Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (23 page)

"Hey," Liam's eyes grew wide, "I never knew that was there."

They followed Finnegan to Abigail's room where he placed her in bed.
 
"While I abhor the practice of lying, I do not believe that revealing the entire truth would be our best course of action in this situation.
 
Do the two of you agree?"

Michael and Liam both nodded their heads.

"Then let me do the talking.
 
Liam," he said, "go fetch the Calderwood sisters.
 
Tell them we need some warm, wet towels, as well as the first aid kit.
 
Michael, you go and wake Miss Harrison, we may as well get this over with."

Elizabeth was nearly beside herself when she was told what happened to Abigail, but of course she only received part of the story.
 
As far as she knew, the children had become lost in the woods and were attacked by wolves, which had given the poor, young girl a terrible fright.

"I didn't know there were any wolves
left
in Scotland?" she asked Finnegan in amazement.

"Apparently there are at least a few," he told her.
 
"I'm so sorry this happened, Miss Harrison, I promised you that the children would be safe."

"Don't blame yourself," she said, taking his hand and giving it a pat.
 
"You went out after them as soon as you heard there was trouble.
 
But how did you manage to locate them so quickly?"

"Oh, I know the countryside very well, and I had a hunch about where I might find them."

"It was actually
our
fault," Michael told her.
 
"We never should have wandered off with Abigail like that."
 
He felt genuinely remorseful for allowing his little sister to be placed in such danger.

"Well, the important thing is you're all safe now," Elizabeth hugged him reassuringly.

Other than a few basic questions, the woman actually didn't grill them very hard, a fact for which they were thankful.
 
She seemed more concerned with tending to their needs than pointing fingers.

"What about the Pegg children, did they get lost too?" Elizabeth looked at Finnegan.

"No," Finnegan told her.
 
"It seems that these three were the culprits of wandering off.
 
The Pegg children, if I'm not mistaken, are doing just fine."
 
He looked at Liam and Michael with a disgusted frown, letting them know that he didn't appreciate being lied to.
 
But his expression quickly softened.
 
He knew they regretted what they'd done, and had nearly paid the ultimate price for it.

Just at that moment, Abigail stirred.
 
She moaned softly for a moment before her eyes shot open.
 
A short, piercing scream escaped her lips.
 
Then she saw her brother sitting next to her, and flung her arms around him.
 
She looked petrified, and didn't say anything.

"Are you okay?"
 
Michael wiped away a tear that was running down her cheek.
 
She nodded, and he was relieved to see that she seemed to understand what was happening.

"The boys told me about how you got lost in the woods, and that you were actually attacked by wolves?" Elizabeth said to her softly.

She nodded, scanning everyone in the room as if to confirm she was safe.
 
"How…how did we…get back here?"
 
Her voice was shaky and weak.

"It was Finnegan," Michael explained.
 
"He came and found us, rescued us from that pack of wolves after we got lost."

"I didn't really…care much for those wolves."

"Uh, no," Michael agreed with a nervous laugh.
 
"Neither did we."

He looked at Liam, who had a relieved, yet uncomfortable grin on his face.

About that time the Calderwood sisters showed up and joined Elizabeth in fawning over the disoriented young girl.

"Well it looks like your sister is in good hands," Finnegan told Michael, and turning his head to Liam, he took them both by the shoulder and led them from the room.
 
He ushered the boys to the library and sat them down.

"Now," he said with a stern look.
 
"Would you two care to tell me why it is you lied to me, and how you ended up getting yourselves entangled with those insufferable lycans?"

Liam looked at his friend guiltily.
 
"I'm sorry Finnegan.
 
I didn't want to lie to you, but well, we needed to look for clues."

"Clues?
 
What sort of clues?
 
Clues for what?"

Liam let out a short sigh.
 
"Well, we believe there's an artifact that might be able to lead us to wherever it is our parents are being held."

"Is that so?
 
And what sort of artifact might that be?"

"Have you ever heard of the Staff of Anubis?" Michael asked him bluntly.

"Staff of Anubis?" Finnegan said, as if to himself.
 
He thought for a moment.
 
"I can't say that I have.
 
But why would the two of you be out looking for an Egyptian artifact in the Scottish countryside?"
 
He looked at them curiously with his trademark, raised eyebrow.

"Well, someone at the excavation site seemed to think that the staff may have once been owned by one of the villagers living in those hills," Liam told him.
 
"And Fenris MacFarlane spoke about a staff, a family heir-loom that originally gave his people the source of their power.
 
He was furious, told us that Uncle Shamus took it from his clan."

"Master Shamus never told me that such an artifact had been recovered, but that doesn't mean much.
 
He could have had his reasons for keeping it a secret, it wouldn't have been that unusual."

Michael hoped that the butler might be leading to something that could help them.
 
Finnegan noticed his expression.
 
"I'm sorry, but I really can't think of anything, nor have I seen anything, that could possibly help you."

This answered the question with certainty for them that Finnegan didn't know about the night corridor.
 
It meant he'd never seen the painting.
 
"But I'll keep my eyes open for you," he told them.
 
"Nothing would make me happier than to find a way to help Master Declan and your parents, Michael, but I just don't have any information about this artifact.
 
I will tell you however, to be careful about whom you listen to, and whom you trust.
 
As I'm sure you've learned from the past few days, things are not always as they seem.
 
Not all enemies have long fur and sharp fangs."

He examined their faces for a few moments.
 
"I trust that both of you realize the importance of keeping quiet about what you have witnessed?
 
Both the lycan village as well as the things you have seen in regards to my order, and my workshop?"

The two looked at each other and nodded their heads solemnly, as if taking an oath.

"Mr. Finnegan, what exactly is this order that you belong to?" Liam asked him.

"Perhaps one day I will tell you more about it, but now is not the proper time for that."

They were disappointed, but it was obvious to both that this was all he would say about the subject.

"Well, you two need to get cleaned up and get some rest.
 
Come down for breakfast in half an hour, and then it's off to get some sleep.
 
I can't imagine you've had much in the last few days."

"Uh, just one more thing," Liam said as they were walking out.
 
"How did you know where to find us, and that we needed help?"

"Let's just say I have some rather swift-footed friends.
 
I'm very glad things turned out for the best, but in the future I advise you to be far more careful."

"We will," Liam said, "and ah…thanks for rescuing us."

"Yes, thanks very much," Michael agreed.
 
"We really owe you one."

"I'll remember that," Finnegan smiled.

The boys walked off down the hallway from the library.

"Do you think we should have told him more?" Michael asked.

"I don't know.
 
I mean, there's no doubt we can trust him, but that doesn't mean he can help us either.
 
He didn't really press us for information, did he?
 
I'm not sure he even took us all that seriously about the staff."

"I guess we just need to keep searching.
 
If your Uncle Shamus recovered the staff from those werewolves, then it could still be here in the castle somewhere.
 
We may have missed it when searching the armory and the chamber of antiquities.
 
We should probably go and take another look."

"Not before I get a good, long nap," Liam said grumpily.

"Agreed."

They went their separate ways to get cleaned up for breakfast, and after eating, Michael enjoyed some of the soundest sleep he'd had in a long time.

Michael sat in a chair next to Abigail's bed.
 
She was sleeping soundly, exhausted from their terrifying run-in with the werewolves.
 
Luckily, she hadn't been too badly injured, although she was still terribly shaken up, and all three of them were lucky to still be alive.

"How could I have been so stupid?"
 
Michael said, looking the girl over.
 
He blamed himself for having put his little sister in such danger.
 
While it was true that he had no idea what they were walking into when they entered the woods, there was no excuse for allowing her to be put in harm's way.
 
He should never have agreed to take her along in the first place.

Now, Michael was more determined than ever to find the staff of Anubis so that Zuriel could help free his parents.
 
He still held out hope, but as each day passed the clock was ticking, and the longer he waited, the greater the chance was that his parents and Liam's father would not be found alive.

As far as finding information about the staff, the trail was nearly as cold now as it had been when they'd started.
 
Yet there was one thing lingering at the back of Michael's mind, one idea that kept speaking to him.
 
It was a long shot, but if there was any chance at all….

He made up his mind.
 
He had to try, whether Liam would come with him or not.
 
With a renewed determination, Michael made off to speak with his friend.
 
He walked half the castle before finally finding Liam, who was by himself in the chapel, praying.
 
He heard Michael come in, and after a moment looked up to greet him.

Michael walked in and sat down beside him.
 
"Sorry to interrupt."

"No worries, I was just about finished anyway."

Michael saw a tear run down Liam's cheek, but didn't let on that he had noticed.
 
Liam had not been his usual, happy self lately, but Michael could relate to what he was going through.

"Listen, I have an idea, but I don't think you're going to like it."

"Oh yeah," Liam responded, "what's that?"

"Well, you know how Fenris MacFarlane had mentioned the protection the faeries had placed on their grove to keep his people out?"

Liam nodded.

"Well, if your great uncle was trying to keep the werewolves away from the staff, he might have been looking for ways to protect it from them."
 
Michael couldn't believe he was even considering the fact that faeries might exist, but Fenris had seemed to believe they did.

Liam raised his head stiffly to look his friend in the eyes.
 
"You want to go down to the forest across the Fianna Barrows to look for clues, don't you?"

Michael nodded.
 
"Unless you can think of a better idea.
 
If the staff is hidden somewhere in this castle, we need to find it as soon as we can.
 
I've racked by brains to come up with ideas, but you know this place better than I do."

"I
don't
have any other ideas," he said glumly.
 
"I think you're right.
 
I've had the same thought myself, though I didn't want to admit it.
 
We should go down to the barrows and see if we can contact the fair folk."

Michael sighed in relief.
 
"Do you really believe that place is cursed?"

"I don't know.
 
But all I care about now is getting our parents back and keeping our friends safe.
 
I know you blame yourself for what happened at the MacFarlane camp, but I'm just as guilty as you are.
 
We need to make it up to Abby, I don't care what happens to me down in the barrows if it means there's a chance of finding answers."

"Do you think we should go by the armory and get some weapons?" Michael asked.

"Not unless you saw some proton packs up there," Liam said, forcing a smile.
 
"Weapons won't do us any good where we're going, they'll just make us look threatening, and believe me, that's the last thing we want to do."

Michael told Elizabeth that he and Liam wanted to take a walk through the garden before it got dark.
 
She insisted that they have supper, although neither of them was able to eat much because they were so nervous about visiting the barrows.

Abigail wanted to go too, but both boys insisted that she stay and rest, and Elizabeth, still shaken by the girl's traumatic event, told her that this was the best idea.
 
Abigail was not at all happy about it, because she knew that the boys must be up to something.
 
Her insistence on going worked against her however, and only convinced Elizabeth that she did indeed need to stay and get some rest.