Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris-Theo 2 (16 page)

"Yes, they did, but perhaps the board of directors had lots to talk about."

She frowned. "I'm afraid I've a meeting I must go to—"

At last! A chance at freedom!

"—and I can't let you stay here all alone."

"Oh, but you can! Besides, I won't be alone. Most of the curators stay until seven o'clock, and Flimp is here all night. I'll be fine." Not that any of that mattered, since I planned on escaping to Somerset House immediately in order to report to Wigmere.

"Well, if you're sure. Perhaps I should ask Mr. Weems."

"Certainly," I said, folding my hands in my lap. "If you have another fifteen minutes to track him down."

She glanced at her watch again. "Oh, dear," she muttered, and I briefly wondered what kind of meeting she had. Finally, she seemed to make up her mind. "Very well." She pulled a
book from her satchel and handed it to me. "But I'll give you something to do while you wait. We're going to work on your Latin next. You can begin by translating this. I expect pages one through ten to be done by tomorrow morning."

I took the volume of Virgil's
Bucolics
from her. "Very well, Miss Sharpe." I would have said yes to just about anything to get her on her way at this point.

Miss Sharpe bundled into her things and left. Five minutes later, I did the same. I patted my coat pockets, only to find them empty. Drat. I would need money. Even I wasn't so foolhardy as to walk clear across town in the dark.

I hurried to the sitting room and over to the settee. Wrinkling my nose, I shoved my hand between the back of the cushion and the seat. My fingers met with crumbs and lint and mysterious bits of all kinds. Ignoring them, I shoved my arm in farther and groped toward the sides. There—something hard and flat.
Please let it be a coin!

It was! I did this twice more, scraping together enough for cab fare, then rushed downstairs and out the west entrance. I hadn't wanted Flimp to see me leave, as he would have most likely tried to stop me or at the very least sent someone after me.

You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to get a cab to take notice of an eleven-year-old girl. You'd think they'd stop just
because they realized I shouldn't be out after dark, but they seemed to look right through me and drive on past. Finally, a hansom dropped a gentleman off two doors down from the museum. Before the cabby could take off again, I darted forward and put a hand on the side of the cab.

"Eh, wot's this? Let go of me cab, miss!"

"No! I mean, please. I need a ride. I've got the money!" I said, holding up the coins.

His eyebrows shot up, disappearing into his cap. "What's a young bit like you doing out by yerself, eh?"

"My parents ... let me come visit the museum today ... and now I'm to take a cab back to meet them. At Somerset House."

He shook his head and reached for the coins. "I can't very well let you stand around out here all by ye'self wif no one to watch over you. Climb in."

I thought he muttered something about parents who didn't mind their offspring properly, but I ignored it. Of course Mother and Father minded me properly. They were just busy right this minute. Getting a good drubbing, I was afraid.

Luckily the cabby kept his mouth shut for the rest of the ride and got me to Somerset House in good time. As he dropped me off, he said, "I've a good mind to go in there and give yer parents a stern talking-to."

My mind scrambled quickly, trying to think if Wigmere would catch on in time to pretend he was my father. Well, grandfather, more likely. But the cabby just shook his head. "It's none o' me business, but you watch yerself, miss. Lots of unpleasant things lurk in the city after dark."

And didn't I know
that
better than most. "Thank you so much. I will be careful." I waved goodbye, then made my way across the large courtyard to the front door of Somerset House. The doorman raised his eyebrows when he caught sight of me. "I'm here to see Lord Wigmere," I explained. His face cleared a bit, as if he were used to odd comings and goings on Lord Wigmere's behalf.

Come to think of it, he most likely was, given the nature of the Brotherhood of the Chosen Keepers.

When I reached the third floor, I saw Sticky Will still in his public sweeper disguise, lurking just outside Boythorpe's partially open office door.

Will heard my step on the landing and whirled around. His face relaxed when he saw it was only me, and he motioned me to be quiet and come closer.

"I been waiting for someone to come along all afternoon. Go ahead, now—knock on 'is door."

"I don't want to knock on his door," I hissed. "He'll only stick his annoying nose in my business and try to keep me from seeing Wigmere."

Will's face fell. "Ah, come on, miss. I promise you, 'e won't be able to bother you this time. Just knock. Please."

Well, he did say please. And by now, my curiosity was piqued. He clearly had something up his sleeve. I sighed. "Very well."

I sidled up against the doorjamb and rapped smartly.

Boythorpe looked up, his eyes narrowing when he saw me. "Yes?" he said without getting up. A sure sign of his lack of respect. Pulling out my best Grandmother Throckmorton impersonation, I said, "I'm here to see Lord Wigmere. I'll be happy to show myself to his door."

"I don't think so," he said, then planted his hands on the desk and pushed to his feet.

Or tried to.

But he seemed rather stuck to his chair, so he only made it halfway up. The seat clung to his bottom like a half-laid egg.

He frowned, trying to get a glimpse of the firmly stuck chair behind him, looking for all the world like Isis when she decides to chase her tail. His face turned pink as he realized he'd been the butt—literally—of a practical joke.

"Never mind, Boythorpe. Really, I can find Lord Wigmere all by myself." Unable to contain myself any longer, I moved a few feet down the hall, where I erupted in a fit of laughter. Will joined me, clutching his sides. "What on earth did you do to him?" I asked when I could speak.

"'E's boxed me ears one too many times," he said. "So I smeared a layer o' treacle on 'is chair."

"Aren't you afraid he'll tell Wigmere?"

"Nah. I caught the sniff trying to read Wigg's mail one day. If 'e tries to tell on me, 'e knows I've got that up me sleeve."

I frowned. "Reading Lord Wigmere's mail seems rather serious. Don't you think you should report that?"

"Nah. I caught him before he got anything opened up. Now, come on—Wigmere will want to see you straightaway."

I
DID MY BEST TO COMPOSE MYSELF
. It wouldn't do to waltz into Wigmere's office giggling.

"Miss Theodosia to see you, sir," Will announced.

"Send her in."

Will stood aside so I could enter. The solemn weight of Wigmere's office chased any thought of giggling clean away. It had the same heavy silence that a church or library might have had.

Wigmere looked up at me, his eyebrows drawn together in concern. "Something must be dire indeed to bring you here at this hour. Is it your parents? Are they all right?"

"Oh, they're fine, sir. Well, as fine as possible, considering
they're attending an emergency meeting of our museum's board of directors. I suspect they are getting a good raking over the coals about the mummy situation right about now."

If I was hoping he would offer to keep them out of their predicament, I was sorely disappointed. "Well, come in. Sit down." He looked back at Will. "Thank you. That will be all." Will tugged his cap, then bowed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Now, what've you come all this way to tell me?"

"Did Will tell you about the Staff of Osiris? Did he explain that's what called all the mummies to the museum?"

"Yes, he did. But I wouldn't mind hearing it straight from you."

I quickly told him of finding the staff in the basement and returning the next day to find all the mummies gathered round. Then I explained about my experiment with the dead mouse, but stopped when Wigmere's mustache twitched. He wasn't laughing at me, was he? "Is something wrong, sir?"

"Nothing, nothing. Carry on."

When I'd finished, he leaned forward. "You didn't bring the staff with you, by any chance, did you?"

Honestly! What did he think I'd done with it? Hidden it in my skirts? "I'm afraid that wasn't possible."

He sighed in disappointment. "Rather difficult to carry around, yes?"

"Well, not only that..."

"Well, what, then?"

Steeling myself, I drew a deep breath. "I'm afraid the staff has been stolen, sir."

"What?" Wigmere nearly leaped out of his seat, which was rather extraordinary given that he normally needed a cane.

"Someone broke into the museum last night and stole the staff."

"Good gad! D'you have any idea who it was?"

"None, sir. But no one knew about the staff except you and Will and me."

"There are many who pay attention to magical comings and goings in this town, Theodosia. Most likely they've been watching the museum ever since the first wave of mummies showed up on your doorstep. And of course, we now know that Chaos is back in the game."

I got a rather sick feeling in my stomach.

"We've checked all von Braggenschnott's last known addresses but have come up empty-handed. Chaos has gone to ground, I'm afraid. Have you had a chance to do any research on the staff?"

"Yes, a bit. I'm afraid it's rather grim news. As far-fetched as it sounds, the staff is rumored to actually have belonged to Osiris, which is nonsense, don't you think?"

He didn't immediately agree, which made me nervous. Instead, he pursed his lips. "We've been researching down on Level Six, and they came up with similar information. Mostly myth and legend, nothing concrete."

"Can you tell me?"

"Of course." He settled back in his chair. "Way back in the mists of time, probably in the Early Dynastic Period, a staff came into being. It's exact origins are unknown. Some of the earliest writings of the time claim that it was created by Egypt's most powerful early magician, Menhotep. Other sources claim that it was forged by Osiris himself, during the short period he walked this earth before taking up his reign in the Underworld."

"But I thought he was only a myth!"

Wigmere shook his head. "Some sources claim he was actually the fourth pharaoh of Egypt. Anyway, throughout Egypt's Old Kingdom, the staff was held by the highest magician in the land, waiting in readiness for the pharaohs' use. Different pharaohs wielded the staff with different results, depending on their nature and their need. But eventually the staff passed from human awareness, hidden in some temple or pyramid tomb, forgotten by many, if not all.

"The next rumors of the staff's existence came to light during the Middle Kingdom. Some claim it's power is what
allowed Egypt to conquer Nubia and forge alliances with Syria and Palestine. During the rule of Akhenaten, the pharaoh who introduced the worship of the sun god Aten, the staff was feared destroyed, but it turns out it was hidden from sight by priests who served Osiris, waiting until it was safe again.

"There is one more mention. Rameses III is said to have used the staff to create a Fog of War, which succeeded in defeating the Sea People who threatened Egypt. Then once again it fell off the historical map. Everything written after that point is pure rumor and speculation. A number of sources claim that somehow Alexander the Great got a hold of the staff, and that is what allowed him to conquer Egypt. It was assumed to be in possession of the Ptolemies up until the Romans conquered the land. Some say Cleopatra lost the staff, others that she gave it over in secret to the Romans, then, consumed by remorse, killed herself.

"The most concrete evidence we have of it's actual existence is a copy of a papyrus attributed to the scribe Itennu, cataloging a collection of Egyptian national treasures housed in the Library of Alexandria."

"But then, wouldn't it have burned along with the library?"

Wigmere leaned forward. "Here's where it gets interesting. Rumors of the staff's existence began to appear in some of the early medieval grimoires. No one had actually seen
it—it was just a wisp of a rumor among other rumored artifacts of power. However, some of the grimoires and other medieval magical texts whispered of it's continued existence, asserting that it did not burn with the library.

"There is a curious historical footnote that mentions a small but dedicated group who had vowed to protect the pharaohs and their treasures until the end of time. It is thought that they managed to smuggle a cache of Egyptian treasures out of the Library of Alexandria before it burned. We are still trying to follow that trail."

"And somehow one of the treasures ended up in our museum?"

"Precisely."

The room fell quiet as we both pondered the full implications of this.

"But sir, why would the Serpents of Chaos want to have power over the mummies? What would they possibly gain from that?"

He met my gaze with his deep, troubled eyes. "I don't know. We haven't figured that part out yet. But I have no doubt that London will soon be terrorized by a mob of mummies."

"But wait—I completely forgot!" I pulled the Orb of Ra from my pocket and laid it on Wigmere's desk.

He stared in wonder at the golden orb. "What is this?"

"It's the orb from the staff! I removed it last night so that the mummies wouldn't return to the museum. I was afraid if they showed up again, Inspector Turnbull would arrest Father. So I deactivated the staff. Without the orb, I believe the staff has no power. It was only after I put the orb into the jackal head of the staff that the mummies became active."

His eyes shone in admiration. "Excellent work, Theo. Just excellent!"

I squirmed in pleasure. "Thank you, sir. I thought I'd leave it here for safekeeping."

At my suggestion, Wigmere's face settled into a concerned frown.

"What? What is it?"

"I think you will need to keep the orb, Theodosia."

"But why? Wouldn't it be safer with you?"

"It would, but
you
wouldn't."