****
He regained consciousness with a shocked indrawn breath. He was halfway up before his brain caught up with his body, and at the pain that bellowed through his leg, he fell back and let out a hoarse cry.
He had never been shot before. He had never imagined it might hurt this much.
"Rick." Evelyn's face swam into focus over him, then she looked up at someone he could not see. "He's awake."
He took a deep breath and managed to sit up all the way this time. "Wha--?"
He had not been unconscious for long, he realized instantly; only a few minutes at most. The men outside were still yelling in anger, but even as he sat there, the shouts tapered off and became silent.
They were in the library, and he was on the floor. His leg was now bound tightly in black material, and the bleeding seemed to have slowed, although the wound still hurt like hell. Evelyn and Ardeth Bay were kneeling beside him. "Where's Jonathan?"
"I'm here," Evelyn's brother said. He was standing beside the leftmost set of double doors leading from the library to the museum. Both sets of the heavy wooden doors were now pulled shut and locked.
"So we're just gonna hide in here?" he croaked.
Evelyn's eyes sparked. "Have you got a better idea?"
"Nope," he groaned. "Sounds good to me."
"They seek a guide to Hamunaptra," Ardeth Bay said. "Is that the only thing they seek?"
"How should I know?" Rick grumbled. Looking at the blood on the floor made him feel ill. "Ask Jonathan." He peered blearily at the Med-jai. "What the hell are you doing here, anyway?"
"When word reached us of the planned expedition, I came to Cairo. I have kept watch over the Museum for several days now," Ardeth said.
Rick grimaced. "Didn't trust us, huh? I guess I can't blame you."
Ardeth said nothing to this, which was answer enough, really.
From inside the museum, they heard the faint sound of breaking glass. Evelyn's eyes widened with dismay.
"Do you have other weapons?" Ardeth asked.
"Only my guns," Rick said in disgust. "And they're empty." He thought wistfully of the gunnysack full of guns and ammunition that he had lost in Hamunaptra. Why had he never rebuilt that private arsenal? Why had he never thought he might need it again? But he supposed he knew why. Imhotep was dead and Hamunaptra was buried beneath the sand. He had never imagined he might need all those weapons here in the peace of the Museum of Antiquities because…well, why should he?
The Med-jai chieftain nodded and stood. He drew his scimitar. "We cannot stay here. They will trap us inside."
"He can't walk!" Evelyn snapped.
"Evy!" Jonathan looked up sharply. A split second later something heavy thudded against the closed doors. "They're barricading us in!"
"Real original, aren't they?" Rick muttered. He reached up a hand, waiting for someone to help pull him to his feet. He wasn't at all sure he could walk or go anywhere under his own power, but he had to try.
"Check outside," Ardeth ordered. "See if they have left anyone in the courtyard."
Evelyn crept over to the doors leading outside. Jonathan remained where he was, a few paces inside the library, wringing his hands.
Rick waggled his hand. "Hello!"
Without looking at him, Ardeth pulled him to his feet. He staggered, as did Ardeth, then the Med-jai caught him, pushing him slightly so he stood erect with his weight on his uninjured leg. Rick waited, testing this new position, praying he would not faint again and disgrace himself in front of Evelyn.
"Someone's out there," Evelyn said. "Six of them."
"We cannot stay here. We must break through the barricade." Ardeth began stalking toward the doors. As he passed, Jonathan jumped aside.
Rick watched this with some amusement. He was not unaware that he had lost control of this situation, but for some reason he was not bothered by this. Being in charge was not always fun or enviable.
Evelyn reached his side. "Are you all right?" she asked softly. She touched his arm lightly, as though afraid he would break at the smallest of touches. Concern widened her deep brown eyes.
He bit back a groan at that touch. He wanted to throw his arms around her and protect her from the ugliness outside, to keep her safe from all those who might hurt her. He wanted to bury his face in her hair and let her hold him and comfort him.
Ardeth tried to open the doors and failed. With increasing force, he tried again and again, at last throwing himself at the thick wood, crashing into it with his shoulder. He turned, and there was urgency in his eyes, unusual for one so stoic. "They have set the building on fire. We must leave this room!"
Rick jerked his head toward the courtyard. "Wouldn't we be better off trying our luck against those guys?"
"They will gun you down the moment you set foot outside." The Med-jai chieftain did not group himself with them, Rick noticed. He stared pointedly at Rick. "This is the only way out."
"Um, Evy?" Jonathan sounded uncertain.
With Evelyn's arm about his waist, he was able to limp through the library toward the museum. Of necessity, she was close, her body pressed to his; he could feel the heat of her through her plain skirt and blouse. It was nice, and he silently cursed the fact that he couldn't really enjoy it.
She let go of him as he neared the doors, and he swayed for a moment, unsure of himself. He was aware of her eyes on him, worried and sympathetic, and he swallowed hard, bringing his wayward body back under control. "All right. Let's do this together."
Ardeth nodded curtly. They sized each other up, then ran at the doors, striking them simultaneously with their left shoulders. The doors bowed out slightly, then settled back into place. "Damn!" Rick hissed. The shock of the collision had sent surprising pain roaring through his leg, and he wasn't sure if he could continue to do this for much longer.
"Again," Ardeth commanded. They charged the doors a second time, with no success.
"Look." Evelyn's voice trembled slightly, and Rick almost didn't hear her. It wasn't until Ardeth stepped back and looked down that he followed the direction of her pointing finger and saw.
Smoke was curling under the doors.
He groaned. "Come on!" Fear gave him new strength, and some of the pain was banished under a sudden upsurge of energy. They had to get out of the library, or they would all die a horrible death in here.
"Maybe I should just give myself up to them," Jonathan said in a low voice, obviously hoping no one would hear.
"They would still kill everyone else," Ardeth Bay said implacably. He charged at the doors.
It was probably only Rick's imagination, but the door felt hotter than before, as though the fire in the museum was already lurking just outside, waiting to devour them. He and Ardeth struck the heavy wood at the same moment, and to his surprise, he heard the doors splinter in their frame.
"Again!" he shouted. "Come on!" Yelling at the top of his lungs, he threw himself at the door.
With a loud crack, the doors gave way. They opened into the museum, but were abruptly stopped after only a few inches. Carried ahead by his momentum, Rick staggered forward and collided with a wooden bench that had been propped up against the doors. Beside him, Ardeth fell atop the bench with a muffled sound of surprised hurt.
Rick wrenched himself off the bench and reeled back a step. He looked out into the museum and his eyes widened.
An inferno was engulfing the museum. The rooms were dark and shadowed, for Evelyn had turned off the lights when she had closed the building down for the day. The absence of artificial light made the lurid orange glow of the fire all the more horrible. Flames licked eagerly along the walls and crept across the ceiling, racing for the library. The museum was thick with smoke, and he began to cough, his eyes streaming.
A hand touched his back, and then Evelyn shoved her way past him. She began pushing at the wooden bench, which was easily twice as long as the double doors. In a former life it had sat against one wall of the museum's main chamber, a place for the weary to sit and rest while their more energetic companions continued to explore the wonders contained within. Rick himself had sat upon it on occasion, watching Evelyn as she worked. It was dark and heavy and right now it was blocking their way out, preventing them from opening the doors any further and making their escape.
"Just climb over it!" snapped Ardeth Bay. He reached out and his hand touched Evelyn's shoulder, almost pushing her at the bench.
"Hurry, Evy!" Jonathan danced from one foot to the other behind them, looking worriedly at the rapidly growing fire.
Evelyn climbed over the bench, her normally graceful movements made awkward by the slim cut of her skirt, and slithered over the back onto the seat. Once on the other side, she stood and held out a hand. "Come on, Rick."
Rick turned to Jonathan. "You go next."
Jonathan needed no urging. He pushed his way out of the gap between the doors and tumbled over the bench to join his sister.
Without waiting for an invitation, Rick launched himself at the bench. He had a terrible moment when he thought his leg would simply refuse to work, and he wouldn't be able to drag it over the top of the bench, then it thumped down onto the seat. Brilliant pain bolted up his leg and he threw back his head and howled, not caring in the slightest that Evelyn was standing right there.
He was still trying to stand and regain his dignity when Ardeth came to stand beside him. "This way."
Jonathan followed the Med-jai immediately. Rick bravely tried, but his leg buckled and he drew his breath in through his teeth in a hiss of pain. "Rick?" Evelyn's arm tightened about him, and his heart stuttered in his chest. Jaws clenched tightly, he began walking.
He could feel the heat from the fire now, and was dimly glad that Evelyn was on his right as they walked through the display room, and that his body shielded her from the worst of the heat. Some of the flames were very close, and the smoke was thick and strangling. Deep coughs tore at his chest, and he staggered.
"Follow me," said Ardeth Bay. He led them through the museum. They kept close to the wall, as far from the growing fire as they could get, walking bent over so to breathe the purer air near the floor.
With a sinking heart, Rick guessed their destination.
"Where are we going?" Evelyn asked.
Ardeth stopped at the stairs, where only six weeks ago they had raced upstairs so Evelyn could translate the inscription on the stone tablet. Six weeks since they had looked down on a crowd of mesmerized slaves to Imhotep. Only instead of going up, Ardeth started down the stairs.
Rick groaned. "You have got to be joking."
Ardeth Bay looked up at him, glanced down at his leg, then met his eyes again. "Can you make it?"
Put on the spot, Evelyn's arm still largely responsible for keeping him upright, Rick flushed. "Yeah. Sure." He would have died before admitting to any weakness in front of Evelyn Carnahan, especially after that demeaning display on the bench.
"We must hurry," Ardeth said. "Some of those displays are preserved in the liquid that burns." He said something incomprehensible in Arabic. "I do not know the word."
"Formaldehyde," Evelyn said heavily. "He's right." She began tugging Rick toward the stairs.
Jonathan scooted past them and went to stand on the riser beside Ardeth. "Come on, Evy. Hurry!"
Going down the stairs was murder. Rick clenched his teeth and leaned on Evelyn as much as he dared. He was determined to endure silently and stoically, as a true man should; he would not give voice to his hurt again.
He had only gone down three of the steps when a display behind them exploded as the flames reached the items preserved in the flammable formaldehyde. An angry roar filled the main room and a gout of flame rose high. Rick risked a glance over his shoulder and was momentarily transfixed by the sight of the museum going up in flames. All of Evelyn's hard work, and that of the Med-jai curators before her – all destroyed in mere minutes.
They reached the landing and continued down. There was little smoke here and they were able to breathe easier. "Where are you taking us?" Evelyn demanded. "There's nothing down here but storerooms."
Ardeth said nothing to this.
Jonathan, who was only a step behind the Med-jai, reached out and grabbed Ardeth's shoulder. "I say," he began, "where—"
Ardeth twisted free of Jonathan's grip. "There is an exit beneath the museum."
"No, there isn't," Evelyn protested. "I have been over every inch of this museum. If there was a secret way out I would know about it."
"I don't know," Rick said quietly. "He seems awfully sure of himself." Then he winced, wishing he could take back the words, so she would not think he doubted her.
"But I would know it," Evelyn said, so softly only the two of them could hear. But now she sounded uncertain, as though she, too, doubted herself.
At the bottom of the stairs was a long, narrow hall. Doors led off this at various intervals, leading to storerooms and workrooms and closets and offices. Most of these were crammed with artifacts, while other rooms contained nothing but forgeries. Still others held objects awaiting repair, or appraisal, or auction, or authentication. Dusty statues stood between some of the doors, and a few of these had been used as makeshift coat racks or umbrella stands. At the far end of the hall was a large box of rotting papyrus scrolls patiently waiting for someone to decipher their contents before they fell apart altogether. This was Evelyn's domain, where only she was allowed, and even Rick, who had followed her throughout the last six weeks, felt a bit uncomfortable among all the accoutrements of Evelyn's work.
Ardeth walked confidently down the hall, sword still in hand. He went unerringly past closets and storerooms, moving without hesitation. It was patently obvious that the Med-jai knew where he was going.
"Come here often?" Rick asked.
Ardeth looked at him sharply, then seemed to realize he was only teasing, and visibly relaxed. "I have been here before, yes."
Jonathan cast a worried glance up to the ceiling. "Ah, shouldn't we be hurrying?"
Ardeth stopped and turned to face them. The indecipherable tattoos on his face made him appear stern and forbidding. Not for the first time, Rick was grateful that not all the Med-jai were as efficient as their leader; if they were, he and his companions would have all died six weeks ago on the boat to Hamunaptra. Perhaps the rest of the tribe was bumbling and incompetent, but this man in front of him was a killer.
"Until now, only the Med-jai have known of this," Ardeth Bay said. He did not seem pleased at having to share his secret.
"Yes, yes." Jonathan threw another uneasy glance at the ceiling. "And we're very grateful you're telling us."
The look Ardeth Bay gave him would have melted stone. Jonathan flinched back, hands coming up slightly. "Really," he protested. "We are."
Ardeth sighed slightly, turned and in one elegant move, thrust the blade of his sword into the wall.
Evelyn gasped and even Rick was stunned. Then he realized the sword had not actually penetrated the stone, but had slid between two of the large blocks making up the wall. "Stand back," Ardeth ordered. Slowly he began to turn the sword, using the blade as a lever. With only the strength of his wrists, he forced the stone block to slide back and in, halfway disappearing into the wall itself. Immediately one of the tiles in the floor began to slide back with the same speed as the block in the wall, revealing a square gap at their feet.
Rick just stared. He found it hard to believe he had once shot a similar sword out of Ardeth's hands. Clearly he had gotten very lucky with that shot.
"It leads to the sewers," Ardeth said. He looked at Rick. "Where we have been before."
"Wonderful," Jonathan breathed.
Rick smirked. "After you."
Ardeth shook his head. "I cannot. The door can only be opened and closed from this side."
"But you can't—" Evelyn protested.
"I will follow you," the Med-jai said, looking vaguely amused by her sudden outburst of concern.
"Right." Jonathan pushed forward. "Are there stairs or anything?"
"No. Just drop."
"Right," Jonathan repeated. He peered down the hole, which was just large enough that maybe two people could squeeze through together. He sat and dangled his legs over the edge. "When you say, 'Just drop,' what kind of landing are we talking about? What's beneath us?"
Evelyn let go of Rick, planted both hands on Jonathan's shoulder blades, and pushed. With a loud scream, Jonathan dropped out of sight.
"Thank you," Ardeth Bay said gravely. The stone in the wall wanted to return back to its original position, and the tile in the floor could be seen trying to peek out. The Med-jai's hands were beginning to shake with the strain of holding his sword steady and keeping the stone in place.
Rick limped over to the gap in the floor. He sat down gingerly. "See you on the other side." He tucked his elbows in, scooted forward, and dropped.
As he fell he twisted his body so he would land on his left side. He almost didn't have time. The drop was short and he landed on a mound of cool sand. Reflexively he rolled away, spitting out grains of sand from where he had somehow inhaled them. Pain flared in his leg and he gritted his teeth – feeling sand grind between his molars – to keep from crying out.
"O'Connell." Jonathan helped him up. As he was standing, Evelyn fell through the gap. A scant second later, Ardeth dropped neatly to the sand in a crouch, unlike the ungainly sprawl the rest of them had made. The tile in the floor above slid back into its original position, and the passageway went dark.
"Now what?" Jonathan asked.
Rick blinked and looked around, trying to peer through the near-total darkness. Sand crunched beneath his feet and he could hear the others and sense the closeness of the walls, but that was all. He could see nothing.
"Rick?"
"Over here," he said.
Evelyn fumbled her way over to him and her arm slipped back around his waist. It felt right, and here in the safety of the dark, he allowed himself an idiotic grin. "I wasn't going to leave you," she said, and her voice was very serious.
He tried to think of something calm and reassuring to say, something that spoke of promises and hopes and time spent together.
Still grinning like a fool, he began to stumble forward. "Okay."
****