Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos-Theo 1 (18 page)

Mother waved her hand. "Well, never mind. We're going home now. Just put your coat on over it so your father doesn't see."

I ran to get my coat, buttoning it up tight to hide my sins. I even squashed a beastly hat on my head, just to keep Father happy.

***

That night, when I was sure my parents had retired to the library, I snuck out of my room down the hall to Henry's bedroom. I hadn't mentioned anything to him yet about my plans for tomorrow. With Henry, it's best not to say anything until one has all one's ducks in a row.

I scratched lightly on his door. "Henry," I whispered. "Can I come in?"

His door swung open and he stood in his pajamas, rubbing his eyes. "What do you want?"

"Henry, did you mean it the other day when you said you wanted to help me?"

He looked suspicious. "Maybe."

This looked to be harder than I thought. I twisted my hands together. "Here's the thing. I have a plan to get the Heart of Egypt back, but I need your help."

A gleam of interest shone in his eye.

"Would you let me in so I can tell you about it?"

"Oh, all right. But what do you need my help for? You're always telling me to mind my own business." Henry is always sullen and cranky when he's sleepy. I followed him back to his bed, where he crawled under the covers. I perched myself on the foot of the mattress.

"Henry, this is important. And it's bigger than just you and me. It's for Wigmere and Stokes and all of them." I reminded myself that I wasn't telling Henry anything he didn't already know. Well, not much anyway. And certainly none of the details.

He perked up at that. He'd been going on for two days now about his heroes at Somerset House.

"I know where the Heart of Egypt is, and I have a plan to get it back. You, me, and Sticky Will all have to work together, but if we do, we have a shot. What do you say?"

"I say you're off your nut! What can three kids do against a whole mob of cutthroats?"

"Yes, but Henry, that's just it. Because we're kids, no one will be on the lookout for us and we'll have a chance. Don't you see? But here's the really hard part. We can't tell Mum or Dad. Wigmere says the Heart of Egypt needs to go back to the Valley of the Kings. We can't keep it here at the museum." I cringed and hoped I wasn't telling too much of Wigmere's secret, but Henry already knew about the missing Heart of Egypt and he needed
some
explanation.

Henry tilted his head thoughtfully, and I could tell he was listening to me.

"So," I said. "Here's the plan. We'll go to Carleton House Terrace first thing tomorrow morning so we can be in position to follow von Braggenschnott and his gang when they leave for the docks. After yesterday, we know what they look like, and thanks to this morning's paper, we know when they're returning to Germany: tomorrow on the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
at one o'clock."

I had his full attention now. "Why don't we just meet them at the dock? Wouldn't that give us less chance of being spotted?"

"We need to be sure they're taking the Heart of Egypt with them and don't hand it off somewhere along the way. We'll wait outside Carleton House Terrace until they leave. I have enough money so we can follow them down to the docks in a hansom cab. While they're waiting to embark, Sticky Will can sneak in and pick von Braggenschnott's pocket. Don't you see? It's brilliant!" But only if it works, I thought (though I didn't say that out loud). If it didn't work, it could be disastrous and we'd end up being in all sorts of hot water.

"If you don't mind poor Will being skewered like a bug. What's to keep this Bragging Snot fellow from sticking him, like he did Stokes?"

Drat. Found that hole, did he? "First, we'll be in a crowd; it's unlikely he'd pull a knife when he knows he'd get caught."

Henry frowned. "You don't think he'll say that Will was trying to pick his pocket and he was just protecting his property?"

I frowned at Henry's unexpected logic. "Will says he's much too good to get caught. Let's hope he's right. Besides, that's where you come in. You'll need to create a diversion so that the Germans' attention will be focused on something else."

The scowl disappeared. "Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know. Like that explosion you made up at Christmas. Or those whirligigs you launched last summer that had everyone scrambling for cover. Something like that."

His face brightened. "That was a bang-up trick, wasn't it?"

"Pure genius. And now you can do it again and become a hero!"

"And what will you be doing all this time?"

"Oh, Henry! I'll be orchestrating and scheduling and making sure everything is going as planned."

He got a smug look on his face and pulled the covers up under his chin. "In other words, you'll be bossing."

I
SLEPT WRETCHEDLY
. My brain was buzzing like an electric wire as I reviewed all the plans and backup plans we'd need. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamed of a thousand shabtis rising up and banging on their crates, trying to get out.

The next thing I knew, Betsy, our housemaid, was knocking on my door.

I got out of bed and looked out the window. Still gray, but the downpour had subsided into a soft rain. That, at least, was good news.

Downstairs, Mother and Father dawdled over breakfast and the paper, taking their sweet time. "Really, Theodosia!" Father said. "Must you fidget so? You act as if you're sitting on an anthill!"

Henry sniggered and I gave him my best quelling look. Today was
serious.

"I'm sorry, Father. I'm just anxious to get to the museum and ... er ... check on Isis."

"Don't even mention that cat. She's still in disgrace for attacking me."

"I'm sure she'll never do it again, Father. I gave her a cure ... a tonic, to calm her down."

He took his eyes off his newspaper and peered at me over the top. "What tonic?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Oh, you know. A mixture of sardine juice, cream, some paté, ground-up catnip, and a raw egg."

Father got a funny look on his face. He put the paper down and shoved his half-eaten breakfast away. "Go and get your coat." He sighed heavily as he got up and left the room.

As I stood up to follow, I glanced over at his discarded newspaper. My heart sank as I read the headlines. "Hundreds Hospitalized with Virulent Influenza."

We really had to hurry.

***

I had told Sticky Will that we would meet him at the Duke of York Column at 10:30 a.m. Since the ship didn't leave until 1:00 p.m., I simply couldn't imagine the Germans departing for the docks any earlier than that. However, our slow start had put me on edge. As soon as we arrived at the museum, Henry and I made ourselves scarce. Ten minutes later, we snuck out the east side entrance and hightailed it to Pall Mall.

By the time we reached the Duke of York Column, we were both hot and sweaty, in spite of the gray, wet weather.

As we approached our meeting place, Will popped out from behind the column. "Wot took you so long?"

"Parent nonsense," I wheezed, still trying to catch my breath from our mad dash across town.

"Seems to me that 'aving parents might be more trouble than it's worth," Sticky Will said with a superior air.

I knew it! He
was
an orphan!

"Well, come on then," he continued. "'Ow do we find these blokes?"

"Well, the embassy is in number nine. So we hang about near there and wait for them to leave."

Henry gaped at me. "That's it? That's your plan? Crikey. I could have thought of that."

I sniffed. "But you didn't. Now come on."

We headed for number nine Carleton House Terrace. It was an elegant building, with loads and loads of windows, like hundreds of unblinking eyes watching us. Or maybe that's just what it feels like when you know you're skulking.

We spread out and positioned ourselves so we could see all the doors, then settled down to wait.

You would think loitering would be the easiest thing in the world, but after about thirty minutes of it, one begins to feel highly conspicuous. After an hour of it, one becomes bored witless. Consequently, when a nearby clock chimed noon, I had a bad case of the fidgets. I mean, just how close were they going to cut this!

I made my way over to where Will was waiting. After a quick conference, we decided to peek in the bottom-floor windows and see if anything was happening inside.

Of course, no sooner had we left our hiding places than one of the doors burst open. A group of men exited the building, speaking German fast and loud. A motorcar was brought round and they all piled into the thing, then it putted off down the street.

Caught off-guard, we ended up scrambling. "We need to find a cab! Quick!" I looked up the street and down, hoping a hansom would appear. But of course no cabs were in sight. Then an ear-piercing whistle split the sky, nearly deafening me.

I turned to find Sticky Will with two fingers stuck in his mouth. He took a deep breath, intending to whistle again. "No! Stop! What do you think you're doing?" I asked.

He looked at me as if I were bonkers. "Callin' a cab. What else?"

"Yes, but also calling the attention of every German within miles. Not to mention causing severe damage to our eardrums."

Will shifted from his left foot to his right. "Look, do you want a cab or not?"

I nodded, then clapped my hands over my ears as another one of those whistles sliced the air. But, wonder of wonders, here came a hansom!

"Told you, miss. You got to whistle if'n you want a cab."

"You were right. Henry! We're leaving now."

Henry stood up from where he'd been using the long stick he was carrying to float leaf boats down the gutter. He reached us just as the carriage pulled to a stop.

The driver peered out of the hansom with a scowl on his face. "Who here was whistlin' for a cab?"

"He was," I said, nodding my head in Will's direction.

"I oughtter get down out of here and box your ears. Don't you know better than to be wasting my time!"

"But we truly need a cab."

The cabbie looked suspicious. "'Ave you got the blunt?"

"Yes, yes. Of course." I dug the money out of my pocket and waved it at him.

He grunted. "Very well. Get in with you, then."

We all clambered up into the cab. Before we'd got ourselves seated, the driver cracked his whip and the horse lurched forward, sending us all tumbling to our seats.

"Where to, miss?" he called down.

"Queen Victoria Docks, please."

"Very well." The hansom was much slower than the fancy motorcar the Germans were in. I was frantic, sure von Braggenschnott and his men would board the ship before we arrived.

The driver steered his horse down to the docks, a teeming rabbit warren of shipping offices, warehouses, and quays that went on for miles. Towering over all the piers and barges were rigged beams and pulleys. It was like a small city—a loud, jostley city that smelled of fish and salt and the Thames' unique stench.

As soon as we pulled to a stop, Henry and Will leaped out of the cab. I shoved the money at the cabby. He took forever with the change. I think he was hoping I'd tell him to keep it.

Finally I got away and hurried after Henry and Will toward the ship. My heart seemed to be lodged in my throat and my stomach was twirling as badly as one of Henry's whirligigs. The
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
was enormous; the ship towered above the docks as if someone had picked up three city blocks of very tall buildings and plopped them down next to the river.

We quickly spotted the Germans' motorcar. They had parked it right up on the wooden dock next to the ship itself. Will, Henry, and I skidded to a stop when we realized they had only just got out of their car. We weren't too late. That was one problem solved. We trickled into the milling crowd and began working our way to the boarding area where the Germans were headed. Will had that sauntering thing down pat. Even Henry seemed to be doing a pretty good job of acting casual. But me, well, I felt as if anyone could take one look at my face and know I was up to something. My guilty conscience, Father would say. Thinking of him finding out about this made my knees go weak.

By the time we reached the boarding area, my nerves were stretched so tight I was afraid they might snap. I tried to focus on the lay of the land and picked out my position right away. I gave Will the signal and he strolled to the middle of the crowd. He could do this. I just knew he could.
He had to.

Firmly pushing aside any doubts, I turned to Henry. After a quick conference we decided the best place for him to work his distractions would be up behind a large barricade of cargo containers. He took off in that direction, and I headed up a small ramp that led to a balcony outside the second story of a shipping office. From there, I would be able to see everyone else and give the signals.

When I reached my position, I glanced down, dismayed to see that the Germans were quite close to the loading ramp.

Almost as if he sensed something, Will glanced up in my direction. I jerked my head toward the Germans and he switched course and moved in that direction.