Enigmatic: Sapphire City Supers

Chapter 8: Night at the Museum Take Two

Ewan shrugged, with a grin. "I'm the curator; I'm everywhere."

I laughed. "You're like a cat burglar."

His grin got wider, a little devilish. "How else do you think I can sneak up on kids and yell at them for touching stuff?"

"Not sure I believe you, Ewan. I don't think I've ever really heard you yell at anyone. I thought it was Grant's job to yell at kids, anyhow. That makes more sense."

"I am very reasonable with those kids, thank you very much," Grant interjected about 10 decibels too loud, as usual.

We all snickered. "It's too easy to be fun with you, Ham 2," I said affectionately. He looked grumpy, which I ignored. "But anyway, Ewan, I would like to hear that very nerdy thing, if you've got the time. Maybe Tris will remember after the second time around. Oh, hold on, I think there's someone else who'd be interested too." I'd spotted Jackson again, and I waved him over, making good on my earlier promise.

He looked a little shy when he got to the group, probably because everyone was watching him expectantly. "Hi again Kenna, hi Grace and Stu, nice to see you guys here."

"Jackson!" Grace exclaimed, giving him a hearty pat on the shoulder. "Are you here by yourself? I'm sorry, I should have invited you along but I didn't even think about it!"

He laughed, "oh no, that's no problem. I'm here with a friend, actually, but he seems to have wandered off into the general exhibits."

I nudged Ewan, who was beside me now. "Jackson, this is Ewan Hamilton - he's the lead curator here, so this is his baby. Ewan, Jackson is a trainee agent working with Grace and me. Also, that's Ewan's brother Grant over there and our friends, Tristan Keynes, and Alexis Winters."

Jackson waved to everyone, and reached out to shake hands with Ewan. "You've done really great work here, man."

"Ewan was about to tell us something interesting about that amulet in the case across the room, if you'd like to hear it?" I watched his face closely, which meant I saw the look of distinct interest pass over it quickly, before his amber eyes crinkled at the corners.

"I would, for sure," he said with an enthusiastic smile.

Ewan hesitated slightly; I knew I'd put him on the spot, but ever the professional, he started in graciously. "Really, all I was telling Tristan was that the amulet is a bit of a mystery amongst this collection. The rest all dates to the Classical Greek period, around 500 BC, but the amulet, which was found in the same deposit as the others, appears to be Mycenaean in origin, making it at least 600 years older than everything else. There was another Mycenaean object found with the amulet, but we don't have it on display as it's very fragile. 

The Mycenaean period represents the end of the Bronze Age in Greece, and it was followed by the Dark Ages, before the Ancient Greek civilisation that most people think of even began. Mycenaean Greece is interesting because it's the period that many of the Greek myths come from, like the Odyssey and the Trojan War, and where the Greek Pantheon of gods began. So it seems like this amulet and its companion were important enough to either be passed through families, kept in the same place, or to be traded as items of value over the centuries."

We all turned to look at the strange, beautiful mystery sitting innocently in its case. I felt the hum and the pull but did my best to ignore it. I hoped Ewan wouldn't sense me tensing beside him, not that he'd know why.

"Like I said," Tristan whispered to me, "nerdy."

"I can still hear you, idiot," Ewan said dryly.

"I'm on his side anyway," I retorted to Tris, leaning with one arm against Ewan's shoulder. He was taller than I thought, which meant it was very uncomfortable and I quickly abandoned the pose. "That is really interesting, Ewan. Thanks for telling us all about it!"