Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris-Theo 2 Read Online Free PDF

once, shook off the effects of
the salt, then followed. Or tried to. His claws scrabbled against the polished wooden floor, looking for traction, which he finally found and raced after Isis.
    The salt had almost worked! It had slowed him down, anyway. Maybe I should have aimed for a more vulnerable part of his body. I grabbed another handful and hurried over to plant myself directly in Isis's path. She darted past me, and when the jackal was in range, I flung the salt into his face.
    He yelped and skidded to a stop. After a moment's pause, he shook it off again and headed straight for me. I lunged to the side as he tore past, intent on Isis.
    There had to be a way to cover him with salt all at once! But how?
    Isis leaped up onto the shrine where the Anubis statue had been sitting before it sprang to life and caromed off the wall behind it, knocking over one of the bronze vessels.
    That was it—water! I could dump the salt into the water and then pour it over the jackal, who was now trying to jump up onto the shrine after Isis. Luckily, it was too tall, and my cat was safe. For the moment, anyway.
    With the bronze vessel clutched in my hand, I raced up the stairs, then headed down the hall toward the lavatory. I had just reached the door when Father called out. "Theodosia?"
    I tried to hide the bronze vessel behind me while looking as innocent as possible. "Yes, Father? Dear?" I added for good effect.
    "Is everything all right?"
    "Of course! Why wouldn't it be?" Did my voice sound unnaturally high? I couldn't tell.
    "Well, you're carrying an artifact into the lavatory."
    "Oh. That. I was just going to wash something sticky off it, that's all."
    Father frowned. "You
are
being careful with museum property, aren't you?"
    "Absolutely! See?" I held up my hands. "I even wear gloves to be sure I leave no smudges on anything."
    "I say, good idea."
    Of course, that's not why I wore gloves at all. I wore them because sometimes the black magic lingering on the artifacts tried to work it's way into
me,
and I'd really rather it didn't.
    Satisfied, Father turned to go back down the hall. "Oh!" he said, stopping before he'd taken two steps. "Have you seen Fagenbush about?"
    Fagenbush? Hardly. I spent quite a bit of energy trying to avoid our Second Assistant Curator whenever possible. "No, Father. Can't say as I have."
    "Well, if you do, let him know I'm looking for him."
    Was Fagenbush in trouble? One could always hope. But I
didn't have time for such happy thoughts right then. As Father disappeared down the hall, I stepped into the lavatory, nearly dancing with impatience as I waited for the water to fill the vessel. Once it was full, I raced back to the stairs, praying I wouldn't run into Father or—worse—Fagenbush. As I reached the top step, Isis gave a bloodcurdling yeowl. Certain the jackal had her clamped in his jaws, I tore down the stairs, taking them two at a time.
    I found Anubis with his shoulders wedged between the wall and the sarcophagus, scrabbling madly for Isis, who was emitting low, deep warbles of fury.
    Keeping one eye on the jackal, I dumped some of the salt into the water, then swirled the vessel around to mix it up.
    The jackal yelped as Isis's claws made contact with his nose, but he didn't retreat. He bared his teeth at her and growled low in his throat.
    Afraid to wait too much longer, I took three large strides toward the jackal, then dumped the water over his head, thoroughly drenching him.
    The jackal snarled, then raised his muzzle to snap at me. But it was too late.
    As the water trickled down his body, he began to harden, his live flesh turning back into hard stone piece by piece, until, with one last mournful yip, he was once again a statue.
    My shoulders slumped in relief, and Isis stopped her
caterwauling. Cautiously, she crept out from her hiding spot and drew closer to the frozen jackal. She sniffed at it, then gave it a vicious swipe with her paw.
Take that, wretched statue,
I thought as my heart