Boston, 1936
Charlotte walked into her late fathers office for the last
time. She looked at everything that
would be gone within a matter of days.
She was just glad that she would not be present to see it happen. She did not want to see all of her father's
precious artifacts and other belonging find new homes. All the things he found on his many digs
through Egypt before she was born, the pictures of him and Charlotte in New
York and Boston, the articles on his findings, she hated to see any of them
go.
"Miss Charlotte?"
Charlotte quickly snapped around to see her families maid Marianne
standing in the doorway. Marianne was a
very small, pleasant, older woman. She
had been with the family since Gregory had first married Patricia, and even
cared for their first son. She had
consoled Gregory through there tragic deaths.
She had been thrilled when he married Angela and had Charlotte. It was as hard for her to let go of Gregory
as it was for Charlotte. "What will you
take with you?" she asked of Charlotte.
Charlotte began to search the room with her eyes sadly. Charlotte was a vast contrast to
Marianne. She was a stocky girl, of
about 5' 7", who typically had a rough spirit in her eye. Charlotte could easily fit into any party
amongst the Boston Society. She could
also grab a rifle and hunt with her father in an instant. She had the best of both worlds. "I think I just want my brother's
cartouche," she said as she picked up a black velvet box that resided upon the
mantle behind her fathers desk.
"What about the article?" Marianne asked stepping towards
Charlotte. Charlotte nodded and open
the box and took out a folded piece of newspaper from under the cartouche and
opened it up to reveal the article Marianne had referred to.
Charlotte looked over the article and landed her eyes on the
title. "Hamunaptra Discovered!"
Marianne broke Charlottes train of thought by asking, "Did
Professor Davenport give you the O'Connell's information?" Charlotte, not glancing up from the picture
on the article of two men and a woman holding treasure from Hamunaptra,
slightly nodded her head. Marianne
continued, "Well, then take the article and the box and go finish packing. You have a long day ahead of you and you
need some rest."
Charlotte folded the article and slipped it back into the
box under the cartouche. She looked up
and smiled at Marianne and exited the room.
As she wandered slowly down the hall towards her room she thought about
the days to come. She knew she was
ready for them, yet she was still very nervous. She found her room and finished
packing.
That night she dreamt a dream she had had before, but not
for a long while. Her father was back
in Egypt, on a dig. He was working with
another man. The two men worked diligently, and she watched for a while, but
her attention was eventually shifted to the group of people about 50 feet
away. There, she found Patricia. Patricia was seated on a blanket in the sand
next to another woman. This woman was
very beautiful, she just had to be Egyptian.
She was also pregnant. In
Patricia's arms was a baby, only about six months old. Charlotte knew this was her
half-brother. It had to be. There was also another little boy
around. He was about 2 years old, and often
caused a lot of trouble, she could see it in his eyes. She didn't know anyone in her dream besides
her father, but she had seen them. They
were all in the picture on her father's desk.
It was his favorite picture, she always caught him looking at it with
such delight, but he never spoke of it.
Charlotte continued to watch the families from her dream for awhile
before she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning Charlotte woke up refreshed, ready to
venture on her journey. She was just
missing one thing. After she had
finished her last minute packing and sent her bags down to the car, she headed
back to her father's office. Without
looking she waltzed over to his desk and picked up the picture of the people in
her dream. She glanced for the picture
for a second before dismantling the picture frame and removing the
picture. She folded it and put it in
the bag on her shoulder right next to the box with her brother's cartouche. Then she quickly slid out the door and began
to head down to the car.
When she got there she found Andrew, her father's chauffer
putting her bags into the car. Marianne
was talking quietly to Professor Davenport, her father's colleague and another
well-known Egyptologist from Harvard.
"Ah, Charly!" Professor Davenport called out when he saw
her. "I have all of the information you
asked for." The professor handed her a very full envelope. "Now remember that Anna will pick you up
from the port and take you back to the manor.
Her party is scheduled for 7 o'clock that evening. She invited the O'Connell's, but she is not
sure if they will show up." The
professor smiled.
"Thank you, Professor Davenport. You have been so helpful to me!"
She replied cordially.
"Well it's only right for you to travel to Egypt. You father had such a passion for it, that
he droved into you, and he refused to ever go back. You need to see it now, I only wish her were here to go with
you."
"I know, me too."
"Well enough of all this sad talk," Marianne interrupted, "you
must leave or you will miss you ship."
Charlotte than realized that she was right. In fact she saw that all her bags had been
put away and that Andrew was now waiting for her to get into the car. Charlotte looked back again at Professor
Davenport, "Thanks again. Good bye, "
she said shaking his hand. Then she
turned to Marianne and gave her a hug.
"Thank you. You have been so
loyal and wonderful to this family over the years. I am going to miss you."
Marianne sighed at the girl she considered practically her
daughter, "write me about all of your wonderful adventures. And please be careful, whatever you do. Oh, I am going to miss you too!"
Charlotte and Marianne detached from their embrace. "Good bye," Charlotte said close to
tears. Professor Davenport then took
Charlottes hand and walked her to the car.
As she left, she turned and looked at her childhood home disappearing
behind her. She couldn't believe she was
leaving, but she knew it was for the better.
She arrived at the port after a 45-minute ride through the
country. Once there, she stepped out of
the car and waited as Andrew retrieved her bags. He helped her get them to he suite on the ship. "Andrew," she said before he left her,
"thank you, for everything. You were a
great asset to my father and myself."
Andrew looked at Charlotte and smiled shyly, "It was my
pleasure ma'am." He then cautiously
backed out of her cabin. She was
alone. She walked over to the bed and
retrieved the velvet box she had taken from her father's office the day
before. She set it upon the bed. Next she took out the picture of the two
families she had found on her father's desk.
Then she found the envelope. She
deftly opened it up and took out the contents.
She found different articles on the O'Connell's: the birth announcements of Richard
O'Connell, Evelyn Carnahan, Jonathan Carnahan, & Alexander O'Connell; The
engagement and wedding of Richard O'Connell to Evelyn Carnahan. The article of the find at Hamunaptra,
including full detail on the artifacts, an article of the lost oasis of Ahm
Shere, and other finding the O'Connell's had found over the years. She studied every one of the newspaper
clippings, reading every word three times over, staring at the pictures until
her eyes crossed. By the time she was
done she realized the ship was moving.
She looked at the clock hanging on the wall across from her. It was nearly 6 o'clock; she had been
sitting there for 3 hours dissecting the articles in front of her. It was then that she realized that she was
quite hungry. She quickly put all the
articles back into the envelope and set it back in her bag along with the box
and picture. She then left the bag on
the bed and headed up to the top deck to enjoy a peaceful dinner.
Her entire trip was peaceful for her. She spent her small time at sea overlooking
all the articles Professor Davenport had given to her before her departure, and
wondering about everything that was to come.
