Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris

For odd ducks everywhere.

Remember, "odd duck" is just another name for a swan.

And since this book had so very much to do with mummies, it seems only right that I dedicate it to my mummy,

Dixie Young,

who ran with the wolves (or maybe it was the jackals!) long before there was a book written about it and had to find her own way through the wild woods.

And even with all that, she managed to hold the path open for others.

I only wish I'd understood how hard it must have been earlier.