Amulet of Doom Read Free Page B

like any of a dozen of Marilyn’s friends who had sat in the same position while they held forth on life, religion, and the meaning of boys.
    Marilyn sat quietly, waiting for her aunt to tell her what was on her mind.
    â€œEgypt is very old,” said Zenobia at last.
    Marilyn nodded, uncertain of how to respond to such a comment.
    â€œIt is filled with strange things,” added Zenobia after a another long silence. “Ancient things. Things that perhaps should not be disturbed.”
    Marilyn remained silent.
    â€œI’m boring you,” said Zenobia.
    â€œNo!” exclaimed Marilyn. “I just don’t know what to say.”
    â€œHow could you,” muttered Zenobia. “I’m rambling like … like an old woman!” She laughed—a dry, harsh sound. “I’m sorry I bothered you. I had a nightmare, and I wanted to talk to someone.”
    Marilyn nodded. She knew what it was like to wake up in the middle of the night with terror ripping at your heart. She supposed even the bravest people in the world had nightmares. “Tell me about it.”
    Zenobia shook her head. “I don’t think I want to.”
    â€œThen tell me about Egypt. Tell me about Solomon and Suleiman, like you said you would.”
    Zenobia looked at her suspiciously. “Why do you want to know about that?”
    â€œBecause I love your stories,” replied Marilyn truthfully.
    Zenobia nodded. “Solomon and Suleiman,” she said. “History and myth. Reality and magic.”
    She had a faraway look in her eyes, the same look Marilyn had seen when they were on the porch.
    â€œThe thing is, people get them confused,” said Zenobia. “Solomon and Suleiman, that is. They’re not the same person, as a lot of people seem to believe.”
    Marilyn, who had never heard of Suleiman, and only remembered Solomon vaguely from some long-forgotten sermon, nodded wisely.
    â€œSolomon came later,” said Zenobia. “He’s the one you’ll find in the Bible—Solomon’s Temple, Solomon and Sheba, and so on. The Koran says he had power over the winds; he would put his throne on a huge carpet made of green silk, and he and his army could fly all over the world that way. The jinn were supposed to be at his command.”
    â€œJinn?”
    â€œGenies,” explained Zenobia. “At least, that’s how you’ve probably heard of them. I suppose all that might have been so. But I doubt it. Magic was well on the way out by that time anyway.”
    â€œYou talk as if magic was real once.”
    Zenobia shrugged. “Who’s to say? When you’ve traveled in as many places as I have, wild places, primitive places, you see things that can’t really be explained. Is it magic? I don’t know. It might be. But not great magic. The great magic is all gone.”
    â€œWhy did you want to tell me about Solomon?” asked Marilyn.
    â€œI didn’t. You asked.”
    â€œBut you mentioned him on the porch,” persisted Marilyn. “Egypt, and Eldred Cooley, and Solomon. Or was it Suleiman?” She shook her head in frustration. “Now I’m totally confused!”
    â€œIt was Suleiman,” said Zenobia at last. “Egypt, and Eldred Cooley, and Suleiman. Egypt is the most important place in the world, at least to me. Eldred Cooley was a friend. Not a particularly good friend, but the most interesting one I ever had. He died late last year.”
    She shivered, and Marilyn sensed a story, another story hidden behind the one she was being told. She wanted to interrupt, but Zenobia had started again.
    â€œSuleiman made this amulet, which Eldred gave me shortly before his death. It has nothing to do with Egypt, other than the fact that Eldred found it there. How it got to Egypt I have no idea.”
    As she was talking, Zenobia pulled the amulet from her nightgown.
    Marilyn caught her breath. It was unbelievably