Someday
By Jeannette Hetfield
CHAPTER 3
Many people crowded the souk, just the same as they did the day before and would do the next day. The vendors of each shop called out to passersby, as they were eager to make a good bargain for their merchandise. Natives and tourists alike strolled the busy market browsing the displayed goods. An English couple stood in front of a shop containing rows of slippers, bags and wallets. The woman exclaimed her delight at the beautifully embossed designs on the slippers. Her husband held her hand as she tried the delicate items on her feet. He declared they were a perfect fit and insisted she have a bag to match. Her fingers caressed the ornate designs of the aqua-colored material that matched the slippers perfectly. Her husband bartered with the female vendor. A price was finally settled upon and the money handed over. The woman gave her husband a grateful peck on the cheek as they walked away with the souvenirs. The vendor pulled out a leather pouch from under her clothes and stashed the money inside, so as not to lose it or her father would be very angry with her and not let her leave their home for a month.
It was incredibly busy this time of year. A group of veiled women strode along the road. Most of the women of Egypt wore black galabayas and only their dark, alert eyes were visible. Their hair was covered in black abayas, further adding to the mysterious appearance. More women walked with large straw baskets of clothes and jugs of water balanced on their heads. Amazingly, they managed to keep from spilling the contents all over the street and carried poise mingled with gracefulness as the tourists marveled at their balancing act.
Kerri, however, had seen it all before for many years and took no notice of the productive day the vendors were having with consumers. She stared into each and every feminine face she passed, hoping to find the one person she was looking for.
Helplessly, she looked around. She had been looking for Jensa for nearly an hour. "Where is that girl?" Kerri decided to turn around and go back the way she had come. "Maybe I just should have kept my mouth shut. It's all my fault. Now we're both running around the souk by ourselves. Bad situation!" Kerri was extremely worried. It wasn't like Jensa to just take off. She really must care about this Ardeth person to run away. Kerri stopped in her tracks by an alleyway and looked around. Something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention down at the end of the alley. She jumped back as an unusually large rat scurried across her feet. Pulling her wits back together, she headed straight for the objects that had caught her eye. Her hair stood on the back of her neck. Kerri bent down and picked up a black straw hat and a small black purse that was drenched in muddy water from the puddle it had been lying in. She slowly opened the purse only to have her fears confirmed. There was a white handkerchief inside with the letters 'J.J.' embroidered in green thread on the corner. Kerri's hand flew to her mouth to stifle a sob.
"Jensa?" her voiced croaked. "Jensa, answer me! If this is your idea of some cruel joke just to get back at me for what I said…" Although Kerri new Jensa would never play such a horrible trick on her. "I've got to find Michael!" Kerri ran out of the alley and back into the crowd. She tried to hurry in the direction of the Kenoba hotel where they were supposed to have had lunch, but there were too many people shoving her this way and that. "How am I ever going to find him?" Kerri knew she was very close to having a panic attack. People were staring at her strangely.
She heard one vendor mutter, "Just another hysterical foreign woman." Kerri agreed with him. She was very near the verge of hysteria until she saw something that gave her a faint glimmer of hope.
A tall man clad in black robes and turban was walking down the road a few feet ahead of her. She immediately recognized him as a Med-jai warrior. The two scimitars fastened tightly at his hip, gleamed ominously in the sunlight. She rudely pushed her way through the crowd to get to him, ignoring the angry looks shot at her. If this Med-jai could take her to Ardeth Bay, surely he would help in the search for Jensa. If there was only one thing she knew about the Med-jai, it was that they always achieved what they set out to accomplish.
"Excuse me, sir?" Kerri reached out and touched his arm. He turned sharply with fierce eyes directed at her, but the fierceness turned to surprise at seeing a small foreign woman standing in front of him. She shrank back. His veil was pulled up around his face, showing nothing but the intense dark eyes. "Please, I need your help. You're Med-jai right?"
"Keep your voice down," he said in heavily accented English. The veiled warrior pulled her off to the side away from the crowds.
"You speak English," she said. He nodded once. "I need to speak to Ardeth Bay."
"Why?" His dark expression did not change.
"It's a matter of the utmost importance."
"Why?" he repeated.
"I need to see him now. It's an emergency."
"Does he know you?"
"No, but I know he's the only man who can help me!" she screamed earnestly.
"Explain." Kerri was growing impatient with his questions. "You will not see him unless you tell me what this is all about."
Kerri rolled her eyes. "All right," she agreed, "My friend and I came here just a short while ago. We had an argument and she ran away." Kerri held up the muddy hat and purse. "I found these in an alley. I know she would never leave them just lying around, in a puddle of muddy water no less." Taking a deep breath, she uttered her innermost fear. "I think she was kidnapped."
"I am sorry, but what does this have to do with finding Ardeth Bay?"
"Because my friend is very close to him. Her name is Jensa, Jensa James." Kerri was bewildered at the sudden manifestation of fear that filled his eyes. Before she could say anything else, her grabbed her arm and began dragging her down the street. "Hey! Where are you taking me?" she demanded. She looked around him to see that he was headed for a casbah. Once inside, she saw six other Med-jai. Only then, did he let go of her arm and pulled down his veil. "Ardeth!" she cried.
"Tell me again. What happened?"
Kerri was still taken aback by the fact that she had been talking to Ardeth the whole time. Her straw hat fell forward over her eyes. Hastily, she pushed it back to its proper place. "Why didn't you tell me who you were?" Kerri asked angrily.
"I did not know you."
"I'm Kerri Hopkins."
"Jensa has spoken of you, but we are wasting time. Tell me word for word. Leave nothing out," he said, pushing her down in a chair at the table occupied by his men. Ardeth kneeled down next to her. "Begin," the Med-jai leader commanded.
The eyes of his men were trained directly on her, making her feel self-conscious, but she found her voice. "Like I said before, we argued and she was so upset she ran away. I tried to catch her, but she was too fast. I just happened to glance down an alley and I saw her purse and hat lying in a puddle of muddy water."
"You are positive they are hers?" Ardeth questioned. Kerri nodded and undid the purse clasp. She presented the monogrammed handkerchief. Ardeth reached out and his long, slender fingers briefly touched the pair of green 'J's' embroidered in a beautiful script design worthy of her beautiful name. A pained look passed over his face. He looked directly into Kerri's eyes with grim determination. "Show me this alley."
Kerri didn't waste any time. She jumped up and strode out the door. The Med-jai were close behind. Kerri knew it must be an odd sight for everyone; an American woman leading seven desert warriors down the street. Her heart pounded in her chest as she thought of what terrible things might have befallen her friend. Kerri forced the bad thoughts from her mind. Jensa had not been gone very long. Hopefully, she was still all right.
The group reached the alley.
"Show me exactly where you found Jensa's belongings," Ardeth said. As she trudged on towards the dead end of the alley, Kerri caught a glimpse of Ardeth's tattooed hands. His fists were tightly balled up. The knuckles were a ghostly white and contrasted greatly to the red anger in his eyes.
"Here," she pointed to the muddy water.
"Look around," he said to his men. One by one, each Med-jai searched the dark corners of the alley, but it was to no avail. Nothing was found. Kerri nervously folded the rim of Jensa's straw hat, not realizing she was wrinkling it. Suddenly, Kerri noticed a small girl around seven years old standing a few feet away, watching them with interest. As if the girl had found her courage, she approached Ardeth and tugged at his robes.
"Not now child," he said. She looked at him in puzzlement and again tugged at his robes, demanding attention. He spoke to her in irritated Arabic. She responded in the same language. Ardeth immediately became interested in what she had to say. He kneeled down in front of her and took her hands.
"What're they saying?" Kerri asked one of the Med-jai.
"You live here yet you do not know the language?"
"Nope. It's Greek to me."
He wrinkled his brow at her words. "What?"
"Nevermind. What's she telling him?"
"She says she saw two men following your friend when she came down this alley. She saw what happened."
"Hope springs eternal," muttered Kerri.
"Let us hope so for your friend." He stuck out his hand. "I believe this is the American greeting. My name is Fadil Tamal." He did not wear his veil. Being so short, Kerri felt incredibly small in his presence. His warm mahogany eyes were alert to their surroundings. Kerri thought he must be in his early twenties, like herself. Lines from the merciless desert sun stood out around his eyes and mouth, connecting to a slightly roundish, but strong nose. His blue-dyed tattoos were unknown to Kerri and baffled her completely, but he looked very captivating with them.
Kerri hesitated, but shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you." She felt an amazing strength in his hand, no doubt from years of rough desert training to become a Med-jai warrior. She felt a sudden urge to touch his arms and discover if they held the same strength as his hand. Immediately, she blushed with a mixture of embarrassment and shame. Now was not the time to think of his muscular arms, which stood out so prominently through his robes, especially when her dear friend was missing.
"I wish it were under better circumstances."
"So do I," she said smiling briefly and looked back towards Ardeth and the girl. He took her by the shoulders and kissed her on the forehead. She giggled and turning, ran up to the street and disappeared around the corner. "What did she say?" Kerri asked impatiently.
"She said Jensa came down this alley and that a tall man and short man followed her. Since she does not speak English, she could not understand what they said to her." Ardeth's face darkened. "Jensa tried to escape, but the taller one jumped onto her back and knocked her to the ground. The short man pulled out a small bottle, poured a liquid onto a piece of cloth and covered her mouth and nose."
Kerri gasped. "Chloroform!" Ardeth nodded. "Did the girl see where they took her?"
Ardeth nodded again and walked over to a rotting door in the brick building. "The girl said they carried her through here." He placed his right hand on his scimitar and unsheathed it with lightening speed. "And this is where we will start our search."
"I'm coming with you," Kerri announced.
"No, you are not. It would be too dangerous and you would only slow us down. Fadil, taker her home."
"But we're supposed to meet Michael. I need to tell him and her parents will be worried sick."
"Then Fadil will accompany you to your meeting place."
Kerri took a step closer to Ardeth and looked up at him worriedly. Tears brimmed her chocolate eyes. "Can you find her?"
Ardeth gave her a small smile, though the anger still burned in his veins. "I can and I will." Ardeth and the warriors burst through the door, beginning their search.
"Come Kerri, I must see you safely returned. Who is this Michael you are to meet?"
"Jensa's brother."
"Where?"
"The Kenoba hotel. We were going to meet at noon for lunch."
Fadil glanced up at the sun. "It is almost noon." He snatched her hand. "We must not waste time."
Kerri allowed Fadil to pull her down the alley to the still crowded street. The people moved out of the way so as not to cross paths with the Med-jai. Kerri swallowed hard trying to vanquish the tears threatening to spill down her face.
* * *
Ardeth stormed through the building focusing his rage on only one thing. He would kill these men who took Jensa. If they harmed one hair on her precious head, he would not be held responsible for what he did to them. He sent a silent prayer to Allah that Jensa would be unharmed when they found her. He suddenly ached to have her in his arms. He would have given his life if he could just see her alive and safe with her green eyes smiling at him. If he let himself, he would break down and that must not happen. Jensa's life depended on it.
"Ardeth," a Med-jai named Kaman said, "We have checked the entire building and the area within a two mile radius. There is nothing here." Before he could respond, Ardeth's second in command, Madir, came back into the building. "There are tire tracks outside."
"How far do they go?"
"Far enough that we cannot track them on foot. "
"Then we ride." The warriors exited the door Madir came through and rushed to retrieve their horses from the stables next to the casbah. Ardeth clicked his tongue and the Arabian shot out ahead. The tire tracks did indeed stretch ahead far beyond the city. The direction put a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. There were only two places one could inhabit this way. The Med-jai village…and Hamunaptra. They must have kidnapped Jensa as their sacrifice to give life back to Anck-su-namun. It was always the same story. Foolish people trying to raise Imhotep and be granted riches and power. They did not care about the innocent girls they kidnapped. Fortunately, no one knew where to find the Book of the Dead or the golden Book of Amun-Ra. The Med-jai had been able to stop the digging and killed anyone who made an attempt to recover the books.
Ardeth would reach Jensa in time. "I must!" he said vehemently, but he feared it would be too late. It took two days to get to Hamunaptra from Cairo and Jensa's kidnappers already had a two hour head start. Their search of the city had taken too long and that could prove fatal to Jensa. He kept a living picture of her in his mind, willing her to stay that way…alive.