Kai found herself sitting in a primitive cell—four walls of dirt and a wooden grate to keep the prisoner in and the free world out. She remembered the journal and looked around, but the mysterious book wasn’t there. Where was Amenken?
Three large, muscular men, clothed in nothing more than white wraps, stood outside her prison cell. Kai thought it was quite funny that Horus sent three massive men to guard an eleven-year-old girl. Maybe there was another reason for the three guards, but Kai couldn’t figure out what it could possibly be.
No sooner had she stopped thinking about the guard situation than Kai looked up and saw Horus approaching up a wide sandy path. He had the journal in his hands. When he arrived at Kai’s cell, the three guards separated and let their commander pass by.
“Kai, this book of names here is really a mystery to me. I thought that old fool Naaji was simply a lunatic who created stories that no one would ever read. Then I find your name in this book and begin to wonder if I’ve been wrong this whole time.” Horus motioned for one of the guards to open Kai’s cell.
She remained seated, not sure what her options were. The Egyptian official sat down on the dirt floor opposite Kai.
“There’s something different about you. These plagues don’t seem to affect you. Tell me about that.”
Kai looked at the man and hoped he would believe her confusion. “I have no idea what’s going on.”
“Yes, sweet girl,” Horus said, rolling his eyes. “The more truthful you are, the better this is going to be.”
Kai closed her eyes in prayer. Lord, help me stand up to this guy. He’s the male version of Vivian Gold. Help me get rid of him.
“If you don’t answer me, there’s going to be a major problem.” The falcon was getting irritated.
“I told you the truth.” Kai recounted the whole story starting with Vivian’s bullying.
This time Horus remained silent as he let her explanation simmer.
“Something still doesn’t make sense, but I don’t have time to sit here and argue with a child. I’m going to hold on to this book, and you are going to work on cleaning my city up. This wonderful little home will be where you sleep. This will be your new life until you decide to be honest with me.”
“But—”
Horus stood and brushed the dirt from his clothes.
The conversation was over.
Time passed slowly, Kai thought, like when her mom made her use the last drops of ketchup from a squeeze bottle. The swarm of gnats that had plagued the Egyptians were now just piles of black that covered the ground, turning the sand into darkness.
One of the guards knelt down and opened the grate to Kai’s cell. He remained silent but waved her out. Tired of being cramped in the tiny space, Kai was more than ready to obey.
“Horus will have you at the palace now.”
Kai looked around to see where exactly it was that she had been taken. She could see the mighty river that had been turned to blood. The Nile. And she could see the field where she had first met Amenken.
Where are you, friend?
The three huge men walked Kai to the pharaoh’s palace and took her to a small room just inside one of the building’s many entrances. Everywhere she looked, gnats littered the ground. One of the guards broke away and went into a closet of sorts and came back out with a tool that looked like a shovel.
“You will use this to start cleaning up the mess that you brought with you.”
Kai took the shovel and started scooping up a pile of gnats.
“Horus is on his way to give you more instructions.” The guards left the same way they came in.
Kai thought about running again, but she knew she wouldn’t get far. She took the shovel loaded with gnats and dumped it back outside on the ground near the walking path. She went back inside and repeated the shoveling and dumping process several times, until the room she was standing in was cleared of the gnats.
As she turned to go and start cleaning out the next room, Kai saw Horus. He was walking with a very battered version of Amenken. Her friend was bleeding on his arms and chest.
“Ah, Kai. I’m glad to see you didn’t try to run. Cooperating is always your best option.”
“Amenken!”
Horus spoke before Amenken had a chance to. “Kai, the more information you keep from me, the worse your friend here is going to feel.”
“I told you I don’t know anything!”
The falcon stepped closer so he was just inches from Kai’s face.
“I believe you believe that. But there is some connection between this traitor here”—Horus pointed to Amenken—“and the Israelite girl. And somehow, you and those two know something about these plagues. Tell me and all the hurting will end.”
“I have told you the truth.” Kai took a deep breath and repeated a quick silent prayer for God to give her strength to boldly stand up to this man. “But what I haven’t told you is that these plagues won’t stop until people lose their lives.”
“See, I knew you had information about why these plagues are happening to us. Keep talking and your friend will be spared further pain and suffering.”
Kai wanted to help Amenken. The only information she had was what she read in the Bible. She told the falcon that there would be a total of ten plagues, and then Moses would successfully lead the Israelites out of captivity. That Pharaoh would send his soldiers after them, but the Red Sea would part and God would make a way for all the people to find freedom.
Horus just stood there looking at her like she was next in line to take the lunatic title away from old man Naaji.
“Okay, Kai. Let’s just say this bizarre story of yours was true. I’m going to keep you around in case there is another plague. I will keep you with me so that whatever is protecting you will also cover me.”
Kai wanted all of this to end. She was ready to go home and forget that the trip to Egypt and the plagues ever happened. “I’m not going to help you. I know how this ends. God’s in control, not you.”
Horus laughed. His world was moved by the powerful. Pharaoh spoke and people went into action. No one questioned his authority because those who did met with serious consequences. “Kai, even though I believe none of what you’re saying, you have something about you that is quite powerful. The plagues stay away from you.”
“God is in control. For some reason, I’m not being bothered by them, just like the Israelites in the valley are not being bothered by them.” Kai felt stronger now as she spoke truth to this Egyptian bully.
“I don’t have time to listen to your make-believe stories. I’m going to have my men take you right next to the palace, where you will spend every one of your daylight hours cleaning up the fields.”
Horus said something to one of his guards that Kai couldn’t understand. The same guard grabbed Kai by the hand and led her down the palace steps, out across the wide street, and into the fields that were covered with remnants of frogs and gnats.
As the soldier stood next to Kai, a second guard came up behind them holding a rake. He didn’t get a chance to give Kai instructions because a loud buzzing sound pulsed through the air around them. The guards instinctively looked back to the palace.
Dark swarms of tiny bugs flew into the pharaoh’s home. The guards looked at Kai then back at each other. They didn’t know what to do with her.
The buzzing got louder, and the swarms multiplied.
Flies.
They swarmed over the guards but left Kai alone. The guards tried using their hands to swat the flies away from their faces. No use.
The noise became so loud that Kai couldn’t hear the guards even though they were no more than six feet away from her.
Flies were appearing out of thin air and were literally turning the day to night.
The guards picked up Kai and carried her back in the direction of the palace. The flies continued to swarm around the guards’ faces, so thick that they couldn’t make it ten feet without stopping to recalculate their direction. Keeping Kai close to them didn’t change the situation.
They put her down and used their hands to swat at the flies.
Then came a wicked swirl of commotion as even more flies swarmed them. There were so many flies, it looked to Kai like the guards were getting swallowed up by an ocean of black water. She heard the guards but could no longer see them. Everything she saw was flies. But for some crazy reason, the flies were not bothering her. It was like she was standing in the eye of a dark hurricane.
A second unexplainable event came quickly. A woman appeared, stepping right out of a wall of flies.
It was Amenken’s wife.
“Betrest!”
The woman stood before Kai, holding out something in her hands.
The flies stayed back, leaving the older woman alone too.
“Kai, I am sorry for the way I treated you,” Betrest said as she stared at the ground. “I was scared and didn’t know what was going on. My husband calmed my nerves as he explained your real character and how you wanted to protect that Israelite girl.”
Kai was grateful the woman spoke those words. “I’ve been scared too, but the longer I’m in your world, the more confidence I find to believe in myself.”
Betrest finally looked up at Kai. “Amenken told me to give this to you.”
Now that Kai was closer, she could see that Betrest held a small silver blade.
“My husband made this weapon for himself. To keep us safe. Once Horus started coming around asking questions about you and Lily, Amenken told me about this blade.”
Kai took the blade and turned it over in her hands. It was surprisingly heavy for its small size. That’s when she saw the red gemstone above the handle. This was the same blade that Amenken had shown her the first time she was in his house. The same blade that meant so much to him.
“It was his prized possession. The highlight of his talents.” Betrest spoke with words that were wrapped in sadness given the irony of the situation. The blade that her husband had made to protect them could not keep the beatings from happening. Horus had found a way to inflict pain on Amenken, and this beautiful dagger did nothing to prevent it.
“Thank you, Betrest.” Kai had never held anything like this weapon before.
“My husband said that you will be the one to defeat Horus. And between you and me, I believe him. There is something special about you that speaks of courage and bravery.”
Kai had nothing more to say. Here in this otherworld, she was becoming a strong person who wasn’t being ruled by fear. “Thank you.”
“Horus captured Lily to use for bait to lure you and my husband in. I saw them take her into the building we call the Halls. It’s the building next to the palace on the northeast side. You will see a large statue of a man. The Halls is right past the statue. Right over there.” Betrest pointed and Kai looked in the right direction. Because of the flies nothing was clear, but she thought she could make out the outline of a statue.
“Thank you,” Kai said as she hugged Amenken’s wife.
“Go, young one, and teach that bully a lesson.”
Kai smiled and, dagger in hand, took off running toward the Halls.