Stilton sighed. "It's not your fault, Miss Theo."
Furtively, I set the cursed scarab on top of the ones Mother had found in Thutmose Ill's tomb, then I bent over the crate and peered in as if I were looking for something. When Fagenbush appeared in the breezeway, I glanced up at him, then quickly skulked away.
"What was she doing?" he barked at Stilton.
"Who? Theodosia?"
"What other she did you happen to see in here? Yes, Theodosia."
"I-I don't know. She was just looking at the scarabs. Did you find the display board?"
Fagenbush ignored Stilton's question, strode over to the crate, and began digging through the scarabs.
I waited quietly in the hall until I heard Stilton say, "Dear heavens, what is that stench?"
Which meant Fagenbush had touched the cursed scarab. Of course, I knew what that stench was: dung. Ox dung, to be exact. Scarabs were actually small stone statues of dung beetles, which the ancient Egyptians considered sacred. This particular scarab held a curse that caused one to smell of ox dung for a few days. When I heard Sweeny chime in with "Smells like a barnyard in here, it does," I knew the scarab had done its work. I used the ensuing confusion to slip out unobserved.
With luck, Fagenbush would be distracted by that disaster for a while. If he wasn't, well, at least I would be able to smell him coming.
I was halfway to Oxford Street before I heard someone calling after me.
"Wait up, miss!"
I turned to find Sticky Will hurrying after me and was surprised at how glad I was to see him. "What are you doing here?"
"Tryin' to follow you, miss," he said, finally catching up to me.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. I jest wanted to begin me training as soon as we could. I figgered followin' you around would be a good start."
I hated to disappoint him, but I simply didn't have time ... wait a moment. Maybe I did. Maybe he should come with me to confront Awi Bubu, as backup. If something went wrong, he could go for help. Plus I could bring him up to speed on the way. "Excellent, let's begin, shall we?" The thing was, if I was going to take Will's desire to become a Chosen Keeper seriously, I had to keep him informed of everything, and that meant any magical goings-on, any Serpents of Chaos activity. If his education was to be complete, then he had to know about anything and everything. Not to mention, he was always an excellent audience and oohed and aahed appreciatively. With that in mind, I filled him in on the morning's developments, and by the time we reached the Alcazar Theater, he was up to date.
"I knew this would be better than stuffy ol' school," he said, his eyes wide. "D'you want me to comes in with you?"
"No, I think it better if you stay out here. If I'm not out in half an hour, you can go for help."
His face fell a bit. "Aw, miss. That's no fun, runnin' fer 'elp."
"I know, but if Awi Bubu really does belong to Chaos, you'll need help, believe me."
Reluctantly Will agreed, and, feeling much safer with someone watching my back, I went to find the magician.
Luckily, Will had directed me to the back door that he and his brothers used to sneak in without paying for their tickets, so I didn't have to come up with any hastily cobbled-together explanations to get into the theater.
Once backstage, I quickly found my way to Awi Bubu's dressing room. My anger had been reduced to a slow boil on the way over, but even so, I thumped loudly on the door. I would have flung it open were it not for the fact I was afraid he'd actually be dressing.
The door opened and I found myself staring up into the broad dark face of Awi Bubu's assistant.
"Who is it, Kimosiri?" Awi Bubu asked.
"It's me," I said.
Kimosiri grunted and stood aside to let me pass. Inside the dressing room, Awi Bubu was sitting at a small table with a map of the stars spread out in front of him. I could recognize some of the constellations, but there were scores of lines and numbers and other notations littering its surface.
A strange smile touched Awi Bubu's lips. "Ah, Little Miss. I was just thinking of you." He looked down at his chart. "Does Little Miss know where she was born, perchance?"
His odd question caused the tirade I'd been planning to stutter to a stop. "I beg your pardon?"
"I asked if you know the place and time of your birth."
"I was born on November twenty-eighth in our house on Queen Anne Street. Not that it's any of your business."
"Ah, but it is, you see. For Little Miss is incorrect. She was not born at her house on Queen Anne Street. She was not even born in Britain, I believe."
"What are you talking about?"
"I went to the registry office to see the time and date of Little Miss's birth so I could consult the astrological charts—"
"You did what? Without my permission?"
Awi Bubu merely shrugged. "I do not need your permission. However, imagine my surprise to find that there is no record of a Theodosia Throckmorton being born on British soil."
I felt like he'd just punched me in the stomach. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"I mean that wherever you were born, it was not in Britain."
"O-of course I was! You're daft! Perhaps the people at the registry office just didn't want to give you the information?"
Unperturbed, Awi Bubu shrugged again. "Or perhaps Little Miss does not truly know the circumstances of her birth. Have you spoken with your parents about this?"
"Enough!" I said. "That is not why I'm here." Unwilling to waste any more time on his preposterous nonsense, I remembered the whole reason I'd come. "Do you work for the Serpents of Chaos?" I blurted out, rather artlessly.
Awi Bubu turned to his assistant. "You may leave us, Kimosiri."
The giant, silent man nodded his head once, then slipped out the door, closing it softly behind him. When we were alone, Awi Bubu leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "No, Little Miss. I do not work for any manifestation of chaos, serpents or otherwise."
"Have you told anyone else about the Emerald Tablet?"
"Indeed not."
From his shocked look, I had to admit he appeared to be telling the truth. Which meant the leak to Chaos came from elsewhere. Even so, he still owed me a great deal of information on the tablet.
"Very well then. Tell me about this Emerald Tablet. The truth this time." I folded my arms and glared at him. "What does the tablet do?"
"I thought Little Miss understood. The tablet's value lies in the information it contains, not in any innate power it possesses."
"Rubbish. The Serp—some very evil men are after it, and they would not be after it if it did not have some immense power of destruction."
Awi Bubu grew very still. "Who are these men?" he asked.
"Why should I tell you if you haven't seen fit to tell me the truth?"
"Because perhaps I could help you."
"Help me! Ha! The way you can help me is by telling me the truth."
His gaze sharpened and I felt his will nudge up against mine, urging me to tell him.
"Stop that!" I yelled.
The sensation disappeared. Awi Bubu turned away from me and began rolling up the chart in front of him. "Very well. It is as I said. The Emerald Tablet has very little power itself. Its true value is that it is a map, a series of directions that lead to a cache of Egyptian artifacts of untold value. Artifacts few even dream exist."
"What sort of artifacts?" I asked, but I had a sinking feeling I knew what was coming.
"Artifacts that have been wielded by the gods and goddesses of Egypt themselves. Artifacts that still hold the power of those gods, destructive power that man was never meant to control, power over life and death," he said.
My knees suddenly felt weak and I backed up to the lone chair against the wall and sat down. "How many of these artifacts of the gods are there?" I asked.