Theodosia & the Eyes of Horus by R. L. Lafevers Read Free Book Online

memorial service for Sopcoate. However, they stopped short of letting me use Westminster Abbey or have his coffin paraded through London on a gun carriage. They were strangely reluctant to honor him in the proper manner, which made me just that much more determined. I will not have him snubbed or forgotten."
    How Grandmother had managed to convince the admiralty to allow a memorial service, I'd never know. I could only assume it was approved by someone who wasn't cleared to know the true reason for Sopcoate's disappearance. Since I had vowed to be tactful, all I said was "Perhaps it had less to do with his status as a hero and more to do with the fact that there isn't a body?"
    "Either way, it is unforgivable. Now, I have selected a mahogany coffin, lined with a tufted mattress made of silk. I decided Sopcoate would not want ruffles. I've ordered an inscribed brass plate and brass handles, and, for the pall, I've
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    chosen silk, not velvet, since it is nearly spring. Don't you
    It seemed pointless to mention--yet again--that there was no body to put in this fancy coffin, so I merely nodded my head.
    "I've also hired a carriage with six horses. They tried to talk me into only four, but I think Sopcoate deserves at least six. I've also arranged for black crepe scarves, black gloves, and black hatbands to be distributed to all those attending the service. Oh, and black ostrich plumes as well. I do think they add so much dignity to a funeral, don't you?"
    "Actually, Grandmother, I've never been to a funeral," I pointed out.
    She turned around to face me. "But of course! You weren't even born yet when my dear husband passed on." She paused for a moment, dreamy-eyed. "Now that was a funeral." Grandmother clucked her tongue. "If you've never attended a funeral before, you'll need to be fitted for proper mourning clothes."
    "Mourning clothes?"
    "Of course. You cannot attend in anything but unrelieved black." She thumped her cane. "I'll be back in a day or two with a seamstress so we can get you fitted." Before she could elaborate, the sound of the front door crashing against the wall made us both jump.
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    "What on earth--" Grandmother began.
    "Is anybody in this moldy old place?"
    I leaped to my feet. "Henry?" Horrified, I ran to the front door. There my brother stood, hands on his hips, glaring into the foyer.
    "I say, what's all that racket?" Father appeared on the top step.
    "It's Henry, Father," I told him. "He's home for Easter holidays."
    "I would have been here loads sooner," Henry said, fixing his glare on me, "if someone hadn't neglected to come fetch me. Which reminds me. I need cab fare to pay for the hansom."
    Father came down the stairs in a hurry. "Why didn't you tell us, Theodosia? We would have gone to pick him up ourselves."
    I squelched a bubble of irritation. While it was true that I was usually the one to remember such things, it didn't seem fair that I should get in trouble when I forgot.
    The cabby stuck his head in the door. "Where's me blunt, mate? You said someone 'ere would pay me. You'd best not be messin' wif ol' Bert here."
    "I'm not," Henry said, then turned to me. "I need cab fare," he repeated.
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    "Well, I certainly don't have it," I told him. "Father? We need to pay for Henry's cab."
    "A young child taking a cab, all by himself?" Grandmother sounded scandalized. She had followed me into the foyer and now stood in the doorway looking down her long nose at us.
    Father stepped outside to pay the cabby. As Grandmother made a path through the crates and artifacts in our direction, Henry sidled up to me. "I had thought things were different between us, but I can see that I was wrong. You're still up to your old ways."
    "No, Henry. Honestly. I just simply forgot--"
    "You? Miss Know-it-all? Forget? Ha. You've always threatened to forget to remind Mum and Dad, but why this time?"
    "No, really. I did. You see--" How was I to explain it to him? Where to even begin?
    "See? It's like I said. You forgot."
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