Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (11 page)

At this, the people cheered even louder than before.

Horus suddenly broke from his fathers grasp.
 
His head reverted to that of a discontented young man.
 
"I'm sorry, Father, but I can not do this any longer."

"Horus," warned the old man with a hateful look on his face.
 
"Do not do this.
 
If you betray me now, you will suffer my wrath."

"This is a lie, and I will not take part in it," he said. Changing his form into a falcon, he hopped into the air, and flew out over the city, heading for the sweltering desert sands beyond.

"And YOU?" his father asked sternly.
 
Anubis hesitated for a moment, and then, taking his jackal form, bounded down the steps and straight through the large crowd toward his brother.

The people gave him ovation and called out his name as they parted for him, falling down to their knees to worship him as he passed by.

Michael drew his head back from the statue.

"What did you see in there?" asked Liam, who was starting to get frantic.
 
His friend had been unresponsive for the last five minutes, his head firmly stuck to the inside of the relic.

Michael tried to explain what he'd just seen, and how it all felt, although none of it made much sense to Liam or his sister.

"Why are you seeing this stuff?" Liam pressed him.
 
"What's it supposed to mean?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Michael answered with a shrug.

Michael was surprised to see that the alarm clock read 10:30 AM.
 
His late night excursions into the night corridor had been taking a toll on him.
 
For the past few nights, he and Liam had gone exploring.
 
Michael had hoped that the statue of Anubis would activate and show them more of his story, but it hadn't done so since Liam and Abigail's first visit.

He seemed to be sleeping in later and later each morning, and knew he had better change his ways before Mr. Finnegan began to question his behavior.

He went over to the window and looked out into the bright blue sky.
 
He rubbed his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light, and then looking down to the lawn, he saw Abigail playing fetch with Sir Nigel the bulldog.

Elizabeth Harrison was down there too.
 
His heart leapt with excitement.
 
He hadn't realized how much it would mean to see her, now that his parents were away working.

He quickly got dressed and ran downstairs.

"ELIZABETH," he yelled at her when he got outside.
 
He ran up and she reached out to embrace him.

"Hi, Michael, it's great to see you," she said lovingly.

"I'm glad you could come," he told her.

"We're going to have so much fun.
 
I have a bunch of touristy stuff planned for you guys.
 
I hope you haven't already done it all."

"I wouldn't worry about that.
 
Mom and Dad don't usually take us to do the 'touristy' stuff," Michael told her.
 
"We've seen a lot of interesting places, but it's usually right down to business when Dad is involved."

Abigail squeezed her around the waist.
 
"We don't care what we do, Aunt Liz, we're just glad you're finally here."

Michael knew that his sister would cling to Elizabeth while their mother was away, but she wouldn't mind.
 
He was glad that Abigail had her, and hoped her attitude might improve because of it.

"How was your flight?" Michael asked her, remembering that she wasn't fond of airplanes.

"Oh, it was okay.
 
I met a pretty strange guy on the plane, but he was really nice, and fun to talk to.
 
He actually told me an interesting story about getting stuck in a mine when he was a kid.
 
I'll have to tell you about it later, because I know your parents have gotten after you for going into old mines."
 
She smiled at him knowingly.
 
"Anyway, then I slept for most of the flight.
 
All in all it wasn't bad as far as flying goes."

Abigail's eyes suddenly lit up.
 
"Aunt Liz, can you take us to see Loch Ness?
 
I've been wanting to take a look for Nessie and get some pictures of her."

Michael knew that his sister was absolutely certain she could get some pictures of the Loch Ness Monster, if only she could get someone to take her to the lake.
 
He thought it was a little funny, but didn't want to burst her bubble about it.

"That's a great idea," Liz told her.
 
She suddenly looked just as excited about it as Abigail did.
 
Michael laughed beneath his breath and shook his head.

Sir Nigel, sick of being ignored, dropped his ball at Abigail's feet and barked loudly.
 
They played fetch with him for a few minutes before Liam came strutting out of the castle.
 
He was dressed in his kilt and Tam Hat, the same way that his father had dressed when the Belmonts had first arrived.
 
Michael hadn't seen him like this in a long time.

Abigail looked at Michael with a huge smirk on her face before covering her mouth and giggling excitedly into her hands.
 
They both knew that Liam had dressed up for the sole purpose of meeting Elizabeth, whom Michael had told him was very beautiful.

Liam's plan worked.
 
When Elizabeth saw him, she grinned from cheek to cheek.
 
"This must be your friend Liam," she said as he strutted down to meet them, an unconcerned look on his face.

"Good morning, everyone," he announced.
 
And then, pretending to notice Elizabeth for the first time, said, "Oh, welcome to McGinty Castle, you must be the nanny from America."

She chuckled and reached out for a handshake. "I'm Elizabeth Harrison."

He caught hold of her hand and kissed it gently.
 
Michael was too stunned to do anything but watch, and Abigail, who had now turned bright red, continued rather unsuccessfully to try and contain herself.

Liam just ignored her.

"Well," he said in a proud voice, "any friend of the Belmonts is a friend of mine.
 
Come, and I will give you a personalized tour of the castle."

"Oh," she said, "well that would be delightful.
 
Of course, Mr. Finnegan has already shown me around a bit."

"Nonsense," said Liam with a dismissive wave of his hand. "That old dodo bird can barely find his way to the front door and back.
 
I'll show you things you never thought you'd ever imagine."

Michael leaned over to Abigail.
 
"Did that make any sense to you?" he asked.
 
Her eyes grew wide in response, and she continued to hold her hands tightly over her mouth.

Elizabeth took Liam's arm politely.
 
"That sounds wonderful," she responded as they walked back up toward the castle.

Michael and Abigail followed, not wanting to miss the rest of the show.

"Are you sure you'll be all right then, miss?" Finnegan inquired.

"Yes, of course we will.
 
You go and take care of your family.
 
That's the most important thing you can do right now."

"I know it is, but I feel like I'm abandoning all of you.
 
I'm so, so sorry, Miss Harrison."

"Really, it's okay, I've watched the children many times, you know."

"Oh, I don't doubt your abilities, miss, I just hate to leave you alone so soon after you've arrived.
 
You must promise to give me a call if you need anything, anything at all.
 
And you know, I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Mr. Finnegan, what's wrong?" Liam asked as he and Michael walked into the room.

"Master Liam," Finnegan said in a shaky voice, "I've just received a phone call from my dear sister Josephine in Edinburgh.
 
She's fallen horribly ill and I need to go out there and care for her.
 
Will you be alright here with your friends and Miss Harrison until I return?"

"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that," Liam frowned, "your sister is a very nice lady.
 
I'm sure she'll be glad to have you there to help.
 
Don't worry about us, Finnegan, we'll be fine until you get back."

"Very well then, please don't hesitate to ring if you need me."

"We will.
 
You take care now, and travel safe," Liam told him.

Finnegan went off to his room to pack.

"I know I give him a hard time," said Liam, "but he really is a fine old chap."

Elizabeth smiled at him sweetly.
 
"I'll make us some lunch.
 
Mr. Finnegan needs to have a bite to eat before he goes running off."

"So how do you like her?" asked Michael after she left the room.

"Well, she
is
a beauty," he responded, "but I think I'm a bit young for her.
 
Besides, I'm not quite ready to tie myself down to a wife just yet."

"You are so full of bologna," Michael told him, and they both laughed.

"I thought we could show Elizabeth the garden and hedge maze today," said Michael.
 
"I think Abby would get a real kick out of watching her try to find her way out."

"Yeah, sounds good to me," Liam agreed.
 
"Hey, have you been able to get any information from those books we got from the library?"

"Not really.
 
There's a lot of interesting stories in them, but nothing that would explain the piping music."

Liam scratched his chin.
 
"Well, maybe it
is
the piper of Argyll after all."

Michael shrugged.
 
"I haven't heard anything since the other night.
 
Maybe you or Abby will get to hear it sometime soon.
 
It's pretty freaky."

Liam nodded.
 
"Let's go help Elizabeth get lunch together, I know Finnegan's going to be in a hurry to get out of here."

Michael followed him into the kitchen.

Eight days had passed since Michael's parents and Mr. MacDonald had left for Egypt.
 
All three of the children missed their parents, but had been enjoying themselves with Elizabeth and the activities they were doing.

Elizabeth was a devoted tourist, and they had seen parts of the country that not even Liam had visited, having lived in the area all his life.
 
They had done a lot of hiking and biking, and had even taken a boat cruise on Loch Lomond.

It was a beautiful morning, and while Elizabeth finished up some chores at the castle, the three children decided to go out for a bike ride.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a storm blew in and began to pour rain down so fiercely that they were all drenched in a matter of seconds.
 
Luckily they were near some shelter.
 
Liam escorted Michael and Abigail to a coffee house, which he and his father had often enjoyed visiting on their excursions down by the lake.

The three of them tromped in and found a table, leaving a trail of water behind them.
 
The girl at the counter eyed them disapprovingly, as if they were wet dogs that had just scampered in.
 
Michael thought she might be afraid they were going to shake themselves off.

They sat down at the table, and after a moment the waitress came over.

"Sorry about the mess," Michael told her penitently.

"That's okay," she said.
 
"The three of you look too pitiful to get mad at.
 
What can I get for you?"

"How about three cups of hot cocoa?" Liam ordered, cheerfully.

She disappeared behind the counter and soon came back with their drinks.
 
Liam smiled and gave her a wink.
 
She promptly rolled her eyes and went back about her business.

Michael looked around the room.
 
There were only a few other customers around.
 
The place was quaint and peaceful.

Their order soon arrived, and as Michael sipped his cocoa, he wondered if any of the locals knew about the strange things that occurred at McGinty Castle.
 
Did any of these people have any clue about the kind of man that Shamus McGinty was, and the sort of adventures he must have enjoyed to retrieve so many strange and valuable artifacts?

Did Declan MacDonald know the extent of his uncle's eclectic stockpile of artifacts, or even of the existence of the hidden chamber that contained them?

Mr. MacDonald had spoken of the many years he had enjoyed the castle as a boy, so it was possible that he knew all about it, but if that was the case, why hadn't he ever let Liam in on the secret?

Abigail was being unusually quiet today.
 
She often got like this when she missed her parents.
 
Michael patted her on the hand, which was resting on the table cradling her warm cup of cocoa as if it were something delicate.

"Don't worry," he said to her and smiled, "you'll dry.
 
Eventually."

She grinned back.
 
"Maybe Aunt Elizabeth will play board games with us tonight."

"She likes board games, I think she'd be happy to do that."

Liam was peering out of the window.
 
"Speaking of Elizabeth, isn't that her coming up the drive?"

Michael peered over his shoulder to see outside.
 
Sure enough, Elizabeth was walking up toward the front door, and there was someone with her; someone that wasn't supposed to be there.

The man beside Elizabeth opened up the door for her, and she stepped inside to scan the room.
 
She looked frantic and worried.
 
The man stepped in behind her, water gushing from his brown cowboy hat, which hung down and buried his face in shadow.
 
The tip of his nose and his unshaven chin peaked out below.
 
His long leather duster and muddy boots helped to create the image of some cryptic gunslinger from an era long forgotten.