Slayer looked numbly to Jayben. His eyes blinked in confusion.

“Oh, you’re a fine piece of work alright!” Mrs. C said as she shook her head and then glanced away from Slayer and toward the ceiling. “Now look at the scarab. It’s trapped up there in the corner.”

With a sense of urgency Jayben quickly reached for a thin yew wood stick resting on the table, which he quickly thrust toward the puzzled orb.

“Petrificus!” he yelled and a bright yellow bolt left his wand and hit the scarab squarely on its back.

Instantly the orb dropped like a rock from the ceiling and landed with a thud onto the wooden floor.

“Good shot Jayben,” Mrs. C beamed with pride as she gripped his shoulder and pulled him gently along.

“Now let’s see what we got here!”

Guardedly she and Jayben walked toward the far side of the room. Mrs. C held high Jayben’s cape broom and he held out his wand as though it were a sword.

As they passed the kitchen window Slayer stretched his long snout further into the room and sniffed curiously around the dormant orb.

“Some protector you’ve turned out to be!” Mrs. C said rolling her eyes, “How could ya let a thing like that get through the yard and into this house without as so much as taking a bite out of it?”

“Well, it is a bit small for him to see,” Jayben said as he stared at the orb now resting lifeless at his feet. The orb which had been gold and shiny was now gray and dull. Its once delicately fast moving wings stood frozen in mid-flight filled with dust.

“Nonsense!” argued the nanny, “Slayer sleeps all day long and only arises when I bring him a meal I tell ya; we need to keep from making excuses for him. Why even a young cat knows how to eat mice!”

Jayben looked to Slayer who seemed oblivious to the ranting of Mrs. C.

“We need to get some salt Ma’am,” said Jayben.

“Salt?” she said lowly, “Why would ya be need’n salt now?”

Jayben’s face showed a worry that she had not seen all summer.

“I think this scarab is more than injured,” he began, “Two years ago at school, I received a scarab that acted just like this one. It nearly destroyed Egan’s and my dorm room before it became petrified.”