the_kane_chronicles__book_one__the_red_pyramid

Philip of Macedonia splashed in his pool. Muffin jumped onto the railing and insisted we
pet her.
We were alone in a strange mansion with a baboon, a crocodile, and a weird cat. And
apparently, the entire world was in danger.
I looked at Sadie. “What do we do now?”
She crossed her arms. “Well, that’s obvious, isn’t it? We explore the library.”
S A D I E
7. I Drop a Little Man on His Head
HONESTLY, CARTER IS SO THICK sometimes I can’t believe we’re related.
I mean when someone says I forbid it, that’s a good sign it’s worth doing. I made for the
library straightaway.
“Hold on!” Carter cried. “You can’t just—”
“Brother dear,” I said, “did your soul leave your body again while Amos was talking, or
did you actually hear him? Egyptian gods real. Red Lord bad. Red Lord’s birthday: very
soon, very bad. House of Life: fussy old magicians who hate our family because Dad was
a bit of a rebel, whom by the way you could take a lesson from. Which leaves us—just us
—with Dad missing, an evil god about to destroy the world, and an uncle who just jumped
off the building—and I can’t actually blame him.” I took a breath.
[Yes, Carter, I do have to breathe occasionally.] “Am I missing anything? Oh, yes, I also
have a brother who is supposedly quite powerful from an ancient bloodline, blah, blah, et
cetera, but is too afraid to visit a library. Now, coming or not?”
Carter blinked as if I’d just hit him, which I suppose I had in a way.
“I just…” He faltered. “I just think we should be careful.”
I realized the poor boy was quite scared, which I couldn’t hold against him, but it did
startle me.
Carter was my big brother, after all—older, more sophisticated, the one who traveled the
world with Dad. Big brothers are the ones who are supposed to pull their punches. Little
sisters—well, we should be able to hit as hard as we like, shouldn’t we? But I realized that
possibly, just possibly, I’d been a bit harsh with him.
“Look,” I said. “We need to help Dad, yes? There’s got to be some powerful stuff in that
library, otherwise Amos wouldn’t keep it locked up. You do want to help Dad?” Carter
shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah…of course.”
Well, that was one problem sorted, so we headed for the library. But as soon as Khufu saw
what we were up to, he scrambled off the sofa with his basketball and jumped in front of
the library doors. Who knew baboons were so speedy? He barked at us, and I have to say
baboons have enormous fangs. And they’re not any prettier when they’ve been chewing