Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus

by R. L. LaFevers

  "That has been said of him, yes," Awi agreed.

  "Even so, we did manage to acquire a great deal of knowledge as well as several artifacts. Using that knowledge, Mr. Throckmorton developed a few additional theories, which I had occasion to test last year when I returned to the Valley."

  "But didn't Mr. Davis still have the exclusive firmin for the Valley, even last year?"

  "My, you do stay current on things, don't you? Yes. He did. But after a series of disappointing seasons, he had begun to feel that there was nothing left to be found and so agreed I could continue the work we'd started years ago."

  "And were you successful?"

  "Yes, beyond our wildest dreams." There was a pause, as if she were weighing her words. "We even found the Heart of Egypt."

  There was a clunk as someone—Awi Bubu?—set down a teacup in a hurry. "The Heart of Egypt, madam? That was a find, indeed. And Maspero let you take it out of the country?"

  "Yes, after some persuading from a very helpful colleague, a Count von Braggenschnott, of Germany. He stepped in and used his considerable influence to persuade Maspero to let me take it."

  "May I see this Heart of Egypt?" There was an odd note in Awi Bubu's voice, something I couldn't quite pin down but that made me very uneasy, nevertheless.

  "I'm afraid not. You see, it was stolen soon after we returned."

  There was a long moment of silence before Awi Bubu continued. "That is a true tragedy, madam."

  "Yes, well. In January, we made a quick trip back to Egypt when we heard that someone was trying to take over our tomb. However, we didn't have time to pursue the matter, as our son became quite ill and we had to return home at once. Our daughter, however—"

  "The one I just met?"

  "Yes, Theodosia. She was with us—it's rather a long story. But suffice it to say she was desperate to see where we'd been working and she sneaked into the Valley. Incredibly enough, during her explorations, she discovered a secret annex that we had missed."

  "She has the makings of a good archaeologist already, then."

  "Yes, she does, doesn't she? Anyway, we wish to go back and explore this annex in more depth, especially now that we've had a chance to decipher some of the tomb's writing. Their revelations are most ... interesting and we'd love to pursue the research further. However, Davis is refusing to let us back in now that we've actually found something worthwhile. I thought perhaps Maspero could be persuaded to step in and allow us to continue our excavations, since we had originally discovered the tomb."

  There was another long silence. "This is a most—how do you British say? Sticky wicket? I shall have to think on it and see what approach would be the best for you."

  Mother clapped her hands together. "Then you will help us? Oh, lovely; I told Alistair you might be able to," Mother said.

  "I shall do all that is in my power to help you, dear madam, not least because of your kindness when the police would have arrested me."

  I felt a nudge in my ribs and looked away from the wall to find Henry smiling at me. "So that's what you did when you stowed away!"

  "Shh! And yes, I ... I had to see what Mother had been working on." That was the best excuse I could give him, even though it was far from the truth.

  I put my ear back to the glass in time to hear Mother and Awi exchanging goodbyes. They were in the hallway now, and I heard Awi say, "I will see myself out, madam."

  "Thank you, Mr. Bubu. I cannot wait to tell my husband you've agreed to assist us. He will be most grateful. As am I." There was the faint rapid click of Mother's heels along the hall, then silence.

  Should I follow the Egyptian? I would so love to know why he'd zeroed in on our museum, but I wasn't sure if it were wise to put myself in his path.

  "Little Miss." Awi Bubu's voice at the door had me jumping away from the wall in surprise.

  "I-I thought you were going to show yourself out," I stammered.

  "I will. Once I have a word with you."

  I glanced over at Henry, who was staring at the magician with his mouth agape.

  "You would like to go get some fresh air outside," Awi Bubu gently suggested to Henry.

  A look of surprise appeared on Henry's face. "Yes. I would, actually." He set his glass down, grabbed his jacket from the back of the couch, and disappeared out the door.

  "Stop that!" I hissed in annoyance.

  Awi Bubu held his arms out to his sides. "Stop what, Little Miss?"

  I narrowed my eyes. "Are you a mesmerist? Is that how you get people to do what you want them to do?"

  "Surely Little Miss is just imagining—"

  "Little Miss is not imagining. Do not play me for a fool. I can tell when you do that trick."

  "Really?" Awi cocked his head like a curious bird. "And how can Little Miss tell?"

  How could I tell actually? I wasn't sure. I just ... could. Just as I could tell when an object was cursed. "I-I can feel it. Somehow."

  Awi's eyebrows shot up. "Little Miss has the power to detect mesmerism? That is unusual indeed. Do her parents know she has this talent? I wonder."

  Blast him! "No. They don't. Not that they'd care," I lied. "And quit talking about me instead of to me."

  Awi Bubu folded his hands together and bowed, then he came more fully into the room, closed the door, and waved his hand over the knob in a strange gesture. "I will make Little Miss—you—a deal. If you will tell me why you ran away to visit your parents' excavation in the Valley of the Kings and how you came to find the new annex your mother spoke of, then I will not tell them you are having hallucinations about my powers, and yours."

  I couldn't tell him that! Wigmere had sworn me to secrecy, and rightfully so. I would have to make something up. "I-I just wanted to see where my mother spent so much of her time." I threw a grain of truth his way to make my lie more believable. "Wh-what was so wretchedly interesting that it took her away from us for months on end."

  Awi Bubu studied me, his face impassive. "Or could it be because Little Miss was returning the Heart of Egypt?"

  I gasped. I shouldn't have, because it let him know he'd guessed the truth, but I couldn't help it. "How—no! I was just—what makes you think the Heart of Egypt has been returned to the Valley of the Kings? Mum just said it had been stolen." The more time I spent with this Egyptian magician, the more confused I became. Who was he, and how did he know so beastly much?

  "Even exiles have their ways of staying current on events in their native land."

  "Yes, but it's not as if this sort of thing is reported in the newspaper, for heaven's sake."

  "So you did return the heart to its tomb. Very commendable, Little Miss. But how, I wonder, did you know to do that?"

  This man was dangerous. Oh, it wasn't his mesmerist tricks but the fact that he kept me so thoroughly off balance that I was unintentionally giving away vital secrets. "I have to go. I have lessons I must attend to."

  "No one pays attention to your comings and goings, miss. No one is watching to see whether or not you do your lessons or wash your face or have proper supervision."

  I gaped at him.

  "Or else you wouldn't have been allowed to see my show with your companions," he said in answer to my unasked question.

  I pressed my lips tightly together, vowing that no other words would slip out and confirm or deny his eerily accurate guesses. I lifted my arm and pointed to the door, indicating that he should leave. Now.

  "Oh, no. Not yet." He shook his big bald head at me. "Not until I've gotten what I came for."

  "And what is that?" I asked, curious in spite of my best intentions.

  He met my eyes with his own depthless black ones. "The Emerald Tablet."

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Awi Bubu Shows His Hand

  "TH-THE WHAT?" I repeated, stalling for time. How had he even known about that?

  "Do not play stupid with me, Little Miss. I know you to be quite smart indeed."

  "But what makes you think it's here? Have you seen it in a
display that I've missed?"

  Awi Bubu stepped closer, and in spite of being such a small man, he looked quite menacing. "That tablet does not belong to you. It belongs in Egypt, and it shall be returned."

  "Why not take all the artifacts back to Egypt then?"

  Awi shrugged. "Because some things we are willing to lose through the stupidity of our administrators, and others are too precious and must be returned at all costs." His eyes glittered feverishly. "Like the Heart of Egypt."

  What was he saying? Was the tablet cursed like the heart had been? But it had passed the first two tests with flying colors. "And this tablet is too precious?"

  "Yes, among other things. Now. Hand it over, please." I felt his will bumping along my skin, urging me to do exactly as he asked. Fortunately, I was too angry to pay it any heed.

  "I'm sorry, but I think you are sorely mistaken. And off your nut if you think we'd hand any artifact over to you, let alone something as valuable as an emerald tablet. If we had one." I frowned as a thought occurred to me. "Are you working with Trawley and the Arcane Order of the Black Sun, by any chance?"

  "Who?" The Egyptian looked truly puzzled at the name.

  "But Theo, we do have the Emerald Tablet," I heard someone say. I whirled around to find Henry had returned and stood just behind me, his glazed eyes fixed on Awi Bubu.

  "Hush!" I said, clamping my hand over his lips.

  Awi Bubu laughed softly. "Out of the mouths of babes..."

  I took my hand away from Henry's face and glared at him. "Do not say another word, do you hear me? Not. One. Word." I turned back to face Awi Bubu. "And just because we do have the tablet does not mean we'll give it to you, so you can just be off now, thank you very much."

  Awi shook his head patiently, as if he were dealing with a stubborn child. Which he was, come to think of it. "I shall not rest until I have it in my possession. I will be back two days hence. You will hand over the tablet or suffer the consequences."

  The word will bumped up against me like an insistent dog, and Henry actually spun on his heel as if he were ready to march off to the catacombs, get the tablet, and hand it over. I grabbed Henry's arm and held on tight. "We'll just have to see about that," I said.

  As I spoke, Awi Bubu's eyes drifted from me to the doorway behind me, his face growing almost reverent. He made a formal little bow. I turned, expecting to see Mother, and instead found my cat, Isis. Then Awi Bubu said something in either Egyptian or Arabic (I haven't much experience hearing the languages spoken, so I wasn't sure). Isis listened carefully, then twitched her tail. The old magician finally looked away from my cat and met my gaze. "Little Miss has very powerful friends. Nevertheless, I will be back in two days."

  And with that he took his leave. Henry would have followed Awi Bubu if I hadn't had a firm grip on his collar.

  I steered Henry over to the table and sat him down on one of the chairs, my mind reeling. How could Awi have known about the tablet? Did he find it the night he broke in? And if so, how? And why hadn't he just taken it then?

  "You're choking me!" Henry squawked.

  I glanced down at him. His eyes had returned to normal and he was no longer set on bolting after Awi Bubu, so I let go of his collar.

  "What was that for?" Henry asked, rubbing his neck.

  "Because you were about to follow Awi Bubu right out the front door, that's why."

  "Why would I do that?"

  "For the same reason you told him we had the Emerald Tablet."

  "I did not!" he said hotly.

  "Actually, you did, Henry. But it wasn't your fault. I think he's some sort of mesmerist. Now be quiet for a minute. I need to think." I sat down and Isis came over and rubbed up against my leg, as if trying to impart some wisdom to me. I reached down and scratched between her ears. "And why did he think you were such a powerful friend? I wonder."

  Isis meowed in annoyance, then batted at my ankle with her paws.

  "Not," I hurried to add, "that you aren't a wonderful cat and my best friend in all the world, but I wonder at Awi Bubu's reaction, that's all. Most adults don't recognize your brilliance." Appeased by this, she started purring. Henry fidgeted in his chair, but I ignored him.

  Why did the Egyptian want the tablet so bad? Why not any of the other artifacts in our museum? Many had active curses on them; why would he not want those? Especially since this tablet seemed rather tame in comparison to the Staff of Osiris. Or did he truly believe the formula contained in it would turn base metal into gold? I'd always understood alchemy to be bunk, but perhaps I was mistaken. Many considered Egyptian magic to be nonsense, and look how wrong they were.

  I sorely needed Wigmere's opinion. Perhaps he would know whether the formula was legitimate. If he didn't, he might have some other idea as to why this tablet held so much importance. He didn't want me using Will, but I refused to confide in Fagenbush. Therefore, my only choice was to pay him a visit myself. I glanced at my watch. It was nearly four o'clock. Too late to visit Somerset House today. But first thing tomorrow would find me at their doorstep.

  However, I did have just enough time to create another distraction for Fagenbush to ensure he wouldn't follow me to Wigmere or interfere in any way. I leaped to my feet, eager to set up my next decoy.

  "Wait!" Henry said. "Aren't you going to explain what happened?"

  "Sorry. Awi Bubu is a bit of a magician and he used his trickery to get you to obey him."

  "He did not!"

  "Yes, he did," I said gently. It must have been unnerving to realize someone had the power to make you do something.

  Henry opened his mouth to argue further.

  "I'm going to set up another diversion for Fagenbush. Do you want to help or not?"

  Henry's mouth snapped shut; he was torn between wanting to disagree and wanting to be in on the sleuthing. "Yes, but that old man didn't make me do anything..."

  ***

  The truth was, although I tried my best to remove any and all curses from the artifacts, there were a few that I had not been able to get rid of. Some of them were quite vile, like the ceremonial urn with a curse that called on the waters of the Nile to swallow someone whole. Or the pectoral amulet that was cunningly inscribed with a curse that invoked Anat to pierce the wearer's heart with her mighty lance. As much as I disliked the Second Assistant Curator, I wasn't quite ready to do him such fierce bodily harm. I was looking for a way to distract and divert him, not kill him.

  I rummaged through my mental inventory of cursed artifacts as I made my way through Statuary Hall. There was nothing here I could use; for one thing, the statues were all too big, and—wait a minute. I paused at a plinth nestled between a statue of Ramses II and an obelisk of the New Kingdom. Staring back at me from behind a glass box was a jackal mask. Anubis, to be exact. It was made of wood, and its dark resin-based paint had eroded over the years, giving the mask a very sinister appearance. Once worn by priests during mummification rituals, it contained a cunning curse: anyone who wore the mask without first undergoing the rituals of purification and then making an offering to Anubis would bark like a jackal.

  That would work.

  But how to pique Fagenbush's interest, let alone get him to put the thing on?

  "What are you looking at that ugly mask for?" Henry asked. I sighed wistfully. Awi Bubu's mesmerism tricks would come in quite handy if they allowed me to make Henry be quiet for five minutes.

  "I'm thinking I can use it to distract Fagenbush." While I had told Henry quite a lot about what had been going on around here, all of it had been human-based events. I hadn't confided in him about the curses and black magic yet. For one, I wasn't sure he would believe me, and two, I wasn't sure I trusted him to not use it against me the next time we got in an argument.

  "Henry. Here's what I need you to do. Go down to Fagenbush's office and sneak by his door, only sneak loudly, so he's sure to hear you."

  "Why would I want that beast to hear me?"

  Could he figure nothing out on his own? "
Because, Henry," I said very slowly, "we want him to follow you up here so he'll think he's discovered something about this mask and examine it. Then, hopefully, he'll spend most of tomorrow studying it and leave us alone."

  "Right. Got it." Henry saluted and tore off down the hall, which gave me about three minutes to come up with a plan. The first part was easy. All I had to do was position the glass box covering the mask so that it was askew. That would let Fagenbush know that someone—me—had recently been investigating it. But how to get him to put it on? Then it occurred to me: I didn't need him to actually put it on. He could just look closely inside it, which would mimic putting it on and thus activate the curse.

  I patted the pocket of my pinafore and located a lump of old wax. I slipped behind the display box and stuck the blob of wax in the corner of one of the mask's eyes. If Fagenbush was worth his salt as a curator, he would look closely at the wax before removing it, in order to be sure removing it wouldn't cause any damage. Then I tilted the mask on its side, as if someone had knocked it over by accident. Now all that was left to do was wait for Henry.

  Sure enough, I heard the clumping of his feet on the stairs. "He's coming," he whispered when he reached the top.

  "Shh! Let's go." I grabbed his hand and headed down the hall. This part had to be timed just right. We hurried past the Egyptian exhibit and went to the door that led to Father's workroom. I paused there, waiting until Fagenbush appeared at the top of the stairs. He needed to see me so that he'd wonder what I'd been up to. Then hopefully his rather annoying instincts would kick in and he'd notice the Anubis mask.

  There! His long, dark form appeared on the top stair. "Quick," I said to Henry, then I pushed him into the workroom, came in right behind him, and slammed the door.

  Mother and Father looked up, startled, when we burst into the room. "What are you two doing up here?" Father asked.

  Henry kept running, but I slowed down long enough to answer Father's question. "We just wanted to remind Mother that she promised we could decorate Easter eggs this week."