Horus

There it stands – The Kane Mansion. As magnificent as ever. The limestones it's built from are shining, illuminating the hieroglyphs carved around all entrances. Amos Kane comes to a stop before the door.

"Carter, after you."

"Um, how do I—"

"How do you think?"

Carter's thoughts whisper around us.

How about we ram Amos's head against it and see if that works?

No matter how much I'd love to see this, I've got a better idea. I reach out to his arm, careful to stay away from the glowing circle his ba is sitting in. Slowly, I guide him to stretch out his arm and raise his hand. In the outer world, his body repeats the movement. So does the door. It slides upward until it disappears into the ceiling.

Sadie looks stunned. "How..."

"I don't know," he says "Motion sensor, maybe?"

"Interesting." Amos sounds troubled. If he's onto us, then I might have just proven him right. "Not the way I would've done it, but very good. Remarkably good."

"Thanks, I think."

The girl shrugs and tries to enter first, but Bast starts to wail and tries to run away. For the first time I notice the blue tints of a protective shield coming out of the hieroglyphs, wrapping the doorway. Of course.

Sadie stumbles backward. "What was that about, cat?"

"Oh, of course. My apologies." Amos says. I hope Bast accepts the apology. Otherwise the only one who seems to care about my host would end up in shreds. He puts his hand on the cat's head and says, "You may enter."

"The cat needs permission?" Asks Carter.

"Special circumstances," Amos says and walks inside.

"Oh my god…" says Sadie. Her head turns to look at the ceiling.

"Yes," Amos says. "This is the Great Room."

Makes sense.

Yeah, it does. It's an entrance point worthy of a nome such as 21st. Carved stone pillars engraved with hieroglyphs are holding a cedar-beamed ceiling so up high, that I doubt my avatar could reach it. A wide assortment of musical instruments and weapons hang on the walls. Probably so you can reach them from any one of the balconies. And the balconies, three levels of rooms and halls, circling the Great Room. The stone fireplace stands magnificent and proud on the snake-skin rug. Like a warrior standing on his enemy. The leather sofas and huge T.V. are the only thing reminding the mansion what century it is. And at the far end of the Great Room is a set of double doors marked with the Eye of Horus, and chained with half a dozen padlocks. What could possibly be behind them?

Everyone, however, is concentrating on the statue in the center of the Great Room. Thirty feet tall, made of black marble, and way too accuratly resembling Thoth. It's unnerving. The god is dressed in a kilt, sash, and neck collar. He has a scribe's stylus in one hand, and an open scroll in the other, as if he has just written the hieroglyphs inscribed there: an ankh with a rectangle traced around its top.

"That's it!" Sadie exclaims. "Per Ankh."

Carter stares at her in disbelief. "All right, how can you read that?"

"I don't know," she says. "But it's obvious, isn't it? The top one is shaped like the floor plan of a house."

"How did you get that? It's just a box." I chuckle slightly. The only reason why he won't admit she's right is because he doesn't want her to be right. You can never win an argument against my mother, or her hosts for that matter. And so she insists.

"It's a house. And the bottom picture is the ankh, the symbol for life. Per Ankh—the House of Life."

"Very good, Sadie." Amos says, impressed. "And this is a statue of the only god still allowed in the House of Life—at least, normally. Do you recognize him, Carter?"

For a second I wonder if I should tell him, but the boy is smart enough as it is.

"Thoth," He says finally. "The god of knowledge. He invented writing."

"Indeed," Amos says.

"Why the animal heads?" Sadie asks. "All those Egyptian gods have animal heads. They look so silly."

This girl is going to get herself killed anytime soon, mark my word.

Amos shakes his head. "They don't normally appear that way. Not in real life."

"Real life?" Carter asks. "Come on. You sound like you've met them in person."

As a magician? He most certainly has. By the look on his face, it hadn't been a pleasant experience either. "The gods could appear in many forms—usually fully human or fully animal, but occasionally as a hybrid form like this. They are primal forces, you understand, a sort of bridge between humanity and nature. They are depicted with animal heads to show that they exist in two different worlds at once. Do you understand?"

Sadie shaked her head. "Not even a little,"

"Mmm." Amos doesn't sound surprised. "Yes, we have much training to do. At any rate, the god before you, Thoth, founded the House of Life, for which this mansion is the regional headquarters. Or at least...it used to be. I'm the only member left in the Twenty-first Nome. Or I was, until you two came along."

"Hang on." Carter's thoughts start spinning, each one hitting the edges of the glowing circle more violently. So many questions that are demanding answers. "What is the House of Life? Why is Thoth the only god allowed here, and why are you—"

"Carter, I understand how you feel." Amos smiles sympathetically. "But these things are better discussed in daylight. You need to get some sleep, and I don't want you to have nightmares."

"You think I can sleep?"

Amos claps his hands. "Khufu!"

A baboon wearing an L.A. Lakers jersey staggers down the stairs. He does a flip, such a show off, and lends in front of the statue. The baboon (Khufu, right?) bares his fangs and lets out a sound in between a roar and a belch. His breath smells. And what does my host say in a moment like this?

"The Lakers are my home team!"

Of course. Wonder when it would be wise to make myself known and take over. Hopefully soon. He'll be honored to be my host, I just know it.

The baboon slaps his head with both hands and belches again.

"Oh, Khufu likes you," Amos says. "You'll get along famously."

"Right." Says Sadie. "You've got a monkey butler. Why not?"

"Agh!" Khufu grunted at my host.

Amos chuckles. "He wants to go one-on-one with you, Carter. To, ah, see your game."

Okay, Dr. Dolittle. Where did he learn baboon? As far as I know the only one teaching it is Thoth. All of a sudden, I remember how unnerving the statue is. Carter seems unnerved, too.

"Um, yeah. Sure. Maybe tomorrow. But how can you understand—"

"Carter, I'm afraid you'll have a lot to get used to," Amos says. "But if you're going to survive and save your father, you have to get some rest."

"Sorry," Sadie says, "did you say 'survive and save our father'? Could you expand on that?"

"Tomorrow," Amos says. "We'll begin your orientation in the morning. Khufu, show them to their rooms, please."

The baboon takes off, disappearing up the stairs. Just as the kids are about to follow, Amos calls out, as if he's suddenly remembered something..

"Carter, the workbag, please. It's best if I lock it in the library."

Ah, that's not good. Don't give it to him. Keep it.

"You'll get it back. When the time is right." I don't buy Amos's promise. Thus said, the look in his eyes is pretty clear. That's not a request, it's an order. Who made him the guy with the orders?

Carter hands over the bag. Amos takes it carefully, as if it's full of explosives.

First mistake of the day. It's okay. It's Carter's second mistake, however, that we're about to pay for. A quick advice for all hosts listening: Please, sleep on your headrests. It's safer to get into this mess with a seatbelt on.