crowd pressed forward and I realized that this was a line to get on the electric tram. I looked frantically for Nabir and found him skirting the edge of the crowd. My pursuers reached the tram station and looked around, puzzled. One of them barked out an order and they separated, spreading out.

  Just then, I was swept along by the crowd and found myself stepping onto the tram. Again, I tried to keep myself to the middle of the pack and breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw Nabir climb on board.

  I was on pins and needles waiting for the tram to start and take me away from danger. I especially wanted to get away before they worked out where I was. Finally, with a lurch, the tram got under way. I was safe. They hadn’t seen me.

  An Unexpected Jaunt

  I QUICKLY DISCOVERED that the tram was taking us to Giza, to the Great Pyramids there. Which was most excellent because I had been hoping to see them while I was in Cairo. Safe for the moment, I gave myself over to the wonder of being in Egypt and watched the three triangles on the horizon grow bigger and bigger the closer we got.

  When Nabir and I got off the tram, I found myself almost reluctant to go forward. Standing before such ancient, timeless creations was humbling. Mesmerized, I walked until I reached the edge of the desert. I climbed up a steady, sandy slope, then gaped as the majestic pyramid towered over me.

  Like a set of giant stairs, the rich reddish-gold stone rose up from the base, rugged and uneven. I had to touch it, to lay my hand on the same stone that the ancient Egyptians had worked with their own hands. The rough surface was warm to the touch, and seemed almost alive, almost as if it were breathing. But of course it wasn’t. Even so, the palm of my hand tingled lightly, even after I drew it back.

  I wanted to climb to the top. To sit perched on the pinnacle and look down over all of Egypt. It seemed sacrilegious somehow, but the other tourists were doing it. Nabir said he would wait for me at the foot of the pyramid, so I began climbing to the top, a long, exhausting process, I must say. Some of those stones were nearly as tall as I was!

  Perched on the top of the pyramid, I had the oddest sense of not being alone. As if there were someone there with me. Someone with a kingly presence who looked out at his vast domain as he had for thousands of years. As if the great pharaoh Cheops himself was standing next to me, watching over his land with love and pride. In that moment, I couldn’t help but wonder if the archaeologists had got it all wrong. Perhaps Cheops hadn’t built the pyramid as a tomb, but so his ka would have a place near the heavens to watch over his land.

  Except I’m sure he never imagined that he’d be looking down at a motorcar driving across the sand, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. Really, I hadn’t even realized they had motorcars in Egypt…

  A sense of danger flickered inside me. I squinted, trying to see how many people were in the car, but it was too far away to tell. I suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable and hurried down off the top of the pyramid, where I could be easily seen.

  At the lower gallery, there were two corridors. One led up and the other down. All the other tourists headed up, so I chose the downward passage. True, it was roped off, but I was sure that was only because the passage was so low it would be hard for an adult to get down there. As it was, I had to duck my head.

  It was a bit of a squash, and very, very steep. I was half-tempted to slide down, but that seemed highly disrespectful, so I didn’t, even though I knew that Cheops wasn’t buried here, but in the upper chamber. (The fickle pharaoh had changed his mind three times while building the pyramid. Can you im
agine? Must have driven those poor workers batty.)

  The passageway finally opened up into a large, unfinished chamber hewn out of the red stone. It was hard not to think of the tons and tons of stone perched over one’s head, pressing down. It was a little difficult to breathe down here as well, as if not quite enough air was making it into the chamber.

  I found a charming little crevice in the rock wall and settled myself into it. It was so easy to close my eyes and almost see the workers from four thousand years ago hacking away at the walls, clearing the chamber with their simple tools. If I tried very hard, I could almost hear the scrape of those tools on the rock walls.

  Wait a minute. I opened my eyes. I could still hear the sound of scraping. It was coming from the passageway. But who else would venture down a roped-off corridor? I had just talked myself into believing it was another overcurious tourist like myself when I heard the first footstep reach the chamber. Someone whispered.

  In German.

  I glanced around, looking for options.

  There weren’t any.

  The chamber was a dead end with no good hiding places.

  Another voice whispered back. And that second voice sounded familiar! I’d heard it before, but where?

  I sensed the bodies coming farther into the chamber. I pulled back against the wall as far as possible and looked downward so as not to call attention to myself.

  Three shadowy figures passed by. The men from the bazaar crept forward, heading toward a small cavelike enclosure at the back of the chamber.

  I readied myself. As soon as they were as far back into the chamber as possible, I would make my move. Oh, how I wished I had one of Henry’s diversions!

  Slowly, trying to make no noise, I stood up. There was a slight rustle from my skirt. I froze.

  “Was war das?” a voice asked in German.

  When they heard no further noises, they continued on to the back. When they reached the cave, one man knelt down on the ground while the other two peered over his shoulder.

  Now.

  Stepping as lightly as I could, I made a mad dash for the passageway.

  “Dort ist sie! Ihr nach!”

  My heart hiccupped in terror and I forced my feet to go faster. I reached the passageway and tucked my head low and began running up the steep slope. My pursuers would have to nearly double over to make it through the passageway. That should slow them down enough to give me a chance.

  My legs soon ached from the steepness of the climb, my calves burning and twitching in annoyance. I was getting a crick in my neck from keeping my head tucked low.

  I could hear them behind me, the clatter of their pursuit echoing loudly in the passageway. They were breathing hard, and I could almost feel their hot breath on my neck.

  At last. Light ahead. Almost there. I risked a glance backward, pleased at the distance between us.

  Finally, I burst out of the shaft at a dead run, startling a half dozen tourists who’d been milling about the lower gallery. I clamped my hand on my hat and flew down the pyramid steps, startling Nabir.

  “Come on,” I called. “They’ve found us.”

  Nabir didn’t need to be told twice. We both headed for the tram station at a gallop.

  I heard a shout as my pursuers cleared the pyramid and spotted us.

  We were almost at the tram station now. In dismay, I saw one of the electric trams just beginning to pull away, heading back to Cairo. There wouldn’t be another one for ages. Which meant we’d be sitting ducks.

  “We’ve got to get on that tram,” I called to Nabir. He nodded and pulled ahead of me. Luckily, electric trams aren’t all that fast, especially when they’re just getting started. Nabir leaped onto the tram, upsetting quite a lot of people. He turned back and held his hand out to me. I took it and clambered up, apologizing profusely to everyone I saw.

  As we pulled away, I got a chance to see my pursuers. I immediately recognized von Braggenschnott. Even if I hadn’t seen his picture in the paper, I would have recognized those cold, cruel eyes from St. Paul’s churchyard. The second man’s face was still covered by his scarf, but I could clearly see the face of the third man. High pale cheekbones, long thin nose slightly crooked at the end, and a conspicuous lack of chin. It was Tetley! From the British Museum!

  A Race to Thebes

  MOTHER AND FATHER NEVER FOUND OUT about the close call at the pyramid. Nabir is almost as good at keeping secrets as I am.

  We were up at the crack of dawn the next day so we could hustle off to catch another beastly train. Imagine spending twenty hours in a hot, dusty oven being bounced like a rubber ball and you’ll get the idea.

  ***

  We arrived in Thebes in the dead of night. Even so, we were immediately greeted by a local official. At first I thought this was a sign of respect for my parents’ position. Then, as my parents became distressed at the official’s rapid Arabic, I realized it was something else altogether.

  Father could stand it no longer. “Confound it!” he shouted. “When did this happen?”

  Following my father’s lead, the official switched to English. “Two days ago, most kind sir.”

  I snuck up close, trying to hear what was being said.

  Father ran his hands through his hair. “It’s that blasted Snowthorpe, I know it.”

  Mum put her hand out to try to calm him. “Alistair, I truly doubt he would have gone so far as to burn our lodgings down around our ears. It could have been an accident. Fires are not unheard of in this part of the country, you know.”

  But of course, Father had the right of it. Mostly. There was no doubt in my mind that it hadn’t been an accident. But it was von Braggenschnott and that traitor Tetley, not the British Museum.

  I had so hoped I’d lost them at the Great Pyramid. Although really, now that I thought about it, that was rather stupid of me. If they knew where the Heart of Egypt had come from, and they did, they would know where we were headed.

  There were quite a lot of explanations given (from the officials), and quite a lot of shouting (from Father), and quite a lot of soothing (by Mother). Finally, everyone calmed down and we were hustled off to a bungalow that had been hastily arranged for us. We would see about finding new lodgings in the morning.

  No sooner had the porters set down our trunks than there was another pounding on our door. Honestly! Does no one ever sleep around here?

  “What is it now?” I heard Father ask as Nabir opened the door.

  “A telegram for most kind sir,” Nabir informed him.

  A telegram … That didn’t bode well.

  The man from the telegraph office handed Father a thin envelope. He bowed as Father thanked him, then waited while he opened it.

  Mum looked over Father’s shoulder and read along with him. She clutched her hand to her throat and let out a gasp. “Oh, no! Alistair!” There was true despair in her voice and the back of my neck prickled uneasily.

  Father put his arm around Mum’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, Henrietta. He’s a strong boy. He’ll pull through.”

  Henry! Something had happened to Henry!

  “We must get back to him at once,” Mother said. “I would never forgive myself if…” her voice faltered. “If something happened to him while we were this far away. You know how nasty the influenza has been. I can’t bear the thought—”

  Her words broke off suddenly as she buried herself in Father’s shoulder.

  Henry had caught the influenza! I wrapped my arms around myself and hugged tight. Influenza was uncomfortably close to the plague. Try as hard as I might, I couldn’t block out Amenemhab’s words.

  May your retribution upon these enemies of Thutmose be swift and terrible, may Sehkmet devour their hearts, and Ammit feast on their heads. May all the lands run red with their blood until they return the Heart of Egypt to its rightful resting place, and lay it back at your feet, so that Thutmose’s glory will be whole once more.

  And Mum wanted to go home immediately! Which would be the w
orst possible thing because I hadn’t put the Heart of Egypt back yet. If Mum was this distraught at being far away from Henry when he was ill, just think how she’d feel if she found out she was responsible for his illness in the first place.

  I’d just run out of time. I had to get the Heart of Egypt back to the tomb as soon as possible.

  The Valley of the Kings

  I WAS TRUNDLED OFF TO BED while Mum and Dad stayed up late into the night, trying to make arrangements and inquiries about Henry’s health.

  They were still sleeping when I snuck out of my room just as dawn broke. I had an appointment with the tomb of Thutmose III.

  The hardest part was convincing Nabir that he needed to take me to the Valley of the Kings alone. Luckily, he had sufficient experience with just how single-minded I could be. The argument didn’t last long and we soon set off.

  The sun quickly turned viciously hot. It felt like my frock was on fire, and the pack I carried grew terribly heavy. For the first time in my life I was truly grateful for a hat. Mum’s old pith helmet kept my brain from frying like a breakfast egg.

  We wound our way through a perplexing maze of canyons until at last Nabir led me to a narrow gorge at the very bottom of the Valley of the Kings. I cannot begin to tell you the thrill of finally seeing the necropolis up close, not to mention the tombs of the pharaohs. I have heard about them all my life, dealt daily with their historic finds, and spent hours trying to cipher out their meaning. And now, to finally experience one in its entirety, as it was originally built and conceived, not in crumbled bits and pieces … it was as if I stood at the pearly gates of heaven itself.