Read Online Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris-Theo 2 by R. L. Lafevers, Yoko Tanaka - Free Book Online

my bum in the process.
    "Watch where you're going," he snarled, then brushed off his suit, as if I had dirtied it somehow.
    "How was I to know you'd be skulking around down here?" I said, mirroring his gesture by brushing off my pinafore.
    "I wasn't skulking. I've come to show Constable Biggs here the east entrance, as he asked me to." That was when I noticed that he did indeed have the constable with him. "What are
you
doing here?" Fagenbush asked suspiciously.
    "I ... came to see if the door had been tampered with." I turned to the constable. "But it hasn't been. It was locked up tight when I found it."
    Before either of them could question me further, I hurried down the hall.
    Once I reached the foyer, the familiar sensation of beetles marching down my spine overtook me for a moment. How could I have forgotten? I had work to do.
    But as I looked around, I saw that I was nearly too late. Strangers—a small army of them—were swarming everywhere. Unfamiliar porters and workmen toiled side by side with Dolge and Sweeny, lugging the mummies down to Receiving, where I assumed carts were ready to return them to their owners. Weems was trying to direct traffic but just kept getting in the way.
    There were a couple of other men, too, although they were younger and dressed in suits. One was talking to Stilton and writing things down on a pad, while another was trying to set up some photography equipment. More policemen, perhaps? I inched closer to overhear their conversation.
    "Oh, yes," Stilton was saying. "Tales of mummy curses have been around for ages."
    The stranger scribbled something furiously on his notepad. "Yes, go on. What are some of the most common effects of these?"
    "Well, there are stories of people dying or having serious accidents, or horrible misfortunes befalling them after they'd disturbed a mummy."
    The man stopped writing and looked up at Stilton. "What exactly do you mean by 'disturb'?"
    Stilton's left shoulder jerked. "Move it from it's rightful resting place. Or any resting place, I suppose. Or open the seal on it's tomb..."
    The fellow began scribbling again. "What can people do to protect themselves?"
    "Well, not handle mummies, for one ... and gold is supposed to be a powerful form of protection...."
    I was surprised at how well versed Stilton was in such mythology. I had thought him mostly a clerk.
    "Gold?" the man echoed.
    "Yes, gold represents the fierce power of the sun god Ra, which is said to drive the mummy away."
    "Where on earth have you been?" Vicary Weems snarled.
    I jerked as if I'd been burned, then realized he wasn't speaking to me. He was talking to Fagenbush. My enjoyment in watching Fagenbush squirm under Weems's questioning was distracted by a grunt off to my left. Dolge had just wrapped his burly arms around one of the mummies. Oh dear! He and Sweeny might come into contact with that vile curse.
    I shoved a hand into the pocket of my pinafore and sauntered over to the mummies, as if wanting another look. When I got close enough to Dolge, I tripped and grabbed on
to him for support—but of course it was actually so I could slip one of my extra wedjat eyes into his pocket.
    "Watch it there, miss," he said. "I'd hate for you to bump up against one o' these mummies and get a curse." He winked, clearly thinking it a fine joke.
    If only he knew...
    I moved away to find Sweeny. He wasn't quite as good-natured as Dolge, so I'd have to be a little more clever with him.
    While I was still puzzling over how to approach Sweeny, the man with the photographic equipment called out, "Over here, gents!" There was a loud
pop!
and a blinding flash, then Sweeny yelled out, "Ruddy 'ell! I can't see!"
    At the same moment, Inspector Turnbull saw the photographer and began bellowing at the top of his lungs. "What's that reporter doing in here? Get him out! Out!"
    I rushed to Sweeny's side while he was still batting the dancing dots away from his vision and patted his arm. "Don't worry. Your sight will