[Untitled]
Dawn dawned at dawn, of course, the next day. [Note--I seem to recall really liking that opening line.] It was very, very early, when the sun was glimmering on the horizon, that the group of archaeologists made their way to Stonehenge again.
"Let me know if you see anyone suspicious," Fredestaire said, and went to work at one of the stones.
"I hope those bats don't come back," Dufferin said. "I sneeze whene-e-eh-eh-ah-AHCHOO!" He shook his head. "Even when I think of them," he finished, sniffing.
"Petrie! Dufferin! Come, look at this!" Coventry called. The two went over to her side.
"Somebody buried a paper under here," she said, tugging at it, "but I can't get it out. Could you two gentlemen help me, please?" And she smiled sweetly.
Petrie looked at Lord Dufferin, who shrugged. They bent over and went to work at the rock, which was just a small round boulder. Petrie did his best to lift it up partially, while Dufferin dug underneath it. At length he sat back and fanned himself with his fedora, which he'd brought along as protection against the sun.
"It's hot already!" he exclaimed, wiping his forehead. "They really buried this paper. Lift up the stone, Petrie, and I'll try it one more time."
Petrie dug his feet into the sand, locked his knees, and lifted the stone. Dufferin dug a little more, and then pulled out the paper.
"Hello, what's this?" he asked, pulling out what appeared to be a medallion.
"Oh, it's beautiful!" Lady Coventry breathed.
"It doesn't look very Egyptian, though," Dufferin said, looking at it, puzzled.
"Do you mind moving so I can put this down?" Petrie gasped.
"Oh, yeah--sorry," Dufferin moved back. Petrie dropped the stone with a dull, muffled thud.
"The paper has a bit of scribbling on it but I can't tell what it says," Dufferin said.
[Illustration: A fullpage drawing--Lady Coventry, Petrie, and Lord Dufferin excavating at Stonehenge. Coventry is seated on the ground, knees drawn up demurely. She's smiling. Petrie is seated on a boulder with a large standing stone behind him, the sun glaring in the background; he's wearing a sun visor and holding up the medallion with an intent look on his face. The medallion looks like a round little mirror with a horned demon or gargoyle head over it and two little hands grasping it. It's glittering. Lord Dufferin kneels to the right, wearing his fedora and holding up a torn folded paper in front of himself, giving it a puzzled look. (I just noticed, BTW, that Dufferin wears a bowtie while Petrie wears a regular tie.) Text visible on the paper reads, "CHI...SRED NASMA NIAMP" (Dufferin's hand obscures "SKA"). The caption reads: "Another discovery at Stonehenge."]
Lady Coventry read the front aloud. "'Chi Ska Sred Nasma Niamp.' It must be a code."
"Wait a minute--could you repeat that?" Petrie asked.
"Chi Ska Sred Nasma Niamp," Lady Coventry said. "Why? Do you think you've heard it before?"
"It is a code. I learned it once. Let's see...Chi...that means 'to.' Ska--'make.' Sred..." He held his head up with his left hand, pondering. "Sred...the! To make the...Nasma, that's medallion." He pointed at it. "To make the medallion...medallion...Niamp...labor...work...work! To make the medallion work! Chi Ska Sred Nasma Niamp!"
"I am so proud to have a professional archaeologist amongst us," Lady Coventry sighed.
"For once," Lord Dufferin said. "Come on, we'd better show this to Fred--I mean, Fredestaire." He stood up, brushed the sand off, and walked off to the far side of Stonehenge.
Lady Coventry and Petrie got up to follow him.
"What does the rest of it say?" Coventry asked.
"It's all come back to me now. Let's see...Chi Niamp Sred Nasma, Trika Es Sneno's Crashnar, Qizl Enestafh Krs Haflsf, 'Axrpeb I Trika Zoxo Nasmin, Krs Bulsta Tip I Yeckes Jlur Sred Epistan.' To work the medallion, hold at arm's length, look in and say, 'Now I hold this talisman, and with it I may see the past.'"
"Amazing!" Lady Coventry exclaimed.
Fredestaire came over. "What is that?"
"It's some kind of spell," Petrie said. "But who believes in those?"
"I do!" Lord Dufferin said. [Note--didn't he just wander off...?]
Fredestaire took the medallion from Petrie to look at it. "Since you don't believe in spells, why don't you try it?"
Petrie paused for a moment, then shrugged and took the medallion. He held it out, looked into it, and said, "Axrpeb I Trika Zoxo Nasmin, Krs Bulsta Tip..." He paused again. "...I Yeckes Jlur Sred Epistan." He brought it back up to his face to take a closer look.
"Hey! It's...it's you!" he suddenly said, pointing at Lord Carnarvon.
"What's happening?" Lady Evelyn asked.
"Fredestaire just ran into him. Now--now he's running off. And Lord Carnarvon's picking up a tablet. He's calling you, Fredestaire. But you don't hear him."
"That's how we met!" Fredestaire said.
"What else do you see?" Lady Coventry asked.
"Now I see you. You've got your ears done up differently. [Note--based on the illustrations Coventry looks to be a cocker spaniel or something, with long fluffy ears. One of the doodles on the inside front cover is of her with her ears pinned up.] Now..." He broke off.
"What? What?" Lady Evelyn asked.
"This is how we met!" Petrie exclaimed. "Lady Coventry, you just ran into Fredestaire...now we're all apologizing...and now we're laughing."
"A lot of run-ins," Lady Evelyn smirked.
"Now I see a baby," Petrie continued. "The doctors are saying that she was born two months early, so she's put on machines."
Lady Evelyn suddenly went pale.
"And right now she nearly died. The doctors revived her, of course. And on the machine is a name tag, which reads--"
"Evelyn Herbert Carnarvon!" Lady Evelyn said. Everyone jumped, startled.
"That was me!" Lady Evelyn explained. "At first I didn't believe you, but now I do. I was born two months early, and I was put on machines. I did nearly die. That whole thing's right on track!"
"Maybe we could use this thing to our avail," Fredestaire said thoughtfully. [Note--I believe I meant "advantage."] "Remember when some of those papers were stolen? The medallion might tell us who took them where."
"It's worth a shot," Petrie said. He looked into the medallion again. "Oh, here it is! Someone in a black cloak with a hood. He's taking them--the papers--to--that building! Where the other dogs were! And several of them are in cahoots with...humans!" [Note--my Petrie would never use a word like "cahoots."]
"Humans!" everyone else exclaimed, recoiling with horror at the word.
"What would they ever want to do with those dirty, nasty...humans!" Lady Coventry said. "I hardly dare say that word!"
Fredestaire frowned. "It probably has something to do with Watu-Haru's treasure."
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