Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (3 page)

As he continued, he noticed that many of the paintings on the walls depicted odd and disturbing scenes.
 
Some of them had strange creatures that Michael had never seen before.

Although he passed most of these without paying them much attention, he came to a portrait that caught his interest and without even realizing what he was doing; he had stopped to examine it.

The man in this portrait was a very dark and authoritative looking fellow, with thick eyebrows and deep-set eyes.
 
He had a very bestial look about him, and an unpleasant demeanor.
 
He reminded Michael of a wolf that had gone without a proper meal for a few too many days.
 
The man was dressed in clothes from several hundred years ago, although Michael didn't know quite enough about history to be any more specific than that.
 
In his hands he held a wooden staff with a black jackal's head on the end of it, it's lip curled up in a growl.

"It looks like that Egyptian jackal-god," Michael quietly muttered.
 
He couldn't remember the god's name, although it was on the tip of his tongue.
 
He was glad his father wasn't there to quiz him about it.

Speaking to the man in the portrait he added, "The funny thing is, that jackal has a much kinder looking face than
you
do."

Then something else caught his eye.

The door next to the painting had a very impressive engraving carved into its surface.
 
It was a full moon with clouds drifting in front of it on both sides.

Michael reached down and tried to turn the door's handle, but it was locked.
 
He then noticed that the handle didn't appear to have a keyhole in it.

"That's strange," he said out loud, and bent down to take a closer look.
 
He couldn't find a keyhole anywhere on the handle or any other part of the door.
 
"Maybe it's just stuck."

Putting his weight into it, he grasped the handle tightly and turned with all his might, but it wouldn't budge.

He turned around, rested his back against the door, and took a deep breath.
 
His eyes fell upon a curious looking tapestry, which hung on the wall directly across from him.

The scene showed a drab and dense looking forest, bathed in the gray light of a full moon.
 
Black clouds swirled menacingly through the sky.
 
In the middle of the forest was a clearing, in which a hideous wolf was attacking a young blonde haired woman.
 
The creature was definitely a wolf, or at least nearly a wolf, but it also resembled a human in certain ways.
 
The expression on its face was human, not what one would expect to see from an animal, but the thing was altogether covered in brown fur, and walked on its hind feet in an upright position.

The woman was screaming, as the beast had latched onto her arm with his jaws.
 
Blood ran down the side of her long blue dress.

Michael winced.

Gathered in a circle around the girl, a dozen more of the wolf men attentively watched the attack, eagerly waiting to join in.
 
Diabolical, hungry looks were painted across their twisted faces.

 
Michael found the scene very unsettling.
 
"Werewolves? Why would anyone want something like this hanging in his home, even if it is a damp old castle?" he said to himself angrily.

His eyes returned to the portrait of the man who looked so much like a wolf.
 
"I don't like your friends over here any more than I like you, ugly."

He had never seen artwork that he found more detestable, and wondered why Mr. MacDonald would be interested in having such a morbid display hanging in his castle.

He decided to continue on with his search down the corridor, and after a short time came to the base of a winding staircase.
 
He stopped and listened again, but still couldn't hear the bagpipes.
 
He did however, notice a slight draft that flowed coldly up the stairs.
 
It gave him the chills.

By this time, Michael was wide awake and did not have the desire to return back to bed, but the idea of getting lost in a creepy, unknown section of the castle in the middle of the night didn't appeal to him either.

As he was deciding whether or not to continue on and go up the stairs, he heard a woman shriek off in the distance.
 
It was faint, like the piping had been, but there was something about it that chilled the blood in his veins.
 
The scream hadn't sounded like a woman being attacked; it was more of a drawn out, agonizing, crazy scream.
 
Michael guessed that it came from something that hoped to terrify others.
 
There it was again.
 
He stood still and listened for a few moments, and was relieved when the shrieking finally stopped.

He looked again toward the ascending stairs.
 
They now looked even less inviting than they had just a few moments before.
 
He decided that it might be better to explore during daylight, when Liam could keep him company.
 
Shining his light all around once more, he cautiously preceded back toward his bedroom.

Upon reaching the end of the corridor where he'd first begun, he turned once again to look down into its mysterious depths.

He thought for a moment about going and waking Liam, so that they could go find the sound's origin together, but Liam would most certainly not appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night so that Michael could take him on a wild goose chase.
 
Liam was almost certainly already familiar with this section of the castle.

Yes, he decided, tomorrow would be a much better time to resume the adventure.
 
After checking on Abigail, he went to his own bed and pulled the covers up over his head.

When the alarm went off the next morning, Michael wasn't entirely sure he had ever gone back to sleep.
 
His excursion during the earliest hours of the morning had left him exhausted.
 
In a way, it had all felt like an odd, surreal dream.
 
He was painfully tired, but dragged himself out of bed, got dressed, and ran a comb through his hair.
 
He checked his sister's room, which was empty, and then headed downstairs to have breakfast.

When he got to the dining room everyone else was already there, and the first thing he noticed was Liam's father pouring himself some coffee.

"I can get that for you sir," said Mr. Finnegan, the butler.

Mr. Finnegan was a short, burly man with a balding head.
 
He had a perpetual expression on his face that could best be described as a hybrid of bemusement and constipation.

"Nonsense," responded Mr. MacDonald.
 
"You tend to the eggs and bacon and I'll see to it that this gets distributed properly."
 
He waved the coffee pot back and forth as if he were trying to conduct an orchestra.

"Very well Sir," said Mr. Finnegan, and he promptly exited back through the door that led to the kitchen.

Looking around, Michael saw his father sitting near the head of the table, and his mother seated beside him; she looked in his direction and gave a little smile.
 
Abigail, who looked like a miniature version of her mother, sat next to her and bounced happily in her chair, anticipating the arrival of one of her favorite things in life, bacon.

Sitting across from his father was a man whom he didn't recognize.
 
He looked older than Michael's father, but younger than his grandfather.
 
He was large and muscular, had a fairly dark complexion, salt and pepper hair, and was dressed in an expensive looking suit.
 
He seemed to be sitting a bit lower than everyone else, and Michael noticed that he was in a wheelchair.
 
Upon looking up and seeing Michael, he nodded.
 
His face looked kind, but also wore sadness.

"Ahh, Michael, I hope you slept well lad," said Mr. MacDonald "Come on in and have some breakfast.
 
I don't believe you've had the pleasure of meeting my latest guest.
 
Say hello to Mr. Aiden Osiris."

"A pleasure to meet you sir," said Michael as he reached out to shake Mr. Osiris's hand.

"The pleasure is mine," the man responded.
 
His voice was deep and a bit raspy, and he had a firm grip.
 
"You will forgive me if I don't stand up," he added with a wink.
 
Michael let out a nervous chuckle and smiled back at him.

"Sit here with me, Mikey," said Liam as he motioned to the large wooden chair next to his.

The dining room table was long and elegant, and had ornate carvings on the corners and down the legs.
 
It complimented the warm feeling of the room quite nicely.

The castle was full of such ancient items, as Liam's father was a dealer of antiquities.
 
Many of the items in the castle were already there when Mr. MacDonald had inherited it, but over the last few years he had fitted it with countless historical items such as the table, which had come from another castle, somewhere in France.

As Michael walked toward the seat that Liam was still impatiently waving him to, his attention was drawn to the large stone hearth in which a fire blazed, adding a bit of hominess to the large room.

"That was a pretty neat trick you played last night with the bagpipes," Michael whispered to Liam as he sat down beside him.

Liam shrugged and gave him a puzzled look.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, it
had
to be you.
 
Who else would try to pull a trick like that in the middle of the night?"

 
"What in the world are you going on about?" Liam retorted.

Michael scowled at him.
 
It reminded Liam of the look his school principle gave him when he was accosted last year for bringing Sir Nigel the bulldog to class dressed up like the Queen of England.

"We'll talk about it later," Michael whispered curtly.

Mr. MacDonald poured some coffee for Mr. Osiris, and patted him gently on the back.
 
"Mr. Osiris here was just filling us in on some of the details of our trip before you lot came in.
 
Please go on where you left off Aiden."

"Well, as I was saying, the necropolis to which we are traveling is located in the desert a few miles west of Edfu, Egypt.
 
It was originally excavated over twenty years ago, and extensive research was conducted as I'm sure you are aware, Declan.
 
Your uncle Shamus was heavily involved in the process.
 
His expertise and skill in archeological cartography was arguably unparalleled."

"What's archeological cart-grophany?" asked Liam.

"Archeological CARTOGRAPHY," his father retorted, "is the practice of mapmaking for archeological sites and excavations.
 
And please don't interrupt our guest, Liam."

"Quite all right, Declan," said Mr. Osiris.
 
"I love to see a healthy curiosity for the sciences in a sharp young mind."

Liam beamed at his father, who raised an eyebrow and cracked a sarcastic smile back at him.

"Liam," said Mr. Osiris, "when an archeological find is first discovered, it is absolutely essential that meticulous care is taken to make maps and drawings of every detail involved, no matter how minor.
 
Painstaking work must be done to record the location and position of all artifacts, as well as drawings of the chambers.
 
This is especially true for ancient sites such as those found in Egypt.
 
The information gathered can be invaluable in regards to learning about the history, practices, religion, and various other details of a culture.
 
Your great uncle was a world renowned master."

"Is that the same uncle you inherited this castle from, Mr. MacDonald?" Abigail asked.

"Yes dear, it is," he responded.
 
"He disappeared many years ago, and was eventually declared dead.
 
He was a great man, it's a shame you never met him, because he really liked children.
 
I spent a large part of my own childhood exploring the grounds of this castle, and he was always very kind to me.
 
He never had any tikes of his own, and he willed me everything he owned, including McGinty Castle.
 
But we digress.
 
As you were saying Mr. Osiris."

"All right, where was I?
 
Oh yes, now I remember.
 
An entrance to the necropolis was discovered and excavation began some twenty one years ago, and work continued until the Egyptian government closed the site four years later, due to the senior archeologist and five diggers being mysteriously killed."

"Mysteriously killed?" asked Liam.
 
"In what way?"

"Well, there was a partially collapsed chamber far underground that the men were clearing out.
 
It was apparently the burial chamber of a greatly respected and decorated warrior.
 
There were many weapons and military artifacts that had been preserved along with the body of the man.
 
It was a tremendous find and the work was being done very slowly in order to preserve every item and ensure the integrity of the structure.

The team had nearly finished with the work when a passageway was discovered behind the sarcophagus.
 
It led out of the burial chamber and into a small subterranean tunnel, just large enough for one man at a time to crawl through.