“Now for the treasure hunt!” I said. “Let’s see if the amulet is still here.”

  “If it was ever here at all,” Khepri said cautiously.

  As I’ve mentioned before, Khepri has trouble looking at things optimistically But I didn’t let that bother me. It was only after we searched every square cubit of the classroom—every tablet, every stylus, every scroll—that I grew discouraged. There was no sign of the amulet anywhere.

  “He must have taken it with him,” I said.

  “If it was ever here at all,” Khepri said again.

  Just then, Ini and Ibi flew back into the schoolroom.

  “Yuya’s in his bed,” Ini reported.

  “Fast asleep,” Ibi added.

  “And now we’re going to bed, too-oo,” they chorused.

  As they retreated to their nest, Khepri sighed. “So we haven’t seen any sign of the amulet, and Yuya’s in his bed, just where he should be. I think we’re on the wrong track.”

  I wasn’t giving up. “I still think Yuya’s up to something. Let’s see what he does. I’ll get Ini and Ibi to keep an eye on him all week—”

  “All week!” Miu’s eyes blazed again. “Is that your plan? What about Tedimut? She can’t stay put for a week. I managed to fetch her some grapes today, but they won’t last long. I can’t believe I trusted you to solve this crime. I need to find a way to get her out of here.”

  “I can solve it,” I said. “Just give me a little more time.”

  “I don’t have time,” Miu said. “Tedimut is thirsty now. She’s hungry now. And it’s only going to get worse.” She turned to go. “If I’m going to get her out of here, I’d better do it tonight, while she has the strength to climb and run.”

  It hurt to think of Tedimut going hungry and thirsty. It wasn’t right that the child should suffer so. But it wouldn’t help her if we behaved rashly. “You can’t do that, Miu. You’ll never get her past the guards.”

  “I’ll tell you what I can’t do.” Miu drew herself up, and for just a moment she looked like the goddess Bastet, not just an ordinary kitchen cat. “I can’t let Tedimut waste away in that storage room while you two doze off and pretend to solve the crime.”

  “We’re not pretending!” I said indignantly.

  “Wait!” Khepri cried.

  But Miu vanished through the doorway, running as fast as she could back to Tedimut.

  “Does she mean it?” I said to Khepri. “Is she really going try to get Tedimut out of here all by herself?”

  “I think that’s exactly what she’s going to do,” said Khepri. “She’s a very determined cat.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t care how determined she is. She’ll never get past Pharaoh’s guards.”

  “That’s why we need to stop her.” Khepri clambered up my back. “Come on, Ra.”

  I didn’t budge. “Stop her? How are we going to do that? She won’t listen to us.”

  “Maybe she won’t, but if you bar the way, Tedimut will stay put.” Khepri settled himself between my ears. “She won’t go against Pharaoh’s Cat. Of all the creatures in the palace, she’ll pay heed to you. It’s almost as good as having Pharaoh himself. Maybe even better.”

  “You’re right,” I said, brightening.

  “But we have to find her more to eat and drink.” Khepri sounded worried. “Miu’s right. She won’t last long in that storeroom without help. What if I brought her some dung? There’s some really tasty stuff over by the stables—”

  I could just imagine Tedimut’s face. “Not a good idea, Khepri.”

  “No, I suppose not. People don’t appreciate good dung the way they should.” Khepri tapped the ground in thought. “I know. We could bring her some of your snacks.”

  “My snacks?” Did I hear that right? I’d been on the case for hours, and now Khepri was seriously suggesting I give away my food?

  On the other hand, Miu had said the child was hungry. All day in that storeroom, with only a few grapes to eat…

  “It would be a very noble thing to do,” Khepri said. “Almost godlike. Like Bastet herself.”

  I had to admit I liked the sound of that. And I wouldn’t mind hearing the child call me Great One again.

  Besides, if I said yes, I could go get my snacks right now. Saving some for Tedimut, of course—but who could blame me if I ate plenty myself? A Great Detective has to keep his strength up somehow.

  “Okay,” I said. “We can bring Tedimut a little snack. Let’s go back and see what they’ve left out for me.”

  We set off through the dim, quiet palace. The closer we got to Pharaoh’s quarters, the faster I ran. What would the snacks be? Licking my lips, I imagined them. Quail. Spiced antelope. And if I was lucky, maybe some broiled goose on the side.

  I was so busy thinking about food that I forgot to check the shadows and didn’t listen for the sound of someone creeping up behind me. I wasn’t even paying much attention to the route we were taking.

  Khepri piped up, “Hey, isn’t this the room where Lady Shepenupet left Aat?”

  I laughed. “You mean Babycakes?”

  “I told you never to call me that!” Out of the shadows, Aat sprang at us, teeth bared.

  With a yowl, I bolted, dodging her claws by a whisker. She chased me into the audience hall, and I dashed for the canopy above Pharaoh’s throne. Aat was too heavy to follow me there, but she waited for me down on the floor.

  Tail bristling, I peered over the edge at her.

  Now, you may think that, sitting on top of a flimsy canopy, in the dark, with an angry leopard threatening to kill me, I might be scared. But I am Ra the Mighty, Pharaoh’s Cat, as brave as a lion and twice as fierce. Still, I must admit it was a challenge to be fearless with Aat’s sharp teeth gleaming brighter than her golden collar.

  “I’m going to deal with you once and for all,” she snarled, her eyes glowing. “And that disgusting little bug of yours, too.”

  “Disgusting?” Khepri whispered indignantly in my ear. “Let me at her, Ra! I’ll show her what’s what.”

  I shook my head. Khepri had managed to fend off Aat before, but he’d been lucky in his timing, and now he wouldn’t have surprise on his side. What if he slipped and Aat crushed him? I didn’t want him to risk it.

  “No need,” I whispered back. “I’ve got this.”

  What we needed was a distraction. The only way I could create one was by talking, but maybe that would be enough.

  “Hey, Aat,” I called out. “You’re looking a little underdressed.”

  Her tail twitched suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

  “Your chain,” I said. “I miss it.”

  “I don’t.”

  “What happened?” I persisted. “Did it break?”

  “You have your secrets, Fluffball. I have mine.”

  I blinked. “You mean it didn’t break?”

  “I’m not saying anything,” Aat growled. “But maybe I’m not the only one around here who wants that thief dealt with. And maybe I’m not the only one who’s tired of you poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. You ask too many questions, Fluffball.”

  With that, Aat sprang up at me. I leaped back, but not fast enough. She pinned me by my tail and pulled me down off the canopy.

  “Got you, Fluffball!” Her breath was hot on my fur. “Now I get even.”

  Khepri launched himself at Aat. “Take that, you big bully!”

  With her free paw, Aat knocked him out of the air. He landed wrong side up.

  As he wriggled his legs in the air, she laughed. “I’ll deal with you later, bug.”

  I looked at Khepri, horrified. What had Aat done to my friend? Cracked his shell? Knocked off his pincers?

  Fury gave me a strength I didn’t know I had. I ripped away from Aat, leaving shreds of fur in her claws. In one swift move, I scooped up Khepri with my mouth and dashed out the nearest doorway.

  “Not disaaaay!” Khepri called from my open mouth.

  He can speak! I thought. But I couldn’t make sense of what he’d said. And Aat was hot on my trail.

  I was moving like lightning, but in the end a leopard can always outrun even the speediest of palace cats. I needed a place to hide—and when I saw a familiar-looking statue with a frieze above it, I knew I’d found it. Aat would have trouble following me up there; she was too big to use the paw-holds on the statue.

  I reached the top of the frieze just before Aat came into the room. Lowering my head so she couldn’t see me, I let Khepri out of my mouth.

  In case you ever are tempted to put a dung beetle in your mouth, let me give you a piece of advice: don’t. It’s not just that they taste rather, well…dunglike. They also tickle.

  At any rate, Khepri’s legs tickled me—and when he wriggled his way out, the tickle got unbearable. I sneezed.

  Below us, Aat growled. She knew where we were.

  And then it hit me what Khepri had actually said: Not this way.

  I’d brought Aat straight to the place where Miu had picked up Tedimut’s scent.

  Uh-oh.

  As Khepri scrambled onto my back, I watched Aat size up the distance between us. I’d been right that she couldn’t get up here using the statue. But it turned out she didn’t need to. In a single great bound, she leaped up to the frieze, landing right in front of me.

  “Going somewhere?” she snarled.

  “Yes!” I flung myself down to the floor, twisting through the air and landing upright. For once, I was hoping Aat would follow me. Anything to keep her from hunting down Tedimut.

  Aat sniffed at the frieze.

  “Hey, Babycakes!” I yelled. “I’m down here!”

  Aat put her head out the window. “The thief!” she roared, and she jumped out onto the roof.

  Khepri and I stared up at the window. Even during the worst moments of the day, I’d been sure that I would crack this case. But not now. Not when it looked like Aat would polish off the case in her own way—putting an end to Tedimut.

  “We’ve got to stop her!” I cried.

  “But how?” Khepri clutched at the fur on my head, as frantic as I was. “Aat will get to the storeroom before we will.”

  “She’ll never get through that tiny vent,” I said, remembering the horrible splinters the grate had given me. “She’ll have to find another way through, and that will take a while.”

  “To the storerooms, Ra!” Khepri said. “If we’re quick, we can get to Tedimut and Miu first and warn them.”

  I’d already started running. “What if they’ve already left?”

  “They won’t have gotten far,” Khepri said. “There hasn’t been enough time.”

  He was wrong about that. We came across Tedimut and Miu much sooner than we expected, crouched in a passageway on the far side of the audience hall. Tedimut looked exhausted, and her shoulders were hunched with fear.

  As I brushed against her legs, she let out a startled gasp. I moved to a moonlit patch of floor, and she recognized me. “Pharaoh’s Cat!” she whispered, bowing her head. “O Great One, please help us!”

  “That’s what I’m trying to do,” I said to Miu. “But you’re making it difficult. I thought you were trying to get Tedimut out of the palace, not deeper into it.”

  “I am.” Miu sounded frazzled. “I’ve been trying to lead her to the break in the wall by your pool. That’s how I came in, and I believe Tedimut is small enough to get out that way, too. But I don’t know the palace very well, and Tedimut can’t see in the dark, and we got lost and almost ran into a guard. Now she’s so tired I don’t think she can go a step farther.”

  She nudged her head against Tedimut’s back, urging her onward. Tedimut stayed put, her head still bent. She seemed to be shaking with cold, even though the night was hot.

  “Uh-oh,” said Khepri.

  Tedimut was at breaking point.

  I wished I had the kind of magic she needed, the kind of magic she expected Pharaoh’s Cat to have. I wanted to be like my ancestor Ra, defending the righteous and smiting the powers of chaos and evil. But there in the dark, I had to face the hard truth: even if people treat you like a god, that doesn’t make you one. I hated to admit it, but Khepri was right. In the end, I was just a cat.

  Yet maybe being a cat was enough. Or could be, if I set aside my dignity and did whatever was needed to get Tedimut moving again.

  I stepped forward and brushed against Tedimut’s side. When she didn’t respond, I rolled over onto my back, squirming with my paws in the air. I knew I looked absolutely ridiculous—and in front of Miu, too—but I didn’t care. Thinking only of Tedimut, I let out the loudest purr I dared.

  “Great One?” Tedimut whispered.

  I flipped over again, planted my front paws on her knee, and licked her face.

  “Come along, child,” I breathed. “You can do this.”

  She couldn’t understand my words, but she must have felt their strength. She raised her head and met my eyes. Her face brightened. And when I pulled away, she rose and followed me.

  “Oh, thank the gods!” cried Miu, catching up to us. I waited for her to make a crack about my lack of dignity, but she added quietly, “And thank you, Ra.”

  I was so surprised I didn’t know what to say.

  “Where are we going?” Miu asked.

  “To the pool. Your plan was a good one.” If she could bring herself to thank me, then I guessed I could be polite, too. And it was true: the wall by the pool probably was the best way out. “Come on, we need to pick up speed. And keep the sound down. Aat’s on our trail.”

  “The Great Wife’s leopard?” Miu whispered, appalled. “Don’t they keep her chained?”

  “Someone let her loose,” Khepri said in his tiny voice.

  “Well, that’s what she wanted us to think, anyway.” I steered us down a passageway that led away from the sleeping quarters. With two cats to guide her, Tedimut could move faster now. For a human, she was quite fleet of foot. “Maybe it was just talk.”

  “I don’t think so,” Khepri said. “Didn’t you see her collar? There weren’t any bits of chain attached to it. And if she’d broken away, the collar would’ve been scratched and bent. Gold that pure dents easily—”

  “I’m not sure,” Miu interrupted, “but I think I just heard a roar in the distance.”

  I heard it, too, and I think Tedimut did as well, because her body tensed. Now she knew just what we were up against. But she didn’t cry out, and she didn’t crumple into a ball. She kept following me, as brave as a cat.

  “It’s Aat, but it sounds like she’s still on the roof,” I said to Miu. “She’s probably trying to get into the storerooms.” I quickened my pace, and so did the others.

  “So who do you think released her?” I said softly to Khepri as we turned down the passageway that led to the pool. “Lady Nefrubity? Lady Shepenupet? Yuya?”

  “Probably not Yuya, since the doves saw him asleep,” Khepri said. “Besides, it would be hard for a tutor to sneak into the Great Wife’s quarters to do it. Lady Nefrubity and Lady Shepenupet seem a lot more likely.”

  “I bet it’s Lady Shepenupet,” I said. “She’s never liked me.”

  “That doesn’t have anything to do with it, Ra,” Khepri argued. “Everything isn’t always about you, you know. Even if you are Pharaoh’s Cat.”

  “But Aat said it was about me, didn’t she?” We reached the doorway that opened onto the pool. “She said she wasn’t the only one tired of me snooping around and asking—”

  “That’s it!” Khepri shrieked in my ear as we passed through the doorway and entered the courtyard. “Ra, that’s the solution!”

  So it was Lady Shepenupet?

  “Yeeeo­ooooo­ooowww­wwwl­llll­lll!”

  With a cry like a demon, Aat sprang down from the roof and attacked us.

  Spitting and snarling, Aat dropped down, trapping us at one end of the pool. Tedimut screamed, but she didn’t run.

  “Good girl,” I said. Running wasn’t a wise idea with a leopard.

  The trouble was, staying still wasn’t a wise idea, either.

  Baring her dagger-sharp teeth, Aat swung her head toward Tedimut.

  I hadn’t gotten the girl this far to lose her now. Springing between them, I screeched at Aat, “Don’t touch the girl!”

  Miu jumped in front of me. “That’s right! Don’t touch her!”

  “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” Aat roared. “We play this game by my rules. This time none of you are getting away. Now who shall I take first? You, Fluffball? Or this lying, thieving girl?” Tail lashing, she fixed her eyes on each one of us in turn.

  A light flared in a palace window.

  “Jump into the pool!” Khepri whispered into my ear. “Leopards can’t swim.”

  “Yes, they can,” I whispered back. Khepri clearly didn’t know leopards at all. “It’s cats like me who can’t.”

  “Well, then you stay out. But get Tedimut in.” Khepri shifted back from my ear. “I have a plan.”

  He sounded very sure of himself. And it was true that the pool was our only possible path to the gap in the wall, now that Aat was blocking the other way. Besides, I knew that the pool wasn’t very deep, not by human standards. It probably wasn’t over Tedimut’s head, even if it was over mine.

  “Here we go!” I cried. Twisting myself against Tedimut’s legs, I tipped her into the pool. A neat job, if I do say so myself—except that I tipped myself into the water, too.

  Khepri leaped off me just in time. The next thing I knew, Aat was dancing madly round and round, screaming, “Get that horrible bug off me!”

  “Escape while you…burble…can!” I gasped at Tedimut, trying to claw my way back to land.

  She didn’t understand me, of course. But she was already sloshing her way to freedom.

  While Aat was distracted by Khepri, the way to the wall was clear. Miu had dashed past the shrieking leopard and was standing there on the other side of the pool, waiting to guide Tedimut to the exit.

  “Aaaaa­arrrrr­rrgh!” I flailed at the water as it closed over my head.

  Tedimut was already moving toward Miu, but when she heard me, she turned back. The next thing I knew, she was plucking me out of the water.

 

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