Stay Away from the Tombs

“That’s right, ” Boo said, beating the ground with his tail. “The Vizier left just before you came over to visit me. He’s headed back to Set Ma’at. The

Scribe and his man Huya and the boy went, too. ” “Without us? ” I was scandalized.

“The boy went looking, but he couldn’t find you. And the Vizier said he wouldn’t wait, and that you’d find your own way back. ” Boo pointed his muzzle down the Valley. “If you look down there, you can see the litter. ”

They were so far away that the litter was tinier than one of my toes. But at least it was still in sight.

“Come on! ” I scooped Khepri up with my paw and deposited him on my head. “We don’t want to miss our ride. ”

I raced down the cliffside. My paws burned, but I didn’t care. It was either this, or walk the whole way back.

“Ra, you forgot to say good-bye, ” Miu said, bounding down after me.

I turned and waved to the dog. “Thanks for the help! ” “Come back anytime! ” Boo howled after us. “Maybe you…” I didn’t catch his last words. I was running too fast.

“Ra, wait! ” Miu called.

I didn’t slow down, but she overtook me anyway. “You missed an invitation, ” she said. “To play games at twilight. ”

“Fat chance. ” I continued catapulting down the Valley. “I’ll be back in the palace by then, and you can bet I won’t be leaving it. ” “First you have to get to Set Ma’at, ” Miu pointed out.

“I’m working on it. ” I stopped on a rocky outcrop, panting from the heat. We’d closed some of the distance between us and the Vizier, but not enough.

“Come on, ” Miu said. “We’ll need to pick up the pace if we’re going to catch up with them. ”

The next time I looked up, the Vizier’s litter was even farther away from us than before.

“They’re getting faster, ” I moaned.

“Actually, I think we’re getting slower, ” said Miu. “It’s the heat. ”

“I’ll bring you up to speed, ” cried Khepri. “Forward march! One, two, three, four, one two, three—”

“Here’s another idea, Khepri. ” Stepping on some sharp pebbles, I winced. “Why don’t you carry me? ”

Khepri thought that was very funny.

“I’m not joking. ” The sun was beating my head like a drum. “I tell you I can’t…go…on. ”

I expected Miu would say I had to keep running, but she slowed down, too. “I think we need a break, ” she panted. “Just a short one. ”

Before she could change her mind, I dropped to the ground, so exhausted I didn’t see the dung pile beside me.

“Wow! ” Khepri leaped headfirst. “What a great lunch! If we have to stop, then this is the perfect place. ”

“I refuse to watch, ” I told him.

“Mmmmmmm, ” Khepri said blissfully. “This dung has such an intriguing aroma. Not quite dog, I’d say. Wilder than that. But I’m not sure exactly what—”

A howl floated across the canyon.

“Anooooooooooooooooobis! ”

Khepri scrambled onto my back. “Wh-What was that? ”

I leaped up. “I don’t know. But I sure hope you wiped your feet. ”

“Jackals! ” shrieked Miu. “Over there! ”

“Impossible, ” I said as she bolted past me. “They don’t hunt by day. ” But when I glanced over my shoulder, I saw them: half a dozen of the golden wolf-kin streaming toward us, fur shining in the sunlight.

“Anooooooooooooooooobis! ”

Forgetting my exhaustion, I streaked down the hill after Miu, but the dusty terrain offered no cover, and we weren’t fast enough. Before we knew it, the jackals had us surrounded, caught in a dip in the path that led back to Set Ma’at.

“Anooooooooooooooooobis! ”

The cry echoed from one baying mouth to another. Ugly laughter followed.

“I hope the joke isn’t on us, ” Khepri whispered.

The jackals were so close that I could see the dark outline around their glowing eyes. The leader of the pack snapped his jaws, and the circle tightened.

“Stay away from the toooooooooombs! ” the leader warned us.

“Stay away from the toooooooooombs! ” They all took up the cry.

Beside me, Miu was breathing very fast. She didn’t look scared anymore, just mad.

“We’re not even going to the tombs, ” she burst out. “If you jackals just paid attention, you’d notice we’re on our way back to the village. ” “Miu! ” I tried to nudge her into silence, but she shook me off.

“So leave us alone, ” she finished defiantly.

The leader bared sharp teeth set in black gums. “Don’t you go giving me orders, cat. ” He threw back his head and howled again. “Beware the jackals of Anooooooooooooooooobis! ”

“Anooooooooooooooooobis! ” the rest of them bayed.

“What’s all this about Anubis, anyway? ” Miu demanded. “Do you know something about the tomb robbery? ”

The leader’s eyes flashed. “You don’t get to ask questions, cat. ”

“Oh, yes, I do, ” Miu said. “I’m a Great Detective. ”

I saw the leader’s jaw snap. His pack took a step closer.

“That’s our game! ” I said quickly, making myself look as silly as possible. (It’s not easy for Pharaoh’s Cat to hide his innate intelligence and savvy, but he can if he has to. ) “You’ve probably played it, too. Detectives and Tomb Robbers? Just us cats having a fun time. With our beetle. ” I gave him a friendly tail salute. “But we’re ready to go home now. ”

The leader watched me intently.

“Did I mention I’m Pharaoh’s Cat? ” I added helpfully. “That means I’m under Pharaoh’s protection. Not to mention the protection of Bastet and the sun god Ra himself. ”

The leader got an odd look in his eye. “Pharaoh’s Cat, huh? ” He conferred with his second-in-command.

“Pharaoh…Bastet…Ra, ” I heard them mutter. And then the second-incommand said, “Don’t worry, Chief, I hear that cat’s not so smart. Spends his time napping. ”

Hah! Pharaoh’s Cat is as smart as they come. I almost spoke out loud, but I remembered in time that I was supposed to be playing dumb.

“All right. ” The leader motioned to the pack, and they backed off. “Go home, Pharaoh’s Pussycat. Take your friends with you. But don’t you come around here again. ” He raised his sharp muzzle to the sky. “Stay away from the tooooooooooooooooombs! ”

“Stay away from the toooooooooombs! ” the pack cried.

We didn’t move till they’d vanished back into the cliffs. Even then, we could still hear them howling in the distance—and sniggering and laughing.

“Anooooooooooooooooobis! ”

“Horrible beasts, ” Miu said angrily. “Who do they think they are? ”

“Well, they can’t be the robbers, ” Khepri reasoned. “Not unless they can haul blocks of stone around. ”

“True. But they know something, ” Miu said, looking back at the cliffs.

“I’m sure of it. ”

“Let’s figure it out later, ” I begged. “Right now, I just want to get back to Set Ma’at. ”

The Vizier’s litter could no longer be seen. Miu and I had to travel by paw the whole way back, step by painful step, with Khepri keeping time. I’d never walked so far in my life.

“It’s not such a big deal, Ra, ” Miu said. “Why, lots of cats cover this much ground every day. ”

“Pharaoh’s Cat doesn’t, ” I croaked, my voice dried out by the heat. “Pharaoh’s Cat gets carried. ”

By the time we reached Set Ma’at, I was barely able to creep through the gates.

“Just take me back to the palace, ” I whispered. “I’ll never leave

Pharaoh’s side again. ”

“You don’t mean that, Ra, ” Khepri said.

“Oh, yes, I do. ” I dragged myself into the shade of a white-pillared house. “Where’s the Vizier? I want to go home. ”

Out of nowhere, Sabu appeared, his green eyes glowing. “The Vizier?

Why, he went back to Thebes. ”

“He couldn’t. ” I struggled up. “Not without me. ” “He had to report the tomb robbery, ” Sabu said.

I stared at him, unable to believe it. “But the Vizier will be in trouble if he comes back without Pharaoh’s Cat. ”

“Oh, he took a cat with him, ” Sabu said. “One that looked just like you, in fact. A friend of mine. I think he’s looking forward to palace life.

Neferhotep the goldsmith even put your collar on him. ” “What?! ” An imposter had stolen my place?

“Looks like you’re stuck here in Set Ma’at, ” Sabu said cheerfully.

I fainted dead away.

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