Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris-Theo 2 (30 page)

He eyed me curiously. "Now, why don't you want me to remove this last knot?" Keeping his gaze on me, he moved his hand toward it. Just then, Yuri stuck his head into the pantry.

"Hurry!" the Russian said. "They're about to start."

Distracted, Bollingsworth forgot about the last knot and tied me up. Luckily, my dress sleeves were tightly buttoned at the wrist so he simply tied the rope over them. "I'll be back to deal with you in a while. Oh, wait." He tapped his turban. "I won't have to!" Laughing, he followed Yuri into the wardroom.

I didn't know whether he had meant to or not, but he had managed to leave the door open a crack.

The minute they were out of sight, I began struggling against the rope, but carefully so my sleeves wouldn't creep up and expose my skin. I wasn't sure how long my amulets would hold against a curse this strong.

Light conversation floated to my ears as the last of the officers took their seats. When I heard Captain Bacon's voice, I stopped struggling in order to listen. "My fine men, we have a treat in store for us today. Our own Admiral Sopcoate is here to say a few words and introduce us to his guests. Won't you welcome me in joining him?"

As applause followed, I worked even harder against my bonds, but it was no use. The clapping died down and another sound reached my ears. A muted scraping of metal on metal. I cocked my head. It was coming from behind me.

I tried to twist my head to see, but it was near impossible. The sound grew louder, so using my feet, I wiggled my body around on the stool until I was facing the wall.

And I nearly fainted when I saw two small, dark figures who looked as though they'd sprung from the Underworld.

One of them reached out and put a hand on my arm, and my heart almost stopped beating. I opened my mouth to scream.

"Quiet, miss! It's just me!"

It took a full second for me to recognize Sticky Will's voice. I realized that there was a small hatch in the wall that they had slid open.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in a strained whisper. "And what happened to you? Snuffles has been terribly worried." So had I, but I wasn't about to bring that up. Not after last time.

"Me and Ratsy snuck aboard during coaling, before dawn this morning. We're a bit dusty is all."

"My fellow officers..." Admiral Sopcoate began speaking.

"We have to hurry!" I told Will. "Can you untie me?"

"In a jiffy."

"No! Wait! Before you touch that rope, reach into that bag there and take two of the amulets. Each of you put one on. The rope is cursed," I explained at Will's dubious look.

When Will pulled out two of the homemade amulets, he stared at them in disgust. "We aren't wearing no necklaces!"

"They're not necklaces. I told you, they hold protective charms that will keep you safe from the cursed spirit captured in this rope. Now, put them on!"

Grumbling, Will and Ratsy slipped on the amulets, and then Will began to untie the rope. "After we left you, Snuffles went home and Ratsy met up with me. We went back to the Salty Dog. The German bloke and the one wi' the chewed-up face were stayin' there, in a room at the tavern. We followed, thinking mebbe we could 'ear anyfink else they 'ad to say. Instead, they led us right to a room full o' mummies! All the missing mummies are piled in the cellar of the Salty Dog."

"Excellent work, Will. What did Wigmere say when you told him?"

Will looked sheepish. "Well, I didn't have time to give Wiggy the message. We came aboard 'ere instead and never made it back to Somerset 'ouse." He gave a final grunt and the rope came away.

My heart fell. I had been counting on Wigmere and the Brotherhood to show up at any moment to help us out. But we were on our own.

Once I was untied, I stuffed the rope in my pocket, snatched the wand from the floor, and we all inched toward the crack in the door, careful not to make any noise. I peeked out.

"...pleased to present to you Ezana Sehul, crown prince of Abyssinia..."

I pulled my head back in. "There are two men right in front of this door. Two are at the front of the room, two are on the far side, and one more is in the back. I'm pretty sure they're all armed with pistols, but they'll try not to use them for fear of raising the officers' suspicion."

"Do you 'ave a plan, miss?"

"Er, not quite yet. Give me a moment."

"...and his high priest, Yeshaq Lebna," Sopcoate continued. "They are here today to view the greatest navy in the world as they begin to build a navy of their own. Even when starting out, why not start from the best, eh?" He laughed, and the room joined him.

I was close to panicking now. We were almost out of time and I had no tools and no ideas. Behind me, the boys were whispering together, but before I could hear what they were saying, Sopcoate's words snagged my attention.

"As a token of Prince Sehul's thanks, he will have his high priest perform a sacred Abyssinian Blessing of the Water ceremony, guaranteed to bring good luck and prosperity to our vessel. Prince Sehul."

We had just run out of time. Once the staff came into contact with the water, the poisonous gases would be released into the room. Perhaps I should just run into the room screaming the truth? That would at least put a temporary stop to the proceedings. I opened my mouth to take a breath when Will poked me in the shoulder. "What?" I asked, annoyed at having my momentum interrupted.

"We figure we can take four of 'em out, see. I got my flick knife, and Ratsy's got 'is slingshot. 'E can take out two, mebbe three, with it before they even know what 'it 'em."

"He's that good a shot?"

"'E's a ratter, miss. That's 'ow he catches the rats."

"Oh, well, yes, but that still leaves the others."

"Mebbe not," Ratsy said from the door. It was the first time he'd spoken and his voice was unusually deep, almost like a foghorn.

"What do you mean?"

"Look."

I looked out the crack and gasped. The back of Bollingsworth's neck had erupted in black boils and his skin was now a grayish-greenish shade. The rope had worked! Even better, he was swaying on his feet, struggling to stay upright as the curse overtook him.

Just off to my right, there was a flash of movement at the door as a sailor appeared. The officer on guard lowered his head to hear what he had to say. "A dog?" he repeated, so softly that only those of us near the door could have heard it.

"Yes sir, a dog."

A dog? My hopes rose. Could it be...?

"Well, catch it as quickly as you can. We don't want our guests' visit to be marred by a beastly animal on board!"

At that very moment, Sopcoate and a dignitary were balancing a huge vessel full of water. They set it down in front of von Braggenschnott. He raised the staff in his hand and began to chant in a strange language that I recognized as a perverted form of Egyptian.

Everyone in the room was riveted.

Except the sailor at the door. "I say, sir, but what's wrong with that gent there?" He pointed at Bollingsworth, whose entire face was now covered in hideous boils.

"Good gad!" the officer said, probably louder than he meant to.

Heads turned to see what the matter was. A ripple of disquiet ran through the room as the conversation was repeated from officer to officer. In the front, von Braggenschnott said something with great flourish, then rotated the staff so it was upside down.

"Now," I said to Will. I bolted out of the pantry with the wand in my grasp. If I hit von Braggenschnott's hand, it would cause him to drop the staff. The only problem was, he'd drop it straight into the water, which would have the exact effect he wanted.

Over the chanting I could now hear the barking, but it was quickly drowned out when the most recent officer to have noticed the cursed man stood up and pointed to the back of the room. "The ruddy foreigners have brought us some nasty disease! Look!"

Many things happened at once then.

Will stuck the Russian with his flick knife, causing him to drop to the ground.

Slightly hidden behind the pantry door, Ratsy fired his slingshot. A small piece of coal struck Franz in the forehead, downing him like a ninepin.

In the confusion that erupted, a lean black shape burst through the wardroom door. It
was
Anubis! And he was heading straight for von Braggenschnott.

I
N A HEARTBEAT
, the jackal was at the front of the room. His sharp, pointed teeth closed around the staff.

Seeing my chance, I launched the wand.

It whirled unevenly across the short distance (thank goodness most of the officers between me and von Braggenschnott were still sitting or they would have stopped it with their heads) and struck von Braggenschnott's hand with a muffled
crack.

Unable to help himself, von Braggenschnott let go of the staff. The jackal stumbled backwards, almost going end over teakettle, the staff still clutched in his teeth. Realizing he
was free of a struggle, he darted out of the room. "
Nein! Nicht der zauberstab!
" von Braggenschnott yelled.

Pandemonium exploded.

"Get that jackal!" Admiral Sopcoate bellowed.

"The high priest is speaking German!" Captain Bacon exclaimed.

Thwack!
Another piece of coal took out the Frenchman kneeling next to Bollingsworth, who had collapsed to the ground.

"Get the girl!" von Braggenschnott yelled.

"Now he's speaking the Queen's English!" someone said.

My eyes sought out Will. "Go back out the way you came and make sure the jackal escapes."

Will threw me a puzzled look. "But 'e's got yer staff!"

"I know, but he'll take it back to the museum. Now go!"

Will gave a quick nod, and then he and Ratsy disappeared into the pantry.

Four Chaos agents were down. Unfortunately, that still left four more.

Hiding behind the officers' legs, I crawled over to where Bollingsworth had fallen and slipped Snuffles's guinea into his pocket. Then, using a group of officers as cover, I duck-walked over to the door and slipped into the passageway. I tried to remember which way we'd come. From the left, I thought.

As I headed for the hatchway, a number of sailors were hurrying to the upper deck, intent on obeying Admiral Sopcoate's order to stop the jackal. When I reached the ladder, I saw one sailor coming down. Unlike the others, he didn't look confused—he looked purposeful and had a rather ruthless air about him. When he caught sight of me, he quickened his pace.

Bother. I'd forgotten they had agents hidden onboard. I whirled around and began running in the opposite direction, looking for a ladder that led up so I wouldn't be cornered in the bowels of the ship.

Not giving my knickers a second thought this time, I scrambled up the first ladder I came to.

As I emerged on deck, I took great heaping gulps of air, grateful to be outside at last. To my left lay the bow. Nothing there but anchor chains and vents. Certainly no means of escape.

I charged right, toward where the sailors had been lining up for inspection. Safety in numbers, I hoped.

The deck between the forward gun turret and the edge of the ship was relatively narrow, so I crept carefully, hugging the base of the tower as I went.

Once clear, I raced toward the bridge. As I ran, I glanced up at the chart house. Was that a flicker of movement I saw? I blinked against the bright sky, bringing my vision into
sharper focus, but no, it had just been wishful thinking. There was no help from that quarter. All the officers who normally served on the bridge were down in the wardroom.

There was a shout behind me as Admiral Sopcoate and von Braggenschnott emerged on the upper deck.

I scrambled down the ladder that led to the level below. In front of me, two burly sailors were headed my way. My first thought was of rescue, until I heard Admiral Sopcoate shout out, "Squidge! Farley! Seize her!"

There was no place left to go. The smooth steel wall of the ship loomed on my left, the railing and the river on my right.

I glanced back at von Braggenschnott and Sopcoate, who were now coming down the ladder. Squidge and Farley were seconds away.

I decided I'd take my chances overboard.

Holding on to the top railing, I put my feet onto the bottom rail. It was wobbly and precarious, and I'd be lucky if I didn't end up going into the river headfirst. But surely the dark, foul water of the Thames was better than capture? Especially since I'd foiled Chaos's plans twice now. As Bollingsworth had said, they had a debt to settle.

I lifted my right foot to the top rail. I would have to push off hard to avoid hitting the side of the boat on the way down. I took a deep breath.

There was a flutter of blackness off to my right—between Sopcoate and me—as a great black shape swooped out of the sky in my direction.

An arm came around my middle, knocking a gasp of surprise out of me. My feet left the railing, and my heart, which had been lodged up in my throat, took a nosedive down toward my toes as the deck swayed sickeningly beneath me.

We landed with a bone-jarring thud (of which the cloaked figure took the brunt, I might add). My rescuer released me and I stumbled, then bent over to catch my breath. "You've simply got to find a better way to—you!"

The sight of Clive Fagenbush had me gaping in shock. "What are you doing here?" Honestly! Is no one who they seem anymore?

"Run, you little fool." He whipped a pair of pistols out from under his cape.

Shouts and yells from the officers' mess let me know that Chaos would be following, so even though I loathed doing anything Fagenbush told me to, I hightailed it out of there. With Fagenbush watching my back, I made my way aft, where, by the shouts I heard, the jackal had been spotted.

When I arrived, all the sailors were standing on the dockside, shouting encouragement to a handful of men who were chasing the jackal down the boarding plank. I breathed a
sigh of relief. The staff would be out of Chaos's reach, at least for now.

Fagenbush was right on my heels. "What happened to the others?" I asked.

"They changed their minds and returned to the front of the ship," he said.