Chapter Three
After a tiring (and wet) walk to a nearby village, Olivia was glad to rest there for the reminder of the night. She was exhausted, but most of all confused; they were attacked, brutally too, and for what? To protect Hamunaptra? To protect her secrets? Those men in black cloaks had watched the army of Tuaregs slaughter the French Foreign Legion and left Rick to die in the desert.
What the hell was going on? This was already more dangerous and, Olivia admitted to the group, even a little more exciting than her previous expedition and they haven't even reached Hamunaptra yet. Evy frowned when she used the word 'exciting' to describe their near deaths but Rick merely smiled at her adventurous nature.
"There is something out there, something underneath that sand," Rick had told Olivia in hushed tones, probably so Evy didn't hear and say anymore about 'hokum' and 'fairy stories.'
"What do you think it is?"
"In a word? Evil," he had replied. "The Bedouin and the Tuaregs believe that Hamunaptra is cursed. I think they may be right."
Olivia and Evy shared a room in the local Inn when they had arrived. Evy whispered, "Livy...I need to talk to you about something."
"What is it?"
"Mr O'Connell...well, he kissed me."
"Oh yeah, I know," Olivia said casually, turning over in her bed to face their candle.
"You know?"
"Jonathan told me," Olivia stated, referring to her twin brother. "Obviously."
"Of course," Evy sighed.
"So what's the problem?" Olivia asked tentatively. "Do you like him?"
There was a pause. "I don't know...but I have been dwelling on our kiss," Evy admitted. Olivia raised her eyebrows at this; Evy was quite the introvert when it came to talking about men.
"Oh?" Olivia smiled to her sister. "Well...he is very handsome."
"And rude, and I suppose technically a criminal, and..." Evy trailed off, sighing again and blowing out the candle to signal the conversation is now over.
"Stop making excuses to not like him," Olivia advised. She did not receive a reply so all she could do was hope Evy was thinking about her advice. She rather liked Rick and would love to have him as a brother-in-law.
The following morning, after their short sleep in the village, Olivia and Evy went to buy some clothes whilst Rick and Jonathan sorted out some transport seeing as their boat and their horses were now indisposed. Olivia laughed as she was twirled around by an elderly Egyptian lady, who took great delight in dressing up the strangers; another lady was brushing Evy's curly hair. They were dressed in a long and beautiful tightly fitted Bedouin dress.
"We can show your husband just how beautiful you look," the eldest said to Evy in Arabic. Olivia laughed at this; Evy was taking a fancy to Rick, and at this statement her face reddened and she spluttered.
"Oh, no, no, he is not my husband," she said bashfully. "Thank you for your kindness, ladies."
The giggling women nevertheless escorted Olivia and Evy back outside into the sun, where Rick and Jonathan were buying camels. Evy stayed behind to pay them whilst Olivia made her way to the men, where Jonathan was having a little tiff with the camel man.
"I only want four! Four!" he protested. "I only want four, not a whole bloody herd!" He turned to Rick and Olivia. "Can you believe this cheat?"
"Will you just pay the man?" Rick asked him, exasperated. Olivia remembered with glee that Jonathan was the only one with a fair amount of money on him. He's going to love that.
"Oh for heaven's sakes, can't believe the price of these fleabags," he said, flicking through his notes and paying the man. "Yes, very good!"
Olivia patted Jonathan on the back as she took a hold of one of the camels, rubbing his nose. She thought they were quite cute.
"You probably could've got them for free," Rick said. "All we had to do was give him your sisters."
"I don't think so," Olivia hit back at his teasing. But she smiled even wider when Rick caught sight of Evy wearing, for her, a rather sexy-looking dress.
"Yes, awfully tempting wasn't it?" said Jonathan, winking at Olivia.
"You will get a slap my dear baby brother," Olivia joked.
"Baby? I'm only younger by two whole minutes, I'll have you know!"
"Awfully..." Rick trailed off, not paying any attention the other two, still staring at Evy.
Olivia then winked at Jonathan, who looked unsure as to whether be outraged or not, and she jumped up onto her camel. The prison warden was, to Olivia's annoyance, still following them and once everybody had enough supplies and was on a camel, they said farewell to the kind villagers and continued on their way to Hamunaptra.
"Never did like camels," Jonathan told them bluntly. "Filthy buggers. They smell, they bite, they spit." And at that moment the prison warden too spat and Olivia looked at him in disgust; he was nothing more than a smelly animal himself. "Disgusting!"
"Well I think they're adorable," Evy grinned, reaching forward to pat hers on the head. She was having the time of her life on that camel.
"I love them too," Olivia agreed. "I had one camel that stayed with me throughout the discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb. Just as loyal as any horse, I say."
The prison warden, to Olivia's dismay, then began singing. The sun continued to beat down on them harshly.
It was going to be a very long day.
Olivia remembered how it was. Out here, in the desert. In the vast emptiness, there was only wasteland and sand and rocks. The dusty air and the heat waves; the blinding sun and its extremely hot rays. They got deeper and deeper into the majestic desert; it felt like the end of the world. She was glad of her dress, hopefully protecting her skin somewhat.
Eventually, the sun began to set, making way for twilight. The beautiful red sky eventually darkened and only the light of the stars and the moon remained. Jonathan was asleep, his head bobbing comically to the rhythm of his camel. The warden was snoring loudly, and Evy was slowly sliding off of her saddle sleepily. Olivia watched as Rick reached over and stopped her, gently pushing her back up onto her saddle. He never woke her.
But the sound of horses neighing made Olivia's breath hitch as she turned to see where it had come from. Standing atop a distant ridge were men on horses, watching them. They must be those same men who attacked them on the Nile. Even though it was very dark Olivia felt their eyes on her and she shivered.
"Rick," she whispered. "Is that...?"
"Yes," he murmured. "It won't be the last time we see them, that's for sure."
The following morning, they rounded a giant sand dune; the dawning sun hadn't yet crested the distant horizon.
"...and you snore!" said Jonathan to the warden, having had enough of him already.
"I do not snore!"
"All night you snored!"
"I have never snored!"
In front of them, Rick said to Evy and Olivia, "We're almost there."
"Are you sure?" Evy asked skeptically, looking around the barren wasteland. Rick simply raised an eyebrow at her comment.
Then, the American Expedition rode out from behind the far end of the sand dune. With them must have been at least two dozen native diggers. Beni was leading on a camel, with everybody else on a horse.
"Good morning, my friend," Beni greeted. Rick nodded back.
The two parties stopped about one hundred feet apart and Rick and Beni both turned to stare at the horizon. Olivia shared a puzzled look with Evy and Jonathan.
"Well what the hell we doin'?" asked Daniels, as the Americans looked just as confused as Olivia and her companions did.
"Patience, my good barat'm, patience."
"Remember our bet, O'Connell?" said Henderson, looking over to Rick. "First one to the city: five hundred cash bucks."
"One hundred bucks is yours if you help us win that bet," Daniels said to Beni.
"Oh my pleasure." Rick scoffed and shook his head.
Rick and Beni continue to stare out into the flat nothingness. But then, the sun started to rise in the distance, breaking the flat horizon. "Get ready for it."
"For what?" Evy asked.
"We're about to be shown the way."
Olivia recognised her current feelings from before; the suspense of finding something from Ancient Egypt, the excitement and the butterflies. They were almost there. She stared in amazement as a huge shape rose with the sun, almost like a mirage.
The American treasure hunters even admired it. "Well will you look at that?"
"Can you believe it?"
"Hamunaptra!"
"Here we go again," Rick muttered.
What looked like the ruins of a large wall protecting a city inside appeared in front of their very eyes. Olivia could hardly believe what she was seeing. But, she didn't have time to dwell now—everybody had began to gallop towards it for that five hundred dollars, so she followed suit.
At first it was Beni and Rick, who were neck-and-neck. But then, something happened that Olivia did not expect—her sister rode straight past Rick, and was the first one to reach Hamunaptra.
"Go, Evy! Go!" Jonathan called, whooping as he did.
"She looks like she's having the time of her life on that camel," Olivia mused, happy she was coming out of her studious shell.
"Yes...cannot think why," Jonathan replied, staring down at his own camel in disgust. Olivia just laughed as her hair flew in the wind, and she eventually reached Hamunaptra too.
So, it began. They had set up a little camp for themselves, away from the other group, and they began preparing to excavate. At the moment they were just surrounded by ruins of pillars, crumbling walls and some statues so they couldn't wait to get inside and below, to see what was really down there.
The Egyptologist Chamberlin was directing his diggers to unblock the main entrance—they hauled rock and dirt out of the Temple doorway. The Americans simply looked on. Henderson noticed that Olivia was staring at their work and he gave her yet another wink. Olivia recoiled—he was a good-looking man, there was no denying that, but his personality ruined his nice looks. Which was a shame.
Her group, however, were working next to a narrow crevice. Rick tied a piece of rope around a pillar, throwing the coils into the crevice.
"That's the statue of Anubis, its legs go deep underground," Evy told them, as they were right by a massive, scary-looking head.
"It gives me the creeps," Jonathan muttered. Though it was decrepit, Olivia couldn't help but agree.
"Be nice, that thing saved my life," Rick stated.
"Well, that thing gets me excited," Evy said excitedly. "According to Bembridge Scholars, that's where we'll find a secret compartment, containing the golden Book of Amun-Ra."
"So what are these old mirrors for?" Rick asked Olivia, looking at some lying on the ground.
"Ancient mirrors," Olivia corrected him. "It's an Ancient Egyptian trick. You'll see."
Rick shrugged, and, catching Olivia's eye, he subtly gestured to Evy. "Ah," she murmured, smiling slightly.
Rick held out a tool set. "Do you think she'll like it?"
"She'll love it," Olivia reassured him, patting his arm and leaving him to it, wondering who he stole that from.
She watched as Rick gave Evy the gift and how she looked when she received it—they were definitely a couple in the making. They bought out the best in each other.
A few minutes later, Rick rappelled down into the crevice, as the warden said, "Look for bugs. I hate bugs!"
"Do you realise we're standing in a room that no one has entered in over three thousand years?" Evy said in an admiring voice. Olivia certainly understood how that felt, having been through it before with Tutankhamun's tomb. At the moment, though, it was just a spooky darkness.
"What is that God-awful stench?" Jonathan asked, as he jumped down after Olivia. He looked up as the warden followed him, sniffing and realising where the smell was coming from. "Oh."
Olivia motioned to one of the mirrors, and Evy understood her; she grabbed one, tilting it upwards so it caught the light. "And then there was...light." The ray of light hit the mirror and shot around the room, from mirror to mirror, until the whole chamber was lit up. Olivia recognised the room as the embalmer's chamber.
"Hey, that is a neat trick!" Rick said, looking around.
"Oh my God, it's a Sah-Netjer!" Evy said, looking directly at Olivia as if reading her thoughts.
"A what?"
"A preparation room," Olivia explained as they walked further in.
"Preparation for what?" Rick asked.
"For entering the afterlife!" Evy replied playfully.
Rick quickly drew out his gun as Jonathan said, "Mummies, my good son. This is where they made the mummies!"
"I hope I find another one," Olivia said, with no regrets over how excited she sounded; Rick gave her a look. "What? I love finding dead people."
They left the chamber and made their way down a cobweb infested labyrinth; Rick led the way, holding his gun aloft. Olivia too had her pistol at the ready—just in case. Slowly they moved forward and it got darker and darker. Then suddenly, the sound of what Olivia thought to be lots and lots of bugs surrounded them, as if they were moving inside the walls and even above and below them. Eventually the sound died away.
"What was that?"
"Sounds like...bugs," Rick answered.
"He said bugs!" Evy directed to the warden, who looked to be in state of panic.
"What do you mean, bugs? I hate bugs!"
"You are more than welcome to wait for us up top," Olivia suggested, to which he frowned at her attempts to get rid of him.
Soon they reached the giant half-buried legs of Anubis. Rick shined his light so they could see. "The secret compartment should be hidden somewhere inside here," Evy said, as they saw that its feet stood atop a massive chest with drawings on.
However, another sound made them freeze. It was getting closer and closer to them, from the other side of the statue. It sounded like distorted voices. They edged along the side of the massive chest, as they cocked their guns, ready to use them if absolutely necessary; Olivia's heart pumped furiously at the suspense.
They followed Rick's lead and jumped out to face the noises. Olivia, and everybody else, sighed in relief as the American expedition lunged at them too. Their guns were also cocked and aimed.
"You scared the bejeezus out of us O'Connell," Henderson admitted.
"Likewise," Rick replied as they lowered their guns slightly.
"Hey, that's my tool kit!" Burns said, pointing at the brown package in Evy's arms.
"No, I don't think so," Rick snarled as they all raised their guns at each other again.
"Okay..." Burns backed away, staring at the gun in his face. "Perhaps I was mistaken." The guns were lowered once again.
"Well have a nice day gentlemen," Evy intercepted, "we have a lot of work to be getting along with."
"Push off!" said Chamberlin. "This is our dig site."
"We got here first!" Evy said, narrowing her eyes at him.
And, for the third time, Olivia found herself with her pistol raised. "This here's our statue, friend," said Daniels.
"I don't see your name written on it, pal," Rick hit back.
"Yes, well, there's only five of you and fifteen of me," Beni said. "Your odds are not so great, O'Connell."
"I've had worse," Rick said in a deadly quiet voice, aiming one of his guns at Beni.
"Yeah, me too," Jonathan agreed, clenching a tiny derringer. Rick and Olivia gave him a sideways glance.
"Oh look, for goodness' sake, let's be nice, children," Evy said calmly, walking in the middle of them. She pushed some guns down. "If we're going to play together, we must learn to share. There are other places to dig." She squeezed the top of Rick's arm as she stared at him.
As Rick nodded and gave the Americans a sarcastic smile, they turned away from the statue. "What made you change your mind?" Olivia muttered to Evy.
"Well, there are more chambers below," Evy muttered back as they heard the diggers get to work behind them. The Americans were laughing to themselves. "I think we might be able to dig under Anubis."
Author's Note
Wow! I am so glad you are all enjoying this story so far! I have loved your reviews and seeing the favourites and alerts increase day by day :) Ardeth Bay will DEFINITELY be in the next chapter, I cannot wait for him and Olivia to meet. Until next time! :)