The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles #1)(12)

“Terrible timing,” he muttered. “But there’s no other way. They’ll have to come with me.”

“Excuse me?” I said. “I’m not going anywhere with some strange man with biscuit on his face!”

He did in fact have biscuit crumbs on his face, but he apparently didn’t care, as he didn’t bother to check.

“I’m no stranger, Sadie,” he said. “Don’t you remember?”

It was creepy hearing him talk to me in such a familiar way. I felt I should know him. I looked at Carter, but he seemed just as mystified as I was.

“No, Amos,” Gran said, trembling. “You can’t take Sadie. We had an agreement.”

“Julius broke that agreement tonight,” Amos said. “You know you can’t care for Sadie anymore—not after what’s happened. Their only chance is to come with me.”

“Why should we go anywhere with you?” Carter asked. “You almost got in a fight with Dad!”

Amos looked at the workbag in Carter’s lap. “I see you kept your father’s bag. That’s good. You’ll need it. As for getting into fights, Julius and I did that quite a lot. If you didn’t notice, Carter, I was trying to stop him from doing something rash. If he’d listened to me, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

I had no idea what he was on about, but Gramps apparently understood.

“You and your superstitions!” he said. “I told you we want none of it.”

Amos pointed to the back patio. Through the glass doors, you could see the lights shining on the Thames. It was quite a nice view at night, when you couldn’t notice how run-down some of the buildings were.

“Superstition, is it?” Amos asked. “And yet you found a place to live on the east bank of the river.”

Gramps turned even redder. “That was Ruby’s idea. Thought it would protect us. But she was wrong about many things, wasn’t she? She trusted Julius and you, for one!”

Amos looked unfazed. He smelled interesting—like old-timey spices, copal and amber, like the incense shops in Covent Garden.

He finished his tea and looked straight at Gran. “Mrs. Faust, you know what’s begun. The police are the least of your worries.”

Gran swallowed. “You...you changed that inspector’s mind. You made him deport Sadie.”

“It was that or see the children arrested,” Amos said.

“Hang on,” I said. “You changed Inspector Williams’s mind? How?”

Amos shrugged. “It’s not permanent. In fact we should get to New York in the next hour or so before Inspector Williams begins to wonder why he let you go.”

Carter laughed incredulously. “You can’t get to New York from London in a hour. Not even the fastest plane—”

“No,” Amos agreed. “Not a plane.” He turned back to Gran as if everything had been settled. “Mrs. Faust, Carter and Sadie have only one safe option. You know that. They’ll come to the mansion in Brooklyn. I can protect them there.”

“You’ve got a mansion,” Carter said. “In Brooklyn.”

Amos gave him an amused smile. “The family mansion. You’ll be safe there.”

“But our dad—”

“Is beyond your help for now,” Amos said sadly. “I’m sorry, Carter. I’ll explain later, but Julius would want you to be safe. For that, we must move quickly. I’m afraid I’m all you’ve got.”

That was a bit harsh, I thought. Carter glanced at Gran and Gramps. Then he nodded glumly. He knew that they didn’t want him around. He’d always reminded them of our dad. And yes, it was a stupid reason not to take in your grandson, but there you are.

“Well, Carter can do what he wants,” I said. “But I live here. And I’m not going off with some stranger, am I?”

I looked at Gran for support, but she was staring at the lace doilies on the table as if they were suddenly quite interesting.

“Gramps, surely...”

But he wouldn’t meet my eyes either. He turned to Amos. “You can get them out of the country?”

“Hang on!” I protested.

Amos stood and wiped the crumbs off his jacket. He walked to the patio doors and stared out at the river. “The police will be back soon. Tell them anything you like. They won’t find us.”

“You’re going to kidnap us?” I asked, stunned. I looked at Carter. “Do you believe this?”

Carter shouldered the workbag. Then he stood like he was ready to go. Possibly he just wanted to be out of Gran and Gramps’s flat. “How do you plan to get to New York in an hour?” he asked Amos. “You said, not a plane.”

“No,” Amos agreed. He put his finger to the window and traced something in the condensation—another bloody hieroglyph.

“A boat,” I said—then realized I’d translated aloud, which I wasn’t supposed to be able to do.

Amos peered at me over the top of his round glasses. “How did you—”

“I mean that last bit looks like a boat,” I blurted out. “But that can’t be what you mean. That’s ridiculous.”

“Look!” Carter cried.

I pressed in next to him at the patio doors. Down at the quayside, a boat was docked. But not a regular boat, mind you. It was an Egyptian reed boat, with two torches burning in the front, and a big rudder in the back. A figure in a black trench coat and hat—possibly Amos’s—stood at the tiller.