Read Online The Red Pyramid -1 by Rick Riordan - Free Book Online Page B

she'd managed to keep her combat boots. She'd probably slept with them on. She looked pretty comical with the red-streaked hair and the outfit, but since I wasn't dressed any better, I could hardly make fun of her.

    "Um...Amos?" I asked. "You didn't have any pet birds, did you? Khufu's eating something with pink feathers."

    "Mmm." Amos sipped his coffee. "Sorry if that disturbed you. Khufu's very picky. He only eats foods that end in -o. Doritos, burritos, flamingos."

    I blinked. "Did you say--"

    "Carter," Sadie warned. She looked a little queasy, like she'd already had this conversation.

    "Don't ask."

    "Okay," I said. "Not asking."

    "Please, Carter, help yourself." Amos waved toward a buffet table piled high with food. "Then we can get started with the explanations."

    I didn't see any flamingo on the buffet table, which was fine by me, but there was just about everything else. I snagged some pancakes with butter and syrup, some bacon, and a glass of OJ.

    Then I noticed movement in the corner of my eye. I glanced at the swimming pool. Something long and pale was gliding just under the surface of the water.

    I almost dropped my plate. "Is that--"

    "A crocodile," Amos confirmed. "For good luck. He's albino, but please don't mention that. He's sensitive."

    "His name is Philip of Macedonia," Sadie informed me.

    I wasn't sure how Sadie was taking this all so calmly, but I figured if she wasn't freaking out, I shouldn't either.

    "That's a long name," I said.

    "He's a long crocodile," Sadie said. "Oh, and he likes bacon."

    To prove her point, she tossed a piece of bacon over her shoulder. Philip lunged out of the water and snapped up the treat. His hide was pure white and his eyes were pink. His mouth was so big, he could've snapped up an entire pig.

    "He's quite harmless to my friends," Amos assured me. "In the old days, no temple would be complete without a lake full of crocodiles. They are powerful magic creatures."

    "Right," I said. "So the baboon, the crocodile...any other pets I should know about?"

    Amos thought for a moment. "Visible ones? No, I think that's it."

    I took a seat as far from the pool as possible. Muffin circled my legs and purred. I hoped she had enough sense to stay away from magic crocodiles named Philip.

    "So, Amos," I said between bites of pancake. "Explanations."

    "Yes," he agreed. "Where to start..."

    "Our dad," Sadie suggested. "What happened to him?"

    Amos took a deep breath. "Julius was attempting to summon a god. Unfortunately, it worked."

    It was kind of hard to take Amos seriously, talking about summoning gods while he spread butter on a bagel.

    "Any god in particular?" I asked casually. "Or did he just order a generic god?"

    Sadie kicked me under the table. She was scowling, as if she actually believed what Amos was saying.

    Amos took a bite of bagel. "There are many Egyptian gods, Carter. But your dad was after one in particular."

    He looked at me meaningfully.

    "Osiris," I remembered. "When Dad was standing in front of the Rosetta Stone, he said, 'Osiris, come.' But Osiris is a legend. He's make-believe."

    "I wish that were true." Amos stared across the East River at the Manhattan skyline, gleaming in the morning sun. "The Ancient Egyptians were not fools, Carter. They built the pyramids. They created the first great nation state. Their civilization lasted thousands of years."

    "Yeah," I said. "And now they're gone."

    Amos shook his head. "A legacy that powerful does not disappear. Next to the Egyptians, the Greeks and Romans were babies. Our modern nations like Great Britain and America? Blinks of an eye. The very oldest root of civilization, at least of Western civilization, is Egypt. Look at the pyramid on the dollar bill. Look at the Washington Monument--the world's largest Egyptian obelisk. Egypt is still very much alive. And so, unfortunately, are her gods."

    "Come on," I argued. "I mean...even if I believe there's a real thing called magic. Believing in