His nostrils went into overdrive as they sniffed up every fiber of the hat. He was so thorough, I was half afraid he'd inhale the thing. When he was done, he looked up and met my gaze, keen intelligence shining in those dark eyes of his. "Good boy," I said. "Now, fetch."
He gave one quick, sharp bark, then exploded off his haunches and out into the night.
I was heartily sick of having to wait for everyone else to bring me information or take a message for me. Even that wretched jackal had more freedom than I did.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Snuffling Along
THE NEXT MORNING I WAS AWAKENED by a knock on my closet door. "Who is it?" I called. I stretched and rubbed my eyes.
"It's me, Theo."
"Oh, Mum!" Awake now, I hopped out of the sarcophagus as Mum came in. "Any word from Father?" I asked.
"No." She said it briskly, as if it didn't worry her one bit, but the dark circles under her eyes gave her away. "I have, however, heard from Miss Sharpe. She sent a note around saying she was unwell and unable to come today." Mother's gaze sharpened slightly. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"No! Well, only that she left early yesterday because she was feeling ill. You can check with Stilton if you like. He was there at the time."
"No, no, that's fine. But I must warn you, Theo—I have much on my mind and am horribly busy this morning. I have a hundred things to do. You'll have to take care of yourself today without Miss Sharpe here."
A huge bubble of frustration rose up inside me. Didn't I do exactly that every single day? "Of course, Mother." Still hungry for information, I pressed on. "Who else have you heard from?"
Mother bent over, picked up my pinafore from the floor, and began smoothing it out. "The Royal Archaeological Society, for one. It seems I will not be joining their ranks at this time."
"Oh, Mother! I'm so sorry. Is it because of the mummies?"
"They say not." She hung my pinafore on a peg. "However, that's the least of our worries, I would think."
Which reminded me: "Were you able to talk to Admiral Sopcoate last night?"
"No, I'm afraid not. He was at dinner with a delegation from Abyssinia, but your grandmother said she'd send a personal note to him first thing this morning." She gave me a tired smile that I thought was supposed to give me fortitude, but instead left me feeling vague and uncertain.
Just then, there was an urgent rap on the front door. An unusually grim and determined look came over Mother's face. "If that is Inspector Turnbull again, I shall make him rue the day he ever set foot in our museum."
She sounded frighteningly like Father. I followed after her as a second knock reverberated down the hall. Mother jerked the door open and nearly missed being beaned with Grandmother Throckmorton's cane, which she was raising for a third knock. "About time," she sniffed, pulling her cane back to her side.
Before Mum could retort, Grandmother sailed in. "Where is that granddaughter of mine? There you are," she said. "What on earth have you done to Miss Sharpe?"
I swallowed nervously. "I-I don't know what you mean. Mum said she sent a note around that she was ill..."
"No. Not just ill. She sent me a letter resigning. She will not be returning, even when she regains her health. And after all the trouble I went to! You will tell me the meaning of this, young lady."
"Really, madam," Mother said. "With everything else going on right now, it seems to me that Miss Sharpe is not our most pressing concern."
Grandmother drew herself up to her full height, but instead of blasting Mother for her impertinence, she simply said, "Have you news of my son?" And then it hit me. Her outrage about Miss Sharpe was just an excuse! She'd really come over to see what was happening with Father. Honestly. Why couldn't she just say so?
Mum shook her head. "The inspector isn't exactly being forthcoming. Have you word from Admiral Sopcoate yet?"
"Yes. He sent a note around this morning. He'll be tied up escorting a delegation from Abyssinia on a tour of the Dreadnought, but once he's finished up there, he said he'll come right along and help us sort out this mess."
Admiral Sopcoate would be onboard the Dreadnought, and Chaos was planning to kidnap it! My stomach dipped at the full impact of this. I had grown quite attached to the jolly admiral. Besides, if something happened to Admiral Sopcoate, Grandmother would turn back into her horrid, grumpy self.
Taking a huge risk by speaking without being spoken to, I said, "Excuse me, Grandmother. But what time will that be? Did he say?"
She peered down her nose at me. "I suppose the strain of having your father arrested has chased away what few manners you had." But her words didn't have the normal sting to them.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I am rather worried."
"As are we all, child," she said with a sigh, looking old and tired. It was shocking, really, seeing her this way.
"The time?" I gently reminded her.
"Their tour is scheduled for eleven o'clock. He said he'd be done by two this afternoon."
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Admiral Sopcoate wouldn't be in danger after all. What I really needed to do was find out what time high tide was.
"Excuse me." I bobbed a quick curtsy, then left the room, anxious to find Stilton.
He was in his office, just sitting down to his desk. "Did you find out?" I asked as I burst in.
He glanced up at my interruption. "Oh, good morning, Theo. Yes, I did. High tide is at twelve forty-seven p.m. today."
Right in the middle of the admiral's tour! He would be in horrible danger! "Thank you," I said, then dashed toward the west entrance, hoping Will would be there early. Surely he'd realize we'd have much to discuss this morning, after our wild adventures of the night before.
However, Will was nowhere in sight at the west entrance. Instead, I found Snuffles hiding in the bushes. I would have missed him but for the loud sneeze that exploded from the shrubbery just as I was closing the door.
"Snuffles?" I whispered.
And up he popped. "Miss?" he said as he wiped his nose along his sleeve.
I winced, then spotted the clean linen handkerchief I'd given to him sitting crisp and white in his coat pocket. "You're supposed to use your handkerchief for that," I said.
"Oh, no, miss! It's much too nice for that."
I blinked, then shook my head. "Where is Will this morning?"
Snuffles's face fell. "That's wot I was hopin' you could tell me. He didn't come home last night. He and Ratsy went out—"
"Ratsy?"
"Me next oldest brother, miss."
"Just how many of you are there, anyway?"
"Seven. There's Will, then Ratsy, next comes Sparky, then me, an' Pincher, Soggers, and the Gob."
"The Gob?" I repeated faintly.
"Aye. On account of 'im putting everything in his gob."
I hardly knew what to say to that. Luckily, Snuffles brought us back to the subject at hand.
"Anyway, 'e and Will went out last night after we got back but then never came 'ome this mornin'."
"Maybe he just went to give Wigmere the message?"
"Mebbe. But not Ratsy. Ratsy had a job this mornin', but we couldn't find a sign o' him anywhere."
My stomach dropped all the way to my knees. This was not good. Not good at all. Did they get too close to Chaos's plans? Or did this have something to do with the Grim Nipper?