Title:
Of Gold and Mummies
Author:
Se acerca el invierno
Genre:
Adventure, Romance, Hurt / Comfort, Friendship, Family, Humor
Timeframe:
1920's, follows most of the movie canon.
Summary:
The moment her brother told her that he was planning with his friends a trip that would make them so rich that they'd be able to wipe their arses with bucks for the rest of their lives, Eleanor —Nellie— Burns already had a bad feeling about this "adventure".
On the other hand, Adele Jennings thought her day would be as any other assisting Miss Carnahan at the library. But when her employer's brother shows them an antique box he found at a dig… Well, then things get more interesting...
Rating:
T — Just to be sure. Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 12-14
Warnings:
This fanfiction's main characters are OC —original character—, so if you don't like romance between a canon character and an original one, then this is definitely not your story.
Author's notes:
Welcome everyone to my story! Before starting with the reading, I'd like to let you know a few things first.
Since as long as I can remember, I've always loved "The Mummy" and its sequel. Pretty much, anything related to Ancient Egypt. After reading several fics, some of them really good, some others not so much, I decided to try my own at the cliché "sister-fic", buuut... Just not the average Rick's sister. No matter how much I like those, I think there are enough of them for now. As for Henderson... Well, in most fics I read he always is either a sexual harasser or the booby prize for the OC until he gets killed, so I decided to give the guy a break.
English is not my first language, so consequently, I'm looking for a beta but still haven't found it. If anyone is interested, please, don't hesitate to send me a PM. So I apologize first hand for any grammar mistake, etc, you may find. Also, I'll try really hard to keep my OCs from being Mary Sues; if you think something is wrong also don't doubt to tell me and I'll try to fix any mistake. If you want to say something about the story, or anything else, please, be respectful with everyone.
All opinions are very welcomed, especially constructive criticism so please, try to click the "Review" button down there before leaving :) Without further delay, I'll leave you with the story. Here it goes!
OF GOLD AND MUMMIES
"That money talks, I'll not deny, I heard it once: It said, 'Goodbye'." - Richard Armour
PROLOGUE. A new adventure
"You-did-what?" The female voice yelled out of anger.
"Shh!" Someone else hissed, trying to keep their voices down. "C'mon Nellie, think 'bout it! It's a perfect plan!" Answered optimistically the male voice. "We'll be rich! So rich that we'll be able to wipe our pale arses with bucks' that's what we want!" He grinned.
"No, Bernard Burns, we'll not be so rich ever, and you know why? Because you're going to take that pale arse of yours back to the bar where you were gambling in last night and take our money back," She said, striding up and down the small room where the senseless man she called brother had dragged her in to tell her about this brilliant idea.
It was just past dawn in Virginia, and like every morning, Eleanor Burns was already up and ready to do her chores. The cottage at the outskirts of the city her parents owned was silent, as usual. Her Father, Isaac, was already working with the horses he bred at the farm attached to the house. Contrarily her Mother, Rose, was still in bed, resting. Her fever was slowly going down but she wasn't ready to get back to work yet.
She certainly hadn't expected to see her elder brother paying a visit. "Bad news," She thought when she spotted him talking amicably with their Father outside the house. He was wearing a blue shirt and that bow tie she liked so little, with his light brown pants tucked inside his high brown boots. He had already visited less than a couple of days ago to check on them, especially Mother and her, so why was he back so soon?
She turned her back to the slightly dusty window, reassuming the task she had been doing before and continuing to bend the now dry shirts which filled the wooden basket. Not long after, Eleanor heard the front door opening, letting her know that her brother was inside home now. After the greetings and smiles were exchanged between them, Bernie had gripped her arm firmly and dragged her into the most isolated room in the house. "I need to tell you something important." He had said. "It's brilliant!" He had assured her…
"Not to mention that Mother will be furious," she kept talking. "God help you if she finds out that you've wasted all of our money in another business with your friends. Then you won't have an arse to wipe!" Eleanor kept pacing, but suddenly, two strong hands grasped her shoulders, stopping her dead in her tracks and forcing her to look into her brother's eye through his rounded spectacles. His blue eyes were twinkling excitedly. She gulped, feeling so small compared to his tall frame…
"This' different Nellie, this' actually something worth risking! Don't ya wanna get hold of a higher class, a... a secure future for all us? We could buy medicines for Mother and you'll be able to move back to your own house. Wouldn't you like not to be forced to marry James? Because that's what we could get with this." She swallowed uncomfortably, moving her gaze from her brother to the dark wall standing at her right. "This is our chance, Nellie."
She quickly pushed his hands off her, turning around while twisting a lock of her long, dark hair. Eventually, she said. "You realize going there it's not as going for a ride around the fields, don't you? You'll have to go to another country at the other side of the world and-"
"We," he interrupted, grinning. She faced him again, a dumbfounded expression plastered on her face.
"Wh-what?" She stuttered.
"You coming too, little sis, Daniels' already got ya your passage." Eleanor gaped.
"Did you even consider that maybe I wouldn't want to become part of this!" She said, walking up to him again.
"Oh, c'mon, we both know if you really didn't want to we'd not be discussing this, you'd have already gone to Daniels' place demanding our money back or simply told Mother." Bernard answered her, absolutely certain of how right he was. "Besides, where's your sense of adventure? You told me plenty a' times that you'd love to travel around the world, ever since you read that French book, the one about travelling 60 days."
"It's 80 days." Nellie added. Bernard rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. You know, this could be your start..."
She rubbed her hands all over her face, frustrated. Her brother definitely knew how to play his cards... She finally looked up. "We have everything against us; we don't talk the language, we know nothing of the manners of the country...! Oh, let alone about Ancient Egypt history, much less about this ghost city used to amuse Yankees like us... For God's sake, Bernie, we barely know about our own country's history!"
"Ah-ah, you're wrong! We have an interpreter, two dozens of native diggers who will tell us everything we should know 'bout the country an' who will also work for us. We even hired a guide and an Egyptologist!" He said.
Nellie frowned. "Who?"
"Dr. Allen Chamberlain, he's worked in the Metropolitan Museum. The fella said he also had an office somewhere in Egypt, so he knows the place too." She smacked her lips, still unsure.
"What about the guide?"
"A Bulgarian, the name's Beni Gabor; Henderson stumbled upon him one lucky evenin'. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but apparently he served in the French Foreign Legion as a legionnaire an' knows the way. Pay him half once we are in Cairo an' the rest once we return." Bernard answered confidently.
Deciding not to waste her breath telling him how suspicious that Bulgarian sounded just with that simple introduction, Eleanor started to pace again, unconsciously tangling her hands with the materials of her long, navy blue skirt. Was it really worth it? "Well... There's no denying that all of us could use the money..." A little voice within her head said. With a deep frown in her forehead, she released her skirt and brought her hands back to cover her face once again. She knew Bernie was right... Another part of her had immediately jumped at the idea of travelling to Egypt as he told her the legend of that mysterious city. What was it called...? "Hamunaptra", it sounded so tempting, so promising... What if, maybe just this once, she didn't think that much and instead acted?
She let out an audible sigh. "This man is going to be the death of me." She couldn't help but think.
"So… when do we leave?" The words hadn't finished leaving Eleanor's lips when, without warning, her brother smiled broadly and crushed her body with a bear hug, slightly lifting her from the floor. Once her feet were back on solid ground, he kissed her cheek.
"You won't regret it, Nellie! This is gonna be a great adventure, ya'll see." Glancing briefly at his face, she couldn't help but feel infected by his enthusiasm and found herself smiling back.
"World, here we come…" she muttered.
A loud slam echoed through all the flat, as the woman who had stepped inside breathed heavily, with her arms busy carrying a large set of books, a small bag hanging from her left arm and several locks of auburn hair falling over her sweaty forehead and around her nape, where the bun she had hours ago was now a mess of hairpins and knots. Despite her annoyance, it wasn't her intention to close the door so forcefully... Oops.
Striding quickly over to the nearest table, she allowed the heavy books to drop onto the wood board, the bag following not far behind. With the back of the hand, she pushed aside the hair from her face, sighing. Egypt's hot weather was something she would never get used to, and certainly would not grow fond of. No, she favored the rainy days and the cool temperatures of her native England.
Removing her thin jacket, the woman turned on her heels throwing the garment blindly over her shoulder, towards one of the chairs placed around the table. Water, she desperately needed water. After pouring herself a generous glass, she went back to the lounge of her flat. She saw the sun starting to set through one of the open windows. Some other time, Egypt's beauty would have drawn her to put her head out of the window and contemplate the golden sunset, but right now she was too tired and too moody to get sentimental.
Glancing around the place, she couldn't help but moan in complain at seeing the tons of papers scattered everywhere. She had always been an organized person, so what was wrong with her? "Lack of patience and lots of nerves and self-criticism are definitely not a good combination, Adele" she told herself. Deciding to arrange everything before dining, she went to her bedroom to put on more comfortable clothes than her white blouse and her long skirt. Afterwards, she would get started with the assignments her employer had asked for. It was nothing outstanding, neither complicated, but Adele was more than happy to comply. She needed to sort out a few pharaohs' biographies and write the key points of them for the new exhibition that soon would take place in the Cairo Museum of Antiquities.
That's right, she was an archaeologist. Well, technically, an aspiring archaeologist, her chosen field being history of Ancient Egypt. Back in England, Adele had attended to Professor Julian Winter's classes at the University of Oxford. When her studies there got closer to their end, and her hopes for being part of the staff of the British Museum started to fade away after various rejections, Professor Winter talked her into giving a try to a whole different path and continue her studies abroad. Upon seeing her hesitation, he told her that he knew of an old student of his who had made a living there and was working at the Museum of Cairo, who would undoubtedly employ her as an assistant while helping her to complete her studies. Adele had felt tempted to politely decline the offer and stay within her comfort zone, but after remembering all of the times she had tried to get a job at the British with no success, she decided to accept. The fear of being in another country, so far away from her family, and the cultural shock had also been her main worries, but eventually she managed to overcome them.
She had also had her grandpa's support at all times, who had encouraged her to take the journey and gave her some extra money from his own bank account to not start off with empty hands. Ah, how she adored her grandpa William! He would've made such a good adventurer had her great-grandparents not forced their eldest son to take a safer path, more according to their status. Yes, Adele was certain that her grandpa would've been an excellent explorer, even better than a lawyer, as he had worked for the past 45 years, before she was born.
After her arrival she felt terribly homesick, however, it slowly went off a bit longer than a month after meeting Professor Winter's old student. Although Adele had expected a man, she was pleasantly surprised to find out that her new employer would be a woman, and not much older than herself; Miss Evelyn Carnahan.
Evelyn was a lively and kind person who silently declared herself Adele's new sister, helping her from the very first moment the younger woman set a foot inside the museum. Evy, as Miss Carnahan insisted on being called, helped her to find her current flat, talk, write and read Arabic fluently, and adapt to the new culture. As Professor Winter said, Evelyn had also helped her with her studies, sharing with Adele her own essays and teaching her Ancient Egypt's secrets and even the archaic sounds of the dead language of the hieroglyphics. The job consisted of assisting Miss Carnahan at the museum's library, mainly sorting out books and deciphering said hieroglyphics. After a bit more than two years, she considered that they had become good friends, but while working she would always refer to her employer as Miss Carnahan. During all that time, Adele never stopped writing letters to her elder sister, Elizabeth, and her dear grandpa, telling them about her new life without skimping on details.
However, there were things she didn't find so appealing. While the Egyptian ruins, landscapes and monuments were breath-taking, she hated the suffocating heat and the merciless sun. The sand was also truly annoying, always getting everywhere and in her shoes' soles. The people, although in its most was welcoming, could be a bother too if they had set their mind into selling you something. Oh, and the camels and other animals walking in the streets were something that she didn't like either. She really wasn't an animal lover… excepting maybe cats.
In spite of those little things, Adele didn't regret coming to Egypt at all. All of the awkward moments she had lived, the loneliness she had felt at times and all of those bothers were worth it for the knowledge she had gained and the friendship she had formed with the Carnahan siblings.
By the time she'd finished arranging her flat, the darkness had already replaced the last sunrays and now ruled the streets of Cairo. The decrease of temperatures was noticeable too.
While she dinned, Adele's only company was a book she had borrowed from Evelyn. But after getting past half of the book, she completely forgot about her meal. It had been Evelyn who had chosen the book after she'd asked her for a good read as pastime, although the appropriated term to use would be a dissertation rather than a book. It consisted of several notes written by Evelyn herself about Hamunaptra, the mythical City of the Dead, regarding the woman's beliefs about the tale. It also included other official data collected by different archaeologists and some locals. Adele loved reading about tales and legends too, and Miss Carnahan's dissertation mesmerized her right after the second page read.
It was Evelyn's life-dream to someday discover the ghost city. Adele herself was happy enough with discovering something important. One day she would… But maybe it wouldn't take as long as she thought.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Mummy, any of its original characters, its plot, etc. I get no benefits while writing this fanfiction. Any similarity you may find with another fanfic it's just pure coincidence, since I've read lots of them and have got some ideas from them and/or their respective authors.
Any description and mention of monuments, art, organisations, etc, recognisable is truthful and has tried to be reproduced as accurately as possible.
However, I do own Eleanor, Adele, and any other OC which has appeared or will appear in this story.
A.N/: I will only post once the disclaimer above this author's note. So that's all for now, I hope you enjoyed your reading!
Good, bad, awful, amazing...? As said before, all opinions are welcomed, so don't forget to review, please!
Until next time.
~Se acerca el invierno