Chapter Nine





Rick sighed and looked around the train; there was no way of getting out. This was all Jennifer's fault, if it weren't for the fact that she was Evelyn's sister Rick would have killed her. She had been working for Anubis, and had him right to him, his wife and his son. If only he had know, now they were back where they had been no more then a year ago.
Rick shook all the thoughts from his head; they would get out of this, they always had before. And then he would make Jennifer pay.

Night had fallen and the prisoners had spread out along the train. Or rather, the O'Connells had moved to an adjoining car, leaving Jennifer alone in the first car. The prisoners hadn't seen any sight of Anubis or Sahure since the train had started toward its destination. Jennifer was spread out on one of the train's long seats, in the clothes she had changed out of after the "kitchen disaster". Thinking back on that thought, it seemed like it had taken place years ago. It wasn't cold in the car but it wasn't hot either, though they were in the middle of the desert. Jennifer was used to the drastic drop in temperature come nightfall in the desert but she was usually inside before it got too cold. However, tonight she would feel the effects of the dropping temperature. The prisoners had found blankets but only two; Rick and Evelyn took one and Jennifer let Alex have the other one.
Horus cuddled up closer to her; he would provide some warmth but not a lot. Jennifer could hear the O'Connells talking in the adjoining car; she couldn't really make out what they were saying though.

In the car adjoining to the one Jennifer was in. Evelyn and Rick were trying to persuade Alex to go to bed because he would need his rest in the morning but the young boy refused. "Why does Jennifer have to stay in the other car by herself?" Alex asked his parents.
Neither Rick nor Evelyn had an answer for their son's question so they stayed silent. "Jennifer didn't do anything wrong. In fact, with her in my room I didn't have any nightmares last night." Alex pointed out.
Rick didn't like Alex making Jennifer look like a saint when it was her fault that they were in "trouble" in the first place. "That's enough Alex, now go to bed." Rick said firmly.
Alex closed his mouth and laid down on one of the side seats.
Evelyn also didn't say anything. She didn't fully believe that Jennifer absolutely responsible for them being captured but she also didn't fully believe that her sister innocent of everything Rick thought about her. Evelyn, however, kept her mouth shut; now was not the time to be arguing.

A few hours later, the train had gone silent. All that could be heard was the sound of the wheels against the metal tracks. Jennifer was wide-awake; it was almost impossible for her to sleep. The walls of the train did not stop the chilly temperature of the desert and Jennifer was freezing. Jennifer was sitting upright with her knees drawn up to her chin, shivering. Horus was also shaking and had his feathers roused up; the falcon looked like a ball of fluff that one would find under a rarely cleaned sofa. Jennifer gazed out the window; the desert sky always looked so beautiful. You could see every star in the sky and the moon's rays cast beautiful shadows on the sandy ground. Tonight, however, Jennifer didn't care very much about how beautiful the sky looked. Jennifer would often gaze out of her hotel window in Cairo and look at the sky; you couldn't see it as well in Cairo because of the city's lights. Looking at the Egyptian sky always reminded her of her home in America, which she never missed. She and her foster family lived in a cabin in the mountains were you could always see the stars over the crest of pine trees. Jennifer never missed that house; it never felt like home so why miss it. Her foster mother, Natalie, had told her that home was the most important place in the world. "Home is where your history begins", she had said, "Home is where they catch you when you fall." Jennifer knew that she would never feel that why about anything; last night when she had returned to Alex's room from the garden meeting with Anubis, Jennifer lay thinking that maybe she would be able to live here, with her sister and real family and finally know where "home" was. But now, she knew that would never happen because of Anubis and the "predicament" that they were in now.
Jennifer shook all thoughts from her bed. Because her mind was "free" at that moment, she heard the door that joined the car she was in to the car the O'Connells were in creak open. Jennifer turned around to face the noise; she was surprised to see Alex standing in the doorway. In his hand was the blanket that Jennifer had sacrificed for the boy; his fist was closed tightly around it.
"Alex, what are you doing?" Jennifer asked. She realized how stupid the question sounded. "What are you doing awake?" She rephrased.
Alex closed the car door slowly and walked over to Jennifer. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to come and see if you were awake too." Alex answered.
Jennifer told Alex he could sit beside her; the boy sat beside his aunt and handed her the blanket. Jennifer wrapped the large blanket around both their shoulders. Horus nestled between the two; Alex laid his head on Jennifer's shoulder.
"I'm scared Jennifer, this thing is like the monster in my nightmares." Alex whispered, he was already beginning to feel better being near Jennifer. Only his mother and Jennifer made him feel safe; oh, and his father too but there was something about his mother and his aunt that made him feel better.
"Don't worry Alex." Jennifer said, that was all she could think of to say. She began to wonder why Alex had been having nightmares about Anubis. It was impossible that the boy had seen the God before, wasn't it? "Alex, why come you have nightmares about Anubis?" Jennifer asked.
Alex hesitated; his parents had told him not to tell anyone of their adventures in Amh-Shre but Jennifer seemed to know a lot already about the God of Death. So, like Jennifer had told Alex of her past, Alex began to tell Jennifer of their adventures in Amh-Shre.
A couple of days ago Alex's story would have seemed pretty strange to her but listening to her nephew tell the story now Jennifer believed every word of it.
Now Jennifer understood why Rick "hated" her so much. Now it was even more important to Jennifer that she figure out a way for the O'Connells and herself to escape from Anubis's imprisonment before the army of Anubis was aroused.