Chapter Two
The Dog



Evelyn O'Connell, beautiful and devilishly charming, sat in front of a wooden desk. There were papers spread out in front of her, more papers then she had expected when she had arrived at the museum earlier today. The curator had been more then happy to see the rain soaked Evelyn because there were plenty of new artifacts and plenty of paperwork to be done and Evelyn was their expert. For the past three or four hours Evelyn had been sitting in the wooden chair in front of the wooden desk doing paper work. Evelyn would have rather been at home with her husband and darling son or at the circus with that same husband and darling son. However, because of the London rain, their circus plans were cancelled. Rick had told her to go down to the museum to get some work done -if she wanted- and he would watch Alex. Foolishly she went down to the museum, telling Rick that she would just "see how things were going and then come straight home". That, however, hadn't happened. Evelyn sighed and went back to filling out papers on artifacts and papers on Ancient Egypt for the Brimbridge Scholars.

In front of the British Museum, Alex had arrived with no trouble. He looked up at the large ancient museum that he had been to since he was young, two or so; the building never looked different outside but it was also was different inside.
As Alex headed up the large stone steps he heard a small whimpering sound. As an eight-year old child of any gender would do, Alex stopped in his tracks curious. There it was again, louder this time as if the sound-maker knew someone was listening. Alex jumped off the stairs and followed the sound, which was more constant now. It was coming from behind the museum, in the bushes. Dropping his rucksack Alex knelt down by the bush he was sure it was coming from. He parted the leaves and branches and was startled at what he saw. Lying on its back was a mangy, dirty Golden Retriever dog; it was more on its side then back with its four dirty paws out in front of it. Its ears were pressed against its face and it was soaking wet; Alex fell in love with it instantly.
"Cute boy, come here." Alex said and reached a hand forward. The dog blinked its large, soft brown eyes and moved his head forward. The dog, Alex assumed was a boy, sniffed Alex's hand and licked it. The dog was skinny, ribs were showing but in a way it was plump and round. The dog got to his paws and licked Alex's face, sniffing all the good smells that the boy had to offer.
Alex laughed and wrapped his hands around the dog's neck; it wore no collar, which didn't surprise Alex, there were a lot of stray dogs and cats in London. The dog wagged his tail and continued licking Alex.
Alex stroked the dog's back; every time he patted the dog there was a "splot" sound and water sloshed down the dog's back. Alex pulled off his raincoat and draped it over the dog; he pulled the dog's front paws through the armholes. "Dad and Mum say to always wear a raincoat or you'll get sick." Alex told the dog. The dog barked; Alex put the hood of the coat over the dog's head.
Alex reached into the coat pocket and pulled out the bag of snacks. He opened it. "Here, are you hungry? We have tarts and cookies." Alex muttered and peered into the bag. The dog sat on his haunches and panted, he didn't beg for the food that he smelled.
Alex pulled out a cherry tart and a butter cookie. He held each one in his palms and offered them to the dog; he held his palms flat, as though he was feeding a horse. The dog licked the cookie off his hand first and then the tart. The dog licked his lips and then licked Alex.
Alex laughed and fell backward, the dog rolled over on the ground next to him. Alex wiped his slobber-covered hands on the ground and feed the dog the rest of the snacks. It was a hungry dog, definitely a stray. When all the snacks were gone Alex showed the dog the empty bag; the dog sniffed the dog and snorted. The bag expended and shrunk back to its normal size. Alex laughed.
Alex studied the dog; the dog studied him back blinking his brown eyes. "Before I show you to my mum you need a name." Alex muttered, sure that his parents would let him keep the half-starved dog. The dog barked; Alex put his rain soaked finger up to the dog's muzzle, shushing him. He didn't want anyone to hear "his dog".
He wanted to name the dog something that had to do with Egypt, since he was part Egyptian. Finally Alex settled on "Seti" after one of the Pharaohs that ruled Egypt. The dog seemed to like the name Seti, so it was quickly settled.

Inside the museum, Evelyn was jolted from her "trace" that she always got when she was hard at work by what she thought sounded like a dog bark. Evelyn looked out the window; the rain was still coming down in sheets and squinted her eyes. A dog bark? Foolish, there were no dogs at the British Museum, the curator repulsed dogs. Still, Evelyn was sure she had heard a dog; better to check then to sit thinking about it all day. Evelyn stood and picked up her own raincoat that she had laid beside her chair when she came in. The rain had all dried off the coat now; Evelyn slipped it on, adjusting the collar. She headed outside to put an end to her dog hearing.