Chapter Two
Jonathan Carnovan had felt the earth shaking before he even awoke from his slightly hung over snooze. But it jolted him awake, and once awakened, he found it nearly impossible to force himself to sleep any more. Procrastinating with every movement, Jonathan did eventually find the strength to haul his weary body out of bed. Once out of bed, he gave the longest stretch and yawn that taxed every muscle in his system. He ruffled his messy unwashed hair and scratched his unshaven face. Looking out the window of his hotel onto the streets of Qena, he set himself to do what he had put off ever since he had arrived in Egypt. Shopping.
Christmas was only three weeks away, and Jonathan had yet to even start on his gift list. Not that there were that many. Three to be exact. Four, if you counted him. And he always planned on giving himself the best gifts yet – women and booze. But that could wait, he told himself.
'Oh who am I kidding.' He thought. Resolving himself to it, Jonathan stumbled over empty wine bottles and strewn about clothes to reach the washroom.
~~~
The sun stung his eyes when he walked out into the streets, face shaven and body washed. He shielded his eyes with a hand placed above his brows, then proceeded to make his way through the crowded sandy streets. The first stop he made was to a nearby jewelry shop, selling what was supposed to be authentic jewelry from ancient times. Jonathan nearly laughed out loud. Still, one couldn't ignore the fine craftsmanship, and the fact that most of the necklaces contained some amount of gold in them.
Jonathan settled on a blue sapphire scarab, hanging elegantly on a length of gold chain. After receiving several assurances that the necklace itself was worn by none other than Nefertiti, Jonathan swaddled the necklace in a handkerchief, placed it in an inside pocket of his jacket, and moved on.
'Rick, Rick, Rick' he chanted over and over in his head. His brother-in-law shouldn't be that hard to shop for, the man didn't read, write, flaunt the theaters, or any of that stuff, but he did like…
"Sharp objects." Jonathan said aloud. He was overwhelmed by the sudden sight of a peddler selling particularly nasty looking daggers. Jonathan smiled inwardly; reminded of Rick's dashing ability to catch knifes mid-air as they were soaring for his head. He admired several of the daggers, but one caught his eye over all the rest. It had a solid gold handle, carved with sparring Egyptians. The blade was a shiny steel, engraved with Egyptian prayers, which Jonathan joked probably said 'hope this doesn't hurt too much'. Bargaining with the vendor, Jonathan thought he managed to bring down the price, but after paying for it, suddenly slapped his forehead in realization that he hadn't saved a cent.
And now for the runt – Alex. Alex should be easy, how hard is it to please a kid? He was stopped by several vendors selling an assortment of goods and gifts, but couldn't see anything that captured his attention. A vendor suddenly stepped out right in front of him and thrust a stone cat in his face.
"Cats are keepers of the dead." The heavily accented statement did not come as new information to Jonathan. The man had a certain gleam in his eye, and looking beyond his shoulder, Jonathan saw a painfully thin young man, dirty and tanned, shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot. Jonathan deemed him a worker, perhaps even a slave from the looks of his nearly ruined clothes. He wondered who this young man had stolen the statue from, and why he was trying to pawn it off so quickly.
"Um, no thanks, chap. I'm looking for something to look after the living." Jonathan flashed a brief smile, and tried to walk around the man, but was stopped when the vendor stuck his arm out in front of his chest, preventing him from moving any further.
"It has ancient powers." The man said with a wink and a mysterious edge to his voice.
Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, everything Egyptian has ancient powers." He stepped around the man's outstretched arm and continued to walk.
The vendor was confused, usually he could dupe the stupid Americans and British into believing that anything he sold was magical. The man thought quickly, he had to, because at the rate Jonathan was walking, he'd be in Palestine soon.
"You know, Englishman, unlike the real thing, this one doesn't shed?"
Jonathan stopped in his tracks, hands twiddling in his pant pockets. He turned around slowly, tapping his teeth together in thought.
The vendor knew he had him. "And it won't scratch up the furniture."
Jonathan hurried back and scooped up the cat in his arms. "Sold."