The Curse of the Cairo Cat: A Lottie Lipton Adventure
Ooh goody-goody said the figure next to Lottie Lottie you can come out now Lottie sighed with disappointment She had been enjoying playing hide-and-seek She crawled out from her hiding place and smiled up at the seeker a rotund gentleman with white hair dressed in a shabby linen suit I win she declared Honestly Uncle Bert I was right next to you Not fair sulked Uncle Bert You were supposed to stick to the Egyptian section This case is clearly from Northern Sudan 4
They bickered as they paced along the corridors of the British Museum Lottie Lipton had lived on the grounds of the museum since she was four when her archaeologist parents were killed on a dig in Egypt Since then she had been cared for by her great uncle Professor Bertram West He worked as the Curator of Egyptology at the British Museum in London where the two of them lived in a small ramshackle apartment In truth it was Lottie who looked after her uncle he was famously absent-minded and Lottie would often have to remind 5
him of his appointments cook his breakfast and even tie his bow tie for him In her spare time she had the run of the museum She did not go to school but instead read voraciously from the museum library and was tutored by her Uncle Bert and her friend Reg the kindly old caretaker He too lived on the grounds and was a mine of information it was from him that Lottie knew how to tune a piano address a Bishop and even throw a knife It was Reg who had interrupted their game of hide-and-seek and he led them to the main 6
entrance where a package was waiting Uncle Bert set about opening the packing crate with a crowbar When he had finished a large golden statue stood before them Lottie had never seen anything so beautiful The Golden Cat of Cairo It’s the centerpiece to my new exhibition The pharaohs worshipped felines you see and this was made to commemorate the passing of one of the royal pets It’s marvelous breathed Lottie unable to take her eyes off it Legend has it that the statue is cursed continued Uncle Bert It comes to life every night and prowls around causing mischief 7
