An Unexpected Pleasure (The Mad Morelands #4)(47)
They entered the building behind the twins and were greeted by a slender young man who apparently recognized Theo and seemed overcome by the prospect of meeting him.
“Lord Raine,” he gushed. “What an honor to have you here. Please allow me to get Mr. Coffey. I am sure that he would wish to show you around the museum personally.”
Meeting Coffey in the presence of Theo was the last thing Megan wanted, so she was glad when Theo said shortly, “No. Don’t bother him. I am sure we will be able to find our way about ourselves.”
The young man continued to bow and babble as they started down the hall, and Megan was afraid that he would follow them all through the house, but, much to her relief, after a few more obsequious questions and comments, he disappeared.
The twins darted from exhibit to exhibit, which ran the gamut from stuffed jaguars, parrots and monkeys to re-creations of narrow native crafts used to navigate the mighty Amazon, to ancient gold and silver artifacts locked in glass cases. To Megan, who knew little about South America or its indigenous ancient tribes, the place was fascinating.
The museum, having originally been a house, was composed of a number of rooms, some small and some large. The first two rooms they went into contained stuffed animals, including a long-necked llama, and a number of drawings of the flora and fauna of South and Central America. On the walls hung several small blankets and ponchos in bright colors and geometric designs.
The next room displayed a number of odd-looking masks, stylized in design, several made of gold, silver and copper. One was of a man’s face, wide and square, with large almond-shaped eyes and huge rings in his earlobes, with an arcing headdress across his forehead. The mask appeared to be silver, with the headdress and the round earrings done in gold. Another mask, also made from metal, was, she realized on second glance, the wide-open jaws of a jaguar, with nose and eyes above the gaping square of the mouth, large, wicked-looking teeth jutting up and down at the corners of the square. Inside the opened mouth was the stylized face of a man, the two faces melding together in such a way that they appeared to be one creature.
She leaned forward for a closer look. “How curious. What is that?”
“The jaguar god,” Theo said flatly.
Megan glanced at him. His face was devoid of expression. “Also the sun god. When he passes through the day, he is the sun god, the supreme god, then he descends into the darkness of the underworld, where he is the jaguar god. The god of war.”
Megan could not suppress a little shiver. The mask was, frankly, a little bit unnerving. She strolled around the room, looking at all the masks, some of metal and others of cloth or ceramic, some topped with feathers. All were of human or animal faces, often a blending of the two. There were long-beaked birds and open-mouthed serpents, deities and warriors.
In the center of the room stood a large, glassed-in display case containing a variety of small figurines. Several were gold and silver, a veritable garden of plants and trees in gleaming metal, and others were carved from some sort of black stone. There were painted pots, and also a short instrument of some kind, with another headdressed figure on top, and below it a rounded piece of metal that looked rather like a miniature spade.
Megan glanced again at Theo. He stood in silence, gazing down into the display case, and there was a look on his face, distant and melancholy, that clutched at Megan’s heart. It was the face of a man staring into bitter memories, and once again she felt the sharp stab of certainty that Theo lived with guilt.
Her heart felt immensely heavy, and tears welled suddenly in her eyes. She turned away, swallowing the fierce emotion that threatened to swamp her.
Seizing on any diversion, she wondered where the twins were. With the house laid out the way it was, it had not taken the boys long to outstrip them as they went from room to room. But she realized now that she did not even hear their voices any longer.
“Oh, dear,” Megan said. “Where are Con and Alex?”
She crossed the room to the hall and looked out. “Boys? Con? Alex?”
There was no sign of them and no reply, and anxiety sharpened in her chest. She went to the next room and peeked in, only to find the boys were not there, either. Consternation on her face, she turned back to Theo, who had followed her out into the hall. “Where did they get to?”
Theo shrugged with a notable lack of concern. “The twins have a knack of disappearing wherever they go. Don’t worry. They also have a way of turning up just when you’re sure that something dreadful has happened to them.”
“I must say,” Megan told him crossly, “you seem rather cavalier about it.”
“The twins are good at taking care of themselves,” Theo responded with a smile. “At least here I know they’re enclosed in a house. It’s a great deal more unnerving to lose sight of them in the midst of the city, which I have had the misfortune to do before. With the Greats, it’s best to save one’s worry until you find that they’re actually in danger. Otherwise you’ll be gray before your time.”
Megan knew it was true that the twins were able to take care of themselves quite well, and she had little doubt that in a few minutes they would come pounding back, full of excitement and babbling about something that she and Theo should see. Still, Theo’s attitude seemed one more irritation in an already annoying day, and she was just about to snap back a heated comment when she was distracted by the sound of footsteps.