A GIRL. A CAT. A PERILOUS MISSION THAT MUST NOT FAIL. It is 1871. Fourteen-year-old Rose and her twin sister, Lily, set sail for Egypt on board the SS Australia. At Naples, Mr John Baxter joins the ship. Everywhere Rose goes, there he is too, watching her like a hungry fox watches a rabbit. Rose is afraid, dreadfully afraid - but no one else, not even Lily, senses the danger.


The gift of a small, beautifully carved, stone cat amulet fails to comfort Rose. Now her dreams are filled by the unfolding story of Miut, an ancient Egyptian temple cat, and Hori, the boy who cares for her. Heteb, High-Priest of the Temple of Osiris, has died unexpectedly. To protect the temple from its enemies, he needs his Seal of Power to cast his spells in the afterlife. Hori and Miut must take the Seal to Heteb's tomb before it is closed. Their path is dark and dangerous. The followers of the god Seth will stop at nothing to seize the Seal for themselves.


The threads of past and present merge in the streets of Cairo and in the deserts beyond. Miut's ghost haunts Rose's days as well as her nights. Rose knows she has to overcome her fear. She has Mr Baxter to defeat, and a mission to complete. She cannot do it alone. Once Rose and Lily had been best friends as well as sisters, but that was a long time ago. Now she and Lily must rebuild their friendship, and work together to survive. The penalty for failure will be death.