Nut--"
"Child of Nut," I snickered. "Sorry, go on."
"--a child of Geb and Nut would one day replace Ra as king. So when Ra learned that Nut was pregnant, Ra freaked out. He forbade Nut to give birth to her children on any day or night of the year."
I crossed my arms. "So what, she had to stay pregnant forever? That's awfully mean."
Carter shook his head. "Nut figured out a way. She set up a game of dice with the moon god, Khons. Every time Khons lost, he had to give Nut some of his moonlight. He lost so many times, Nut won enough moonlight to create five new days and tag them on to the end of the year."
"Oh, please," I said. "First, how can you gamble moonlight? And if you did, how could you make extra days out of it?"
"It's a story!" Carter protested. "Anyway, the Egyptian calendar had three hundred and sixty days in the year, just like the three hundred and sixty degrees in a circle. Nut created five days and added them to the end of the year--days that were not part of the regular year."
"The Demon Days," I guessed. "So the myth explains why a year has three hundred and sixtyfive days. And I suppose she had her children--"
"During those five days," Carter agreed. "One kid per day."
"Again, how do you have five children in a row, each on a different day?"
"They're gods," Carter said. "They can do stuff like that."
"Makes as much sense as the name Nut. But please, go on."
"So when Ra found out, he was furious, but it was too late. The children were already born.
Their names were Osiris--"
"The one Dad was after."
"Then Horus, Set, Isis, and, um..." Carter consulted his scroll. "Nephthys. I always forget that one."
"And the fiery man in the museum said, you have released all five."
"Exactly. What if they were imprisoned together and Dad didn't realize it? They were born together, so maybe they had to be summoned back into the world together. The thing is, one of these guys, Set, was a really bad dude. Like, the villain of Egyptian mythology. The god of evil and chaos and desert storms."
I shivered. "Did he perhaps have something to do with fire?"
Carter pointed to one of the figures in the picture. The god had an animal head, but I couldn't quite make out which sort of animal: Dog? Anteater? Evil bunny rabbit? Whichever it was, his hair and his clothes were bright red.
"The Red Lord," I said.
"Sadie, there's more," Carter said. "Those five days--the Demon Days--were bad luck in Ancient Egypt. You had to be careful, wear good luck charms, and not do anything important or dangerous on those days. And in the British Museum, Dad told Set: They'll stop you before the Demon Days are over."
"Surely you don't think he meant us," I said. "We're supposed to stop this Set character?"
Carter nodded. "And if the last five days of our calendar year still count as the Egyptian Demon Days--they'd start on December 27, the day after tomorrow."
The shabti seemed to be staring at me expectantly, but I had not the slightest idea what to do.
Demon Days and evil bunny gods--if I heard one more impossible thing, my head would explode.
And the worst of it? The little insistent voice in the back of my head saying: It's not impossible.
To save Dad, we must defeat Set.
As if that had been on my to-do list for Christmas hols. See Dad--check. Develop strange
powers--check. Defeat an evil god of chaos--check. The whole idea was mad!
Suddenly there was a loud crash, as if something had broken in the Great Room. Khufu began barking in alarm.
Carter and I locked eyes. Then we ran for the stairs.
S A D I E
8. Muffin Plays with Knives
OUR BABOON WAS GOINGcompletely sky goddess--which is to say, nuts.
He swung from column to column, bouncing along the balconies, overturning pots and statues.
Then he ran back to the terrace windows, stared outside for a moment, and proceeded to go berserk again.
Muffin was also at the window. She crouched on all fours with her tail twitching as if she were
"Child of Nut," I snickered. "Sorry, go on."
"--a child of Geb and Nut would one day replace Ra as king. So when Ra learned that Nut was pregnant, Ra freaked out. He forbade Nut to give birth to her children on any day or night of the year."
I crossed my arms. "So what, she had to stay pregnant forever? That's awfully mean."
Carter shook his head. "Nut figured out a way. She set up a game of dice with the moon god, Khons. Every time Khons lost, he had to give Nut some of his moonlight. He lost so many times, Nut won enough moonlight to create five new days and tag them on to the end of the year."
"Oh, please," I said. "First, how can you gamble moonlight? And if you did, how could you make extra days out of it?"
"It's a story!" Carter protested. "Anyway, the Egyptian calendar had three hundred and sixty days in the year, just like the three hundred and sixty degrees in a circle. Nut created five days and added them to the end of the year--days that were not part of the regular year."
"The Demon Days," I guessed. "So the myth explains why a year has three hundred and sixtyfive days. And I suppose she had her children--"
"During those five days," Carter agreed. "One kid per day."
"Again, how do you have five children in a row, each on a different day?"
"They're gods," Carter said. "They can do stuff like that."
"Makes as much sense as the name Nut. But please, go on."
"So when Ra found out, he was furious, but it was too late. The children were already born.
Their names were Osiris--"
"The one Dad was after."
"Then Horus, Set, Isis, and, um..." Carter consulted his scroll. "Nephthys. I always forget that one."
"And the fiery man in the museum said, you have released all five."
"Exactly. What if they were imprisoned together and Dad didn't realize it? They were born together, so maybe they had to be summoned back into the world together. The thing is, one of these guys, Set, was a really bad dude. Like, the villain of Egyptian mythology. The god of evil and chaos and desert storms."
I shivered. "Did he perhaps have something to do with fire?"
Carter pointed to one of the figures in the picture. The god had an animal head, but I couldn't quite make out which sort of animal: Dog? Anteater? Evil bunny rabbit? Whichever it was, his hair and his clothes were bright red.
"The Red Lord," I said.
"Sadie, there's more," Carter said. "Those five days--the Demon Days--were bad luck in Ancient Egypt. You had to be careful, wear good luck charms, and not do anything important or dangerous on those days. And in the British Museum, Dad told Set: They'll stop you before the Demon Days are over."
"Surely you don't think he meant us," I said. "We're supposed to stop this Set character?"
Carter nodded. "And if the last five days of our calendar year still count as the Egyptian Demon Days--they'd start on December 27, the day after tomorrow."
The shabti seemed to be staring at me expectantly, but I had not the slightest idea what to do.
Demon Days and evil bunny gods--if I heard one more impossible thing, my head would explode.
And the worst of it? The little insistent voice in the back of my head saying: It's not impossible.
To save Dad, we must defeat Set.
As if that had been on my to-do list for Christmas hols. See Dad--check. Develop strange
powers--check. Defeat an evil god of chaos--check. The whole idea was mad!
Suddenly there was a loud crash, as if something had broken in the Great Room. Khufu began barking in alarm.
Carter and I locked eyes. Then we ran for the stairs.
S A D I E
8. Muffin Plays with Knives
OUR BABOON WAS GOINGcompletely sky goddess--which is to say, nuts.
He swung from column to column, bouncing along the balconies, overturning pots and statues.
Then he ran back to the terrace windows, stared outside for a moment, and proceeded to go berserk again.
Muffin was also at the window. She crouched on all fours with her tail twitching as if she were
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