Going for Gold (9 page)

I didn’t see the goddess come to take his spirit away to the Field of Reeds. I just felt my bare arms break into goose bumps as a tingly breeze came sweeping across the roof, and suddenly it was over.

Khamsin let out a heart-rending howl then she threw herself across her father’s body, shuddering with silent sobs.

Her step-mother came hurrying up to the roof with several curious friends and relatives. She was younger than I’d imagined, perhaps only eight or nine years older than Khamsin. Like a lot of humans who get too close to the PODS, her eyes had almost no expression. She bent over her husband’s corpse. For a surprised moment I thought she was going to kiss him. Actually she was just checking he was really dead.

“At last,” she said in a bored voice. “I thought the old fool would never go.”

Chapter Twelve

K
hamsin’s relations lifted her father’s corpse on to a stretcher and carried it out of the house.

I could hear them going down the street, howling and wailing in a display of totally fake emotion.

The old woman hovered, saying the usual things. Khamsin’s dad’s troubles were over. He was going to be reunited with his wife in the Field of Reeds. Eventually she left. Then Khamsin lay down on the roof and cried until I thought she’d make herself sick.

After a few minutes, I felt a strangely familiar vibe. For a moment I actually wondered if there was another angel in the area.

I heard a husky mew, and glanced up in time to see a small skinny cat bound across the narrow gap between Khamsin’s house and next door’s roof.

Like the kitty Lola rescued at the temple, this one had cute tufty ears and spotted markings. She came straight to me first, making the most hilarious little squeaks, like she’d been looking for me all around Seshet and was incredibly excited to have tracked me down finally. I knew she was really just attracted to my cosmic vibes.

Next she trotted over to Khamsin and started purring like a small generator, rubbing her head lovingly against her cheek.

I remembered the way my nan’s cat would make a fuss of me when I was upset. It always helped, like it was helping Khamsin now.

Gradually her sobs quietened down.

I don’t know how long we stayed like that - long enough to see three shooting stars streak down silently through the dark.

Cleopatra’s messengers had probably gone back to their barge by this time. Maia would be hanging around the market place impatiently waiting for me to come back. To be honest I didn’t give her much thought. I was concentrating all my energies on Khamsin, talking to her softly, reminding her she had an entire cosmic agency looking out for her, in addition to her local gods.

I was hoping to avoid a rerun, you see, of what happened to Sky. She’d been hurt just one too many times. Her dad walking out, her mum going nuts, then her best friend getting knocked down by a hit and run driver - it was too much for a vulnerable thirteen-year-old to take.

No wonder she gave up on herself, just like the PODS had been hoping.

Would Khamsin give up on herself now she’d lost her only loving parent? Afraid to know the answer, I just kept talking, trusting that my spangly new birthday vibes were getting through.

A fourth shooting star shot down from the heavens. This time I shivered. The Universe is full of these huge glittering comings and goings, but did anyone have the slightest idea what any of it actually meant?

I heard a rustle as Khamsin dragged herself into a sitting position. She looked around her in a daze, seeming amazed to find her world still in one piece. The kitty jumped up on her lap and Khamsin absently stroked her without thinking.

A zillion lovely scents wafted up to us from the Street of Perfume Blenders.

“Omigosh,” I breathed. “How stupid am I?”

“I’m working on a really special perfume counter.” That’s what Sky said in my dream. And Khamsin, who was really Sky in ancient-Egyptian-style packaging, was a perfume blender’s daughter!

I hadn’t been able to help my friend in my own time, but it seemed like the gods wanted me to have another chance.

“If I’d known this all happened to her before, I’d have understood Sky much better,” I told the cat softly. “She could be such a diva, but deep down she was just terrified of being left alone.”

The kitty’s glowing almond-shaped eyes were so sympathetic, it was almost like she understood what I was saying.

A new thought nudged into my mind. “You’re right,” I whispered, as if we were really having a conversation. “Human history just seems to flow in a straight line, but really it happens all at once. Maybe Khamsin’s Egyptian life isn’t ‘before’ her life as Sky? Maybe - omigosh - maybe, both lives are going on at the same time? And maybe, if I could help Khamsin get herself sorted in this life, it might have a knock-on effect, and Sky would…”

With an angry hiss, the kitty jumped off Khamsin’s lap.

Maia appeared at the top of the steps. “You’re not still here!” she said accusingly.

“I had to stay,” I explained. “Her dad just died.”

She plumped herself down beside me. “I heard. Murdered if you believe the rumours. They’re saying his wife poisoned him so she could move her Roman boyfriend in.”

Poison. No wonder Khamsin’s dad died in such agony.

“They reckon Khamsin’s next on her hit list,” Maia added coolly as if she was commenting on the weather.

“You’re kidding!” I gasped, it hadn’t occurred to me that Khamsin was in actual physical danger as well as everything else. “If everyone knows, why don’t they report her?”

“Too scared!” grinned Maia. “She was a herbalist before she married and it seems she’s a leetle bit too interested in the dark side of her profession!”

Just at that moment Maia reminded me of Brice in his bad boy days. Maybe they’d seen so much horror in the Dark dimensions that one little murder more or less didn’t really register?

Maia let out a giggle. “I should really be a spy. It’s amazing what you find out! Apparently one of

Khamsin’s mum’s ancestors actually created a secret perfume for some famous queen.”

“Nefertiti,” I whispered. “The most beautiful woman in history.”

Maia seemed disappointed. “I’m surprised you heard. No one spoke about it even inside the family. The way they talked in the market, you’d think the perfume was magic, literally!”

“No man could refuse her anything when she wore it, “I said softly. “Khamsin’s mum inherited the recipe and dedicated her life to recreating it.”

Maia’s eyes narrowed. “You have been doing your homework! But Khamsin’s dad never told anyone about his wife’s amazing achievement. He thought if it got out someone might kill both him and Khamsin to get their hands on the secret papyrus!”

I shook my head. “That’s so sad. Khamsin’s step-mum never even knew about it but she killed him just the same.”

As if she’d heard, Khamsin suddenly jumped up. “I’m not sticking around to be her next victim,” she said aloud. “Queen Cleopatra didn’t sit around waiting for her enemies to murder her. I’m going to Alexandria to seek my fortune.”

And she went rushing off down the steps.

I couldn’t believe what had just happened! I’d spent DAYS trying to get through to Sky. Khamsin had turned her life around in minutes.

I felt the little cat brush past my ankles as we followed Khamsin back into the house.

Her bedroom was just an alcove, with an old curtain pulled across. She threw a few clothes into a basket and I thought she was going to fly straight out of the house.

Instead she grabbed one of the lamps, using the feeble light to help her select several tiny bottles from the perfume blending room, hastily stowing them in her bag. Next Khamsin ran her eyes along a cluttered work bench, swooping on various perfume making implements, including a dropper.

Finally she fished something down from the lintel above the workroom door. The key to the chest.

Almost as tall as Khamsin, the chest was divided into shallow drawers. Each drawer had its own keyhole above a label in faded red-painted hieroglyphics.

Khamsin unlocked one of the drawers and slid it open, releasing an earthy yet deeply soulful scent. I’d smelled frankincense before in Nero’s Rome, and I knew that in ancient times this sweet-smelling resin was almost as precious as rubies.

Khamsin’s hands shook as she removed the flat ebony box from the drawer and dropped it into her bag. The slightest sound from the street outside made her jump, but she controlled her trembling as she carefully lifted out the papyrus.

She unrolled a few centimetres and got a surprise. There were two scrolls: a newer papyrus concealing the fragile yellowing one inside. Khamsin caught her breath as she saw the hieroglyphics at the top of the outer scroll, the notes her mum had scribbled on her experiments.

Khamsin’s breathing was genuinely panicky now. This was all taking too long. What if they came back and caught her trying to run away? She frantically unfastened her belt, pulled up her dress and quickly concealed the scrolls next to her skin, retying her belt tightly to keep them in place.

“Naughty girly,” murmured Maia.

“It’s not stealing,” I said defensively. “Her parents wanted her to have them.”

“She’s a bright cookie anyway. If Queen Cleopatra is serious about bringing Egypt into a new golden age, having Nefertiti’s perfume would give her a head start.”

My mouth dropped open. “I thought Khamsin wanted those scrolls because they were her mum’s!”

“Wake up sweetie! If that is Nefertiti’s perfume recipe she’s just stuffed up her jumper, little Cinders here has got herself a meal ticket for life!”

I can be so dumb. When Khamsin said she was going to seek her fortune, she totally meant it!

Maia gave me a playful poke in the ribs. “That’s the problem with angel schools. They teach all this wussy stuff about love and light. In Hell school they’re more into evil motives and strategies!”

Khamsin opened the front door a crack, glancing nervously up the street. The little cat rubbed against her ankles mewing anxiously. Suddenly Khamsin scooped the kitty up and popped it into her basket. “She’s never taking the cat!” Maia sounded appalled. The kitty immediately made herself at home among Khamsin’s clothes, treading and kneading with her paws, like, OK, it’s a little cramped but I can work with this!

Maia peered at me astonished. “Are you smiling

or crying?”

I didn’t even know myself. I just knew that before the PODS got into her head, my Sky would have taken the kitty too.

Chapter Thirteen

I
don’t know how Khamsin knew where she was going! All the streets were pitch black, except for the odd glimmery window.

Maia puffed out her cheeks as we hurried along. “So what’s the new game plan?”

“Well, we have to keep Khamsin safe,” I said, just stopping myself from adding, “Obviously.”

“Seems a bit random,” she objected. “Safe from what exactly?”

“From her psycho step-mum for starters! Also any unsavoury cosmic influences that might decide to take advantage while she’s in such a vulnerable space.”

Maia laughed, though I didn’t think I’d said anything funny.

“So we’re babysitting her basically,” she said in a sneering voice. “And how long do you plan on keeping this up?’”

I tried to imagine Lola asking how long we’d have to take care of a needy human. But being snotty with Maia wasn’t going to improve her rusty angel skills. Tact and encouragement were what she needed.

“It takes as long as it takes, babe,” I said as gently as I could. “This is a dangerous—”

“—time for her, yeah, I got that. Personally I preferred Plan A: Saving Cleo. Way more high profile.”

I saw Maia’s teeth flash in the dark as she let out another of her random giggles. “You should see your face! You thought I was serious!” She hooked her arm through mine.” We’ll beat off those Evil Bean Pods, sweetie, don’t you worry!”

Khamsin reached the gates just as the watchman was urgently shepherding the last volunteers out of the city. Some people were leading pack mules, their hooves muffled with old rags. They looked nervous but secretly proud of themselves at the same time. This morning they’d been weaving coloured threads, or pouring white-hot metal into moulds, never dreaming that tonight they’d be setting off on a dangerous adventure to save queen and country.