His Crown Jewel
By Lauren Kassidy
Chapter One
Olivia Carnahan looked up at the Cairo Museum of Antiquities, holding her suitcase in one hand and her hat in the other. She had been given leave by her employer for her recent hard work, and the first thing she did was head straight to Cairo from the Valley of the Kings to see her twin brother Jonathan and their younger sister Evelyn.
Evy was working hard in the library, aspiring to be an Egyptologist like Olivia and her parents. Jonathan, on the other hand, was drinking away the money his parents left him. But Olivia still loved him; they had a similar sense of humour and she missed him terribly. She was also different to Evy, in such she was not clumsy or prim and proper. They all had their differences but Olivia loved them both, knowing her recent adventures would soon reach eager ears.
Entering the Museum, Olivia made her way along the familiar route to the library but before she could enter, she bumped into Dr Terrence Bey, the curator of the Museum. He looked angry and flustered. "Evy," Olivia muttered. They had a somewhat tumultuous relationship. Dr Bey's eyes lit up when he saw Olivia.
"Miss Carnahan!" he greeted, as they shared a hug. "Oh how wonderful to see you."
"Hello Dr Bey," she said warmly.
"Congratulations on your recent finding!" he said. "It was all over the news; I am so pleased for you after all your hard work."
"Thank you, that is most kind, I still cannot believe it myself," Olivia grinned at the mention of her excavation with her employer and friend Howard Carter.
"Your parents would be so proud of you," he said kindly. "As for your other siblings, well...particularly Evelyn. She has just made a complete mess of my library!"
"Ah...oh dear, she always was clumsy," she joked weakly. "If you excuse me Dr Bey, but I must catch up with Evy."
"Of course," he sighed. "Perhaps take her on your next expedition, will you?"
He shook his head and Olivia patted his shoulder before entering the library, where she saw an incredible sight; every single bookcase had fallen over and the floor was littered with books and bits of paper. Evelyn Carnahan stood in the middle of the chaos, staring at the mess she had made.
"Nothing ever changes," Olivia quipped. Evy turned and broke out into a grin when she saw her sister standing by the doorway.
"Livy!" Evy exclaimed, quickly walking over to her. Olivia dropped her bags to receive a hug from her. "It is so good to see you sister."
"And you," Olivia replied, as they let each other go.
"I cannot believe you found him!" Evy said, her eyes lighting up in excitement. "After all your hard work and research—you actually found him!"
"My life's pursuit is completed," Olivia told her. "Now it is time for us to complete yours, don't you think?"
"The Book of Amun-Ra," Evy sighed wistfully. "Maybe someday."
"Howard has given me leave from the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb, so what do you say?" Olivia asked hopefully. "You need some more experience rather than being stuck in here."
Evy nodded. "I am so proud of you though," she said, holding Olivia's hands. "It was so exciting to see you on the news! You must tell us all about it over some tea later."
"Yes...Evy, what did you do in this library?" Olivia suddenly remembered the mess around them and Evy looked at her sheepishly. But before she could answer, a noise came from the room full of treasures from Ancient Egypt. "What was that?"
Evy frowned and turned, with Olivia following her into the Antiques room.
"Hello?" Evy called out, while Olivia grabbed a burning torch. They walked forwards a little in the dark and dusty room. "Abdul? Mohammed? Bob?"
A thump made Evy and Olivia jump to their left. "I'm sure it's just someone having a joke," Olivia reassured her, but the echoes and bumps that she encountered in Tutankhamun's tomb crept back into her mind nevertheless.
"It came from inside that coffin," Evy whispered as they crept towards it. Evy leaned over slightly as Olivia held the torch above, and then—
"Aah!" Olivia and Evy shrieked together as a skeleton popped up out of its resting place. But, all was well as they heard the laughter of Jonathan. He sat up, delighted at how his trick went.
"Have you no respect for the dead?" Evy asked, appalled.
"Of course I do!" he said, propping the skeleton's arm up. "But sometimes, I'd rather like to join them—Livy!"
"Hey Jonathan," she grinned, happy to see his cheeky smile once again.
"Well I wish you'd do it sooner rather than later," Evy snapped. "Before you ruin my career the way you ruined yours, now get out."
As they helped him out he quipped, "My dear, sweet, baby sister I'll have you know that at this precise moment my career is on a high note!"
"High note, ha."
"How have you been brother of mine?" Olivia asked, embracing him in a hug.
"Same old Livy," he said, giving her a squeeze. "And how did you scare so easily just now? I would have thought meeting King Tut would have hardened your nerves," he joked.
"No because King Tut didn't jump out and shout boo...Evy what is the matter?"
She had sat down, looking gloomy. "Oh I'm just not in the mood for this because I've just made a bit of a mess—"
"A 'bit'?"
"—in the library and the Bembridge scholars have rejected my application form again. They say I don't have enough experience in the field."
Olivia and Jonathan shared a look before crouching down in front of her. They each took her hand, as they used to do when they were younger, and he said, "You'll always have us, old mum."
They grinned at each as Evy was cheered up by having both her brother and sister with her. "Besides," Jonathan continued, jumping up and rummaging around in the coffin. "I have just the thing to cheer you up!"
Olivia sat by Evy, watching amused as she said, "Oh no, Jonathan, not another worthless trinket. If I have to take one more piece of junk to the curator to try and...sell for you."
But they all stared at what Jonathan held out for them. It was a little box, with intricate designs on. "Where did you get this?" Olivia asked him as they inspected it.
"Oh, on a dig down in...er, Thebes," he said. Olivia always knew when he was lying and so gave him a look of contempt, which he replied with a wink. "My whole life I've never found anything, please tell me I've found something!"
Evy began to play around with it using her fingers until—click. They gasped as it opened at the top in sort of star shape, revealing something inside.
"Jonathan..."
"Yes?"
"I think you've found something!" Evy pulled out the paper-like material. "Come on, we must show Dr Bey."
They all stood up and hurried to his office, Evy having opened it out and inspecting it. "What's on it Evy?" asked Olivia but got no reply as they had now reached his office. Evy knocked urgently and they entered.
"What is it?" Dr Bey asked. "Are you sorting out my library?"
"Well, no," Evy admitted. "But my brother has found something."
Dr Bey gave the three of them a look as he has obviously been through this before, many times. "Oh?"
Evy placed the box onto this table, and laid out its contents in front of him. He studied it for a few seconds with his eye-glass. Olivia did not miss his fleeting alarmed look at seeing the what looked like a map.
"You see the cartouche there?" Evy asked. "It's the official royal seal of Seti the First, I'm sure of it."
Olivia leaned over, suddenly extremely curious. Hardly anything had been found of this particular pharaoh's reign and what is this map leading them to?
"Perhaps," Dr Bey muttered, quickly recovered from looking startled.
"Two questions," said Jonathan. "Who the hell was Seti the First and was he rich?"
"He was the second pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty, is that right Evy?" Olivia told him, receiving a nod from her sister.
"He is said to be the wealthiest pharaoh of them all," Evy continued. Olivia could hardly imagine what they would find of his; it could even dwarf Tutankhamun's treasures.
"Good, that's good," Jonathan said, relived. "I like this fellow, I like him very much!"
"I've already dated the map," Evy said to Dr Bey. "It's almost three thousand years old."
"How do you know that?" Olivia asked, scanning the map.
"Because if you look at the hieratic just here," Evy pointed. "Well...it's Hamunaptra."
"The Hamunaptra?" Olivia asked, astounded. "Incredible..."
"Dear God, don't be ridiculous!" said Dr Bey. "We're scholars, not treasure hunters. Hamunpatra's only a myth told by ancient Arab storytellers to amuse Greek and Roman tourists."
"Yes, yes, I know," Evy said impatiently. "I know all the silly blather about the city being protected by the curse of the mummy nonsense but my research has led me to believe the city itself may have actually existed."
"Are we talking about the Hamunaptra?" Jonathan enquired.
"Yes. The City of the Dead."
"Where the earliest pharaohs were said to have hidden the wealth of Egypt."
"Yes," Jonathan always knew his history of gold, Olivia mused. "In a big underground treasure chamber." Dr Bey snorted. "Oh come on, everybody knows the story. The entire necropolis was rigged to sink into the sand on Pharaoh's command."
"Turn a switch and the whole place would disappear beneath the sand dunes," Olivia said.
"Taking the treasure with it."
"As the Americans would say, it's all fairy tales and hokum—oh my Goodness! Look at that!" Dr Bey had leaned the map too close to his candle and the edge set fire; he threw it down onto the floor and the siblings leapt forward to save it.
"Was that an accident?" Olivia challenged. "Because you are usually a very careful curator."
He said nothing but Jonathan exclaimed, "You burnt off the part with the lost city!"
"It's for the best I'm sure," he countered. "Many men have wasted their lives in the foolish pursuit of Hamunaptra. No one's ever found it. Most have never returned."
"Which surely means something is out there?" Olivia asked him.
"Now if you'll please excuse me," Dr Bey said, standing up and holding out his arm towards the door. "I have much work to be getting on with."
They sighed and left, taking the map and the box.
"Well, first thing is first, we go back to the dig where Jonathan found the box," Evy said defiantly. Jonathan looked at Olivia uncomfortably. "If Bembridge Scholars want more experience in the field then they are damn well going to get it."
Olivia grinned at her. "Good for you!"
"But first, let us go have a drink and celebrate Livy's recent success," Evy said excitedly.
"Now you're talking my language," Jonathan said. "Lead on!"
And so Olivia looked forward to her next adventure, tagging along with Evy and Jonathan. She looked forward to more expeditions and digs.
Thinking back to Lord Carnarvon, who financed the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb, and his sudden death, Olivia would be glad to get away from what the media are calling 'the mummy's curse.'
Author's Note:
Well, there you have it :) my first Mummy fanfiction. I recently re-watched it on TV (it was my favourite movie when I was younger) and I fell in love all over again with Ardeth Bay so I just had to start this story. Let me know what you think!