Chapter 8

Bartimaeus

Kitty was still asleep when a pigeon flew through her window and landed on the table. It was gone and soon replaced with the small Egyptian boy known as Ptolemy.

Ptolemy was dead silent. He looked down to the sleeping girl and rolled his eyes.(1) But then he noticed what book the girl was sleeping on. It was a biography of the actual Ptolemy. Underneath that was another book. I picked up the first book(2) and studied the writing. Hmm, looked like Ptolemy's handwriting. How a girl like Kitty got a book like this, I'll never know. I supposed this was Ptolemy's last surviving book.

But wait, why was Kitty reading this? What was she planning?

I got lost in the book(3) as I continued to read. I sat down on the floor, still reading.

Wow, this was really interesting. Ptolemy had written a very detailed biography about me. A sort of journal about me and the Other Place. Sorta flattering on my part. It went as follows:

Bartimaeus—High level djinni. Being of fire and air. Capable of leveling mountains and falling trees with a single breath. Reliable, Witty, Cunning, Sharp Tongued, Sly, Trustworthy.(4)

This is where it started to get interesting. The rest of the book was like a daily journal. It had everything from when Ptolemy first summoned me to where he dismissed me last. That was what he was always writing!

I closed the book and looked at the cover. This was Ptolemy's alright. The same one he always wrote in. I thought this was destroyed long ago along with all of Ptolemy's other books. If it wasn't, it should be in pretty bad shape by now. What was it, three thousand years ago? Maybe some magician found it. But this book was gold covered. It was worth a lot of money. The papyrus used for paper should've floated down the Nile along with Ptolemy. However Kitty got this, she was treading in deep water. Something deeper then she could get out of if she got in too deep. Deeper then she could possibly control. Sort of like the bastard(5) did with the Amulet and the Golem.

Kitty started to stir in her sleep. "Bartimaeus," She said softly. I could tell she was still asleep.(6)

I put the book back down on the table and edged in closer to her. I was interested in what she had to say. "What?" I asked.

"You've got to help Nathaniel."

"I can't. He's already dead."

"No," Kitty moaned. She moved slightly. "Bartimaeus, you don't understand! You have to save him from Nouda!"

Ah. That was her problem. Nightmares about the past. About Nathaniel. About Nouda. But why? There was something from the past that was still haunting her. But what was it? Most likely the part when she watched Nathaniel die. He dismissed me before I could see him die.(7) I decided to try to pry more information out of her. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Please help him." She moaned. Must've been a pretty bad nightmare.

"But what am I supposed to do?" I prompted.

Kitty moaned again. Something in her dreams was causing her pain. She switched the dreams to something else. "What am I supposed to do, Bartimaeus?"

"You tell me." I sat down on the floor and got into scribe position. Perhaps I could get her to tell me what she was doing in my absence.

"I need your help, Bartimaeus."

I couldn't help but stand. "Why?" I edged closer to her. I was directly behind her now.

"If you ever want to see…" Her voice trailed off. As though she knew what she was about to say, and knew she didn't want me to know.

"See who?" Ptolemy rested his hand on her shoulder. Her natural resilience sending pricks on pain through my essence. That's when I got the vision.

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(1) If any of you were beings such as myself, who don't need sleep, you'd see why.

(2) If you think about it you'd know that I was slowly pulling it out from underneath Kitty. Bt don't think too hard! You might hurt yourself!

(3) No, I don't do that often. Yes, I can read and understand many languages. I don't read much these days. A being with the intelligence such as myself would find these books boring. But the one thing that made me continue reading it was the fact that Ptolemy wrote it.

(4) Wow. Didn't think Ptolemy thought that of me. Hmm, I say no more.

(5) Technically Nathaniel. But what's the difference?

(6) But of course, people like you wouldn't notice the difference at all.

(7) Damn. I would've loved to see the poor bastard die. Oh, and when I say poor, I take the term very lightly. It would've been funny, no matter how hard he was tortured.

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A/n

Well, this is my last chapter until September 2, 2006. Thanks for the reviews. And by the way, I won't be on the internet at all this summer. So don't bother contacting me. And here's where I answer everybody:

Anonymous: Thanks. I forgot how to spell the Book's name. I don't have a personal copy of the third book.

Musica DiabolosThanks for the review/reminder. I needed that.

Silver Silver: Hi! Thanks for all the reviews.

Oh, and sorry if I spelled Nouda wrong. Like I said before, I don't have the third book. I borrowed it from a friend. So, see ya in September!