"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?