Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE A Grim Task

"YOU AND YOUR BROTHERS are hard men to find," the Grim Nipper told Snuffles, who shrank next to me.

"What have you done with Will?" I demanded, as if I had been the one who had accosted him.

"Nothing. I was hoping you might be able to tell me where he's gone."

"I don't know." I tried to keep my face from showing the panic I was feeling.

The Grim Nipper turned his watery blue eyes to Snuffles. "And you?"

Snuffles shook his head.

"Ah, now, that is too bad. You see, if I can't find your brother and convince 'im to come back to work for me, I'm afraid I'll 'ave to take you as compensation. I'm owed something for all me training of your brother, aren't I?" He reached into his coat pocket and began jiggling some coins he had in there.

Something tight inside my chest relaxed at the Nipper's words. He was still trying to convince Will to come back to work for him, which meant that Will hadn't returned to his old life. It also meant that he wasn't missing due to any shenanigans on the Grim Nipper's part, which left ... Chaos. My chest tightened again.

The Nipper grinned, displaying a mouth full of brown and rotting teeth. "Besides, I got so much work now, what wi' all the gold people are saving to ward off mummies, that I could use two or three new apprentices."

Snuffles shook like a leaf in a stiff breeze, his eyes huge in his pale face. "Snuffles is much too young to work for you," I said, coming to his defense.

"Not really. Will was younger 'n that when I taught 'im everything I know. Besides, I've seen this young'un following Will around for a few weeks. I know Will's a-training 'im for 'is future career."

The Nipper pulled his hand out of his pocket. He was wearing fingerless gloves, and on his palm sat a shiny gold sovereign. He held it out to Snuffles. "'Ere, now. Wouldn't you want one of these for your very own?"

As Snuffles watched, the Nipper began to walk the coin across his fingers in some kind of trick. Snuffles looked hypnotized, but whether from fear or the enticement of so much gold, I couldn't tell.

"Snuffles is not interested," I informed the Grim Nipper in my best Grandmother Throckmorton voice. "So you can take your leave of this carriage."

A look of annoyance flashed across the Nipper's face. "And just who exactly are you?"

"A family friend. Now please, take your leave, as we have an errand we must run."

"Take my leave? After I've just confessed to you me entire operation? I don't think so, me dear. Besides, while you're too old to train for nippery, you'd likely fetch a pretty penny if'n I sold you."

Sold me! I think not. As I watched the gold coin wind it's way between his fingers, I got an idea. "Look," I said. "I have a very valuable artifact in my bag. If I give it to you, will you let us go? I'm sure you'll get more for it that you would me."

The Grim Nipper's eyes lit up as they fell onto the satchel I clasped on my lap. "In there, you say?"

Quick as a snake, he reached out and snagged the bag from my grasp.

Just as I'd hoped he would.

Keeping one eye on me to see if I would try to stop him, he pocketed his coin and opened the satchel. "You ain't near as clever as you look, thinking you can bargain with something I can just take." He lifted the knotted rope, studied it a moment, then laid it across his lap as he reached back into the carpetbag.

He groped around inside, then pulled out an execration figure. "What kind of toy is this?" He scowled, then tossed it onto the seat. Next he pulled out a handful of amulets. He stared at them for a long moment, appraising their value. With an exclamation of disgust, he finally tossed them onto the seat as well, his eyes flat and angry. "Thought you'd trick me, did you? Thought you could outsmart the Grim Nipper, did you? Well, I'll show you how they came to put the Grim in Nipper, you little cow."

He reached for the knotted rope on his lap, then raised his hands to strike me with it.

I gasped and stared in horror at the flesh of his fingers, which had begun to puff up and turn green, with the nails darkening to nearly black.

The Grim Nipper followed my gaze to his hands. "What—"

He flung the rope to the floor of the hansom and ripped off his fingerless gloves as the effects worked toward his palms. He looked up at me with fury and horror in his eyes. "You've cursed me! You've gone and given me a mummy's curse!"

I didn't say a word, just shook my head. It wasn't true—not exactly, anyway.

"The gold!" he said, then shoved a hand into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin. He began rubbing it all over his cursed palms like a bar of soap. The boils and blisters continued to work their way up his wrists, disappearing into his coat sleeves.

"It's not working!" His voice was high and tinged with desperation.

The carriage lurched to a stop, and the cabby called out, "Royal Albert Docks! Out wi' ye!"

The Grim Nipper wrenched open the cab door and stumbled out onto the dock. I quickly grabbed the cursed rope from the floor—grateful for my gloves and four amulets—and stuffed it back into my bag.

"Wot did you do to 'im?" Snuffles asked, his eyes wide and full of awe.

"The rope was cursed."

"Blimey, miss. That was one neat trick!"

"Come on, we've got to hurry!"

No sooner had we gotten out of the cab than the driver slapped the reins on the horse's back and took off like a shot. I heard him mumble something about a drunken sot. I looked up to find the Grim Nipper reeling on the dock, clutching various parts of his body as the curse worked it's way through him.

Although there were scads of men working nearby, none of them spared the lurching Nipper a glance. Perhaps they also thought he was drunk. Whatever the reason, I was grateful for their indifference.

I didn't think the curse would kill him, but I didn't know for certain. If he died, I wouldn't have anyone to hand over to Turnbull in exchange for Father. I glanced around the docks, wondering what to do with the beastly man.

"Here, this way," I called out to him.

He lumbered toward me as I led him closer and closer to the edge of the dock. Quietly, I said to Snuffles, "When I say so, grab his coat and we'll push him into the water. Got it?"

Snuffles nodded.

The Grim Nipper nearly barreled into us and his shouts were growing louder and louder. If we didn't do something fast, he would attract far too much attention. "Now!"

I shoved the Grim Nipper backwards. Next to me, Snuffles pushed as well. There was a slight tug of resistance, and then the Nipper tumbled back into the water.

"Help!" he said, spluttering and floundering about. "I can't swim."

"You don't have to swim. Just grab one of the posts and hang on. Someone should be along shortly. And the salt in the water might even remove the curse."

I turned back to Snuffles just as he was putting something into his coat pocket. He caught me watching and patted it possessively. "Wot? I couldn't risk letting all that gold fall into the river, now, could I?"

"No, of course not. Now let's go!"

As we made our way to the dock where the Dreadnought lay at anchor, we did our best to keep hidden. I didn't want Chaos to find me before I found them.

Plus, I had to decide what to do with Snuffles. I didn't want to take him with me to face the Serpents of Chaos—he would be defenseless against their brand of evildoing. But as I looked around, the docks didn't seem like the best place, either.

I found a hiding place behind a stack of cargo containers—we were out of sight, but I had a good view of the ship's loading plank. There were sailors guarding the entrance, as there had been the day Admiral Sopcoate had brought Grandmother and me for a tour.

The thought of Sopcoate made my heart skip a beat. I couldn't let anything happen to him. Grandmother wouldn't be able to bear it.

I glanced down at the watch pinned to my gown. It was nearly eleven o'clock. Sopcoate had told Grandmother he was escorting the Abyssinians at the top of the hour, so they should be here any moment. Chaos had said they'd need to be ready for high tide, at 12:47. How much time did they think they'd need to get the ship ready to sail? I glanced up at the giant vessel with hundreds of men scurrying around on it's decks, tending to their duties. Hundreds of men whom Chaos meant to kill, then bring back as reanimated dead and use to kidnap the crown jewel of the British Navy. I thought how every one of those men would be horrified to learn that he would be committing treason within the space of a couple of hours.

Unless I could stop it.

"Here," I said, taking a Blood of Isis amulet from my satchel and handing it to Snuffles. "You'll need to wear this."

He recoiled. "I ain't wearin' no girl's frippery!"

"It's not frippery, you little dolt! It's an amulet, to protect against curses like the one that just attacked the Grim Nipper."

"Oh." He eyed it with great suspicion. "You sure about that?"

"Never mind. If you don't care if your fingers rot off, it's no worry of mine." I went to put the amulet back into the satchel, but Snuffles reached out and stopped me.

"No, miss. I'll wear it. I'm right fond of me fingers."

"Very well," I said, then slipped it over his head before he changed his mind. "You can wear it under your collar if you like, so it doesn't show."

Behind us there was a loud, hollow clattering as a horse and carriage drew up onto the wooden docks. My breath caught in my throat as I watched the footman hop down and open the door. Admiral Sopcoate alighted, followed by seven others. Except for Sopcoate, they all wore long flowing robes and brightly colored sashes. They had dark skin and full beards and wore turbans on their heads. The poor Abyssinians! They had no idea what they'd just wandered into.

The group laughed, and I heard raised voices speaking a strange language. Still using the cover of the cargo crates, I inched closer.

The tallest man had a strange forked beard. And blue eyes. Odd for such a dark complexion. The man next to him sneezed, knocking his whiskers askew.

One of the Abyssinians gave him a nudge and motioned to the man's face. The fellow who'd sneezed quickly reached up and adjusted his whiskers.

Except he didn't use a hand to fix his whiskers, but a hook.

A horrid realization struck me.

I searched the rest of the faces. It was difficult to tell because they weren't all facing me, but it appeared as if the thick eyebrows on one man shadowed a heavily scarred left eye, although his skin was much darker than when I had last seen it.

With a sinking feeling, the brilliance of their plan hit me. Chaos was posing as the Abyssinian ambassadors! In mere moments, Admiral Sopcoate would be escorting them onto his pride and joy! I had to stop them, but how?

At the sound of quick, efficient steps on the dock behind me, I pulled back into my hiding place. A uniformed sailor was heading my way. I turned to Snuffles. "Whatever happens, stay here! Do you understand me? Stay here so you can show the police where I went. Oh, and may I borrow one of those guineas you lifted from the Grim Nipper?"

Snuffles tried to look shocked. "Wot guineas, miss?"

"Don't worry. I'd much rather you have them than they end up at the bottom of the river. I just need one."

At his continued reluctance, I sighed. "I promise I'll pay you back."

"Well, all right, then..."

I pocketed the coin, and then, without allowing myself to think about it too much, I stepped out from behind a crate directly into the path of the sailor.

He stopped, surprise marking his face. "Out of my way, there, miss."

"Good morning, sir." I did my best to look a little lost and worried. (It wasn't hard, believe me.) "I am in a bit of a bind and was wondering if you could help me? I need to speak to Admiral Sopcoate before he goes onboard, but I don't want his visitors to see that it's only me who's called him away. Being foreign dignitaries, they might not understand."

The sailor scowled. "What's a slip of a girl like you want to bother the admiral for?"

I wanted to scream with frustration. "It is of the utmost importance that I speak to the admiral at once," I said, using my best Grandmother Throckmorton voice.

"Now, look here. We've all got more important things to do than play nursemaid to a hoity-toity young miss."

By this time, the sailor had raised his voice and was beginning to create a bit of a scene. I saw the admiral look over at us, his eyes widening as he saw me. He murmured something to the man next to him, then detached himself from the small group.

I stepped behind the sailor, not wanting any of the Serpents of Chaos to recognize me.

"What's going on, sailor?" he asked.

The sailor whirled around, his face flaming at being caught arguing with me. "This girl wanted me to disturb you, sir. I didn't think—"

"You did exactly right, but I happen to know this child. I'll take it from here."

The sailor gave a relieved salute, then hightailed it out of there.

Admiral Sopcoate gave me his full attention. "What on earth are you doing here?" He stepped closer, his face full of concern. "Is your grandmother all right?"

"Oh, yes. She's fine. But ... it's about that group you're with. What I'm about to tell you might seem hard to believe, but you must try." I took a deep breath. "They aren't Abyssinians at all! They're evil men who work for a secret organization called the Serpents of Chaos. And they're planning to kidnap the Dreadnought right out from under your nose!"

The relief at being able to put this enormous problem smack into the hands of a competent adult was nearly overwhelming.

Sopcoate rocked back on his heels, a frown crumpling his brow. "You're quite right, my dear. This is a serious problem. But don't worry. I'll fix everything."

The admiral's face suddenly changed, going from his friendly, pleasant manner to a chilling, unreadable mask. He reached out and grabbed my arm with an iron grip. "You, my dear, have meddled for the last time." Then, with my mouth hanging open in shock, he began to drag me toward the Abyssinian delegation.