Barnabas Tew and The Case Of The Missing Scarab by Columbkill Noonan

Author:Columbkill Noonan [Noonan, Columbkill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction & Literature
Publisher: Crooked Cat Books
Published: 2017-07-25T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Barnabas and Wilfred watched from a safe distance as the cats used their claws, with terrible efficacy, to quickly tear the doors to Bakhu asunder. A terrible noise ensued as the reptilian folk within came out to defend their lord and their home against the onslaught of ferocious feline fury. Barnabas and Wilfred shuddered at the dreadful din.

“Should we, uh, help, or something?” suggested Wilfred.

“Hmmm,” said Barnabas. “It does feel a bit useless to just stand here and do nothing.” He glanced down and considered the two small pricks in his ankle where the little garden snake had bitten him. “Still, I don’t think that Thoth meant for us to actually engage in this sort of thing. I think we have done more than enough just getting it all started.”

“Quite so,” said Wilfred, relieved. He had not much relished the idea of getting in the midst of the fray. “And I’m sure Anubis would be most displeased if we, the detectives that he went to so much trouble to bring here, were to be wounded by foolishly jumping into a battle of this sort.”

“Indeed!” said Barnabas. “I am quite certain he would be most unhappy with us. We are far too valuable, and our safety is necessary for the success of this case. And there does seem to be a lot of teeth and claws and, well, violence going on in there. Not at all the sort of thing for us, I’d say.”

“No, it is not in the slightest the sort of thing for us. We are meant to work with our brains, not our brawn,” said Wilfred.

“Exactly!” said Barnabas, pleased. “And so we shall stay here and trust that these cats take care of their business as well as we have acquitted ourselves with ours.”

And so the two stayed back and waited. The sounds of the battle ebbed and flowed, getting softer at times as the fighting moved deeper into the mountain, or getting louder as it pushed back towards the entrance.

Each time Barnabas and Wilfred heard a particularly loud noise (the angry hissing of an enraged cat; the screeches of a stricken lizard; the crash and tumble of things being knocked over in the kerfuffle) they jumped and took a few steps backwards; so that by the time Bastet at last emerged from the mountain, they were quite a distance away.

Bastet stepped through the doorway and looked at the place where they had originally been standing. Not seeing them, she was puzzled and glanced about the plain. At last her sharp eyes found them several hundred yards from where they had begun. She shook her head and frowned, crooking a sharp claw at them in a beckoning gesture.

Seeing her displeasure, Barnabas and Wilfred felt quite embarrassed and hurried over to her, faces red with shame.

“We only just thought that perhaps we should stand quite out of the way so as not to interfere with your battle tactics,” said Barnabas.

Bastet raised her eyebrows. “I’m sure,” she said sardonically.

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