I turned away from the carvings in front of me to ask Mother that very question, only to find I was alone in the chamber. They had better not have broken off for luncheon and not told me!
Or worse, have left without me, I thought when I didn't hear any other voices nearby. Which meant I was quite alone in the secret annex I had discovered. Drawn by some unseen hand, I found myself moving toward the far wall and the huge carving of Thutmose III. When I had first seen it, his face had been grim and terrible, a portrait of gruesome retribution. But once I had returned the Heart of Egypt to its place on the wall, all that had changed. Whatever magic had allowed the amulet to become a part of the carving had also shifted Thutmose back into a mighty yet beneficent ruler.
There was absolutely no sign of von Braggenschnott's hand. Not so much as a scrap of flesh or a fingernail to be seen. How had they gotten it out, I wondered? Had they cut it out? Or used magic? I leaned in closer to inspect the Heart of Egypt. It was well and truly fused with the wall now. When they had named it the Heart of Egypt, they had been quite literal, indeed.
I froze. That was it—a literal interpretation!
We had found many references to a temple of Thutmose III, and the way it was mentioned made it clear that it wasn't simply a temple here in the tomb. What if all the inscriptions about Thutmose being no longer content to stand in Hatshepsut's shadow and wanting to stand above her were a literal observation rather than a comment on her usurping his reign?
What if the inscriptions were directions to an actual location?
Perhaps we should begin looking at all the monuments and buildings that Hatshepsut had erected.
As soon as the thought formed in my head, it was followed by an image I had seen early that morning on the way to the valley—the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut built directly into the cliffs at Deir el-Bahri. I snapped my fingers. "That's it!"
"What's it, dear?" Mother's voice came from directly behind me. "Are you ready for lunch?"
Too excited now to even think of food, I whirled around to face Mother. "Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahri. That's where we should begin looking."
"Why there?"
I quickly explained all the references to temples that I had seen on the tomb walls that morning and my new belief that they were to be taken literally.
"Eureka!" Mother said, beaming at the wall.
"Eureka?" I asked.
"Well, it's what they shout when they find gold, and this is better than gold! Oh, you are brilliant, my daughter!" She flung her arms around me and gave me a giant hug that sent all the air whooshing from my lungs. I was so thrilled that she thought me brilliant that I didn't mind a bit.
I could only hope that brilliant made up for peculiar.
As we rode back through the valley toward home that evening, I almost didn't need my donkey. It felt as if the thrill of my discovery had given wings to my feet. I had forgotten my hunger, and my headache had disappeared, and I was certain I could have worked all night.
However, the others needed rest. And I had to admit, as we drew closer to home, my euphoria began to seep away, leaving only a deeply satisfying exhaustion behind.
When we reached the house, Gadji came out to greet us and take our donkeys. I raised my eyebrows in question, and he gave a quick shake of his head.
As Mother and Nabir left for the house, I lingered behind. "No luck?" I asked.
He shook his head. "They is all gone. No signs of them left anywhere. Big Inglaize hotels where family used to be."
"I'm so sorry." I thought for a moment. "What about shops? Did your family do their shopping at one place? Maybe they still shop there even though they changed houses?"
Gadji's face cleared. "Indeed, by Jove. I will try there next."
That settled, I made my way to the house, anxious for a quick wash before supper. I went immediately to my room.
And nearly shouted in surprise. The entire room had been ransacked. My bedcovers had been scattered and thrown to the floor, my traveling chest turned upside down, the drawers pulled open and everything topsy-turvy. Even Isis's carrying basket had been dumped upside down. My gaze flew to the sandbox, which had been scooted over a few inches, but all the contents seemed to be intact. Needing to be absolutely sure, I went over and knelt by the box. I hesitated a moment, almost afraid to know. If it had been taken, then what?
I took a deep breath, gripped the side of the box, and lifted it an inch. It was still heavy with the tablet. Wanting to be extra certain, I picked up one of the pencils that had fallen to the floor and poked around in the dirt until I felt the tablet itself.
Nearly weak with relief, I turned back to the room. "Isis?" I called softly, for she was nowhere to be seen.
There was a faint warble, and then her sleek black head poked out from under the bed. "Isis," I said, joy running through me. I hurried over to the bed, picked her up, and held her close to my chest. "I'm so sorry!" I said, leaning in to touch my nose to hers. Still holding her, I sat down on my bed and stared at the mess around me. Who had done this?
Isis wriggled in my arms, wanting down. I gently placed her on the floor, and she hurried over to the window. I opened it to let her out. As I watched her, I found myself wishing desperately that she could talk. Leaving the window open, I returned my attention to the room. Best to get it cleaned up before Mother saw it.
That thought lit a fire under me and I began scooping up the scattered clothes and returning them to their proper places. As I worked, I tried to puzzle out who the searchers might have been. My first assumption was Chaos, but that was just a guess. There was no evidence that it was, except my deep and abiding distrust of them. I grunted as I set my trunk back to rights.
Could Gadji have done this? I actually knew very little about him. Perhaps he thought I had money or valuables hidden away in here. One could hardly blame him. He had so little. Being a beggar must be wearing on the soul.
Or what about Habiba? She skulked around here like a dark, silent shadow. Hmm—it was nearly dinnertime. Perhaps I would go to the kitchen for something to eat. That would give me a chance to further observe our mysterious housekeeper.
As I drew near the kitchen, delicious smells met me in the corridor. I found myself hoping it wasn't Habiba who'd searched my room. It would be a shame to lose such a good cook. Especially since Mother couldn't be counted on to fill in if push came to shove.
When I stepped into the kitchen, Habiba looked up from the counter, where she was chopping something with an exceedingly sharp knife. I swallowed. Maybe this wasn't such a very good idea, after all.
A flicker of something moved in her dark eyes when she saw it was me. "Miss Effendi need something?" she asked.
"Yes," I said. "I'm a bit hungry and thought I would check on how long till dinner."
"Not long now." She turned back to her chopping, her hands wielding the knife in quick, precise movements.
"Have you had a busy day?" I asked.
"Oh, very busy. I cook and clean and cook some more." She looked up and met my eyes again, and I cursed the veil that hid most of her face. It wouldn't hurt to keep a more careful eye on our housekeeper.
Today had been close. Too close. Someone had known we would be gone and had taken full advantage of our absence. I needed to get rid of the tablet before it fell into the wrong hands.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Agony and the Ecstasy
THE NEXT MORNING, Mother woke me bright and early. "We're scheduled to take photographs of the inside of Thutmose Ill's tomb today," she announced. "You'll find it very interesting, Theo."