THE BOOK OF THOTH
Chapter One – Qena
Disclaimer – some characters borrowed from the motion picture "The Mummy" & "The Mummy Returns". No infringement intended.
EGYPT – 1934
The full Egyptian sun beat down unmercifully upon the excavators at Qena. They had been digging for a week, with the same unrelenting sun, and with no end in sight. William Dartsmouth wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead with a stained handkerchief. He swept the stray strands of soaked hair off his face, then propped his fedora on his head and stood defiantly towards the dig site with his hands on his hips.
Time meant money to Dartsmouth, and one could never have enough money, which meant that one was also very cheap with his time. William Dartsmouth had done quite well for himself in his 37 years. Considered a tycoon by some, and near-royal by others, William had nonetheless earned himself a reputation among England's elite. And the elite were counting on him to bring them back a treasure so elusive it may as well have been God's work itself.
"For God's sake, could those lazy bastards work any faster?" He muttered to himself. He heard a slight chuckle beside him and cocked his head to glare at the person. But he stopped, for he could never be angry with her.
He had met her at a social event in England. Boring for the most part, with the same boring socialites as always, and the stench of cigars, and constant popping of champagne corks being released. And then he saw her. She had walked down the staircase like the goddess Aphrodite rising from the foam. With one glance from her sky blue eyes, he was entranced. With one swish of the black silk dress against her bare legs he was captivated. And with one musical note of her voice speaking to him, he was absolutely a blubbering idiot.
Victoria Ellyn Montgomery; held high in the social elite's world, and nearly worshipped by William. After one year he had proposed and after this blasted dig was finished, they would be married.
Even in the sweltering heat, she was breathtaking. She flipped her gold spun hair off her shoulders and smiled with a practiced perfection. "Remember darling, good things come to those who wait."
William smiled back at her. "And I waited my entire life for you." He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her close to him. But a sudden explosion ruined their ultra-romantic moment. William grimaced, and slowly, painfully, turned his head towards the offending sound. "But I did not waste my entire life around BAFFOONS LIKE THIS!"
He nearly pushed Victoria over as he stalked over to the dig. As she straightened up her now wrinkled white cotton shirt, she huffed and muttered obscenities to herself. "Of all the bloody places he had to pick; the most god-awful dried up prune of a country." She glared at the dig site where William was now motioning furiously with one of the chief excavators. She sighed, then pulled out a crumbled package of cigarettes and lit one.
~~~
"Explain to me again darling, what could possibly be worth third-degree-like sunburns and smelling like camels?"
William sighed and shook his head. Never let a pretty women try to do all the thinking when it comes to economics. "Vicky, I've told you. This book would be worth thousands, possibly millions."
Victoria threw her hands up into the air. "But it's a book!"
William slammed his fists down onto the table in their dimly lit tent. "Bloody hell woman! This isn't some saucy romance novel of yours! This is the book of the gods. It contains all the knowledge and secrets of the gods. Men risked their lives for this bloody thing."
Victoria laughed. "And what, you think the gods are just going to hand it over then?"
William stroked his forehead. "You forget dear. Egyptian gods are dead. And even if they weren't dead, they don't have guns. And even if they did have guns…well at least I'm not going into that cave first."
~~~
The Arabic call came early in the morning. William threw his cover off of him and jumped into his boots. He had slept with his clothes on. Victoria, beside him, did not awaken with quite the same enthusiasm. She groggily wiped her eyes, smearing some left over eyeliner underneath her already formed bags. She moaned as the prematurely bright sun stung her weary eyes. With a groan, she flopped back down on the bed, and covered her face with the pillow.
Three day old stubble growing on his face, and week old smelly clothes, William ran from the tent and down to the excavation. Yussuf greeted him quickly, struggling to keep up with William's gangly walk.
"It's here Mr. Dartsmouth. We have discovered the cave of Neferkaptah."
"Nefer who? Nevermind. Has anyone gone into it yet?"
Yussuf shook his head. "But Mr. Dartsmouth, I must warn you, legend says – "
William cut him off. "Does legend say the Book of Thoth is down there?"
"Well, yes, of course, but you see – "
William cut him off again. "And if this book existed, it would be worth a lot of money, right?"
"Of course sir, but legend says – "
"Then I don't give a bloody damn what legend says."
William speeded up his gait to get to the mouth of the cave, leaving a stuttering Yussuf in his wake and his warning fell upon empty ears.
"But legend says a mummy guards it."
~~~
William entered the black cave cautiously, torch held high in his left hand, handgun clutched in his right. He forced five diggers ahead of him, just to be sure. But after walking down the dusty stone stairs, William's face fell in moderate disappointment. The cave was devoid of any sort of art or treasure for that matter.
But some excited words spoken in Arabic renewed his hope. After walking deeper into the depths of the cave, they came to what appeared to be a much larger portion of the cave, for the roof towered above them. And in the middle of the room, was something so breathtaking, William's knees began to tremble.
A gold sarcophagus. Much finer than that fool's Tutankhamun coffin. This stood five feet tall, and at least seven feet long. It had ornate hieroglyphs and carvings on the sides, and the figure of a pharaoh so magnificent, William was sure it must be a god of some kind. William delicately ran his hand along the carvings, then the figure on top. He leaned in close to study the face, then leaned to where the ear might have been.
"You are going to make me a very wealthy, happy man." He whispered.
He stood up, and motioned to the diggers to lift the lid of the sarcophagus off. As commanded, they used all their strength to lift the lid off. All at once, they peered inside.
~~~
"Well, at least the sarcophagus is worth something." William wiped the sweat and dust off his brows with the now disgusting handkerchief. But Yussuf's face was a striking difference to William's nonchalant one. Yussuf was scared.
"Perhaps we should leave the body inside the sarcophagus sir."
William stared at him like he had just said the stupidest thing possible. "Have you forgotten to take your head out of the sand Yussuf? That withered old corpse is going into the garbage, that's where."
Yussuf gravely looked at the diggers who were reaching into the sarcophagus to pull out the decomposed body. A sudden gasp caught everyone's attention. One of the diggers reached down beside the sarcophagus and produced a stone statue of a cat. He smiled, and held it up for everyone to see.
William squinted. "Has it got gold on it?"
Yussuf translated. The digger shook his head.
"Then throw it out."
But Yussuf could not contain himself. "Are you sure that's wise sir? Perhaps an artifact as old as this surely must be, it could be of some worth?"
William considered this point. "Well, perhaps it could make a nice doorstop. What the hell, take it to the marketplace and see if you can pawn it off on some poor bugger."
Yussuf translated for the digger, and the digger upon hearing the news, smiled again at the thought of discovering something of value. He ran out of the cave with his new finding clutched under his arm.
The diggers again began to reach into the sarcophagus.
"So tell me Yussuf. If the book isn't here, just where the bloody hell is it?"
Yussuf was at a lost for words. The body was being laid on the ground.
"Or maybe I should just ask my old buddy over here." William motioned to the mummy.
The cave began to shake.