My jaw dropped, and I gaped at the Third Assistant Curator on his knees in front of me as I realized he was utterly, barking mad.
Any scholar knows that the Egyptians didn't believe in reincarnation!
CHAPTER TWENTY
The Scorpion Tail
THERE WAS A COMMOTION coming from the corridor. Trawley and Stilton jumped to their feet, then stepped in front, as if to shield me.
Three more cloaked figures came into the room. One of them seemed familiar. I was fairly certain it was the fellow who had hauled me like a sack of turnips from the carriage.
When the others saw who the newcomers were, they relaxed. "Report," Trawley said.
The tallest man stepped forward. "They got away. The driver leaped off the coach, and in the ensuing crash the other fellow gave Gerton the slip."
A broad, heavily muscled man spoke next. "He was right handy with a knife, O Great One, and it was close quarters."
Trawley looked at me with concern. "Who were these men, Divine Mistress? Do you know why they wished you harm?"
Did these men know about the Serpents of Chaos, I wondered? Did secret societies know about one another? Best not to risk it. "No, I don't." I decided to stick as close to the truth as possible. "I think the man in the carriage was a former employee of my father's. Someone he had to fire. Perhaps he held a grudge?"
"Ah," Trawley said. "Perhaps you don't trust us yet. Very wise, for one so young. But you may rest assured, we will not compromise you in any way. We shall not reveal your secrets. We wish only for the chance to worship Your Greatness and perhaps share a little in your wisdom."
Why did I think Trawley meant "magic" when he said "wisdom"?
"As a symbol of our trust, we will offer you protection against those who wish you ill."
"No, thank you. Really, I do much better on my own. I'm used to it."
"No, no. It is we who insist. We wish for nothing more than a chance to serve you. The least we can do is offer you some small protection against whoever it is that wishes you harm. In fact, we will assign seven scorpions to guard you, as of old."
"Yes," Stilton said, his face eager. "I'm Tefen and will walk by your side."
The three figures that had helped to rescue me from Bollingsworth stepped forward, too. "Ned Gerton at your service, miss. Me code name's Befen."
"I," said the tallest of the three, "am Basil Whiting, otherwise known as Mestafet. This gentleman here is Petet."
The man who had driven the carriage while the others whisked me to safety bowed low. "Peter Fell reporting for duty, miss."
Three other figures hopped up from their knees, like deranged jack-in-the-boxes, all shouting their scorpion names at me.
The seven men had, in fact, named the seven scorpions assigned to Isis by Thoth to be her bodyguards. Except I was not Isis. And Trawley was most certainly not Thoth.
They had to be joking. Didn't they? But they all stood at the ready, willing to obey my slightest command. I was beginning to get a headache.
"Tell us how we may prove ourselves to you," Trawley murmured. "How may we servest thou?"
"Look. You have it all wrong. I am not Isis." I turned to Stilton. "Whatever gave you that idea, anyway?"
Stilton raised his head. There was a smudge of dirt smack in the middle of his forehead. "I saw you raise the dead with my own eyes."
I paused. "You mean the mouse?" I asked.
He nodded eagerly. "Yes. The mouse, but the mummies, too."
I started to explain, then stopped. What if I managed to convince them I wasn't Isis—what then? They were willing to worship and adore me now, but that was only because they thought I had loads of power. What would they do if they thought me a fraud? Well, I wasn't really a fraud. But I certainly wasn't Isis. They might feel rather duped. Or tricked. Or just plain foolish if I managed to convince them I wasn't the ancient goddess.
Even more worrisome, how would they feel about having shared their secrets with a stranger? Especially an eleven-year-old stranger?
Their security was fairly tight, and they seemed to place great value on their secrecy. How would they treat me if they felt I had breached all that?
The truth was, I might not even make it out of here. I'd always trusted Edgar Stilton, but that had been before I knew he was off his nut.
My best course of action lay in letting them believe what they wanted to believe, commit to nothing, then get away as quickly as possible. I sighed. "Very well. I would be honored to accept your most, er, esteemed offer of help. And security." Besides, with the Serpents of Chaos about, one could never have too many friends on one's side. "But really, I must be getting back to the museum. My parents will be worried."
"She has been gone a long time," Stilton confirmed.
"Very well. Perhaps next time we meet, you will trust us enough to instruct us in the ways of Egyptian magic?" Trawley asked, his jowls trembling in excitement.
"We'll see. It may be difficult to get away. I do have a governess and parents who watch over me, you know. They might have something to say about this whole thing."
"Don't worry. We will be most discreet, O Illuminated One. And we will work at your convenience. Use Tefen here as a messenger and we will answer your calls at once."
The minute Stilton and I were alone in the carriage headed for the museum, I turned on him—or at least where I thought he'd be. It was hard to tell through the blindfold. "Just how long have you been spying on me, anyway?"
"Not spying, Theo. It's just that sometimes when I walked by the reading room, I saw you reading the ancient texts. Once in a while, you would even mutter the words out loud."There was a short pause, then he continued. "At first I just wondered what you were up to, but then I began to realize that you were actually using the information, doing magic of your own."
"Not magic. Removing curses. Really, that's all I do."
Stilton nodded. "Removing curses, then." I felt him move forward on his seat, then blinked as he plucked the blindfold from my eyes. "You do realize it's more than that, don't you? I mean, not just anyone could look that stuff up, then read it out loud and have it work. That takes years of study, hours and hours of practice, to master."
"But why did you have to tell that man Trawley all about it?"
"Why, Theo, he's the grand master! He was the one who initiated me into the greater mysteries. I couldn't keep such knowledge to myself. I owe it to him to tell him whenever I encounter something of this nature."
My shoulders twitched. Somewhere out there in the dark, the other six scorpions were following us, trying to ensure my safety. I wondered who would protect me from them? Especially once they realized it was the staff that held all the power, not me.
The carriage pulled up in front of the museum and dropped me off. I waved goodbye to Stilton—or Tefen, as he insisted I call him when we were alone—and wondered how on earth I was going to face him in the morning. Did he have any idea how silly he and his fellow Black Sunners appeared?
Oh well. Best to think about that later. I had plenty on my plate for the rest of the evening—such as trying to come up with an explanation that would satisfy Mother and Father as to where I'd been for the past few hours.
All was quiet when I let myself into the museum, with no one wandering about calling my name. That was a good sign, at least.
I tiptoed down the hall to the foyer, which was also empty and quiet. My stomach growled, reminding me I was famished. I hadn't eaten since noon that day. I suppose it's a miracle I'm not stunted in my growth.
As I made my way to the sitting room, I rummaged around for a good excuse. Perhaps I'd just tell them that Miss Sharpe and I had gone out. But where? Where on earth would a governess have taken her student this late at night? Still no excuse at hand, I stopped outside the family room and listened. I didn't hear anything. No Mum humming, no Father regaling her with his most recent research news. Nothing. I sniffed. I didn't smell anything, either, which meant they'd not brought any dinner back with them.