The Crocodile Caper

by A. B. Greenfield

  “Stop the whining.” Hormin banged the lid down. “We’ve got it pretty good here, if you ask me. So how about you quit complaining and help me? If the Steward catches you standing around when he’s told us to look for that kid, there’s going to be trouble.”

  “Okay, okay,” Qen grumbled. “But I don’t see why everybody in this palace thinks they can order us around. Hormin and Qen, catch that lion cub. Hormin and Qen, go find the prince. Hormin and Qen—”

  “Hormin and Qen!” the Steward barked.

  The two watchmen jumped to attention.

  Frowning, the Steward hurried over to them. “Have you searched General Wegaf’s rooms?”

  “Not yet, my lord,” Hormin said. “But we’ll do that right away—”

  “No, no!” the Steward cut in. “Lady Satiah says you’re to leave him undisturbed. Now, if you’ve finished here—”

  “We haven’t,” Qen told him.

  “Well, I need to talk with you anyway,” the Steward said. “I have some questions about last night.”

  Before I could hear the questions, Khepri’s legs beat a sudden rhythm on my head. “Hey, Ra! There’s Lady Satiah, and she’s in a hurry.”

  I looked up in time to see Lady Satiah’s beaded gown flashing past an archway.

  “I bet she’s up to something,” I said. “Let’s follow her!”

  As everyone knows, Pharaoh’s Cat has an unerring sense of direction. But some palaces are badly laid out, and that isn’t my fault. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself trotting down a dingy passageway.

  “Are we lost?” Khepri said as I slowed down.

  “Pharaoh’s Cat doesn’t get lost,” I told him. “I’m…er…getting my bearings.”

  “Better get them fast,” Khepri warned me. “Here comes trouble!”

  I turned and saw a lion cub galloping toward us.

  CHAPTER 8

  Kittycat

  Lion cubs look awfully cute from a distance. Up close? That’s a different story.

  I ran around the corner, but the passage dead-ended at two shut doors.

  “Hey, kittycat!” The cub careened toward me, his mischievous tuft of fur bobbing. “I sneaked out again when the Keeper of the Zoo was cleaning my cage. Let’s play!”

  “Er…let’s not.” Whatever the cub had in mind was going to be worse than dress-up. I sidestepped him—or tried to. But he thought that was part of the game.

  “Tag!” he screeched. He head-butted me in the side, knocking me flat. That’s the problem with cubs. They don’t know their own strength.

  Once I got my breath back, I let out a low warning cry, one step short of a snarl. Among us cats, big and small, that means “Don’t touch me.”

  I guess the cub didn’t know the code.

  “You’re funny, kittycat. Let’s play family. You be the naughty cub, and I’ll be the daddy lion.” With a giggle, he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck.

  Oh, the indignity! Pharaoh’s Cat, being carted around like a kitten!

  “Put…me…DOWN!” I gasped.

  Instead, he shook me hard.

  “Stop that!” I wailed. Forget my pride—now I was worried about my survival.

  Just as I thought my teeth were going to be jangled out of my head, a door at the end of the passage opened. A young woman with a sweet face and drab clothes stared down at us.

  “What—oh!” She knelt by the lion cub. “You silly baby. That’s not a toy. That’s a cat. And a very fine cat, too. Let him go.”

  She pulled the cub close. I guess that surprised him, because he dropped me right away.

  “Poor cat.” The young woman checked my neck with her free hand and said to the cub, “Well, at least you didn’t leave a mark. Now let’s get you back to the zoo.”

  I didn’t wait to see them go. As soon as Khepri jumped back on, I scooted down the passageway.

  * * *

  Eventually, I found my bearings. When I reached the great hall, the Steward was bowing low to Lady Satiah. She was seated on her gilded chair, and her brother, General Wegaf, was standing alongside her.

  With a nervous look at them both, the Steward bobbed up. “There’s no sign of the boy anywhere, my lady. But the night watchmen have something to tell you.”

  Stepping forward in their workaday tunics, Hormin and Qen bent low. Hormin’s sniffling echoed loudly in the tiled hall, while Qen’s nose was redder than ever.

  “Yes?” Lady Satiah prompted them. “Did you see the boy sneaking out last night?”

  “My lady, we saw no one.” Hormin tried to stifle his sniffles. “Er…no one, that is, except for Yaba. She was sleepwalking near the gates just before dawn…”

  “Yaba?” I whispered to Khepri. “Who’s that?”

  “I don’t know,” Khepri said in my ear.

  General Wegaf frowned. “Yaba—is that the Pharaoh’s newest wife?”

  “The minor princess from that dinky province in Assyria, yes,” Lady Satiah confirmed. “Her father married her to Pharaoh to seal a trade deal.”

  Oh, right. I’d heard about that. Pharaoh hadn’t been happy when his ambassadors had told him the terms of the deal, and the Great Wife had hit the roof. But a deal was a deal, and it would have caused a lot of political tension to undo it. So Pharaoh had gone through with the wedding ceremony and then sent his new wife to live a long distance away.

  “She’s been trying to escape at least once a week since she got here,” Lady Satiah went on. “It’s so annoying. Not that she gets very far. The watchmen see to that.” She turned to them again. “And you were on duty all night? You didn’t doze off or stop for a snack, the way you did last week?”

  “Of course not, my lady,” Hormin said, sniffling again. “And we didn’t stop for a snack last week. We heard a rustling in the kitchen, remember?”

  “That’s right,” Qen put in, sounding a trifle offended. “We know our job.”

  Lady Satiah frowned. “Then why did you not see the boy?”

  “We have our rounds,” Qen reminded her. “We do a circuit of the whole palace.”

  “But then who guards the gates?” Lady Satiah wanted to know.

  The Steward coughed. “Er…the crocodiles do. At least, that’s what you said when I asked for more money to replace the guards we lost last year.”

  “Oh, yes.” Lady Satiah touched her hand to the thick braids of her wig. “I’d forgotten. Well, it’s true. Who’s going to rob us with the crocodiles around?”

  “You may be right, my lady,” the Steward said. “But all the same, we need more watchmen. Last night is proof.”

  Pursing her lips, Lady Satiah waved a hand at the watchmen still bowed low before her. “So you saw Yaba. Anyone else?”

  “No, my lady,” Hormin said.

  “But it looks like someone got past us,” Qen added. “Maybe while we were escorting Yaba back to her room. Or maybe a little before that, when we had to check on General Wegaf.”

  Disconcerted, Lady Satiah turned to her brother. “On you, brother? Why?”

  The General turned red as a rooster’s wattle. “Spot of bother. Not worth discussing.”

  Lady Satiah glared at him. “Out with it. Now.”

  CHAPTER 9

  A Trick

  “Well, if you must know, I dreamed we were under attack,” General Wegaf said gruffly to Lady Satiah. “Warriors to the right of us! Warriors to the left! I grabbed my spear, of course. Started to lay into them. Made a bit of noise, I guess. Guards came running.”

  “We thought he was dying,” Hormin explained with an annoyed snuffle. “And we couldn’t get the door open because he’d barricaded it.”

  “Old soldier’s trick,” the General said, looking pleased with himself.

  “It kept us busy for a while, my lady.” Qen rubbed his red nose. “So maybe that was wh
en he got past us.”

  “The crown prince, you mean?” Lady Satiah said.

  “Yes,” Qen told her. “At least, we think that’s who left the footprints we saw out by the river, on the landing.”

  “They were sandal prints, actually,” Hormin put in. “I saw them, too. About the size a twelve-year-old would make.”

  “We spotted them earlier, when we were looking for the boy,” Qen told Lady Satiah. “The landing is swept clean every evening, so they must have been made overnight.”

  “Why didn’t you report this before?” Lady Satiah demanded.

  “We did, my lady,” Hormin said. “The Steward told us he would look into it, and he ordered us to search the south wing for the boy in the meantime.”

  Seeing Lady Satiah’s frown of displeasure, the Steward said quickly, “My lady, I examined the landing myself, with great care. There were no other sandal prints, except for the ones the watchmen have told you about.”

  “But how could the boy have gotten out to the landing?” Lady Satiah wanted to know. “You lock the gates at night, don’t you? And carry the keys with you?”

  The Steward tugged at his white tunic. “You may remember, my lady, that I mentioned several months ago that one of the locks was not catching properly? I suggested it should be replaced.”

  “And was it?” Lady Satiah said.

  “You told me that it could wait, my lady,” the Steward said, “since we are rather short of funds right now, owing to the zoo.”

  Lady Satiah pinched her lips even more tightly together. “And how many footprints were there?”

  “Only two,” the Steward said. “But I also discovered that one of the boats is missing. A small skiff.”

  “So the boy took it.” Lady Satiah looked peeved. “I suppose it’s some sort of prank.”

  “I’m afraid you may be right, my lady,” the Steward said. “I spoke with Ahmose. He says he told the prince about the boats at dinner last night, and the prince boasted about his navigating skills.”

  “That sounds fishy to me,” I whispered to Khepri. “Dedi’s got his faults, but he’s not a boaster.”

  “He’s proud of how he can handle a boat, though,” Khepri pointed out. “Maybe that sounded like bragging to Ahmose.”

  “Perhaps he decided to find his own way home,” General Wegaf said. “Not a wise move, with so many crocodiles hanging around, but boys will be boys.”

  “Dedi wouldn’t do something that foolish,” I told Khepri.

  “I hope not.” Khepri sounded worried. “But you remember what he said last night, don’t you? How he’d go home right now if he could? What if…?”

  He trailed off, but I knew what he was thinking, because I was thinking it, too. My spirits plummeted.

  Behind us, Kiya entered the great hall, Miu at her heels, both of them as quiet as shadows. They were just in time to hear Lady Satiah snap out new orders. “Steward, tell my oarsmen they are to find Ramses Dedumose and his boat. No doubt he is headed home, but they have more skill than he does. If they start immediately, they should catch up with him before he gets far. They are to escort him to his mother, with my compliments.”

  As the Steward strode away, Lady Satiah turned to General Wegaf with a scowl. “How dare that boy play such a trick on me? Making his own way home, indeed—”

  “No!” Like a little bull, Kiya charged at the General and Lady Satiah. “That’s impossible. My brother would never leave me. Not in this place. Never, never, never.”

  “She’s right,” I whispered to Khepri. “Dedi wouldn’t leave her behind.” I relaxed my tail in relief. It had been awful thinking about Dedi meeting up with crocodiles.

  But if he hadn’t left the palace, where was he?

  Lady Satiah’s bracelets jangled as she stared at Kiya’s defiant face. “He would never leave you, you say? And yet he is gone. And the boat, too.”

  The Painter rushed into the room, her tiny features stamped with panic. “My lady!” she squeaked. “The jewelry. It’s gone!”

  “What jewelry?” Lady Satiah sat bolt upright. “What are you talking about?”

  “The boy’s jewelry.” In tears, the Painter prostrated herself at Lady Satiah’s feet. “It wasn’t my fault, my lady. When the Steward brought the jewelry to your bedroom, I put it into two linen pouches, and I stowed them away for safekeeping. But now the pouch with the boy’s jewelry is gone.”

  Spots of angry red appeared on Lady Satiah’s cheeks. “You mean the boy sneaked in while I was sleeping and took it? He robbed me?”

  “My brother is not a thief.” Kiya’s cheeks went as red as Lady Satiah’s. “Even if he did take them, they’re his, not yours.”

  “Oh, he took them, all right,” Lady Satiah said grimly. “It’s exactly the sort of trick he would play. On the last visit, he crept into my room and put a lizard in my bed.”

  “But that was my idea,” Kiya said.

  Lady Satiah glared at her. “Was it, indeed?”

  “Dedi helped, though,” Kiya added with a sob. “He always helps with things like that. And now he’s gone. I just know he’s been kidnapped, and you won’t even send a message to Daddy—”

  “Of course I will be sending a message to Pharaoh,” Lady Satiah snapped. “What do you take me for?”

  “A kidnapper!” Kiya wailed.

  Lady Satiah paled. “How dare you speak to me like that!”

  Kiya didn’t stop. “You’ve done something to Dedi, I know you have. You don’t want him to be Pharaoh. You want Ahmose to take his place—”

  “That’s enough!” Lady Satiah flew up from her chair in a fury. “Pharaoh’s Daughter, you cannot speak like that without consequences. I am sending you home.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Homeward Bound

  Kiya kicked and screamed, but Lady Satiah refused to change her mind. Everything was soon arranged. The nursemaid and guards, looking sick and wobbly, were ushered onto the barge. The Steward himself carried Kiya on board.

  “Dedi!” she shouted from the railing. “Dedi, where are you?”

  “We’ll find him,” I meowed to her from the landing, but seeing me only made her wail. I winced. Despite the dress-up nonsense, she was a good kid at heart, and I hated to see her so upset. I knew Pharaoh would be, too.

  But then, Pharaoh would be even more upset about Dedi.

  “Where is Miu?” I asked Khepri. Perched on my head, he had a better view of the scene.

  “Here I am!” Miu bounded over to us, panting. “I found those sandal prints. They’re the right size, but there’s not much scent. And the prints are smudged, so it’s hard to tell if they’re from Dedi’s sandals or some other pair.”

  “So we can’t say for sure if he left or not?” Khepri said uneasily.

  “No, we can’t,” Miu said. “So who is going with Kiya, and who is staying here? We need to decide—and fast.”

  “I’m staying here,” I said. “I’ll get a ride home with Pharaoh later.”

  Miu gave me a stern look. “You aren’t just trying to avoid dress-up time with Kiya, are you?”

  “Of course not,” I said indignantly. “Dedi could be here, and it’s my duty to find him. After all, he disappeared on my watch.”

  “It’s my fault, too,” Khepri piped up between my ears. “I’ll help you search, Ra.”

  “Well, we can’t let Kiya sail by herself,” Miu said. “So if you’re staying here, I’ll go with her. With luck, I’ll find Dedi safe at the other end.”

  As she headed for the gangplank, Khepri jumped down and settled himself between my paws. “So where do we start, Ra?”

  Wasn’t it obvious? “With breakfast, of course.”

  Khepri clicked at me in reproof. “You’re supposed to be thinking about Dedi, not your appetite, Ra.”

  “I am thinking about him,” I said. �
�But I think better on a full stomach. I bet they have leftovers from last night’s feast in the kitchen. I’ll get myself a quick snack and we’ll be on our way.”

  With a sigh, Khepri hopped onto my head. “Well, if you’re going to have breakfast, I guess I will, too. Stop by the zoo, and I’ll get something to go.”

  “Not if you’re getting a ride from me,” I said. “You can eat it right there. And wipe your feet afterward.”

  “Okay, but we need to move fast,” Khepri said. “It sounds like Dedi probably disappeared just before dawn. And that was only two hours ago. The trail is still hot.”

  “True,” I agreed. “Luckily, we already know where the trail leads.”

  “We do?”

  Khepri’s a bright beetle, but sometimes he misses what’s right under his antennae. “Sure we do,” I said. “It leads straight to Lady Satiah. Didn’t you hear what Kiya said? Lady Satiah kidnapped Dedi because she wants Ahmose to take his place.”

  “But it wouldn’t work like that,” Khepri said. “It’s Pharaoh who decides who the crown prince will be. And if Lady Satiah kidnapped Dedi, Pharaoh would never choose Ahmose as his new heir. He probably wouldn’t anyway, because it would make the Great Wife angry. She’d want one of her younger sons to inherit the throne.”

  Hmmmmm…I hadn’t thought about that.

  “And what about that missing boat?” Khepri added. “I know Kiya says Dedi would never leave this place without her. And she’s probably right. But you remember what Dedi said when he was falling asleep, don’t you? How the only good thing about being here was that they had so many boats?”

  Uh-oh. I didn’t remember Dedi saying that, but then, I’d had my paws over my ears. Not that I wanted to admit that to Khepri.

  “So I worry that Dedi might have set out on a trip down the river, just for fun,” Khepri went on. “I know he’s good with boats, but these are the worst floods we’ve ever had. He could easily get washed up somewhere.” He gulped. “Or even washed overboard.”