Disclaimer: Of the characters I can claim only very few of them as my own - namely Rebecca. I do not make any claim on the characters featuring in "The Mummy".
Chapter 5 - Thoughts
The wind tousled Tarnas Ket's long dark hair, ruffling his clothes, while the rain soaked through him, freezing him to the bone. It had been a very long time since a storm such as this had arisen. He growled in anger. The storm meant that the Med-jai could not attack the ship, would have to wait until it blew itself out before killing the party that hunted for Hamunaptra.
He sighed, tapping his fingers against the ship's railings. He felt a moment's sorrow for those who would die. He felt but a little for the leader of the expedition - a pompous arrogant Englishman - and little for the diggers, who should have known better than to go to Hamunaptra. For the brother, and the daughter, however, he felt more strongly. Their crime was merely to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Are you looking for something?"
Tarnas spun around, eyes widening in shock, hand leaping for the dagger hidden under his clothes. His panic subsided as he realised that the person who had surprised him was only the young girl. He stared at her for a moment through narrowed eyes. She was strange, even for a foreigner. Her face was pale and drawn, despite the almost perpetual Egyptian sun, and she seemed to always be trying to hide herself. Even amongst crowds of people, she always seemed to be alone. Her expression, usually so dreamy and shy, was now curious and thoughtful, although still shy.
He smiled, and she dropped her eyes before he could meet them. "Looking? No. I was just admiring the storm."
Rebecca nodded. That's what she was here to do as well. The power of the weather, the speed of the wind, ripped her breath away from her, and the rain soaked her to the bone. Despite this, she could hardly keep herself from laughing out loud, from glorying in the weather, and this reflected itself as a sparkle in her eyes, which anyone might have seen had she not kept them downcast.
"Do you believe in it?" The girl's voice was so quiet that he could barely hear it above the howling wind that threatened to tug him away from the railings. The girl tilted her head sideways, eyes flicking over his face and then back downwards towards the water. "In Hamunaptra?"
"I do not know." Ternas looked carefully at the young girl. The wind ripped strands of her hair out from the tight braid she had pulled it into, the rain-darkened hair flying wildly around her head. "But I am not sure it is a good idea to find out."
"Then why are you here?"
Tarnas laughed, white teeth gleaming even in the gloom. He was posing as one of the diggers, along with two other Med-jai. "Because your father pays well" he answered flippantly.
"Oh". The girl continued to stare down at the rain- and wind-churned waters.
"I think, however, that it might be dangerous. There are those who think that our history should be left alone, at least by those such as you. Our history, our legends, whether real or not, are for us, not for you." His anger showed more clearly than he had intended, as he expounded on a subject that he felt so strongly about. It was not for other people to try and interfere in Egypt. They would be better off leaving it alone. These people's arrogant curiosity would, in this case, lead to their deaths.
The girl looked up, tilting her head sideways, and Tarnas could see her considering what he had said, obviously something that she had never considered before. Some part of him hoped that she might take his warning to heart, perhaps refuse to go to Hamunaptra. Finally, she asked him: "If you feel this way, then why are you here?"
"As I said. You father pays well."
She frowned, and they both lapsed into silence, staring down at the water, both alone with their thoughts.