Kady had been looking at him as if he were crazy, but his last words struck a nerve. He read it in her face.

“So you feel it, too!” he shouted.

She sat straighter. “I’ve hardly been able to sleep these past two nights. I thought it was the double mocha lattes from Starbucks.” Kady stood up and joined him. “But what does it mean?”

“We’ve been bounced back and forth in time like Ping-Pong balls. That must have some effect on us physically. Maybe somewhere at the submolecular level we’ve become tuned to time’s flow. Maybe it’s jacked up our intuition.”

“Okay, now you’re losing me, Einstein.”

Jake’s mind spun with possibilities beyond even his comprehension. He shook his head to ground himself again and lifted the watch. He pointed to the ankh symbol.

“I think this is meant to point us to the lock that fits Dad’s key. Something Egyptian.”

“Okay, I get that much.”

“Then it also explains why those thieves came after the watch today.”

She frowned—then her eyes got huge. “Because tomorrow you and Uncle Edward are taking the train to New York City to go see that show at the museum—an Egyptian exhibit.”

Jake nodded. “That’s why someone tried to steal the watch from us. The new exhibit must hold that lock we’re looking for. Our bodies have been trying to warn us about it, to get us ready.” Jake faced his sister. “Tomorrow we have to go to the museum. Both of us.”

“But I have fencing practice with my team in the morning.”

He gave her an exasperated look.

Like Jake with Tae Kwon Do, Kady had found her own sport: fencing, also known as sword fighting. It seemed that her short stint with her Viking friends in Calypsos had whet her appetite for the flash of blade and the dance of death. And Jake had to admit that she was good—maybe not Viking warrior good—but her natural grace and athleticism served her well. Of course, in typical Kady fashion, she had also begun training her cheerleading squad with swords as props, turning that deadly art into a rousing show. There was even talk of taking the performance to the regional cheerleading championship at the end of summer.

“I don’t want to do this alone,” Jake pleaded.

And he meant it.

As much as he hated to admit it, he needed her. She was the last of his family, and he didn’t want them to be separated, especially by eons of time.

“Quit being a dork,” Kady said. “Of course I’m going. Just try stopping me.” She crossed to the door. “So get reading, Einstein. We need to know as much as we can.”

“What are you going to do?”

Kady glanced back with a raised eyebrow and a mean smile. “I have to sharpen my sword.”

4

MUMMY’S CLAW

Outside the Lincoln Town Car, the great metropolis of Manhattan blared, honked, shouted, and growled as the morning rush hour traffic slowed to a snail’s pace. Jake sat in the back, craning at the stack of skyscrapers. Kady manned the other end of the seat, staring out at Central Park. Between them, Uncle Edward leaned forward to urge the driver yet again.