Author's Note: My goodness, I'm sorry for the extreme lack of updates. I kept putting it off and putting it off...Eeep.
Anyhoo, this chapter isn't all that exciting - it's rather blah. Things will get better in the next few chapters, I hope. :-) And as always, I apologize for any mistakes in the script, etc.
Chapter Five: The Lost City
I awoke the next morning surrounded by gold. The rising sun had stained the sky a sparkling yellow-orange, and the course sand adapted the shade as well. I sighed, a lazy smile on my lips as I studied the sunrise.
"You're up."
O'Connell.
"Good morning," I responded brightly, remembering the previous night's conversation which I'd overheard.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Oh, yes," I said earnestly.
"You didn't hear...anything?" he continued cautiously.
I held back laughter. "No, I don't believe so...why do you ask?"
"There were just some...noises last night," O'Connell said, attempting nonchalance. "Didn't want them to scare you."
"I assure you, Mr. O'Connell, I don't scare easily."
He gave me an infuriatingly cocky grin. "We'll see about that when we get to Hamunaptra."
I began to feel faintly annoyed. "And what, pray tell, do you mean by that?"
"Well," he said with a shrug. "There's something there. Something bad. Dangerous. It's not exactly the place for women."
"Do you imply that I won't be able to handle it?" I snapped, now officially infuriated.
"I don't know," he responded, indifferent. "You just seem the type that would be safer sitting at a tea party."
Wretched chauvinistic pig.
"I'll have you know, Mr. O'Connell," I proclaimed heatedly, growing louder and more livid with each word, "That just because I am a woman doesn't mean that I won't be fully capable of this expedition! I've devoted my entire life to this, and I'd be willing to bet you a large sum of money that I'll remain more calm and collected once we reach Hamunaptra than you will! At least I don't believe in silly ghouls and monsters haunting the place!"
"I wouldn't make that proclamation until we get there," he snapped.
"Unlike more stupid individuals who I won't waste my time naming, I am not foolish enough to believe in your silly monster tales!" I spat. "I base my beliefs on facts rather than silly superstitions!"
And with that, I lightly dug my heels into the camel's sides, causing it to speed up and leave O'Connell in the dust where he most certainly belonged.
Stupid, idiotic, narcissistic man! I thought angrily. I have no idea what he was talking about last night. If he's trying to win my affection, he'll never succeed...not until he learns a few things about the superior gender.
"Jeez," I heard him mutter from behind. "Touchy, touchy."
I didn't bother with an answer.
~ * ~
Unbeknownst to me, a turbulent rivalry had sprung from between my traveling partners and the Americans who were also searching for the Lost City. They approached us with lips curled in sneers of dislike which O'Connell and Jonathan returned (the latter looking rather comical).
"Good morning, my friend," the leader of the Americans who was apparently a past acquaintance of O'Connell's (I believed his name was Beni) called. His voice was oily and a bit nervous, and his large eyes gave him the appearance of an overgrown housefly.
O'Connell nodded briskly in return before pausing, gaze fixed intently on the horizon.
I wondered what he was doing, but didn't bother to ask. After all, it was clear that the sexist Neanderthal didn't think I was courageous enough to take part on the journey.
I glanced at Beni, whose eyes were fixed in the same direction as O'Connell's with identical intensity.
Confused, Jonathan and I exchanged a look. Clearly, something important was about to happen, and I was desperate to know what it was. If there was anything I couldn't stand, it was not possessing knowledge that others seemed to.
"Well, what the hell we doin'?" one of the Americans demanded impatiently.
"Patience, my good sahib," Beni ordered. "Patience."
Another one of the Americans looked at O'Connell, sneering.
"Remember our bet, O'Connell," he sneered. "First one to the city. Five hundred cash bucks!"
O'Connell ignored him.
"Hey O'Connell," Beni called snidely. "Nice camel."
O'Connell didn't reply, and instead stroked the camel's head with an expression that seemed he wished Beni were anywhere but there. I couldn't blame him; I was already beginning to detest the little twit myself.
"Get ready," O'Connell said, voice low.
I momentarily forgot my anger directed towards him in the unbearable excitement of the moment.
"For what??" I asked eagerly.
"We're about to be shown the way," he muttered.
As if on cue, the hazy sunlight seemed to paint a picture into the sky. It wavered like a reflection in the water, shimmering in liquid gold.
A mirage.
And though the image wavered and the view was faint, I knew immediately what it was.
Hamunaptra.
After a moment of amazed silence, the Americans burst into a loud round of enthusiastic whoops and cheers before taking off toward it.
"Here we go again," O'Connell muttered, following suit. Jonathan did the same, and, filled with a sudden burst of energy, I raced after them.
The wind tousled my hair as I rode, a smile involuntarily blossoming onto my face as I gained speed. It was an exhilarating rush, a certain sense of freedom that I'd yearned for in vain while organizing books at the museum for three excruciating years.
Ahead, O'Connell and Beni were engaging in a violent fight, lashing each other with whips in a desperate attempt to get ahead. Finally, after an intense moment of beating one another like pack mules, Beni went toppling from his camel and to the ground.
I grew closer to him, faster and faster, as he moaned in pain.
"Serves you right," I announced, eyeing him distastefully.
The camel attained more and more speed, and within seconds I was next to O'Connell. I beamed at him, too excited to dwell upon our argument, and he gave me a crooked smile in return, looking a bit surprised that I had forgotten the row so quickly.
I debated over what to say - should I apologize or just act as though I had completely forgotten the quarrel? He studied me expectantly for a moment, and just as I'd phrased a semi-coherent answer in my head, the camel lurched forward.
A sudden burst of energy had apparently overtaken it, and it doubled speed.
"Ohh!" I cried out in surprise, leaving O'Connell behind as the camel's trotting grew even more rapid.
Hamunaptra grew closer and closer, standing in its majestic glory that I'd dreamed about since childhood. There was an inexplicable bliss at the prospect of visiting a place that had fascinated me for as long as I could remember. I'd always considered it to be a mere myth until recently, and now I was speeding toward it. For a brief moment I wondered if it was just a mirage, but it looked so steady now, so whole.
And yet I couldn't quite grasp that it was real.
The wind was rushing through my hair now, and a smile broke out onto my face as the camel galloped forward.
"Whoo!" I heard Jonathan shout from behind. "Go Evy! Go!"
And suddenly, in a flash of wind in my hair and sand stinging my eyes, I was there. Jonathan still cheered behind me as I descended from the camel and ran my hand lightly over one of the great stone columns.
It was solid.
It was real.
I felt ecstatic and at the same time oddly relaxed, as though I were meant to be here. Egypt seemed to dance its way through my blood; I had always loved it, thrived for its history and culture. If such a thing as reincarnation existed (though I firmly believed it didn't), I was somehow sure that I would have been part of Egypt when the civilization had thrived so many thousands of years ago.
I was lost in my thoughts and the warm feel of the sun-scorched stone beneath my fingers as O'Connell rode up behind me.
"Thanks," he said.
I looked up to find him smiling.
"For what?" I inquired.
As the scowling Americans entered the desolate necropolis, O'Connell's grin widened.
"You just won me five hundred bucks."
"Don't be a bastard and rub it in, O'Connell," one of the Americans (Henderson, if I was correct) ordered, sneering.
O'Connell simply smiled.
"I should try this betting thing more often."
~ * ~
"That's the statue of Anubis," I announced to Jonathan and O'Connell, gesturing toward the wind-worn sculpture, withered with age. It was still so surreal, to actually be there. I had half a mind to start skipping around, screeching with joy.
Then again, I didn't want everyone to think I'd gone mad.
Instead, I continued my explanation of the statue. "His legs go deep underground. According to the Bembridge scholars, that's where we'll find the secret compartment containing the book of Amun-Re."
Completely uninterested, Jonathan fiddled around with one of the ancient mirrors that stood next to him.
"Jonathan, you're meant to catch the sun with that," I informed him, a bit impatient.
I could feel O'Connell's eyes on me...it was both unsettling and completely exhilarating all at once.
"So, uh...what are these old...uh, mirrors for?"
He seemed almost...nervous.
"Ancient mirrors," I responded. "It's an ancient Egyptian trick...you'll see."
He watched me for a moment, almost as though he were attempting to work up the courage to do something. I had no idea what it could possibly be, and sincerely hoped that Jonathan hadn't put anymore ideas into his head after I'd fallen asleep.
"Uh...here," he said, pulling a small tool kit from behind his back. I couldn't help but notice his extensive use of 'uh's.
It was rather endearing.
"This is for...uh, you," he continued, handing the tool kit to me. "Go ahead. It's something I borrowed off our American brethren."
Oh God.
He'd actually done it. He'd taken Jonathan's advice.
Flashes of their conversation from the night before danced through my mind.
"Steal something."
"What??"
"She'll never know! It works every time."
Dazed, I studied it.
"Thought you might like it," O'Connell stammered. "...You might need it for your, uh, you know..."
He nervously pantomimed using a hammer and chisel for a moment before freezing for a moment.
Perhaps he'd just realized exactly what he was doing.
Abruptly, he turned and walked away, brushing against the warden and glaring at him.
"What are you looking at?" he snapped.
I stared after him, laughter begging to escape my lips but sheer surprise preventing it.
Dear Lord, I thought worriedly, He must really be desperate to take Jonathan's advice.
It was quite sad, really.
And what was even sadder was that it was working remarkably well.