An Inside Job

“You should get the dog to chase you, ” Khepri said. “Lure him into the tomb. ”

I blinked. “You want that beast to chase me? ”

“Yes, ” Khepri said cheerily. “If he corners you in here, then the guards will have to come in to sort things out. They’ll see that the block is out of place, and then—”

“And then I’ll be that dog’s dinner, ” I finished. “I can’t believe you’re suggesting this, Khepri. Did you see his teeth? ”

“He’ll never catch you, Ra. You’re too fast for that. And too clever. ” “I’m clever enough to say no, ” I told him.

Khepri went on as if I hadn’t spoken. “You’d leap up on that half-broken ledge, and the guards would rescue you, and then they’d give you snacks to revive you—”

“Snacks? ” I reconsidered my position. “You think they’d do that? ”

“Of course, ” Khepri said. “You’ll be half fainting in their arms, and it will be their dog’s fault. They’ll have to make it up to you. You’re Pharaoh’s Cat. ”

“Hmmm…” I thought this over. “Well, all right then. But I’m not doing this alone, Khepri. You have to sit on my head and be the lookout. ” “Done. ” Khepri scrambled up to my head. “Now let’s plan our attack—” “We’ll come in from the side, ” I suggested.

“A head-on attack would be better, ” Khepri maintained.

“Head-on? With a dog? Khepri—”

“You two are taking too long. ” Miu dashed back down the tunnel.

“Hey, wait! ” I wasn’t going to be robbed of my glory—or my snacks. I bounded after her as fast as I could go.

The momentum carried me out to the cliffside, where I passed Miu and headed straight for the dog.

“Go get him, Ra! ” Khepri hollered in my ear.

“You bet I will! ” I hollered back.

The gray beast was standing at attention by a clutch of guards. I sideswiped him, kicking up a cloud of dust right under his nose. “Catch me if you can! ” I bellowed, and then my feet went out from under me in a scree of loose stones.

I landed right under the dog’s nose.

“Yikes! ” Khepri shrieked. “Get up, Ra! ”

Dazed, I rolled over, but that only gave me a close-up view of the dog’s mouth, opening wide. I shut my eyes, sure it was the end.

“Sorry, ” the dog said gruffly. “But I can’t. ”

I blinked. “What? ”

The dog looked abashed. “No offense, Great Pharaoh’s Cat. It’s kind of you to offer to play a game with me, especially after the way I treated you earlier. But I have to say no. I’m on duty, you see. And besides, I’m on a leash. ”

“Oh. ” I sneaked a look. The rope leash blended in with the cliffside, but it was definitely there. As Miu trotted up, I rolled to my feet, just out of leash range. “Er…no offense taken. I was…trying to be friendly. ”

“Maybe on my off hours? ” the dog said eagerly. “I could play then. ”

“Er…” I stalled for an answer.

“That’s too late, ” Miu whispered to me. “We need help now. ”

“She’s right, ” Khepri mumbled in my ear. “I think we need a new plan.

This one isn’t working. ”

“What’s that you’re talking about? ” the dog asked, cocking his head to one side. “Something about a plan? ”

Pharaoh’s Cat is a keen judge of character, and up close I could see that this dog was a very obliging sort of fellow. So, then and there, I decided to take him into my confidence.

“You’re right, I’m Pharaoh’s Cat, ” I said. “And you are…? ”

“Boo, ” the dog said proudly. “Faithful servant of the Captain of the Guard and his men. ”

“We have a problem, Boo, ” I explained. “We’ve found some clues in another tomb—”

“The one you just came out of? ” the dog interrupted.

“Yes. ”

The dog nodded wisely. “That was the tomb of Thutmose the Second. It was robbed a couple of years ago, but we tracked down the thieves. Of course, they’d melted everything down by then and set fire to what was left, so nothing could be recovered, not even the mummy. But I still think of it as Thutmose the Second’s tomb. ”

“Well, whatever it’s called, ” I said, “we need the humans to go inspect it. Any chance you could help us? ”

“I’ll see what I can do, ” Boo said, but he didn’t look hopeful. “Truth is, they’re not likely to let me off the leash again today, not after the mess I made earlier. And they’re too strong for me to drag them all the way there. ”

When we told Boo what the clues were, he was even less optimistic. “It’ll be a job getting them to notice that, ” he said. “They’re not the brightest bunch, humans. And they’re worse than usual today, after feasting and drinking so late into the night. ”

“Did you see what happened? ” Miu asked.

“Last night? ” Boo scratched himself. “No, I can’t say I did. I took advantage of their party to catch up on my sleep. The Captain’s had me out on night duty for weeks. ”

“What about this morning, during the hunt for the missing guards? ”

Khepri followed up. “Did you notice anything then? ”

“Nope. It was just the same old cliffs. There wasn’t much to see—” “Or smell? ” Miu asked.

“Not after that sandstorm last night, ” Boo said. “Blew away all the evidence, I guess. Anyway, I’m not really a scent hound. I’m a sight hound.

I track things with my eyes. ”

“So you didn’t smell the meat in the tomb? ” I asked. Boo licked his muzzle. “There was meat? ” “Only a little, ” Miu said.

“Goose spiced with cinnamon and a touch of cumin, ” I added.

“Hmmm. ” Boo thought this over. “Sounds like the stew from our feast. ”

“Aha! ” Khepri slid down my nose and hopped onto the rocks. “This may be our breakthrough. Who made the stew? ”

“The villagers, ” Boo said. “Goose with cinnamon and a bit of cumin is a Set Ma’at specialty. On big feast days, they always cook up enough for the guards, too. They bring it up to us in big pots. We always finish it all, every scrap. ”

“So the stew’s a village specialty? ” Khepri said thoughtfully. “That suggests the tomb robbery is an inside job. ”

“Yes, ” I agreed, then whispered to Khepri, “Doesn’t it have to be? I mean, you can’t rob the outside of a tomb. ”

“Inside job is just an expression, Ra, ” Khepri whispered back. “It means that the robbers come from inside the village. They aren’t from somewhere across the Nile or the desert. ”

“It figures, ” Boo said glumly. “Lots of tomb robberies are inside jobs. The workers know all the secrets. They remember the layout and location of the tombs, and the treasures inside them, and the traps. Sometimes they even try to copy the traps in their own tombs in the cliffs by the village. But their operations aren’t run as well. If they put in a pit to catch thieves, they never make it deep enough, and their spikes are never sharp enough—”

I cut across his mournful tones. “This is great. ”

“Great? ” Miu echoed doubtfully. “I don’t see why, Ra. ”

“We’ve got this case almost cracked, ” I said. “All we have to do is find out who had leftover stew, and we’ll have our tomb robber. Ta-dah! I bet we’ll be back at the palace for midafternoon snacks. ”

“It might not be that simple, Ra, ” Khepri said anxiously.

Poor Khepri. He’s a worrier by nature. He’s lucky he has someone like me to cheer him up.

“It’ll be simple, believe me, ” I said. “All we have to do is get back to the village—”

I glanced around and frowned. The Vizier was nowhere in sight, and neither was his litter.

“Our ride, ” I said in alarm. “It’s gone! ”

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