R. LaFevers - Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos

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?”