Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos-Theo 1 by R. L. Lafevers, Yoko Tanaka Page B

Stilton is a very handy chap to have about. He is a simple man, but intelligent and honest and, for some reason, he's like a lightning rod for the unrest in the museum. Whenever I have any doubts, I have only to pay Edgar a visit to get a reading on the museum's current temperament. Since Stilton is the most junior curator, he tends to arrive at work earlier than the others as he has three higher-ups he needs to impress. (Although, he really shouldn't worry about Father; he simply doesn't notice that sort of thing.)
    When I reached the second floor, Stilton's door was open. His office wasn't much bigger than my closet, which was most likely another reason I felt a sort of kinship with him. His desk was stacked high with papers and scrolls and bills of lading. Even with the gaslight turned up high, the room was dim and dark feeling. I popped my head in. "Good morning."
    He startled badly, nearly knocking his teacup to the floor. Not a good sign.
    "Oh, Miss Throckmorton, hullo." He righted his cup and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the spilled tea off his hand.
    "Theo," I said as I came fully into the office and sat down across from him. "Have you heard about Mother's new findings?" I asked, not because I was particularly interested, but because I needed to watch him for a few minutes in order to get an accurate reading.

    "Yes, Bollingsworth told me a little about it on his way out last night. Smashing find." His left shoulder twitched ever so slightly.
    "Yes, isn't it? And she brought me a rubbing of some of the tablets they'd found. It makes for interesting reading."
    "I should say," Stilton said, a tic beginning just under his right eye.
    Just then, the bell sounded from the receiving dock, and Stilton jerked as if he'd been burnt. He cleared his throat. "Delivery's here."
    "Lovely," I said. That meant another of Mother's trunks had arrived. Hopefully everyone would be distracted by the new artifacts and I could spend the morning researching a cure for Isis. "I think I'll go help them unpack."
    I bid poor Stilton goodbye and left him jerking and twitching like an insect at the end of a pin as I hurried toward the reading room. When I reached it, whom should I see but Clive Fagenbush unlocking the door. His expression darkened when he saw me. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
    I smiled sweetly at him and resolved to locate a key of my own. "I had planned to work on my studies."

    "I don't think so," he sneered. "Your father told me to tell you that he wants your help in Receiving."
    Bother. How many times I had longed for Father to ask for my help, and the one time he did, I had something vitally important to do. Wasn't that the way of it? Very well. I would just have to slip away at the earliest opportunity.
    When I reached the receiving area, my parents were up to their elbows in shabtis. Hundreds and hundreds of them. And every beastly one was carrying a curse.
    It took ages to unpack them. Mum and Dad were thrilled because having an entire army of shabtis would make an impressive exhibit. I thought it was tedious, especially since the curses made my eyes water and my stomach queasy. I kept glancing at the clock, wishing Henry's train would hurry up and get here.
    Which just shows you how bored I was. No doubt by tomorrow I'd be wishing Henry's train would take him
back
to school.
    Finally the shabtis were unpacked and Mother and Father became so absorbed in cataloging them that I managed to slip away.
    It was time to un-demonize my poor beloved cat.
    I'd thought about it quite a lot as I unpacked the shabtis. The first thing I would try was belling the cat, only not with a bell, but an amulet. I hoped that if Isis was wearing some protection, the curse's effect would diminish.

    But first I had to make the wretched thing.
    I went back up to the reading room and pulled out the copy of Erasmus Bramwell's
Funerary Magic, Mummies, and Curses.
I carried it into my small study and pored over it from front to back. For the