Bags in hand, the three walked towards the harbor.
"Do you really think he's going to show up?" Evy asked.
"Yes, undoubtedly, knowing my luck," Jonathon replied. "He may be a cowboy, but I know the breed. He's as good as his words."
Serena absent-mindedly looked behind her for no apparent reason, she just did that when she walked places. She saw a man who looked like he was walking toward them, but he couldn't be because he didn't know them. She ended up doing a double take when she realized that the man was Rick O'Connell!
"Evy," she said quietly, tapping her on the arm.
Evy ignored her. "Well, personally, I think he's filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel."
"Evy…"
"I don't like him one bit!"
"Anyone I know?" Rick said as he came up behind them.
Evy turned around and her eyes went wide. She didn't blame her. Rick had gone through a massive transformation! His hair was cut and neat, he had good clean clothes on, he was clean-shaven, and it was like he was a whole new person!
"Oh, um…" Evy stuttered, clearly embarrassed he had overheard their conversation. That was exactly what Serena had tried to avoid. "Hello."
"Smashing day for the start of adventure, eh, O'Connell?" Jonathon said, breaking the awkwardness.
"Yes, smashing," he answered wryly as he checked his pockets for his wallet.
"Oh, I'd never steal off a partner, partner!"
"Oh, that reminds me, no hard feelings about the, uh…" O'Connell motioned a small punch, obviously referring to when he had socked him in the face yesterday.
"Oh, no, no, happens all the time!" Serena eyed him, not wanting to believe that, but finding it hard not to.
"Good afternoon, Mr. O'Connell," Serena said.
"Ms. Gardner."
"Nice to see you are well."
"You mean nice to see that I don't look like I was raised in the jungle?" Serena struggled to find words at that comment. "No worries. Thanks."
"Mr. O'Connell," Evy told him, "can you look me in the eyes and guarantee me that this isn't some kind of a flim-flam? Because if it is, I am warning you…"
"You're warning me?" Rick said in disbelief. "Lady, let me put it this way. My whole garrison believed in this so much, that without orders, they marched halfway across Libya and into Egypt to find that city, and when we got there all we found was sand and blood." The three looked at him incredulously. "Let me get your bags," he added in a much lighter tone. They stared at him as he boarded the ship.
"Who else is rethinking this whole trip?" Serena said. All three of them raised their hands.
"Bright, good morning to all!" a sadly familiar voice called out. They turned and saw the warden coming to board the ship.
"Oh, no, what are you doing here?" Evy moaned.
"I am here to protect my investment, thank you very much!"
Serena and Evy heaved a huge sigh and boarded the ship, not realizing what they were getting themselves into.
After everyone was settled into the ship, they relaxed outside on a beautiful full moon night.
"Quit playing with your glasses and cut the deck, would ya Burns?" Serena heard. She walked toward the voice and saw a group of several Americans and Jonathon sitting down to play a game of poker.
"Hello, love!" Jonathon called. "Fancy a game?"
"Sorry, but I'm not much of a card player. I'm not sure I even know what all the symbols are called."
At that moment, Rick came around carrying a huge sack.
"O'Connell!" one of the Americans with the blonde hair yelled. "Sit down, we could use another player, since the girl apparently doesn't know her cards."
"Excuse me?" Serena asked angrily.
"Aw, I'm just kidding with ya, doll!" Serena rolled her eyes. Typical Americans.
"I only gamble with my life, never my money."
"Um," Serena interjected awkwardly. "I'm just going to go hit the sack. You guys enjoy your…game." She quickly turned and took the nearest way out and found Evy reading at a table.
"Hey, Evy."
"Hello. Are you alright?"
"Honestly, I can't say I'm fond of these passengers we've got on here," she answered as she sat down diagonally from her.
"I understand. They can be a bit, well, rambunctious."
Suddenly, a bag slammed down on the table, startling them both. Rick smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you two."
Evy looked at him. "The only thing that scares me, Mr. O'Connell, are your manners."
"Still angry about that kiss, huh?"
"If you can call that a kiss."
Serena giggled and looked at Rick. "It certainly wasn't something I'd call memorable."
Rick took his bag and rolled it open, revealing all sorts of guns, knives, and other weapons.
"Um," Evy said, "did I miss something? Are we going into battle?"
"Lady, there's something out there. Something underneath that sand."
Silence fell over the table as Rick sat down on the opposite side of Evy. Serena couldn't help but wonder what Hamunaptra was like and if it was really as bad as Rick made it sound. She knew the legend, but wasn't that just what it was? A legend?
"Yes well, I'm hoping to find a certain artifact. A book actually."
"You're going all the way out here for a book?" Serena asked.
"It's not just any book, Serena. My brother thinks there's treasure. What do you think is out there, Mr. O'Connell?"
"In a word? Evil."
"Evil?" Serena said.
"She asked. And when you get there, you'll come to the same conclusion too.
"I don't think so, sir."
"The Bedouin and the Tuaregs believe that Hamunaptra is cursed."
"Look," Evy said. "I don't believe in fairy tales and hokum, Mr. O'Connell, but I do believe that one of the most famous books in history is buried out there. The Book of Amun-ra. It contains within it all the secret incantations of the old kingdom. That's what first interested me in Egypt when I was a child. It's why I came here, a sort of life's pursuit."
"And the fact that they say it's made out of pure gold makes no never mind to you, right?"
"You and Jonathon!" Serena huffed. "Not everyone cares about gold! Sometimes certain things, like this book, are better than gold."
"Even still," Evy said. "You do know your history!"
"I know my treasure."
Evy paused. "Um, by the way, why did you kiss me?"
Rick laughed. "I was about to be hanged! It seemed like a good idea at the time!"
Evy let a huge huff and stormed off. "Seriously?" Serena cried as she ran after her.
"What? What'd I say?" she heard him ask.
Evy stood by the camels in the pen on the ship, arms crossed angrily. "What a…a…American!" she huffed.
Serena couldn't help but giggle at the remark. "He just got out of prison. What do you expect?"
"How could a kiss like that mean nothing to him?"
"…You like him, don't you?"
"Of course not, I just met him."
"And got pretty intimate in those first few minutes."
"That was not by choice." She started stroking one of the camel's heads in a gentle manner. "Guys don't usually like girls like me anyway."
"Come on, you must be joking."
"No one has ever shown the slightest interest in me my whole life. I'm clumsy and a bookworm."
"Evy, look, I may not have known you or Mr. O'Connell for very long at all, but…"
"Who is that man?" They looked over to where they had left Rick and he was standing with a man who looked like a skinny version of the warden. He had a fez and needed some major brushing and flossing and a long shower. Rick looked in their direction and he and Evy made eye contact for a brief second before she rushed off with Serena tagging along behind her.
Evy and Serena were sharing a room due to limited space. Serena went to a different room to change into her night clothes. When she stepped back into the room, a man in dark robes was holding Evy with a hook pressed against her throat. She froze in her tracks.
"Serena, run!" Evy screamed. Serena tried to get out the door, but another man stopped her and asked for a key.
"What key?" Serena trembled.
"EVEYLN! SERENA!" she heard Rick shout as he burst into the room. The two men held the girls even tighter, daring Rick to save them. He fired bullets at the man holding Serena and caused a lantern to fall, setting the room ablaze. Evy grabbed a candle and jammed it into the hook-man's eye. He screamed in pain and released his firm hold on her. Rick grabbed her and ran out of the room with Serena in front of him.
"The map!" Evy cried. "I forgot the map!" Rick grabbed one arm while Serena grabbed the other.
"You don't have time to get the map, Evy!"
"Relax," Rick said calmly. "I'm the map. It's all up here."
"Oh, that's comforting!" Evy groaned.
Gunshots rang out all throughout the ship and people jumped overboard as the fire raged on. O'Connell roughly grabbed Serena's arm and threw her behind him as he peeked around a corner she almost went around, and would've gotten shot had she done so. Bullets zinged by O'Connell's face as he threw his huge sack of weapons to Evy, who grabbed it, sinking a bit under its weight. O'Connell started loading a gun, and Serena noticed bullets flying through the wall getting closer and closer to his head. At the last second, Evy pulled him to the side and he missed the last bullet. O'Connell ran with the two girls to the side of the ship, all the while firing bullets at the strange hooded men, as the fire blazed on and continued to spread.
"Can you swim?" he called to Evy.
"Well, of course I can swim if the occasion calls for it!" she shouted back.
"Trust me, it calls for it!" He picked her up and flung her over the side as she made a splash below. He turned to Serena.
She looked at him sheepishly and mustered out, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't swim."
"Alright! Minor setback!" He grabbed his bag and prepared to jump over the side when another man stopped him from doing so. The man punched and kicked O'Connell up against a pole, then proceeded to choke him. O'Connell pushed the man's arms down with his own, head butted him and kicked him into the fire. The warden ran up to O'Connell as he examined his work. "O'Connell! O'Connell! What are we going to do? What are we going to do?"
"Wait here! I'll go get help!" With that, he jumped over the edge of the ship. The warden waited anxiously while Serena went to the edge and looked over, not knowing what she should do. She saw O'Connell pop out of the water.
"Jump, Serena!" he shouted.
"I can't!" she shouted back.
"I promise I'll keep you safe."
Serena took a deep breath and jumped over the edge. Water engulfed her senses and her breath was stolen from her. She tried to fight her way up, but couldn't. Suddenly, she felt a strong arm on her waist and was pulled up. She choked out water and gasped for breath.
"It's okay!" Rick yelled amongst the commotion. "I've got you!" Serena saw the warden jump in evidently realizing O'Connell was not coming back. Jonathon followed as did all of the Americans. Rick swam to shore with Serena latched onto him. Finally, Rick, Serena, Jonathon, and Evy made it to one side of the river while everyone else was on the other side.
"We've lost everything!" Evy cried as she walked onto land. "All our tools, all the equipment, all my clothes!"
"Just be thankful you're alive!" Serena answered, even though she was upset at losing all of her possessions as well.
"Hey, O'Connell!" the man with the fez shouted from the other side. "It looks to me like I've got all the horses!"
"Hey, Beni! It looks to me like you're on the wrong side of the river!" O'Connell shouted back. The man looked around him and started kicking the water and screaming. Despite all of the events that had just had happened, Serena had to smile.