House of Animals:
The club was still in Nina and Amber's room, checking the map. A text appeared below the area with the symbols.
"24 stones, from which no one may depart. 24 steps to reach the mask of Anubis. 24 steps light or heavy, each full of danger. 24 steps at least, only one chance for each," said Nina.
And when Nina had finished reading, the text disappeared from the map again.
"Full of danger?" Asked Amber.
"One chance,"' said Fabian.
"That's what it said," said Nina.
"But what does it mean?" Asked Aaron.
"No idea," said Nina.
The club didn't realize they were being spied on by Victor Sr. and when he heard everything he disappeared again.
In the meantime in the cellar. Victor Jr. had taken the armor to the cellar.
"Father, I did it. I've the armor. Those rascals wanted to do something with it, but I was just in time," said Victor jr.
"Did I ask you to carry that armor all the way down here?" Asked Victor sr.
"No, but I thought...," said Victor jr.
"That's the problem Victor. You mustn't think, that's my job," said Victor sr.
"Yeah but they were looking for something I'm sure of that," said Victor jr.
"They searched and meanwhile they have found. They are already working on the first task to the Mask of Anubis. And meanwhile you're wasting your time," said Victor sr.
"But what now?" Asked Victor jr.
"Precisely, ask first. The answer is simple we need that chest. And though my time outside the mirror is limited, I'll have to do it," said Victor sr.
"I can do it father," said Victor jr.
"No, normally you're not worth much, but with that bandage on your head you're completely useless," said Victor sr.
"And that armor, do I've to lift that all the way back up?" Asked Victor sr.
"What do you think?" Asked Victor sr.
Victor Sr. disappeared again. Victor Jr sighed deeply.
In the meantime, Otis was sitting in his room, trying to come up with ideas to get money. Eddie entered the room and saw the crumpled papers on the floor.
"What happened here?' Asked Eddie.
"I was writing down some ideas, but none of them are good," said Otis.
"For the school newspaper?" Asked Eddie.
"Yeah," lied Otis.
"Don't worry about that, because I've got a great idea," said Eddie.
"What is it?" Asked Otis.
"This," said Eddie, as he showed Otis a book
"The Guinness Book of World Records?" Asked Otis.
"Yeah, I mean some of these records are really bizarre," said Eddie.
"How bizarre?" Asked Otis.
"Listen to this one Jacky Bibby has the record for most rattlesnakes in his mouth," said Eddie, as he sat down on Otis' bed.
"How much?" Asked Otis.
"13," said Eddie.
"If you do an interview with him then you only hear hissing," joked Otis.
"Or we should interview this one, Ken Edwards who ate 36 cockroaches in 1 minute," said Eddie.
"Those people have all gone mad," said Otis.
"And therefore my idea. We make a list of the weirdest world records and we can see if we can get someone this crazy for an interview," said Eddie.
"Good idea," said Otis.
"I'll discuss this with Mara and if she approves I'll make some calls," said Eddie.
"I hope you're in luck," said Otis.
"Thanks," said Eddie.
Eddie left the room and went to his own room.
In the meantime, the club was still in Nina and Amber's room.
"All those riddles and poems, couldn't that man have become a poet instead," said Amber.
"I don't get it. What does he mean by 24 steps?" Asked Patricia.
"Wait, I know what those circles mean," said Alfie.
"What then?" Asked Aaron.
"Olympics," said Alfie.
"Alfie that's five circles and they look very different too," said Fabian.
"Do you think you know better Mr. Smarty-pants?" Asked Alfie.
"Listen these look like animals," said Fabian, as he gestured to the map
Amber and Alfie began to chuckle
"This is a scorpion and this is a snake. And at the bottom of the riddle stands Anubis, said Fabian.
"Anubis? Our house?" Asked Amber.
"No, the god Anubis. He was the guardian of the realm of the dead. The realm of the gods and the good people, Duat. When you got there your soul was weighed by him," said Fabian.
"Dude my statement sounds much better," said Alfie.
"I don't quite see the connection, said Aaron.
"24 steps light or heavy, maybe he meant something with weight," said Fabian.
"Do you think so?" Asked Nina.
"Maybe, because these are Egyptian animals and these are Egyptian numbers and it seems like a calculation, I just need to have time to study them," said Fabian.
"Ah no dude you always take too long," said Alfie
"We've no choice. It says we only have one chance, so we can't make any mistakes," said Nina.
In the meantime. Jerome had just finished editing Trudy's profile.
"Are you sure you want to post this? I mean you can lie a little on the internet," said Jerome.
"Well I doubt whether we should do this via the internet. Maybe in a more personal way," said Mara.
"Such as? Randomly call people," said Jerome.
"No, of course not silly," said Mara.
"How do you want it then?" Asked Jerome.
"I don't know. But if we're going to do it over the internet, then this way," said Mara.
"All right then," said Jerome.
Jerome hit enter and the profile was updated.
A few moments. Victor Jr. had brought armor back upstairs and reassembled it, but it didn't go well.
"Well that's done," said Victor jr.
Victor Jr. took his pocket watch from his pocket. Victor Jr. tried to look at the watch, but couldn't because of the bandage on his head.
"It is...! Much too late already! You all know what that means. You've 5 minutes precisely then I want...," said Victor jr.
Victor Jr. looked for his pin, but couldn't find it.
"In 5 minutes I want it to be quiet," said Victor jr.
Victor Jr. walked back to his office. Meanwhile, Joy sneaked down the hall and headed for the stairs.
"You there immediately stop walking," said Victor jr. as he came out of his office.
Joy stopped walking and Victor jr. started sniffing.
"Alfie," said Victor jr.
"Excuse me?" Said Joy, feeling offend.
"Joy," said Victor jr.
"Do I smell like Alfie?" Asked Joy.
"This was a clever tactic to find out who's still walking through the house so late," said Victor jr.
"Okay, but I'm going to go downstairs for just a little while," said Joy.
"You're not going anywhere," said Victor jr.
"But it's very important," said Joy.
"I don't care. Go to your room," said Victor jr.
An Irritated Joy went back to her room and Victor jr. went back to his office.
In the meantime. The club was still in Nina and Amber's room.
"I think this is going to be hard," said Nina.
"I think so too," said Patricia.
"But if we work as a team we can do it," said Fabian.
Amber and Alfie didn't really listen to the conversation they were too busy playing with Amber's amulet.
"Stop that. Go play kitten some other time," said Aaron.
"We don't have time for this childish stuff," said Patricia.
"Childish? Have you ever tried this? Do you know how difficult this is?" Asked Alfie.
"Amber and Alfie this is serious," said Fabian.
"We've got to do this task well or we'll be done for it," said Aaron
"Okay, we'll stop it," said Amber.
"All right, now we've to decide how to handle this," said Fabian.
"I think it would be helpful for you to decipher these numbers. I'll make a workout schedule. We all need to be in great shape," said Nina.
"I'll help you with the schedule," said Aaron.
"And I'll make a list of things we all need for this perilous mission," said Alfie.
"And I'm going to make sure that Alfie doesn't put unnecessary things on the list," said Patricia.
"Excellent idea," said Nina.
Suddenly there was a loud noise. Amber was so startled by the noise that she let go of her amulet and it fell down onto the floor.
"What was that?" Asked Amber.
"I think something happened to happened to the armor again," said Aaron.
"Let's go before Victor catches us," said Fabian.
"Good idea," said Patricia.
Fabian, Aaron, Patricia, and Alfie left the room and went to their own rooms.
The next day. The residents were already at school. Nina and Amber were standing by their lockers.
"Am I still part of the club?" Asked Amber.
"Of course Amber. Why do you ask that?" Asked Nina.
"Well Alfie and Patricia provide the training gear, you and Aaron provide the schedule and Fabian deciphered the hieroglyphics," said Amber.
"That's handy. That way everyone knows what he or she is doing," said Nina.
"Why don't I've a job?" Asked Amber.
"Amber you've the most important job," said Nina.
"Oh yeah?" Asked Amber.
"Yes, you're one of the protectors of the chest," said Nina.
"Yes and that's very important," said Amber.
"The most important thing there is. When the chest is lost, we've nothing left," said Nina.
"Don't worry, I'll protect the chest with my life. There's nothing or nobody who dares to think about the chest when I'm there," said Amber.
Fabian walked up to the two girls. Amber kept talking and had no idea that Fabian was standing next to her.
"Where were you?" Asked Nina.
"I had to do something," said Fabian.
"What?" Asked Nina.
"I mean don't you dare take the chest without my permission," said Amber.
"I took the chest with me," said Fabian.
"What? What is that all about?" Asked Amber.
"Sorry. But it just didn't feel safe to me. Your room has already been searched once and if that happens again it is no good," said Fabian.
"You should have consulted with me, because I'm the protector of the chest," said Amber.
Nina nodded her head.
"Oh sorry," said Fabian.
"I really think it's great that the chest is here. I mean Victor may be blind, but he's a lot smarter than we think," said Nina.
"Victor can't get his hands on the chest or the amulets," said Fabian.
When Amber heard the word amulet, she realized she was not wearing her amulet.
"Amber what is it?" Asked Nina.
"Nothing," lied Amber.
Amber quickly went to the girls' bathroom and searched her bag, but her amulet was not in it either. Amber thought back to the night before and knew that her amulet was in her room.
In the meantime in the house. Victor Sr. walked into Nina and Amber's room and started looking for the chest, but of course he didn't know that Fabian had taken the chest to school.
"They think they outsmart me," said Victor sr.
Victor Sr. took a step forward and felt something under his foot. Victor Sr. lifted his foot and saw the amulet lying there. Victor Sr. picked up amulet from the floor and got an evil grin on his face.
"But this time I outsmart them," said Victor sr.
Victor Sr. put the amulet around his neck.
"At last the passage is clear, the Mask of Anubis is mine," said Victor sr.
Back at school. Alfie sat by his locker and Amber sat next to him.
"Amber what's the problem?" Asked Alfie.
"It's very bad," said Amber.
"Your cat is dead," said Alfie.
"I don't have a cat at all," said Amber.
"And you think that's bad?" Asked Alfie.
"I didn't say anything about a cat," said Amber.
"You just said you don't have one," said Alfie.
"I've lost my eye," said Amber.
"No, Amber, I can still see them both," said Alfie.
"The eye of Horus," said Amber.
"You've lost the eye of Horus?" Asked Alfie.
"What I do now?" Asked Amber.
"How about go looking for it," suggested Alfie.
"I know where it is, it is in my room," said Amber.
"So you didn't lose it," said Alfie.
"But I'm not wearing it now," said Amber.
"Go get it then," said Alfie.
"Now?" Asked Amber.
"Now!" Said Alfie.
"Alright I'm going to the house now. But you can't say anything to the rest," said Amber.
Amber got up and walked away.
"Alfie has lost a chest and we need to tell the club right away. Amber has lost the eye of Horus, but no we keep it a secret," said Alfie, sarcastically.
In the meantime. Victor Sr. was in the secret room, standing in front of the tunnel entrances.
"This I'll successful," said Victor sr.
Victor Sr. took a step forward and the light appeared. But this time the light didn't hurt his eyes and Victor Sr. walked into the tunnels. Victor Sr. continued into the tunnels and then the gate fell down.
"No!" shouted Victor sr.
And then Victor Sr. had a terrible headache. But Victor Sr. couldn't go back to the mirror.
What will happen to Victor Sr. Will Amber ever get her amulet back?
