John. “You’re saying that the reason
these
five made it into the legends and not anyone else was because they had something really bad happen to them and then they were mummified?”
Professor Darling nodded. “There were
three
commonalities among the five legends that made them unique. One, the grave injustices. Two, the mummification. And three, the fact that they were all in the same family — a shared bloodline. Through the workings of fate,” the professor continued, “these five doomed souls were first born into the same cursed line and then were serendipitously and undeservedly mummified. It is said their lives were trapped in their bones, their souls unable to leave the mortal world. Not while the wrongs against them remained unavenged.”
The professor trailed off, and the children’s expectation hung in the air. The professor was staring off into nothing.
“So?” said Marla finally.
The professor blinked. “So, what?”
“So, what happened? What happened to their bodies? Did they get revenge?”
Professor Darling smiled. “Well, no one knows. Their bodies disappeared. They weren’t alive, but they couldn’t die. Some people say the god of death took them away, knowing what great magic was hidden in their bones. The force of injustice on such a massive scale . . . well, it can’t just disappear. These five mummies are believed to possess within them a substance that treasure seekers and storytellers call bonedust. It is said that the bonedust from the five mummies, when mixed together, can give everlasting life — a real-life fountain of youth, if you will — that it can overcome death and undermine the death god’s greatest power. Bonedust is her greatest enemy.”
“What do you mean,
her
?” asked Wendy.
Professor Darling’s eyes flashed blue-gray as he leaned on his daughter’s desk. “Well,
that,
my dear, is one of the most fascinating parts of the legend. According to five legends lore, the death god is not Anubis, as is believed by historians and Egyptians. It is a
woman
.” Professor Darling scurried behind his desk and grabbed a stack of notes. “You see, every legend starts and ends the same way. Each one starts by telling us what that hero’s injustice was. And it ends like this. . . .” He began to read from a yellowing page:
“The bitterness of this injustice devoured his soul. And so, he died with his life trapped in his bones. The goddess of death took the mummy and the bonedust with it. She shielded it with her greatest weapons, fearing that someday death might be conquered. The Dark Lady hid the mummy in a place where no one could reach it, a legendary labyrinth of the gates. . . . And so, [our hero] was gone, but he can never fully die . . . his wasted life forever trapped as grains of immortality in his bones.”
“You see?” the professor continued. “The legends say that the death god is a woman. They call her the
Dark Lady,
but I believe she appears in the fifth legend. . . .” He trailed off, then began again. “This is why most people believe the five legends are rubbish. Because everywhere you go in Egypt, you see statues of the jackal-headed Anubis. You don’t see a female death god. But
we
have a statue of her in our very own exhibit. I suggest you all go and look at it.”
“So is the bonedust around somewhere?” asked Jenny, the quiet-voiced ninth-grader.
“Most people would say it isn’t anywhere. They’re just myths, remember?”
“But according to this legend?” asked John.
“According to this, the bonedust is hidden in an unidentified labyrinth. And some say that the original
Book of Gates
is the key to unlocking it.”
“Tell us one of the legends,” said Marla.
Professor Darling didn’t have to be asked twice. He sat on the edge of his desk, looked each rapt student in the eye, picked up a tattered spiral notebook and a smattering of crinkled notes from his desk, and began reading his own meticulous English translation of
these
five made it into the legends and not anyone else was because they had something really bad happen to them and then they were mummified?”
Professor Darling nodded. “There were
three
commonalities among the five legends that made them unique. One, the grave injustices. Two, the mummification. And three, the fact that they were all in the same family — a shared bloodline. Through the workings of fate,” the professor continued, “these five doomed souls were first born into the same cursed line and then were serendipitously and undeservedly mummified. It is said their lives were trapped in their bones, their souls unable to leave the mortal world. Not while the wrongs against them remained unavenged.”
The professor trailed off, and the children’s expectation hung in the air. The professor was staring off into nothing.
“So?” said Marla finally.
The professor blinked. “So, what?”
“So, what happened? What happened to their bodies? Did they get revenge?”
Professor Darling smiled. “Well, no one knows. Their bodies disappeared. They weren’t alive, but they couldn’t die. Some people say the god of death took them away, knowing what great magic was hidden in their bones. The force of injustice on such a massive scale . . . well, it can’t just disappear. These five mummies are believed to possess within them a substance that treasure seekers and storytellers call bonedust. It is said that the bonedust from the five mummies, when mixed together, can give everlasting life — a real-life fountain of youth, if you will — that it can overcome death and undermine the death god’s greatest power. Bonedust is her greatest enemy.”
“What do you mean,
her
?” asked Wendy.
Professor Darling’s eyes flashed blue-gray as he leaned on his daughter’s desk. “Well,
that,
my dear, is one of the most fascinating parts of the legend. According to five legends lore, the death god is not Anubis, as is believed by historians and Egyptians. It is a
woman
.” Professor Darling scurried behind his desk and grabbed a stack of notes. “You see, every legend starts and ends the same way. Each one starts by telling us what that hero’s injustice was. And it ends like this. . . .” He began to read from a yellowing page:
“The bitterness of this injustice devoured his soul. And so, he died with his life trapped in his bones. The goddess of death took the mummy and the bonedust with it. She shielded it with her greatest weapons, fearing that someday death might be conquered. The Dark Lady hid the mummy in a place where no one could reach it, a legendary labyrinth of the gates. . . . And so, [our hero] was gone, but he can never fully die . . . his wasted life forever trapped as grains of immortality in his bones.”
“You see?” the professor continued. “The legends say that the death god is a woman. They call her the
Dark Lady,
but I believe she appears in the fifth legend. . . .” He trailed off, then began again. “This is why most people believe the five legends are rubbish. Because everywhere you go in Egypt, you see statues of the jackal-headed Anubis. You don’t see a female death god. But
we
have a statue of her in our very own exhibit. I suggest you all go and look at it.”
“So is the bonedust around somewhere?” asked Jenny, the quiet-voiced ninth-grader.
“Most people would say it isn’t anywhere. They’re just myths, remember?”
“But according to this legend?” asked John.
“According to this, the bonedust is hidden in an unidentified labyrinth. And some say that the original
Book of Gates
is the key to unlocking it.”
“Tell us one of the legends,” said Marla.
Professor Darling didn’t have to be asked twice. He sat on the edge of his desk, looked each rapt student in the eye, picked up a tattered spiral notebook and a smattering of crinkled notes from his desk, and began reading his own meticulous English translation of
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