Thanks to all my lovely readers! :) I've got an idea about Ardeth....we'll see. And I decided Rick's Irish. :) Have fun, love y'all :):):)

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We hadn't even stepped on the boat yet, and already I had a very bad feeling about this trip. Following Jonathan and the madwoman around the desert was a bad, bad idea, but I couldn't bring myself to call it off. Imagine the opportunity... Come on, it was Hamunaptra! I would have given everything I owned and auctioned off my right arm to get the chance to go to Hamunaptra.

Of course, this all hinged on the debatable fact that Evelyn Carnahan was telling the truth. I surely was not looking forward to spending time with her, even if she did hold the key to the greatest archaeological discovery of our time. Her personality was lacking in a certain restraint, to say the least. I could only imagine the kind of a life she'd led. No morals, ethics, or general principles were apparent. I had a feeling she wasn't going to tell me, ever, what she'd done to land herself in prison. Frankly, I really, really didn't want to know.

"Morning, old chap!" called Jonathan across some distance. It took me a minute to make my way to him, for the docks were crowded with all manner of people carrying all manner of baggage. Jonathan himself was sitting on an upturned lifeboat near the ramp next to some woman.

It struck me first that she was beautiful. Second, that she was Evelyn Carnahan. Even then, it took me a minute to process the sight. She'd washed her hair (thank the Lord) and it was actually a very handsome, frizzy brown color, tied back but breaking free wherever it could. It suited her. She also suddenly had green eyes. How had I failed to notice yesterday that she had green eyes?

"Hallo," she said, and there was no trace of the audacious prisoner of yesterday. She even sounded a little shy. "We didn't exactly meet yesterday. Sorry about my behavior."

"Right." I cleared my throat, my speech suddenly sounding a little funny in my ears. "No problem."

"And I'm very sorry for threatening you, and..." She looked to Jonathan. "And what was the other one?"

Her brother rolled his eyes, getting to his feet. "Honestly, Evy, you had the whole thing in down in the car. You're sorry you kiss--"

"Yeah, that." She veritably leapt to her feet and swept up her and Jonathan's luggage. "Plenty of time for niceties later. We have to board."

I cleared my throat loudly. "Just a minute, Miss Carnahan. If this is just some sort of wild-goose chase, you'd better call it off right now, because--"

"Whoa, buddy." She stepped closer to me, nearly in my face. For such a small thing she was surprisingly intimidating. "Listen up. I don't know what you think you're getting into, but all I found out there was sand and blood. Good luck with finding anything else."

She left without another word, and she'd been gone awhile before Jonathan attempted conversation with me. "Forget it," he said, steering me toward the boat. "She likes to tease, but she's a heartbreaker. Far too good for you, my friend."

Ha ha. Funny. "Thanks. I feel so much better."

Jonathan shrugged, as if he was surprised that his infinite wisdom was not, in fact, just what I needed. We managed to board and get settled without too much trouble from his sister the madwoman, and it was night before I saw her again. Or more appropriately, before she saw me, and interrupted a perfectly fascinating text on the accomplishments of the Bembridge Scholars.

"Mesmerizing stuff, eh?" she said, plopping down in the chair across from me as if she intended to stay.

"I'm sure it's trite compared to what you've seen, Ms. Carnahan. Now... if you don't mind, I'd like to hear some of those stories. I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into."

She contemplated me for a minute, as if deciding whether I could handle the horror that was undoubtedly her life. "All right, buddy. You asked for it."

"Why don't you start with how you came to be at Hamunaptra in the first place?"

"How about I start wherever I feel like starting?"

How about I throw you overboard? "Just talk, Ms. Carnahan."

She settled back, still eyeing me with caution. "An old boyfriend of mine--"

Stab. "Your, uh, boyfriend?"

"Are you going to let me talk or what?"

"Go on."

"At the time I met this guy, he was getting a reputation for telling these fantastic stories about Hamunaptra, but never substantiating them. So eventually I...convinced him to prove it, and we took a little trip to Hamunaptra."

"'Convinced' him?"

"Shut up. Long story short, he left me there to rot, but I got back on my own. With this." She reached inside her sweater and pulled out a small hexagonal box. "It had a map inside, but I don't need it to find the place. What you need, though..." She fiddled with the box for a moment, and it snapped open into a star shape. "...is this."

I took the box from her, heart hammering. An actual real-life artifact from Hamunaptra! Maybe this expedition wasn't such a bad idea, after all. "Where did you find it?"

She shrugged. Clearly she did not have the mind of an archaeologist. "In the sand. I tripped on it, actually. Like it was just waiting there for me to find it. What do you think it means?"

My mind was flooded with images of ancient tombs and fantastic treasures, though that is of course not what I'm here for. It's not. "It looks like...a key of some sort."

She looked quite skeptical. "You know buddy, they lock things for a reason. Maybe I shouldn't have given that to you."

I don't even look up from the key. What does she know? "Maybe you should just lead us there and not worry about the details."

"Maybe I should just take my key, then," she spits right back.

Oh, please. "Maybe I shouldn't have gotten you out of prison."

"Maybe I should have ditched this damn expedition in the first place."

"Maybe you shouldn't have kissed me."

What I said doesn't even register in my mind before it does in hers, and she stands, snatches the key from my hand and stomps off loudly.

Why on earth did I say that?