Nicky sat on top of the circular counter at the entrance of the museum, while Nona sat in one of the swivel chairs in front of the computers. Larry was already doing rounds upstairs while they waited for the sun to set.

As Nona was reading one of her books, Nicky jumped down from the counter.

"Hey Nona?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Why don't you like history?" She froze up, shoulders tense, then shook her head. She didn't want to think about it - she didn't want to think about history, or why she never really found interest in it.

"It's a long story. Maybe another night, okay?" She closed the book as Larry walked down the steps. He had an excited look in his eyes as he walked to the large dinosaur. Nona raised an eyebrow at him, then widened her eyes as he pulled out one of its ribs.

"I don't think you're supposed to do that!" she exclaimed as he carried the bone back over. "That's museum property, not to mention priceless!"

"Don't worry about it. You'll see why I did it in a minute. Here." He placed the bone in her arms and she looked down at it, hoping no one would arrest her for the destruction of property because her fingerprints were on it.

"Why am I holding a dinosaur bone? This is against the rules!" Nona said, standing up to carry it back to Larry.

"Thirty seconds."

"Thirty seconds? Thirty seconds what?" Nona asked, confused as she looked at the two males. Nicky was staring at the dinosaur, Larry at his watch, Nona at both of them as she wondered if they were insane.

"Just wait," Nicky said. "I promise, you'll love it!"

"Love what!"

"Ten seconds," Larry said, and Nona began to feel the pit in her stomach return as the sun began to drop from the sky, basking the outside world in darkness. When it was completely dark, Larry and Nicky were both silent. The whole museum was silent before there was the sound of bones jostling, then cracking.

In disbelief, Nona watched as the dinosaur on display moved its body around before stepping off the platform it had stood on before. It walked over to Nicky and nuzzled his hand until Nicky laughed, finally petting him.

"Okay, very funny, this was a nice prank," Nona said, the bone suddenly heavy in her arms. "Those are good special effects, though."

"No, Nona - he's real, look!" Nicky said, and the dinosaur walked over to Nona. She felt her chest tighten as it seemed to sniff her, before rising in a stance with its tail wagging.

"Rexy wants to play fetch," Nicky said. "Throw the bone!"

"But . . . it's not real!" She took a step back and 'Rexy' followed her, his tail still wagging.

"I promise it is," Larry said, and Nona looked down at the bone in her hands. She then turned and threw the bone as hard as she could, watching as the dinosaur chased after it with excitement. She laughed lightly at its reaction, thinking of her dog back home.

"Lawrence!" Nona jumped and turned around, eyes wide as the once wax figurine of Teddy Roosevelt rode up next to them. He stepped down from his horse with a smile. "Good to see you this evening!"

"Hey, Teddy. This is Nona, my neice. The one I told you about last night." Teddy turned to Nona and smiled kindly, holding out a hand to shake. Nona did with a dazed look in her eye.

"Very nice to meet you, Ms. Daley. I have heard you are quite shy," he replied. "I am Teddy Roosevelt, 26th president of these United States!"

". . . Wow," she said quietly, earning a laugh from Teddy. "Well, um, it's nice to meet you."

"And you. I'm afraid I must go, though - I would love to stay and talk with you more, but there's somewhere I need to be." With one more smile, he hopped onto his horse and rode away, disappearing down a hallway.

"What is going on?" Nona asked, turning to look at Larry. "That wasn't Teddy Roosevelt . . . he's . . ."

"Dead? He is. But everything in this museum comes to life at night, including the wax figure of Teddy."

"But . . . how?"

"The Tablet of Ahkmenrah. It holds these abilities and it brings the museum to life," Larry explained, and Nona looked at him skeptically. "It's true."

". . . Okay. Well . . . I'm going to, uh, go find somewhere quiet to read." She picked up her textbook and hurried up the stairs of the museum, hoping that this was just some cruel prank and the museum wasn't really alive. She soon realized, however, that he wasn't lying. The exhibits really were alive, as they were walking around the museum with each other or talking to others. They looked at her unfamiliar face with interest as she passed them in the halls.

She reached the end of one hall, where it seemed to be somewhat quiet and lonely.

"Finally," she huffed out, entering the room. It was the diorama room of the museum, with three different exhibits set up. One was the Aztecs, which was locked with a shield of glass. Another was the Roman exhibit, and the other was the Wild West. She looked with interest as the horses running around the Wild West, and then the Romans working at the other.

She sat down on the bench in the room, watching the exhibits move and work as they had in the past. For once, she was genuinely interested in the small exhibits and hardly cracked a smile. Then Nona shook her head and opened her book to begin reading.

"M'lady, who might you be?" Nona lifted her head to look around, but saw no one.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"T'was I, Octavius. Um . . . down here." She shut her book and moved it next to her on the bench, then looked down to see a toy car sitting at her feet. Outside of the passenger seat was a small Roman, looking up at her.

"Oh!" Nona reached down and extended her palm for him to step up. He did, and she got a better look at him. "I didn't see you. I'm sorry."

"Not a problem, M'lady. What might be your name?" he asked politely.

"I'm Nona Daley. You probably know my uncle-"

"Gigantor!" She looked down again to see a small cowboy getting out of the driver's seat, then lean against the car.

"Yes, Larry. He is a good man." Nona smiled slightly, then extended her other palm to let the cowboy join the conversation. She held them up and looked them over with interest. "I must say, Nona Daley, you are a very kind girl. Yet you seem shy."

"Thank you," she replied with a small smile, then looked at the cowboy. "What's your name?"

"The name's Jedidiah." He tipped his hat at her, and she tilted her head in mild interest.

"What brings you to our land?" Octavius asked, looking down at the bracelet on her wrist.

"It was quiet," Nona replied softly.

"Not really, darlin'. Try bein' our size and over there by the tracks." Jedidiah nodded back to his exhibit and Nona looked over.

"Right, right." She set them back down on the ground, and tossed her book into her bag.

"We were just headed downstairs, Nona. Would you care to join us?" Octavius asked.

"Uh . . . sure." She stood up, and still a bit unbelieving as to what she was witnessing, followed the toy car out of the diorama room.