Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) by Ethan Russell Erway Page A

also supposed to be able to open a porthole to the afterlife or something like that."
    Michael contemplated this for a moment.   It was certainly an interesting story.   But he wondered why the man in the picture would be shown holding the staff.   Was he the thief who stole it?   And if he was, where was the staff now?
    "I don't know why this bloke has it," Liam said, as if he were reading the look on Michael's face.   "It'd be interesting to know where this painting came from."
    Michael told Liam about the statue of Anubis, and what he had seen through the eyes, but Liam had never seen the statue, or heard anything about it.
    Michael then pointed out the werewolf mural hanging directly across from the portrait.   His companions agreed that this too was a creepy and disturbing thing to have displayed in the castle, although Liam commented that it was "Kind of cool in a demented sort of way."
    They continued on and made their way up the stairs to the chamber containing all the artifacts.   Liam's eyes grew wider than Michael had ever seen them.
    "We should call this room the chamber of antiquities ," Liam said grandly, his hands on his hips.   Abigail clapped her hands, but Michael just looked down and shook his head, trying not to laugh.
    "Wait a minute," said Liam, "what's this?"
    A doorway broke off to the right at the top of the stairs.   Michael hadn't noticed it on his previous visits, but now saw that a faint glow emitted from within.   "I don't remember seeing that before.   Let's go check it out."
    The three of them entered another chamber, a bit smaller than the room of antiquities, but still fairly large in its own right.   It was an armory.   There were swords, shields, muskets and morning stars, and just about every other kind of weapon they had ever seen.
    Liam selected a large Scottish Claymore off a display on the north wall, and strained himself to pick it up.   He only managed to get the tip a few inches off the ground.
    "This is awesome," he said.
    "I think you're going to have to grow into that one," Abigail told him.   Then she saw something that caught her attention.
    She ran over to a section that contained some Asian weapons.   There were Japanese suits of armor, the kind that had been worn by Samurai, along with swords and some long wooden bows.
    "Hey, I've seen one of these," she said excitedly, picking something up.   "It's a Chinese chain whip.   A girl from Hong Kong who came to visit our kung fu class last summer had one.   She was amazing."
    She gave it a few clumsy swings.
    "Why don't you keep it," Liam told her.   "Maybe if you practice you could get as good as her."
    She nodded and smiled from ear to ear.
    Liam found a pair of simple, but extremely sharp daggers.   "These are pretty cool, and they might come in handy if anything jumps out at us."   He gave one to Michael, who examined it before returning it to its sheath and sliding it into his pocket.
    "Well, at least we know where to go if the castle is ever sieged," he said while scanning the room.
    "Yeah," said Liam.   "Let's go take a look at that statue you were telling me about."
    They left the armory and entered the chamber of antiquities.
    Liam looked around in awe.   "I can't believe this stuff has been here all along and I've never known about it.   It's so weird.   I thought we had a lot of cool stuff on display in other parts of the castle, but none of that comes close to the things in here."
    Abigail stopped before a glass display case.   "Everything is so dusty." She made a smiley face with her finger.   "Ooh, look at this.   How beautiful."
    Inside the case was a jewel encrusted, golden crucifix.   The sign in front of it said something that they couldn't make out, and then "recovered in Portugal, 1938 by".   But the only part of the name they could see was "Jones Jr."
    "Here's the statue," Michael said as they approached it.   "Why don't you take a look?"
    Liam stepped up on the box.   He stood