Chapter 5:

Nina

Lunch that afternoon was a little bit awkward as everybody was still in shock over what happened to Kara. She sat between Mick and Amber, never looking up from her plate. I could tell she was really embarrassed; I understood, I would have been too.

Nobody really had anything to talk about, so we all sat in silence, the only noise being the pitter patter of the rain against the windows and the clinking of our silverware. When I had come down from putting the papyrus in my box of things from Sarah, I came to see how Kara was doing. It took almost a whole hour to calm her down, but after she had stopped crying and was breathing at a normal pace again, Trudy called us for lunch.

Now there we were, with an awkward silence looming over our heads. Nobody wanted to talk about it in worry that it might set Kara off again, but nobody could think of anything else to say without sounding insensitive.

Finally, I got sick of sitting there and decided I'd go upstairs and read through some books to find out more information about the papyrus. I stood up and grabbed my plate, all eyes on me as I put my dish in the sink and left the room.

I sat down on my bed and grabbed one of the books I had been studying last year from under my bed. I had just flipped to the index when I heard the door open.

"Nina," Kara's voice flooded the room.

"Yeah?" I asked, quickly turning to a random page in the hopes that it would look as though I was reading for entertainment purposes.

"Can I talk to you about something?"

She asked carefully, shutting the door behind her.

"For sure! You can tell me anything, you know." I assured her, scooting over and patting the spot next to me.

"Thanks," she said, giving me a shaky smile as she came and sat down. "This is going to sound really weird and you're probably going to think I'm insane-"

"Trust me, I've been through some weird situations and learned some really strange things. I doubt anything you say will be crazier." I replied, offering her a reassuring smile. She took a deep breath.

"Nina... There's something about this house... It isn't..." she hesitated to find a word. "Normal. It's almost as though it's... Magical, somehow.. Have you noticed?" she asked.

I froze, unsure of how to respond. There was no way I could tell her that she was right and the house was, in fact, magical. No matter what her connection was with the parchment under my bed, I knew I couldn't tell her about the mysteries.

"Um... I don't really know what you're talking about. Maybe its just a little different compared to where you came from, and it comes across as mystical?" I offered weakly.

"Maybe..." she said with a sigh, obviously disappointed with my answer. She knew something was up with the house and she had led us to a new mystery. But for her safety, we couldn't let her know about Sibuna.

"Sorry for wasting your time..." she said dejectedly, standing up and heading back to the door.

"It's okay! And if it makes you feel better, for my first few weeks I thought the house was magical too." she gave me a half smile and left the room.

I flipped back to the index to see if I can find... P, p, p... Papyrus! There it was- page 59.

I flipped to page 59 and started reading.

Patricia

We were still sitting at the dining room table when Nina popped her head in the door. She looked around quickly, as if to make sure that somebody wasn't there. She looked up and caught my eye. She put her hand over her right eye and mouthed "my room, tell everybody, now!" I groaned and looked around also. Mick and Kara were talking on the couch, Jerome and Mara had disappeared, Joy was talking to Fabian, and Amber was going on about some stupid girly stuff to Alfie across the table.

"Amber!" I hissed, causing her to look at me with confusion. I put my right hand over my right eye and pointed upstairs with my left hand. She let out a squeal and immediately dragged Alfie out of the room.

Next, I walked over to where Joy and Fabian were sitting.

"Heeey guys!" I said, trying not to sound suspicious. They both looked up at me with questioning glances. "I kinda need to borrow Fabian for a little bit!" I said as I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him away from Joy.

"Hey, hey! Patricia!" he said as I dragged him into the hallway. "What do you want?"

"Sibuna meeting, Nina's room, right now." I said, dragging him to the stairs.

"Okay okay! You can let go of me now!"

I released his shirt and he stumbled back a bit before regaining himself and following me up the stairs. We entered Nina's room where her, Amber, and Alfie were already gathered.

"Okay, what's up?" I asked. "I thought Sibuna was disbanded until we came across another mystery!" I demanded to which Nina gave me a shy look. "Oh no. You're not serious."

"I think..." she said. She pulled out a large book and placed it in front of her. Fabian and I sat down on the floor with everybody else. "Okay, well... Kara's dream earlier... It was important." she said. I exchanged a glance with Amber. Watching her that morning was terrifying, and now Nina was showing us that it was part of another mystery. I sighed.

"Well, when she was mumbling, one word really caught my attention. That word was 'papyrus'. Remember when she woke up and started talking about the fireplace? How there was something in the mantelpiece?" She asked us.

"Yeah... That was weird. I seriously thought she lost it." I answered.

"Well... Think again." she said as she pulled a tattered old piece of parchment from her special box.

"What on earth is that?!" I demanded, shuffling back a few inches.

"This," she said, pointing to the parchment. "Is a papyrus that was hidden behind a brick in the mantelpiece." Amber gasped.

"No way!" she exclaimed.

"So what exactly is a papyrus?" Alfie asked. Nina grabbed the book in front of her and started reading.

"A papyrus, plural term papyri, is an old Egyptian writing written on paper made from a papyrus plant. It was used in ancient times to record teachings, folk tales, and prophecies about the Gods. Some, such as one found more recently, provide riddles leading to the discovery of ancient tombs or secrets. Many people in ancient times believed that a papyrus could contain mystical powers, especially if deemed scared by a high priest. After a disastrous event that still remains clouded in mystery, all sacred papyri were hidden away in the temples of their respected Gods, causing most to be lost forever."

"So... This papyrus isn't just an Egyptian folk tale or teaching, is it?" Fabian asked resignedly.

"I don't think so, but it's hard to tell. It was written over 10,000 years ago in ancient Egypt! It's all written in hieroglyphics..." she replied in exasperation.

"Can I see it?" he asked, holding out his hand. She nodded and passed him the old piece of paper.

Fabian examined it closely. He gently unfolded it to reveal another, newer piece of parchment.

"Look!" he exclaimed, taking the more modern looking paper out. "It's a riddle..."

"Ugh!" I groaned. "I was really looking forward to not almost dying this year!"

"Sorry Patricia," Nina said to me timidly before turning to Fabian. "Read it."

"To unlock the secrets of the house's father, you must seek the help of the cousin's daughter. Find the beloved and things shall end well, try on your own and perish in hell. Signed, R. FS"

"What?" Amber asked simply.

"I... I don't know..." he replied, looking up with a clueless expression on his face.

"Well, let's think for a minute." Nina said, resting her elbow on her knee and putting her head on top of her fist. "Let's stick with the stuff we do know! So, signed R. FS! That's got to be Robert Frobisher Smythe!"

"Okay..." I said. "So Sarah's dad found the papyrus and added the note in... But what does he mean by "you must seek the help of the cousin's daughter"?"

"Well... A cousin's daughter is like... Your child's second cousin... So does he mean Sarah's second cousin?" Nina offered.

"Maybe..." Fabian replied. "It could also be a metaphor of some sort." I snorted.

"The cousin's daughter? What kind of metaphor is that?"

"Well... Think about it. The first line is talking about "The house's father". I'm sure it's talking about Anubis house, but it's an inanimate object! It doesn't have a father, so that must be some sort of metaphor, why can't the second line be one also?"

"He's got a point," Alfie said. "When has Robert ever been direct in his riddles?"

"There's a first for everything." I snap.

"What's there a first for?" Kara asked innocently as she walked into the room.