Nefru. Guilty. The Breath of Anubis

Nefru

“What was that? ” I said groggily.

“Hold on, Ra. ” Khepri’s chirp wasn’t as cheerful as usual. “Miu’s coming. ”

I saw two of her dashing toward me, then blinked and saw one.

“What happened? ” She crouched beside me, worried. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I didn’t expect to find you sprawled half dead in Pentu’s courtyard. ”

Pentu’s courtyard? Was that where I was? I blinked and caught sight of the model tomb. Not the most comforting sight, frankly.

“He’s lucky he’s not all the way dead, ” Khepri said. “A brick fell and nearly killed us. ”

“I jumped, ” I muttered. It was coming back to me. “Just in time. ”

“But then the brick shattered on the wall, and some of the pieces hit you, ” Khepri told me.

That explained the ache in my tail. I stretched out my paws and wriggled, determined to get back on my feet. “It’s not so bad. Nothing broken. ”

Miu sighed. “Honestly, Ra, you attract trouble. ”

“I think this time trouble was aiming at him, ” Khepri said.

“Did someone throw that brick at me? ” I drew myself up. Ouch.

“These houses are well built, ” Khepri said. “Bricks don’t fall from wellbuilt houses. Besides, what are the odds that a brick would knock you over just as we were chasing Kenamon—”

“Well, the boy couldn’t have done it, ” I said. “He was over there. ” I waved in the general direction with my tail. Double ouch.

“But maybe someone in his family did, ” Khepri argued. “His father owns this house, and I think the brick came from their balcony. ” “Probably an accident, ” I said, but my voice was faint.

“Or maybe the boy led you into danger, ” Khepri said.

“Let’s move you to Sabu’s yard, ” Miu urged. “Sabu’s out looking for the treasure with his cats, but he won’t mind. It’s right next door, and you’ll be safe there. ”

Sabu’s yard wasn’t my idea of a place to recuperate, but Miu wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Hey, ” Khepri said as we scrabbled down into the tiny yard. “Sabu is here. Wait, no—it’s just a kitten. ”

So it was: a small tabby maybe three months old, curled up by a halfcarved statue. When she saw us coming, she started to back away.

“Don’t go, ” Miu called out. “We’re friends of Sabu’s. ”

The kitten hesitated. “Do you know where he is? I need to talk to him. ”

“He’s on the other side of the village, investigating a tomb robbery, ” Miu said kindly. “Can we help? ”

“That’s what I need to talk to him about. ” The kitten trembled. “The robbery. ”

“Well, you can talk to me, ” Miu told her. “I’m his cousin. And this is Pharaoh’s Cat, and—”

“Pharaoh’s Cat? ” The kitten looked at me in wonder. “Really? I thought you left. ”

“I didn’t, ” I said, a touch grimly.

She frowned. “But you don’t look like Pharaoh’s Cat. You’re so dirty, and your fur’s messed up, and you smell like—”

“I’m working undercover, ” I said, my voice even grimmer. When she ducked her head, I added more peaceably, “What’s your name, young one? ”

“I’m Nefru, ” she said softly. “I belong to the household of Neferhotep, the goldsmith. ”

“You do? ” I gave the others a significant glance. “And what is it you want to tell Sabu? ”

“I saw Anubis, ” Nefru said.

Khepri gave a disbelieving click.

“You what? ” I stared at the kitten.

“I saw Anubis, ” Nefru repeated. “Last night. He climbed over the village wall in the middle of the night. ”

“Why didn’t you tell us this before? ” Miu asked.

“Nobody told me what was going on, ” Nefru said. “I’m just a kitten, you see. And I didn’t tell anyone else, because I was too scared. But then I overheard what the other cats were saying, and I thought I’d better find

Sabu. ”

“How did you know it was Anubis you saw? ” I asked.

“He had a jackal’s head and a human’s body, ” Nefru said, as if explaining the obvious. “Nobody else looks like that. And he wasn’t a dream. He was just as real as can be. ”

Her clear gaze made my fur prickle. She was too young a kitten to deliberately lie. “Maybe Anubis really is behind the tomb robbery, ” I murmured to Miu and Khepri.

“Don’t be ridiculous. ” Khepri’s reedy voice floated down from the top of my head. “It must have been somebody in disguise. Nefru, did you see where he came over the wall? ”

“At the end of Pentu the painter’s courtyard, ” Nefru said.

Miu and Khepri exchanged a glance, and I knew what they were thinking. Another piece of evidence against Pentu.

“Maybe you’re remembering it wrong, ” I suggested to Nefru.

She looked up at me, wide-eyed. “No, I’m not. He came over the wall right where Pentu lives. I saw it. ”

“It’s easy to get confused about these things, ” I told her. “Especially at night. Tell me, is there any chance this Anubis looked like someone you know? Like, say, Neferhotep? ”

“Of course not, ” she said hotly. “Neferhotep doesn’t look like Anubis at all. Not one bit. ”

My whole body was aching, but I stayed patient. “Are you sure?

Neferhotep doesn’t have an alibi—”

“I knew I should have waited for Sabu. ” The kitten pulled back from me.

“He would have understood. ”

“Look, kid, ” I told her. “I outrank Sabu—” She bolted.

“Oh, dear, ” Miu said. “You shouldn’t have spoken to her like that, Ra.

She won’t confide in any of us now. ”

“Miu’s right, Ra. ” Khepri hopped down from my head. “You blew it. ”

I was fed up. “Fine. You want this case solved, you do it yourselves. You two and the oh-so-wonderful Sabu. ” I dragged my weary body over to a far corner of the courtyard. “I need a nap. ”

Out of my half-closed eyes, I saw Khepri and Miu whisper in concern and then tiptoe away.

They’ll never get anywhere without me, I thought to myself.

Yawning, I stretched out in my patch of sunlight. I might be muddy and disheveled and missing my golden collar, but I was willing to bet I was still the best catnapper in Egypt.

Take forty winks, I told myself. Forty winks to dream about all the snacks you’re missing back at the palace.

Tender chunks of antelope smothered in gravy…

Grilled duck wings with cardamom sauce…

An entire ox turned on the spit…

My forty winks became eighty, then doubled again.

The sun was low in the sky when Khepri came back and tugged at my ear.

“Wake up, Ra! We’ve caught the thief! ”

Guilty

I sat bolt upright. They’d caught the thief without me?

“Actually, it was the humans who caught him, ” Khepri said, scrambling up my fur. He led me down three houses to the Scribe’s grand residence.

“So it was the Scribe? ” I said. “I knew it! ”

“No, ” Khepri said sadly. “Not the Scribe. Pentu the painter. Kenamon’s father. ”

“Pentu? ” I was horrified. Entering the courtyard, I saw the painter surrounded by the Scribe and four hulking servants. Pentu’s paint-speckled hands were bound behind his back, the rope twisted so tight that it hurt to look at it.

“I swear I didn’t do it, ” Pentu gasped. “I have no idea how that earring got into my paint box—”

“Liar! ” The Scribe struck the painter’s head with an inky hand. “Thief! Did that son of yours help you? Where is he? ”

“I don’t know. ” Pentu’s voice was broken. “But he’s innocent, I swear it. ”

“Then why has he gone missing? ” The Scribe hit Pentu again, harder this time. “And where is the treasure? We’ve searched your house and grounds.

Where did you hide it? ”

“I told you, I didn’t steal—”

This time the Scribe slammed into Pentu with his staff. As the painter sagged from the blow, the Scribe leaned in close, his voice full of menace. “We’ll break you, Pentu. There will be nothing left of you by the time we hand you over to Pharaoh. ” Turning to the servants, he said, “Lock him up in the cellar. I’ll deal with him once we find the boy. ”

“I’m innocent, and so is Kenamon! ” Pentu cried as they dragged him away. That earned him another blow to the head.

I felt sick. Awful as it had been to see Pamiu’s mummy on the floor, this was far worse. At least Pamiu had been dead a long time. Pentu was alive. What would the Scribe do to him? And what would happen to Kenamon and his little sister?

Miu slipped from the shadows with Sabu.

Sabu threw me a triumphant glance. “What did I tell you? It was Pentu who did it. ”

“They’ve got the wrong man, ” I told him.

“Don’t be ridiculous. ” Sabu preened his whiskers. “I was there. I saw it all. I predicted it. And that makes me the real Great Detective. ” “In your dreams, ” I said.

Sabu laughed. “No, in yours. You were the one sleeping on the job. ” I was starting to regret that nap.

“What exactly did you see, Sabu? ” Khepri asked. “I know Pentu, Huya, and Neferhotep were redecorating a room for the Scribe’s wife, but I didn’t hear what happened. ”

“Pentu’s paint box slipped to the ground, ” Sabu said. “No surprises there. He’s always dropping things. But a gold earring fell out, and that got everyone’s attention. The Scribe read the tiny hieroglyphs on it, and it comes from Setnakht’s tomb. So he had Pentu arrested. ”

Even to me, it sounded like an open-and-shut case. Luckily, Pharaoh’s Cat is very, very good at opening what’s shut—whether that’s the door to the banquet hall, or a case that looks hopeless.

“Someone planted the earring, ” I suggested. “I bet it was the Scribe. After all, it happened in his house. ”

“It could have been Huya, ” Khepri said. “Or Neferhotep. They were right there, too. ”

“No, ” Sabu said. “I saw their faces when the earring fell out. They were surprised. ”

“Maybe they’re just good actors, ” I mumbled, but I was getting worried. This was a strong case against Pentu.

“Admit it, ” Sabu said to me. “I was right. I’m the Great Detective. ”

“So where’s the treasure? ” I shot back. “You can’t be a Great Detective if you only solve half the case. ”

Sabu twitched his ears in annoyance. “The treasure is with the boy. Isn’t that obvious? ”

“You’ll never convince me, ” I said.

Sabu rolled his eyes. “You liked the attention Kenamon gave you, I get that. But you’re a fool if you can’t see that he ran off with the loot. ”

I glared at him. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t make wild accusations—”

“So where is the treasure, then? ” Sabu said. “My cats have been combing this village for hours. If the loot from the tomb were here, they would’ve found it. ”

“Maybe the treasure was never stored in the village in the first place, ” Khepri said with a pensive click. “I suppose it’s possible Kenamon ran away with it—”

“Just like I said, ” Sabu put in.

“Khepri! ” I squinted upward, trying to catch a glimpse of him, but it’s impossible to see between your own ears. “You’re on my team, remember? Not Sabu’s. ”

“That’s one possibility, ” Khepri continued. “Another possibility is that the thief hid the treasure somewhere outside the village. ”

“Great. ” Sabu sat down heavily on his haunches. “Now you expect my cats to investigate every nook and cranny in the hills? ”

“What if we start with what’s closest? ” Miu suggested. “We could explore the cliffs near the village, where the villagers’ tombs are. ”

I remembered Boo mentioning the workers’ tombs, but I hadn’t been paying much attention then. I was paying attention now.

“One of the cats was telling me about them, ” Miu went on. “They tend to be small, and they aren’t guarded like the pharaohs’ tombs. They might be a good place to hide something. ”

Sabu considered this. “Maybe you’re right, cousin. But my cats are exhausted, and I can’t ask them to do anything more today. Besides, it’s almost sunset, and they think the tombs are creepy. We’ll go tomorrow instead. ”

Tomorrow sounded good to me, too—until I thought of Pentu in that dark cellar, and his missing son.

I stretched out my sore body and tried not to moan. “No. We go now. ”

“Don’t be stupid, ” Sabu said. “You don’t want to get caught in the desert at night. The jackals will hunt you down. ” Yikes! I’d forgotten about the jackals.

“We’ll go first thing in the morning, okay? ” Sabu yawned and swerved his rear end right in my face. “And now, if you don’t mind, I need to get some rest. Unlike some other cats I could mention, I haven’t been napping all day. Miu, if you come with me, I’ve got an extra mat I could lend you. ”

As he headed off, Miu looked at me apologetically. “I don’t want to take the only mat—”

“Don’t let me stop you, ” I said huffily. “I wouldn’t sleep near Sabu if you gave me an entire roast ox. ” Though maybe two…

I guess I was too huffy, because Miu trotted off without another word.

Khepri slid down my head a little. “Ra, we’d better look for a place to bed down, too. It’ll get dark quickly once the sun sets. ”

“How can you talk about sleep at a time like this? ” I asked him.

“Er…I thought you liked sleeping, Ra. ”

“I do, ” I admitted. “But this is our moment, Khepri. ”

“Our moment for what? ” Khepri inquired cautiously.

“Cracking the case! While Sabu’s sleeping, we’ll dash out to the workers’ tombs—”

“Past the jackals? ” Khepri asked, alarmed.

I’d been alarmed, too, when Sabu had first mentioned them. But after he stuck his rear end in my face, I’d reconsidered.

“He’s just trying to scare us off, ” I told Khepri. “He knows he won’t be a Great Detective unless he finds the treasure, so he doesn’t want us to get there first. But if we go now, we’ll be the ones who find the treasure and solve the crime. ” I couldn’t help adding, “And I bet you anything that it wasn’t Kenamon. ”

Khepri mulled this over. “Well, I’d like it if we were the ones to solve the mystery. And I really hope that Kenamon isn’t guilty. But I’m still worried about the jackals. ”

“Miu said the tombs are close to the village, ” I reminded him. “We’ll be there and back before you know it. ”

“Not if the jackals catch up with us, Ra. ”

“They won’t, ” I said. “And if they do, they won’t bother us. I showed them who was boss earlier. ”

“That’s not how I remember it, ” Khepri mumbled into my ear.

“Trust me, Khepri. We Great Detectives have to stick together. Now hold on tight. ”

Before Khepri could raise more objections, I marched out the village gate, headed to the tombs.

The Breath of Anubis

As I trotted out to the villagers’ tombs, the golden sun was almost touching the tops of the western cliffs. There was no sign of the jackals, but my long shadow crept behind me like a snake on the desert sands.

Khepri twisted against my ear, and I guessed he was looking back toward the village. “Let’s hope the Vizier doesn’t come looking for you now. ”

“If he does, he’ll just have to wait, ” I said. There was no way I was going to let Sabu steal the title of Great Detective from me. Not when I was this close to claiming it back.

The sands were cooling off now that the heat of the day had passed, but I was weary as we neared the miniature pyramids and temples of the village tombs. I came to a stop by the first open doorway I saw.

“This one belongs to the Scribe, ” Khepri said. “See his name up there? ” “You can read? ” I said in amazement.

“A little, ” Khepri said modestly. “I’m learning. ”

“Well, if this place belongs to the Scribe, we’re searching it top to bottom, ” I said as we entered.

As it turned out, there wasn’t much to check.

“Call this a tomb, ” I sniffed, gazing at the cramped walls. “Why, Pharaoh’s wig box is better decorated. And they’re only just digging out the burial chamber. ”

“That’s probably because the Scribe has to spend all his time working on Pharaoh’s tomb, ” Khepri said. “Not to mention yours. ”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I wanted a gorgeous tomb, of course. But until now I hadn’t considered what that meant for everyone else.

“Well, anyway, ” I said, “I don’t think we’re going to find any treasure here. ” And we didn’t, not even in the rubble.

After that, we went into a tomb that was even more lackluster than the Scribe’s. Honestly, it was hardly big enough for a single sarcophagus, let alone the food and furniture and clay servants that a person needed in the afterlife. It did have one glory, though—a wall of remarkable paintings.

“That’s Kenamon’s father, ” I said, stopping in front of one of them. “And it’s Kenamon who painted him. I can tell. ”

“This must be their family tomb, ” Khepri said.

Because it was so small, it didn’t take long to investigate, and there was absolutely nothing in it.

“Not a single speck of gold, ” I said with satisfaction.

“Let’s hope that’s not because Kenamon’s hidden it somewhere else, ” Khepri said.

“He hasn’t, ” I insisted. “You’ll see. Where’s Huya’s tomb? ”

We located it quickly: the tomb with the most elaborate carpentry— including an intricate wooden ceiling.

“Maybe it has secret panels, ” Khepri said. “I sure wish we could find a way up there. ”

“No problem, ” I told him. “Cats are the best climbers. ”

Which was sort of true. But they can’t walk upside down, so I had to give up.

“We’ll come back, ” I promised.

After we saw a potter’s tomb and a stonecutter’s tomb, we stumbled across Neferhotep’s tomb, which wasn’t much more than a load of bricks and the start of a hole in the ground.

“I don’t think the treasure’s here, ” Khepri said.

Neither did I, so we moved on to the next tomb, which was more substantial: an empty space half carved out of the rock, with a ledge and some rough columns at one end of it, and at the other, a familiar figure… My eyes widened in the dim light. “Sabu? ” He remained eerily still.

“What are you doing here? ” I asked.

He said nothing, and I began to get scared. Was it Sabu’s father? Or maybe…his ghost?

Behind me, I heard a faint meow, as if from a feline spirit. Shivering, I backed away, but Khepri crept forward until he was right under the cat’s nose.

The cat didn’t move a whisker.

It was a ghost!

Now Khepri was crawling onto the ghost’s paw.

“Khepri, leave that ghost alone! ” I hissed.

Khepri giggled. “It’s not a ghost, Ra. It’s a statue of Sabu. This must be Bek’s tomb. ”

“Oh. ” Relieved, I came forward to inspect the statue. “It’s a very good likeness—”

“Meoooooow! ”

There it was again, that cat cry, only louder this time. I went still. “Now, that sounded like a ghost. ” “It sounded like a cat to me, ” Khepri said.

“A cat ghost, ” I clarified as Khepri hopped back onto me. I was getting worried again. “One of Sabu’s ancestors, maybe. Or—” “There you are! ” Miu bounded in.

“Miu? ” I was startled to see her. “What are you doing here? ”

“I couldn’t get to sleep, so I went for a walk, and I saw you in the distance, crossing the desert. ” She glanced around the lonely tomb. “What were you thinking, coming out here by yourselves? ” “We’re looking for the treasure, ” Khepri told her excitedly.

“And we’re not going to stop now, ” I said.

“But it’s almost dark, ” Miu pointed out. “The sun’s setting. ”

I peered at the doorway behind her. Now that she mentioned it, the sky was looking distinctly less bright than it had a few minutes ago. But if I gave up, then Sabu would win.

“Great Detectives don’t care about the dark. ” I leaped up onto the shadowy ledge. “They keep going wherever the case takes them. ”

As I started to sniff around, Miu jumped up to the ledge, too. The shadows were so deep that I could barely see her, but her voice was impossible to miss. “Ra, I’m serious. You don’t want to be stuck out here after dark. Sabu’s told me how dangerous those jackals can be. And there’s something else that worries me. When I was climbing up here, I saw Huya on the cliffs above you—”

“Huya? ” Khepri cut in. “What’s he doing out here? ”

“I don’t know, ” Miu said, “but I hope he didn’t see me. I didn’t like the desperate look on his face. And I think I saw a jackal hiding behind a rock

—”

A chill went down my spine.

Khepri felt me shiver. “What’s wrong, Ra? ”

“The breath of Anubis, ” I whispered. “I can feel it on my fur. ”

“Anubis? ” Khepri chuckled. “Don’t be silly, Ra. ”

“I tell you, I can. ” The sun must have set, because the tomb was almost completely dark now. “There’s something wrong here. ”

“It’s fine, Ra, ” Miu said from the other end of the ledge. “Calm down. ”

A chill went over me again. The whole place was growing spookier by the moment.

“There’s someone in here, ” I said, with growing conviction. “Someone in the dark with us—”

“Stop it, ” Khepri whispered. “You’re scaring me now. ”

“I’m scared, too, ” I whispered back. “I tell you, Anubis is here—” “Ra, please, ” said Miu.

“He’s here, ” I told her. “He’s lying in wait for us! ” In the darkness, I heard something rustle.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah! ” I bolted out of the tomb.

“Ra, come back! ” Miu chased after me.

Above me, Khepri’s scream was like a tiny whistle. “Raaaaaaaaaaaaa!

The jackals are out here! ”

I’d forgotten. But in the twilight, I saw their glowing eyes just below us.

“Anooooooooooooooooobis! ” The jackal gang had found us.

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