Finally! Ardeth shows up! Told you so!

Chapter 9

Hoping

Ah, Cairo.

Land of a thousand mysteries, a thousand secrets. Where anything you wanted was for sale and there were at least a dozen illegal ways to get it for free. The people were many and varied, and they came from all nationalities, all walks of life, all ethical standpoints. At night the air crackled with danger, while during the day the heat was oppressive and cruel. Ah, the sights, the sounds, the...smells.

Ardeth covered his nose as he made his way through the crowded streets, suddenly remembering why he preferred the desert over the city. He would have sent someone else, but something told him this was far too important. He was needed here.

Citizens parted before him as the warrior strode through the crowd, laying a protective hand on the firearm at his side whenever someone got too close. The man who was quite possibly the inspiration for the phrase "tall, dark and handsome" was not anti-social, per se, it was more that he was...focused. He had a sacred mission, and whoever he had to kill to get it done was just going to have to accept his unfortunate place in the grand scheme of things. No, being anti-social had nothing to do with it.

Great strides had been made in this department with O'Connell and the Carnahans, Ardeth felt. He was not especially fond of Jonathan and his...ways, but he had a great respect for the girl's intelligence (no matter what Dr. Bey had said), and he might even make a grudging admission that O'Connell could beat him in a fair fight. Add it all up, it might spell the beginning of a friendship.

All this, however, depended on if any of them were even still alive. The gnawing feeling in the pit of Ardeth's stomach unsettled him. Something was horribly wrong, and he prayed that his new friends were not in the middle of it.

Unfortunately, he already knew Evelyn well enough to know that if anyone was likely to get herself into the middle of a calamity involving the undead, it was her.

Nearly a week had passed, but Rick was unaware of it. He couldn't keep track of the days, because otherwise he went crazy. It drove him mad not knowing what was happening outside the prison walls. What was happening inside was nearly as bad. He could take care of himself, sure, but he didn't know for how long. He'd heard whisperings about a hanging, and the way the guards grew silent when they caught him listening did not convey hope to Rick. The new warden didn't like him. He'd be dead in a week, and they both knew it.

Every morning Rick prayed that he had woken from some horrible nightmare. He couldn't believe this was reality. To escape death at the hands of the hangman once and fall desperately in love with your savior, only to be ripped away to face the executioner once more? That wasn't the way it was supposed to work. Rick had never believed in fate. He couldn't think it was fate that his family could be killed, that he could spend his childhood in an orphanage, that his life could be so directionless, so purposeless. He hadn't believed in fate until he'd met Evelyn, 'til he'd help bring about a 3,000 year old curse and then lay it to rest again. After all that, he couldn't believe this was the end. If he had, he'd already be dead. They'd all be dead. Now, the tiny thread of hope he clung to was tightening around his neck, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Fate was mocking Rick O'Connell.

It was strange, entering the Museum, knowing that he'd never see him again. Recovering his body from the Cairo authorities, who thought they were dealing with a rather gruesome mugging, had taken quite a bit of doing, especially since he'd been a prominent member of the community. They'd lost a valuable contact within the Museum, and Ardeth only hoped they could eventually get another Medjai into the position. There was no one near qualified to take it on, wouldn't be for several years. Perhaps the girl could be their contact, keeping an eye on potential problems...although by what his cousin had told him, she was sometimes essentially a problem in and of herself.

Ardeth encountered only a feeble old security guard (who'd promptly turned and run the other direction) on the way to the office. He caught himself before reaching for the familiar door handle, and knocked instead. No response came. He knocked again, and this time, a whiny "What?" emanated faintly from the confines of the office. Ardeth opened the door and found a lanky, somewhat disheveled looking older man, slouching miserably in the chair across the desk. He held an ice pack to the back of his head, and he squinted his eyes up at the visitor suspiciously. "Who are you?" he asked irritably. "If you're from the dig, I've already told your supervisor we can't pay you any more."

"You are the new curator."

"Dr. Daniel Miller. And you would be?"

"Forgive me, Dr. Miller, but is your head all right?"

Dr. Miller shot Ardeth a dagger-tipped glare. "What do you want?"

"I am looking for your librarian."

His frown intensified as he spat, "We have no librarian. She quit this afternoon, good riddance."

"She quit?" How would he find them now? "Do you know where I might find her?"

"I suggest you stay away from her, if you don't want a head wound." He removed the ice pack and fingered the back of his skull gingerly.

Ardeth fought back a smile. Evelyn must be stronger than he'd thought. "Perhaps I should introduce myself. I was a friend of Dr. Bey's."

For some reason Dr. Miller straightened up, interest piqued. "Wait a minute-you're not-"

"I suggest that if you-"

"Bey!" Dr. Miller cried, leaping from his chair. "Bey! It's you!" The man was dancing around behind the desk as if he'd been struck by lightning.

"What-"

"What do you know about Hamunaptra?! Tell me where it is, or I swear I'll-"

The punch came so fast that later, Dr. Miller was unsure it had even happened.

It had taken nearly an hour of searching, but eventually Ardeth had found Evelyn's address tucked away in a file cabinet in the corner of his old friend's office. Her file was fatter than most of the others, charting everything from knocking over priceless artifacts to something about flooding the basement. Ardeth decided, wisely, never to mention it.

Gaining entrance to the fort was only a minor aggravation, as people tended not to ask a lot of questions around Ardeth. He knocked firmly on what he thought was Evy's door. He heard a bit of scuffling inside, then the door cracked slightly open.

"Oh, it's you," Evelyn said, startled to see the warrior on her doorstep.

"Hello, Ms. Carnahan."

"Call me Evelyn. I never got your name."

"My name is Ardeth Bey. I suppose I never introduced myself."

"Yes, well, that was understandable. Fighting undead mummies and all that." Evelyn smiled slightly, but it was fleeting. She opened the door wide and retreated back into the room.

"Where is O'Connell?" Ardeth asked. "I need to talk with him."

Ardeth Bey was not used to dealing with any sort of emotion. Therefore, when Evelyn's lip began to tremble and she looked as though she might break into tears, he was a bit unprepared. He was even more unprepared when she suddenly started shouting, pacing across the room and waving her hands in the air like a madwoman.

"Dr. Miller had him arrested! Can you imagine! He did a background check on Rick, and found out about him deserting the Legion. Just to keep Rick away from me, I think, isn't that ironic! They didn't like each other from the start, I knew that, but I never imagined Dr. Miller would do something so underhanded! It almost makes me miss Dr. Bey! Oh--I mean--sorry..."

"Where is he?"

"He's in jail! They put him in jail!" She sat down heavily, gripping the edges of the chair 'til her knuckles turned white. "Rick's in jail, Ardeth. They took him away."

"I am sorry." Sympathy was not exactly his strong suit, either.

"Why are you here?" she asked with trepidation.

"A woman in our village had a vision. Unfortunately, she is nearly always right."

"Imhotep is here, isn't he?" Evy asked quietly.

"That was what she saw, yes. She believes he has come to Cairo."

"I've been having dreams," she said, haltingly. "Imhotep comes and kills Rick."

Ardeth waited for her to continue. "And?"

"And that's it! Imhotep comes toward me, and then, nothing."

"Are you sure you're not just..." Ardeth struggled to find the words. "...upset by your experiences-"

"I'm sure! Something's happening to us! Rick passed out the other day, and he said something in ancient Egyptian, and today...I don't know, maybe it's nothing. I was talking to Dr. Miller in the library, and then suddenly I wake up on the floor outside, and he's back in the library, unconscious. I don't know what happened!"

"He did seem to be in quite a lot of pain. I thought perhaps you had something to do with it." Ardeth couldn't hide his smile.

Evelyn's eyes widened. "I don't know what happened!" she repeated. "He's been bugging me about Hamunaptra, he said he-" her tone switched from defensive to antagonistic as she rose from her chair- "and could you tell me exactly why Dr. Bey kept papers in his office pertaining to the Medjai?! Dr. Miller knew all about it!"

Before Ardeth could defend the departed curator, the door swung open and Jonathan bounced cheerily into the room. He stopped short when he saw the Medjai, giving him a terse, "Oh, it's you," before kneeling down in front of Evelyn and taking her hands. "Evy, I've done something, and I hope you aren't upset with me."

"What, Jonathan?" she said suspiciously, as if she needed more to be upset about.

"Well, I've given away some of my treasure."

Evy sat down again, too tired to protest too loudly. "What did you do?"

"It was for a good cause, don't worry," Jonathan reassured his sister.

"Jonathan, you probably got ripped off."

"Perhaps, but it's my treasure, and I can decide what to do with it."

Evy had a sudden thought. "How did you get into the safe?"

"Give me a little credit, Evy!" Jonathan exclaimed.

"You broke into my safe!" she protested, anger building.

"Come on now, I'm sure you won't object when you see what I've traded for it..."

***

Woo hoo, how exciting. R&R, as always...