Whoever finds the closest to 27 words will be the winner. Ah, and what will you win, you ask? A brand, spanking new, advance copy of THEODOSIA AND THE STAFF OF OSIRIS!

Edited to add: The contest will end Sunday, October 19, at midnight. On Monday, October 20, I’ll announce how we’ll determine the winner.

So without further ado, here you go!

Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos Word Search

H A S A E R Y X C Q N H U G R W G V M K V B L P Y
U E B C A R B T J A A Y T G M K A O P H Z U A Z E
N B Q F V A L L E Y O F T H E K I N G S T S S Y A
W V I L S O P N V C F M T T S Q L B E N D Q E S O
U L H T Y D X S K V D A O W W E L R M G F W S S L
H W C F J T S S Y Q S Q G Z Y K P A C S I I K T Q
N R X U C S C U B X N X C E R E M G I W S P M I I
T L E F J V Y G A R E X P N N U V G T T I V T L E
C U G S O Y L A X I U E Q T E B M E A N S K F W N
R B U L E U P H Z I S S S S H F U N O E B V Q X T
W W W L Q A V P X T E O U J S D T S H C A G E P N
H R E W P Y R O I M F M D V K C L C H A S T Y L D
X T X Y H K Z C O C C T W O U D I H U O T G I M Q
S P R V Q N K R H Z S U A R E W Q N G E E I D P R
R U N O G Y O A O O L H A Z D H Y O U F T R I Z K
S G A W W A O S U Q S T R N U A T T O L Y G H B B
E Y Z I T S I G O L O E A H C R A T Z V E D C B B
Z I L D R R G P K R W S N N K T R K S O T G V S G
C L J W O D U N J Y M L L K S A R I P R L E Y Z M
E S S N R W O R I A C R P H E P O G H T S M T X T
X F U T A P T V J L K B A H M E N E M A R W P C D
N A W X Y O F F A K L B I E R E P E F Y R I K U W
K H C L I R P F N Z T O J Z I R M E P W V V L C G
I S Z P J O B X F I Y E B D G B M G R T Y V N O F
C Q P F D T T H P J A L L I Z C E O J S D V O X J

Theodosia’s Top Ten Necessities of Life

1. Gloves (think how horrid it would be if I had to touch all those cursed artifacts with my skin!)

2. Amulets (without them I would be utterly unprotected!)

3. The Wedjat Eye

4. Isis - my loyal friend and companion–except for when she’s cursed

5. Jam Sandwiches - or else I’d start to death

6. My trusty sarcophogus — where else could I sleep in this museum and be protected?

7. My Curse Removal Kit

8. Salt

9. Research books

10. wax bits

Whose next?

Kaitlyn, please email me and I will see that you get your very own copy of Mary Hershey’s 10 LUCKY THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO ME SINCE I ALMOST GOT HIT BY LIGHTNING.

Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who participated.

1. So just how bossy IS your big sister, Effie?

OMIDOG! (I’m not allowed to say OMIGOD, in case you’re wondering.) My big sister is SO bossy that I call her Bosszilla. She is an offishal bossaholic. She is SO bossy that she says you can’t read any of my books. And, when she finds out I’m talking to you here, her eyes will start spinning in oposite directions and smoke will come shooting right out her nose!! She could come after you, Theo, and all your readers too! Better look out!

2. Is it true you almost got hit by lightening? Can you tell us about that?

That is a very long story, so here is a text message version. My best friend, Phil, and me are practicing texting so we can snoop our sisters messages. Here goes–
I nEdD som monE fst & so DIS disgusting guy @ skul sed hed GIV me som monE f I wud shO my ded grandpa’s ashes 2 som grOs boiz bt thN my skul principal caught us & I had 2 run outside 2 git awA nd ther wz a terrible storm & I grabbed a flagpole & lightning hit it & my principal grabbed me & knocked me 2 d ground b4 I got killed!

3. Is your friend Donal as touchy/huffy as my friend Will?

No, he isn’t touchy. Does huffy mean does he have asma? I know a fifth grader that has that and he is very huffy. And he has a puffer he uses. Donal is just weird because he always wants to hang out with us girls. I wish he was more like Will! I could have used a sneaky pickpocket. My sister stole money from our Angel Scout treasury and I needed someone who could get it back!! Will would have been very handy to have-haha! Get it? :

Donal is from Ireland and I bet he and Will would NOT get along. Irish people are very mad at English people for stealing all their potatoes during the Potato Famine back in the olden days. You would definitly not want to bring that up with my dead grandpa.

But Will and Donal have something HUGE in common! You can hardly ever understand what they are saying when they talk!

You know how Will calls boys blokes? Donal calls them lads or sometimes boyos. And instead of saying Blimey! like Will, Donal says Janey Mack! I don’t know who Janey Mack is but Donal must not like her because he is using her like a swear word. (I wonder if she knows!) But its not the kind of swearing that gets him in trouble with our teacher, Mr. Giles. Like when he says bloody — that’s bad. Hey, I just thought of something, Theo. My teacher, Mrs. Giles is from England! Do you know him? He has a lot hair growing out of his ears, so if you ever meet him, talk L-O-U-D! And don’t even bring up anything about the Panama Canal. He starts talking about it and you’ll never get him to stop. Sticky Will should maybe steal his tongue. OMIDOG!

4. I’m very curious about schools, as I’ve never found one that I liked. Do you like going to school? What do you like about it?

The only thing good about school is that you get to see your best friends there. PERIOD. Oh, and I like my Principal. I get to go talk to her whenever I want and she has chocolates in her drawers (in her desk, not in her you-know-whats!) which she shares with me.

5. Do you find it easy to make friends there? (I think it would be lovely to have a friend, as I’ve never had what you could call a proper friend.)

It took me a long time after my best friend Lola Joe moved to Pensacola to find a new friend. My dad is in the joint so a lot of girls acted like I had serious criminal cooties. Especially Kayla Quintana who I wish you would put one of those scary spells on! Donal says Kayla has a tongue that would clip a hedge. That means she has a very smart alecky mouth!

Anyway, now I have two best friends! Theo, I know we don’t live by each other, but I think we could still be proper friends! What do you think?

6. What about sports? At the school I went to, if you weren’t good at
sports, they picked on you horribly. I’m not very good at sports. Are you?

I am horrible at sports, Theo. And my mom is a sorta famous coach in Texas. It’s embarasing. My number two best friend Aurora Triboni is a whiz at basketball. She’s always trying to teach me but I’m really bad. I like snooping better. That’s why I think we should be friends. You are VERY snoopy, I’ve noticed. NOI! (No offense intended!)

7. Have you ever been to a museum? Did you like it? Did you notice anything different that the adults around you didn’t seem to notice?

I want to the Lone Star Museum in San Antonio. Lone Star is the most famous beer in Texas. My dead grandpa took me and my mom found out and he nearly got grounded for it. We ate Jackalope burgers and armadillo fries which were delishus. (Help, Theo! I always forget how to spell that last word.)

I didn’t notice any evil spirits on any of the cool stuff they had there like you do-you are so lucky, Theo! There were a just a lot of dead animals hanging on the walls. I just felt sorry for them and wished I could take them down.

One thing I noticed that the adults didn’t seem to notice is that once they had too many free samples of Lone Star beer, they got really LOUD and forgot to use their indoor voices!

I really liked coming over to your blog, Theo! Thank you for inviting me!

Your new PFF (Proper Friend Forever!),
Effeline Maloney

P.S. I have a cat named Pretty Girl who is all white– and Isis is all black. Pretty Girl used to be mean and now she is nice. Freaky, huh?

P.P.S. Remind me to tell you about about Booger Boy someday. He’s like Clive Fagenbush, only he is a kid and he collects very disgusting things.

!!!! AND NOW FOR THIS WEEK’S CONTEST!!!

In honor of Sibling Week, the prize will be a signed copy of Effaline Maloney’s newest book, 10 LUCKY THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO ME SINCE I ALMOST GOT HIT BY LIGHTNING. written by Mary Hershey and starring Effaline Maloney.

In the comments*, post what the nicest, bossiest, silliest, funniest, goofiest, or craziest thing your sibling has ever done. Tell about a time when one of your siblings was SO bossy, or SO nice, or SO funny…You can only enter once, so be sure and spend a few days thinking about the one story you want to tell. If you don’t have any siblings, you can use a story about a cousin or a pet.

The contest will run for one week and ends Sunday, August 17 at 9:00 pm PST. The winner will be announced Monday morning so you all don’t have to stay up past your bedtime!

*Remember not to post any personally identifying information as those Serpents of Chaos are everywhere and we don’t want them to be able to track you down!

We have to right write a letter for an assignment. Since Mum and Dad hardly remember to read there their mail, I decided to write you.

How are you? I am fine. Even though it’s finally stopped raining, the grounds are still too muddy to do any sports. I swear in some spots the mud comes up to our knees.

Has that Bollingsworth fellow ever shown up?

What about Wigmere and those other blokes from Somerset House? Have you heard any more from them?

Sincerely,

Your Brother, Henry

p.s. I will be coming home for Eastertide, arriving at Victoria Station at 3:17 on March 23. Do not forget to have someone pick me up!

* * *

Honestly! It’s a good thing he’s at school so he can learn to spell! Surely there is nothing more annoying than younger brothers!

In other news, Sticky Will stopped by. It was Open Visitation Day at the museum, the one day out of the month when admission to the museum is free, so anybody who wishes to view the artifacts can do so. Mother and Father tend to make themselves scarce on Open Visitation Day, but I don’t. I manage to stay quite busy. So many children come on Open Visitation Day that it’s important to be sure they don’t get carried away and touch the artifacts or press too closely up against the glass cases. Of course, all the under curators are busy making sure of the same thing, but for different reasons. They want to protect the artifacts from the masses. I want to protect the masses from any curses lingering on the artifacts.

I also like to watch the families that come to the museum on a family outing. However, I am always very careful to avoid the school groups. It wouldn’t do at all to have one of the teachers notice me and ask why I wasn’t in school. Of course, it wouldn’t be any of their business, but that never stops grown ups from butting in, I’ve found.

Today, as I hung back watching a family with three daughters ohh and ahh over the mummy cases in the Egyptian exhibit, a boy wearing his cap pulled low over his eyes sidled up next to me. I politely stepped aside to let him pass. Only he didn’t pass. Instead, he asked, “Oy miss. Are any of them mummies cursed?”

Of course, I recognized his voice immediately.

“Will?” I said quietly, not wanting to raise anyone’s curiosity. “What are you doing here?”

“Ain’t I good enough to come to yer museum to see yer blooming mummies?”

“Of course you are!” I rushed to assure him. “I just wasn’t expecting you, that’s all.” Honestly. Does he have to get so indignant all the time?

“And Ol’ Wigmere did want me to check in on you and see if you ‘ad any messages for ‘im.”

The good news was that I didn’t. Not today. Things seemed to be quiet here at the museum, at least for now.

But as we all know, that could change at any moment…

The way I see things, well is a little differant.
Heroic! Oh yes, fighting off Germans is very heroic!
Extrordianarily gifted, with the sixth since I mean
Obviously prepared to decurse
Don’t be a bother and be thankful for the jam sandwiches father!
Oh my goodness, Bollingsworth is evil!
Shhhh Henry! Your feet sound like a dozen hipopotimi!
I never want to sleep in a small boat again!
American mothers are to keep an eye on when it comes to bringing home arftifacts.

And we also have a runner-up! Miss Kiki Kyra Kiyura! for her rhyming entry…

The little well-known saviour of London, who could it be?
Have you heard of this hero? I’ll give clues and we’ll see!
Everything counts on their cleverness and skill
Or else the whole operation would have gone downhill.
(Do you have the gist? If not, another rhyming hint comes.)
Or you’ve seen how bravely SHE faced all that came, and how
She knew that it wasn’t even close to a simple game.
If you’ve guessed the identity of this young, smart girl….
Absolutely correct is THEODOSIA. Give that name a whirl!

Well done, girls! All the entries were fabulous! So hard to choose!

Augusta and Kyra, after getting your parents permission, email your address to robin (at) theodosiathrockmorton.com so she can send you your prizes!

Anyway…

As promised, I have returned. With a contest no less! Although I must warn you, it’s beastly difficult to come up with contests than can be run on a blog. But I have a few up my sleeve. So, without further ado, this week’s contest:

Create an acrostic poem, using my name! Like this…

T

H

E

O

D

O

S

I

A

And for each letter, come up with a word or phrase that describes, me, my adventures, my adversaries, anything at all, really. The more original and obscure, the better!

We’ll run the contest for one week, and the winner will receive a small, four inch high statue of the Egyptian goddess, Bastet, in her cat form. (Very much like the one I was de-cursing in the opening of The Serpents of Chaos.)

One entry per person, so take your time and make it the best it can be. The contest will close Monday, June 16 at 6:00 PST. I will announce the winner on the following Tuesday (June 17) so none of you will have to stay up past your bedtime. I do realize that some parents pay attention to that sort of thing.