SUMMARY: A falcon figurine carved from solid crystal leads Rick O'Connell and Ardeth Bey into mortal danger. Bad summary, great story, or so I've been told. Read. Review.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first Mummy fic. For the supporters of Imhotep, sorry, he's not in this one. But there's plenty to keep the Ardeth and Rick fan clubs happy.
WARNING: I freely admit this is a work in progress. I have the first chapters written, and the final 3 (the scenes from a dream that inspired the whole story in the first place), but I'm still working on the in-between. As of today, I do intend to finish the story. However, I start back to college next Monday, am having minor surgery on my shoulder on Wednesday, and who knows where my life will go after that? So, read at your own risk. Flames will be doused with buckets of snow that are currently falling outside my Dallas, Texas, apartment, but constructive critique will be much appreciated. Okay. On with the story!
THE WINGS OF HORUS
By Meercat
Chapter 2
Rick O'Connell spent most of the following day wondering what possible help he could be to the Medjai. Why did the leader of the First Tribe need an American's help, even an American who'd fought with him against both Imhotep and the Scorpion King?
Evelyn rose much later than usual, possibly due to the delightful events that followed her "spanking" for the sin of eavesdropping. After a long talk over kippers, his scholar-wife hurried off to the museum, muttering under her breath that the answers would surely lie in the scrolls and books stored in its dusty, dreary library.
Throughout the long, hot day, Rick stayed close to the house, expecting Ardeth to reappear at any moment. He spent the time readying his travel packs and weapons in case of a sudden getaway. The former troublemaker turned adventurer thanked whatever fates arranged for their son, Alex, to board at school for the term. Evelyn's brother Jonathan, and the family solicitors, would look after him during his parents' trip to Cairo to acquire antiquities for the British Museum.
Despite every far-flung door and window and the slowly spinning wicker and palm frond fans, the air in the rooms remained cloying and stagnant. Clothing plastered against his skin, rank with sweat. Three times he washed and changed shirts, and still the Medjai did not reappear.
As the sun sank, O'Connell's Irish temper rose. By full dark, he fumed. Not even Evelyn's cheerful greeting could diffuse the rant that bubbled just beneath the surface.
"I'm sure he'll appear any second now," Evy tried to reason with her prowling husband. "He's just been delayed, that's all. Oh, dear, I do hope he isn't in trouble or something. You don't suppose he's been hurt or--or ambushed or something, do you? This city is swarming with thieves and cutthroats."
"If an entire army of Anubis warriors couldn't hurt him, I don't think he has much to fear from a Cairo street rat."
"True enough," she agreed. Evy leaped in her seat in a sudden burst of excitement. "You won't believe what I discovered in the library. The Wings of Horus is described as a statue carved from a single piece of flawless crystal, supposedly thrown to earth by Horus himself in answer to a prayer by his priests for relief from a terrible plague. My guess is, it was a meteorite or something like that, but it still makes for a delightful story. Other than carving it in the shape of a falcon, the only addition the craftsmen made to the crystal was the placement of two unblemished amber stones for eyes. Amber was the most prized gem in Egyptian times. More precious than gold or diamonds."
"So, Horus throws them a stone. What good did it do?"
"According to legend, the stone has healing properties and can grant a privileged few extended life. Not eternal life, since that would be the domain of the gods alone, but extended perhaps by thousands of years."
O'Connell pursed his lips. "I know a few people who would give a pretty penny for something like that."
"As so I," Ardeth Bey called from the doorway to the sitting room.
"There you are!" Evelyn greeting the Medjai with a smile. She noted the dark circles under his eyes that denoted lack of sleep and the weary slump of his shoulders that no amount of warrior pride could correct. "We were beginning to worry."
"No, 'we' were not," Rick countered. His greeting was anything but pleasant. "'We' are about to take off your head--where the hell have you been?"
"Tracking those who have stolen the statue. I hoped to take it from them before they reached the safety of their holes but unfortunately was not successful."
"Which reminds me," Rick said. "Why do you need me? I mean, you can call up a thousand warriors to do your bidding. What do you need me for?"
"For one, your white skin. For another, your name. For a third, your wife's rather renowned interest in unique and mysterious Egyptian relics."
"Excuse me?"
Ardeth motioned toward the still-open door at his back. "Bring all the coin you possess. I will explain on the way."
"Coin! Hold on just one damn minute! What do we need money for?"
Irritation sharpened the Medjai's tone. "The statue is to be sold tonight. If we cannot steal it, we will have to purchase it. I have some money, but not enough."
"And you expect me to buy it for you?"
"No, you buy it for your wife, who is known to collect such things. By the time those who seek the statue realize you no longer have it, the Wings of Horus will be safely hidden away beneath the desert sands."
"And while the statue is safe, me and my family become targets!" Rick glowered at the other man. "If you weren't my friend, I'd be seriously ticked off."
"If you were not my friend," Ardeth countered, "you would be dead long since."
"Now, children," Evelyn chided the pair, "play nice. The sandbox is big enough to two stout young boys to play in." A soft mrrrp drew Evelyn's attention to the brindle kitten cradled in the warrior's tattooed hands. "Coooo, she's adorable!"
"She is yours, beloved wife of my dear friend, to keep you company in place of your husband."
Evy nuzzled the purring kitten's face before looking up in wary suspicion. "In place of my husband? And where, precisely, are you taking him?"
"To an auction of stolen relics. We should return by dawn."
"But I'm coming with you! You'll need me to authenticate-"
"Authenticate what?" Rick said. "How many crystal bird statues with orange eyes could there be?"
Ardeth added his own, even more practical objections. "The section of town where we are going is no place for you, Evelyn." With one hand he grasped the hilt of a scimitar. With the other, he indicated the guns strapped beneath O'Connell's arms. "It is dangerous enough for men armed and alert."
Evelyn set the kitten down on the wicker-backed lounge chair and glared daggers at the two men. "I am coming."
"No, you aren't."
Evy stamped her foot. "Yes, I am!"
"Do you have a sense of déjà vu about this?" Rick asked. "We went through a scene like this once before."
"Yes we did, and if you will recall, locking me in my room did nothing to stop Imhotep from absorbing another victim and--k-ugh--kissing me!"
Rick picked up the brindle kitten and pushed her into Evy's hands. "Call me superstitious, but--hang onto her, will you?"
Before she could more than sputter a response, her husband pulled his emergency money belt from the desk drawer and followed his friend into the Cairo night.
TBC