What Lies Beneath ▸ House of Anubis [1]

chapter forty. house of time

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            "Did you hear that little earthquake yesterday evening?"

            I glance at Nina as Trudy asks us about the earthquake we accidentally caused last night. The ground stopped shaking after we found our next riddle in the puzzle piece, but we didn't get much time to look at it as a group. And Amber wasn't even there when we found it, so we need to have ourselves a Sibuna meeting today when no one else can hear.

            Alfie replies, "That was no earthquake. Definitely an alien mothership taking off." Trudy playfully hits his head, and he gestures over to me. "Ashley and Patricia believe me. Don't you?"

            I laugh and cover it with a cough, nodding as Patricia replies plainly, "Sure."

            Then Alfie leaves, satisfied that he has two believers in his alien conspiracies, and Fabian whispers to Nina and me, "So, I've been thinking about the fourth puzzle piece and how Sarah's numbers open it—"

            "Whoa," Amber interrupts loudly. "Rewind. You opened another puzzle piece?" Nina shushes her, but it doesn't quiet her. "Without me? So rude."

            "As I was saying before I got interrupted—"

            "I can't believe you did that without telling me! Rude, again."

            "The fifth puzzle piece looks exactly the same," Fabian continues in a whisper, "so are we assuming Sarah's numbers open that one, too?"

            "Maybe we shouldn't try it," Patricia suggests. "Those noises terrified me."

            Amber looks between us. "Hang on. Noises? You mean it wasn't an earth tremor?"

            "England's not exactly known for its earthquakes," I point out.

            Fabian asks Nina, "What did you do with the riddle?"

            "Riddle?" says Amber as Nina reaches into her bag for the latest riddle. "What riddle? We have another riddle?"

            Exasperatedly, Patricia retorts, "Amber, will you stop repeating everything?"

            "Well, no one tells me anything, apparently."

            Nina opens up the folded riddle and hands it to Fabian, who reads aloud, "My father's father stands tall. His face and hands together turn circles around. Isis and Osiris, and horus the son reveals me."

            I sigh, scrunching my nose up. "I really thought these things were getting easier."

—

            "What does the son reveals me even mean?" I ask Nina as we walk back into Anubis House together at lunch. Upstairs, Victor closes the door to his office while Alfie, for whatever reasons, trudges into the girls' corridor. I lower my voice. "I've been trying to work it out all day and I've got nothing."