Natti pulled into her driveway after a long day at school. Her body was exhausted from last night’s excitement. Her homework had piled up a mile high in a matter of one day. And on top of it all, the tension and mixed signals she received from Seth during lunch and on the tennis court had driven her completely insane. She just wanted to curl up in her bed and stay there for the rest of the week.
After a moment of sitting in the silence and wishing she could just freeze time, she finally grabbed her gear and stepped out from her Mini Cooper. She walked to the front door, catching sight of a sticky note. She pulled it down to read.
Gone into town to pick up some supplies. Will be home before dinner. — Dad
Good. That meant she had time to recuperate before dinner. Maybe even have some time to continue to work on the locket. She had hit a wall in the translation of the hieroglyphics. Several of the key words she needed were still missing, and in truth, it seemed like a word scramble. The ordering of the words didn’t make any sense. Yet if she could find the time and the last of the hieroglyphics that needed to be translated, she believed she could piece it together.
Crumpling her father’s note, she took out her keys and opened the door. A streak of fur flew past her ankles, and Natti watched in horror while Bastet took off like a bat out of hell through the streets. Panic infused Natti with adrenaline.
“Bas! Bas, stop!” She threw her bag inside the door and chased after the cat. “Bas, come back!”
Bastet ignored her calls, running wild through the streets. When a neighboring fence stood in her way, the cat leapt over in a single, graceful movement and disappeared into the backyard. Natti shrieked and skidded to a stop on the lawn.
“Bloody hell, Bas!” How could this day get any worse for her? Honestly, it was like her world had been turned completely topsy-turvy since the day she arrived in this town.
Natti glanced in each direction, searching for the shortest path around. She headed north to the closest cross street and turned west. She ran down the block, spying the street she planned to turn down and hopefully cut her cat off. Her plan was foiled when she watched Bastet shoot across her path in a northwestern direction. The cat jumped another fence.
“BAS!” Natti shouted.
Continuing down the street, she left Myrrh Valley and entered a more affluent neighborhood just blocks from hers. The houses were growing larger with more property surrounding them. The cat crisscrossed over open lawns and around play sets, almost like she was taunting Natti to follow until she finally slipped between the bars of a wrought-iron fence. Natti came to a stop and watched the cat race into the neighborhood beyond the rolling grass.
“Damn cat!”
Panting, she continued along the fence until she came to a large, open gate. The sign along the street read ‘Ombos Estates’. Natti inched forward, but there was no sign of a gatekeeper house or a guard. She slipped inside and rushed down the main street that was lined with long, gated driveways. The few houses were triple the size of her own. The lawns were carefully trimmed and a deeper green than the grass of her own front yard.
Coming to the dead end of the street, Natti stopped at the foot of a grand mansion. Her eyes widened at the sight of the triple story building that extended over four average single home foundations. In appearance, it was more like a grand hotel. The roof was made of terracotta tiles, and the exterior walls were sand colored stucco. She counted ten large, full pane windows on the second storey alone.
“Blimey.” She breathed, the sight overwhelming her. The building didn’t belong in such a small town. Hollywood or Beverly Hills possibly. Greece or Italy, most definitely. But here in Setemple? “I wonder who owns this place.”
She scanned the gardens that spanned over the acre and a half plot. There was only a portion of turf grass that lined the small, wrought-iron fence bordered by a gravel path. The rest of the property was a labyrinth of flowers, small ponds with lotus flowers and clusters of papyrus. Palm trees shaded little coves and hidden sanctuaries.
Natti strolled along the fence until she found a four foot open gate leading to a stone path. A sweet voice drifted from the far back, singing, but the words were in a language Natti couldn’t understand. She peered over the lush vegetation to spy a gorgeous woman with copper hair soothing Bastet in her arms. Oh thank God! Natti rushed down the path, entering the small Eden she discovered. As she approached, the beautiful voice silenced. Two dark eyes with a hint of sapphire blue looked up, and a kind smile crossed the woman’s lips. She stood up with Bastet cradled close to her heart.
“This wouldn’t happen to be your precious cat, would it?”