The Secret of the Scarab Beetle Read online

  Smenk lifted his staff, and a bolt of lightning flew from the tip and exploded at his grandfather’s feet. “Don’t be a fool! You’re helpless against my power!” Another bolt flew from the staff, this time striking his grandfather in the hand. He winced but continued to hold the stone.

  “Give it to me!”

  Two more lightning bolts leaped from the staff. They hit his grandfather’s hands, first the right, then the left.

  “Never!”

  Smenk gripped the staff again, this time with both hands, and raised it above his head. “Now you will die!” he roared. With a brilliant flash of blinding light, he lifted Horace’s grandfather and the Benben Stone high into the air.

  “Before I kill you, I want you to know I will find your friends, and one by one I will kill them, too.” And then, with the same flash of light he’d used to lift his grandfather up into the air, Smenk slammed him down upon the ground. He lifted the Benben Stone into his arms, looked over his shoulder, and vanished into the portal.

  A second shadow walked over to the dark silhouette of Horace’s grandfather. It was Herman. He dropped to his knees. “What should we do? He has it.”

  His grandfather reached into his pocket and pulled out the scarab beetle. “Find Horace.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Horace stepped back, and the light from the two stones flickered. The beetle popped out and flew into his hand. Watching Smenk kill his grandfather was the worst thing he’d ever seen. Worse than the afternoon he first learned of his grandfather’s death. Touching the Benben Stone had burned the memory of the murder not just into his mind, but into his skin, his bones, and even his heart.

  The stone did have magical powers. It seemed to hold memories. Yet why would these be so important to Smenk? wondered Horace. How could memories be wielded as an all-encompassing power?

  He wasn’t going to wait around to find out. And he wasn’t just going to leave the Benben Stone lying on this altar for Smenk to use later. Horace realized it wasn’t enough just to help his friends. He had to steal the stone too. It would be justice for what had happened to his grandfather.

  Horace began to pull at the stone’s smooth edges. He was surprised by its weight for such a small object.

  He squeezed with his fingers and lifted with his legs. When the stone separated from the platform, it got much lighter. Horace almost fell over from the sudden change. There was a magnetic connection between the two. He steadied himself and turned toward the exit.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Horace froze.

  “Stealing my stone, are we?” Smenk’s unmistakable silhouette appeared out of the shadows.

  Horace wondered if Smenk had watched his whole exchange with the lion.

  Smenk pointed the glowing red tip of his staff directly at Horace. “Put it back.”

  Horace didn’t move.

  “I’m not going to repeat myself.”

  Finally Horace slowly placed the Benben Stone on the altar.

  Smenk walked toward him. “So you are the Keeper of the scarab beetle.” His expression held both contempt and surprise. “I expected someone a little bit”—he paused—“older.”

  Horace felt the beetle in his palm while he stared into Smenk’s cold, cruel eyes. The same eyes that had shown no mercy to his grandfather.

  Smenk’s gaze moved to Horace’s hand. “Give that to me!” And in a single motion he snatched the beetle and placed it on the Benben Stone.

  For a moment Horace feared he was about to witness the true power of both stones under Smenk’s control, but nothing happened. Smenk couldn’t get the beetle to fit into the keyhole. He took it off the Benben Stone and tried again, even more forcefully. Nothing.

  Horace started inching backward, wondering if he might be able to escape.

  “I must access the power of the stone!” Smenk cried, smashing the beetle against the granite surface. “Does this child have some power not even I possess?”

  He turned and caught sight of Horace edging his way toward the door. “Where do you think you’re going?” he said again.

  Smenk marched over to Horace and slapped the beetle into his hand. “If you have the power, you are going to open the stone for me.” With icy fingers, Smenk shoved him toward the altar. “Use it!”

  Horace didn’t know what power Smenk was talking about. When he connected with the Benben Stone, he’d only revealed memories of his grandfather. What was important about those memories?

  Smenk seemed to read his thoughts. “You foolish child. Don’t you realize within this stone resides not just the memories of all those who have ever touched it, but also the secrets of the ancients who created it? This stone holds the hidden history of the world.” With each word, Smenk’s face took on a greater intensity. “It is a window into the ultimate secrets of the universe and their magical powers. And you will access them for me. All of them.”

  “But I don’t even know how I did it,” Horace pleaded nervously. “I was just messing around earlier.” He squeezed the beetle tightly and bit down on his lip. “I’ll die if I have to, but I’m not going to help you.” Horace closed his eyes.

  “You think I’m going to kill you?” Smenk snickered as he pointed his staff at Horace. “What good would that do?” He moved his staff above Horace’s head. “But I will kill them.”

  Seth, Milton, Anna, Meri, and Tut stood at the room’s entrance between a group of armed guards. Their robes were badly torn and covered in dirt.

  “Horace!” Anna shouted.

  A guard jabbed her in the side. “No talking!”

  “Don’t touch her!” Horace yelled.

  A bolt of light erupted from Smenk’s staff, striking Anna in the leg. She fell to the ground with a scream. “If you want your friends to live, you’d better open the stone.”

  Horace knew he had no options.

  “Do it!” yelled Smenk. “Now!”

  Slowly, Horace approached the stone. He stared at the markings. What could he draw out of this stone that Smenk wanted so badly? He didn’t know any of its secrets. He’d just stumbled on it while searching for his friends.

  When he placed the beetle into it, he felt a deep pulse move through his whole body, just like the last time. A purple haze soon filled the room.

  The first memories that came out of the stone weren’t remarkable. They were ordinary images of Horace’s childhood, pictures of his sisters playing. Each picture went back earlier and earlier in his life. One even showed him sleeping in a crib.

  “I want more,” Smenk urged him. “Go deeper into the stone. Find the memories of the ancient ones, the builders of this sacred land, and the secrets of the Keepers.”

  Horace kept his hand pressed firmly against the stone. Strange, dark images began to surface: flashes of war, a city on fire, and a fortress high on a mountain.

  “Yes . . .” Smenk hissed. “Now the memories are awakening.”

  Horace noticed the color of the stone had changed from purple to green. He wanted to remove the beetle, but the threat of what Smenk might do to his friends forced him on.

  Temples rising and falling in the sands appeared above the stone, craftsmen measuring out vast cities and building intricate tombs. The images dissolved.

  “Yes, yes, the secrets of the builders,” Smenk said behind him.

  Anna’s voice pierced through the fog. “Stop!” She was pleading. “Horace, stop before you reveal too much.”

  But Horace didn’t, or couldn’t, stop.

  The next scene was a strange ceremony in the desert. Nine men stood in a circle chanting under the stars. Horace watched as a great light erupted from a stone at the center of the circle into the night sky. It was the Benben Stone.

  “More, more. Show me the hidden knowledge!” Smenk shouted.

  Another wave of light exploded from the stone, which was now pulsing red. Horace couldn’t see any images because the flashes of blinding color were so intense.

  “Horace!” He
could make out Tut’s faint voice. “Don’t do this.”

  And Horace suddenly realized he had to stop. Images were pouring out of the stone now. Frightening images of wars and death and entire cities burning to the ground. Each seemed to get more and more violent. The sounds of people screaming echoed throughout the room.

  Somehow Horace had to gain control of the stone. If he was a Keeper, there must be a way to bend this sacred object to his will. He had manifested the memory of his grandfather through a simple wish—maybe there were other memories locked in the stone that could help him. Maybe someone else’s memories in the stone could be accessed. Memories Smenk did not want to be revealed?

  Horace closed his eyes but kept his hand on the stone. He was no longer looking at the images; instead he was channeling his deepest desire into the stone.

  Smenk noticed immediately. “What are you doing?” he yelled. “Go back to the other memories.”

  The image was hazy at first, but then it became clearer. Projected above the stone were two young men, one might have even been a teenager, standing in an open courtyard.

  Meri was the first to recognize the older of the two figures. “Ay!”

  The Ay in the memory spoke, “The Order has made up its mind.”

  The younger of the two was Smenk. He was pleading. “Let me try again.”

  “There is nothing you can do. The gift of the Time Keepers does not run in your veins like your brother’s.”

  “There must be another way,” Smenk begged.

  “There is no other way. The decision is final.”

  The scene suddenly changed, and this time Smenk was much older. He was standing across from another figure.

  Tut yelled, “Father!”

  Akhenaten stood brazenly as Smenk pointed his staff at him. “Put it down.”

  “Always telling me what to do, older brother. You think you are so smart, you think you are so talented because they choose you and not me. Well, there are others who recognize my talents besides your foolish order of priests. There are others who will celebrate your death and consider me a great hero.”

  “My death will change nothing, Smenk. The memory of Amarna can never be erased.”

  Smenk spat, “Oh, that’s where you are wrong. This city, your name, your family. I will make sure they’re all destroyed. Not even the gods will remember you.”

  Akhenaten remained calm. “You can kill me, but it will not give you the power you seek.”

  “Yes, it will. I’ll find your precious stone, and it will give me what the Keepers refused. And then I will be even more powerful than you and your crippled son.”

  Horace watched in horror as Smenk raised his staff.

  “No!” Tut’s piercing cry helped Horace know what he needed to do.

  With a powerful force, Horace yanked the beetle from the Benben Stone, breaking the connection.

  “Stop! Stop! Put that back!” Smenk shrieked. “I want the knowledge of the Keepers. And you defied me, you naive boy. Now you will face the same death as your grandfather and Akhenaten.” Smenk sent a bolt of light directly at Horace.

  He ducked just in time, and the bolt struck the Benben Stone. But rather than destroying it, the stone lit up even brighter. The shock wave from the bolt shook the room violently, sending giant chunks of plaster to the ground. The force had also knocked Smenk off his feet.

  Tut and Seth used the momentary distraction to attack the guards holding them.

  This was their chance. Horace grabbed the Benben Stone and made a break toward the doorway.

  From the floor, Smenk fired at Horace. The bolts just missed him, ricocheting off the columns along the outer edge of the room. Between the Benben Stone’s shock wave and Smenk’s shots, the whole place seemed to be caving in.

  “Horace!” Anna shouted from the ramp. “Run for it! The temple is collapsing!” Seth had managed to pry one of the spears from the guards and was using it to hold them back.

  Horace sprinted under the collapsing supports.

  “Come back here!” Smenk yelled over the din of crashing stone. “Come back here with that stone!”

  “Run!” Anna shouted again.

  Horace made it up to the ramp where his friends had somehow escaped serious injury. The guards were pinned under massive chunks of fallen ceiling, and Smenk was crawling across the ground as the temple collapsed around him. His eyes were a blaze of fire.

  “No!” he yelled as Horace turned and ran.

  Chapter Twenty

  The kids emerged from the darkness of the crumbling temple and spotted the obelisks that marked their exit out of the city. One obelisk lay on the ground, and the other was trembling violently.

  Horace wasted no time slamming the beetle against the remaining one. Immediately a blue portal opened in its base.

  “Watch your head!” he shouted as his friends raced through.

  The power released from the Benben Stone had unseated the very foundation of the city. Everything was falling around them.

  Horace scanned the ruins of what was once a beautiful city, and then slipped into the portal with the beetle in one hand and the Benben Stone under his arm.

  “We made it,” Horace said, relieved to be back at the farm.

  Anna was hobbling across the yard, grasping her leg, Meri by her side. Seth had dropped the spear but still carried his slingshot. And Milton had his arm draped around Tut’s shoulder, trying to catch his breath after the exhausting escape. While they all had bumps and bruises, everyone was okay.

  “That was a close call,” said Horace as he tried to regain his bearings. On the horizon, he could see the edge of the setting sun.

  Anna joined in. “I can’t believe what you did down there, Horace. It was like you tapped into Smenk’s own memories and brought out some of his deepest insecurities. You should have seen the expression of fear on his face when those scenes appeared. It drove him crazy.”

  “Yeah,” added Milton, “thank goodness you were able to duck those bolts from his staff.”

  Even Seth was impressed. “That was the most insane fireworks display I’ve ever seen.”

  “Thanks. I still don’t really understand it, but before you arrived, Smenk had tried to open the stone himself. I guess when he touched it, he imparted all his own memories in the process, both the good and the bad,” answered Horace.

  “Smenk was always jealous of my father, but I never imagined he was the one who killed him,” said Tut. He was deeply upset.

  “He must have thought getting the Benben Stone would give him that same power,” added Horace.

  “Yes,” said Meri. “But you said the stone wouldn’t open for him. That’s because even with the key, he was still missing something.”

  Horace wondered what he possessed that Smenk didn’t have.

  A noise by the house caught their attention, and everyone turned to see a man coming around the corner. Horace recognized the hat and overcoat; he was the prospective buyer. But his uncle wasn’t anywhere in sight.

  “Kids, are you okay? I heard voices in the yard while I was on the other side of the house.”

  “Who’s that?” Milton whispered to Horace.

  “He’s the guy trying to buy our farm,” Horace answered.

  “What’s he doing here at night?” Anna asked.

  Horace didn’t have an answer.

  “Oh my, you look so dirty. Here, let me help you.” The man started patting the mud off Horace’s shirt. “That must be heavy. I can take it.” He lifted the Benben Stone right out of a stunned Horace’s arms.

  Then the man removed his hat.

  Horace gasped. “What are you doing here?”

  Eke threw his coat off, and Horace was struck by how much taller he looked. In one hand was a crook. “Thought I was crippled, that I couldn’t carry the stone. That it’s too heavy for me. A little hunching and limping fool the best of them.” In the other hand he revealed the beetle.

  Horace checked his now-empty pocket where he’d bee
n carrying the beetle. His thoughts were swimming in circles. Had Eke pickpocketed him when he was patting the dirt off his shoulders?

  Eke grinned. “See how everything works out in the end?”

  “But what are you doing here? How did you get through the portal?” asked Horace.

  “Didn’t your grandfather ever teach you to lock the door behind you?”

  “You’ll never get away with this,” Tut declared.

  “I already have.” He smiled back. “And so you don’t try to follow me . . .” Flashes of red light flew from his crook. One hit Tut in the chest, another caught Anna in the arm, and three more sent Milton, Meri, and Seth to the ground.

  Horace was the only one left standing. What was he going to do? He thought he had stopped Smenk. He’d tried to save Tut. But Eke was about to undo everything they’d achieved in Egypt. How had he dropped his guard so easily? His body started to sway from side to side, and his head felt incredibly light, as if a giant pool of water were rising around him. His ears filled with a buzzing sound. He tensed his muscles, ready to charge Eke.

  “Don’t be so foolish.” Eke pointed his black staff at Horace as he walked over to the tree, where the portal was still open. Horace could see the tip of Eke’s staff beginning to glow brighter.

  “I won’t be taking any more chances with you, young Keeper. I had my suspicions when I first saw you in the temple, but Smenk wouldn’t listen to me. Well, he was wrong and now I’m the one with the Benben Stone.” Eke raised his staff higher.

  Then, out of the corner of his eye, Horace saw it. The shape was almost undetectable as it dove out of the tree. Eke didn’t see the falcon until it was too late. The bird dug its sharp talons into his face.

  “My eyes!” he screamed.

  Shadow was relentless, clawing his skin. “Get it off me!” Eke yelled. “Get this bird off me!”

  Horace couldn’t believe it. The force of Shadow’s attack was driving Eke backward step by step toward the open portal. Eke dropped the beetle, then the Benben Stone, as he desperately tried to keep the falcon at bay. Finally, with one loud screech, Shadow dove full speed into Eke’s chest, pushing him right into the open portal.