DISCLAIMER: The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and it's characters belong to Stephen Sommers and Universal Pictures


Chapter 5:

Evie caught up with Rick as they headed back to the entry. Rick offered her his arm and she took it smiling. She told him a little of her conversation with Joseph Bey and promised to give full details when Jonathan was present.

They walked slower than usual, taking advantage of having each other to themselves without Jonathan's hen pecking.

As they rounded the corner, they nearly collided with an old woman who appeared to be in a rush.

"Oh my heavens!" said the old woman. "I'm so sorry my dears. I'm afraid I wasn't paying attention."

"It's perfectly alright," Evie reassured.

"Everything okay?" Rick asked noticing the old woman was a little skittish.

"I'm fine, yes. The man at the front gave me a start. I was rushing off to find a security guard." She leaned in closer to whisper. "I think he's mad!"

Rick disguised his laugh as a cough. Evie glared at her brother, who was pacing back and forth in front of the bags like a soldier keeping guard, scowling at anyone who looked his way.

Evie smiled at the lady. "Oh, there's no need to be getting the security. He may be a little touched in the head, but he wouldn't hurt a fly."

"So you know him then?" asked the old woman.

"Yes," Rick answered. "He's my brother-in-law," Rick lied.

Evie looked to Rick in surprise. He elbowed her as a sign to play along.

"Er, yes. We were just going on our way to see his doctor to get a refill on his medication."

"What a great husband you have," the old lady said to Evie. "Most men would not take on the responsibilities of helping to care for in-laws. You two make such a handsome couple! The love between you two simply lights up the room. Well then, good day."

The old woman left the two of them alone. Rick and Evie stood frozen in place. Neither could look at the other, afraid of the feelings they would see in the other's eyes. They both felt very nervous with each other.

Rick broke the unnerving silence. "If you ask me, I think that old woman was the crazy one."

Evie stiffened next to him and let go of his arm.

"Yes. Simply raving mad," she said in an upset voice with her eyes flashing daggers at him.

She walked away at a fast pace towards Jonathan with her chin held high.

Damn it, Rick thought. Why the hell did he just say that? He'd have to remember to keep his mouth shut if he was ever feeling nervous again in Evie's company.

Joseph gave a sigh as he grudgingly went back to the task of getting rid of the pesky American.

"Sorry for the interruption. Just some old friends of the family." He made his way behind the desk and sat down. "Now as I was saying, this City of the Dead you speak of does not exist, nor does the legendary treasure. The stories were fabricated by locals as a marketing ploy to amuse tourists or to lure them into the desert in order to rob them and leave them to die."

"Well," said the man, "you're the expert. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I guess there's nothing left for me in Egypt, so I'll just pack up and head on home." He stood and extended his right hand. "Thank you for your time."

Dr. Bey stood and shook the man's hand. The door closed behind the pesky American and Dr. Bey fell back into chair with a sigh of relief.

"Well that was easy," he said to the empty room. A little too easy, he thought.

The man quickly made his way out of the museum. He knew his parting words weren't exactly convincing, but it was more important that he catch up with this Rick and Evelyn. He'd bet his greatest archeological finds that the woman had nearly mentioned Hamunaptra as the place she had insisted on going to.

They'd most likely be looking for a place to stay, he thought.

He headed for the main area of the city which would have the decent hotels put up for tourists. As he turned the corner, he spotted the group and quickly jumped back to hide behind the building. He glanced around the building and as they moved on, he followed, keeping as much distance as he could without losing them.

The third person he saw with them must be the brother that was mentioned back in the library. He didn't look like much of a threat. However, he'd have to watch out for O'Connell.

His best bet would be to talk to the woman, but he had to wait until she was alone. He watched her as she spoke in another language, one he spoke fluently as well, to a local man. She laughed and blushed prettily as the man flaunted over her, showering her with compliments and flowery words. She was a pretty little thing, he thought. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and frowned at himself for getting distracted. Why was it that most of the people he's had to deal with in his career were beautiful women? He looked to O'Connell, who was scowling and looked ready to knock some heads together. By Rick's reaction, the man concluded that he was most likely her husband. That thought helped him to keep his concentration since he was not the type to fool around with another man's wife.

Rick and Jonathan untied the bags as Evie paid the man to take care of the camels. She counted out the money, placing it in the man's hand, but the man stopped her from handing the rest over.

"No, no," he said in his language, pocketing the money then taking her hand. For you, my beautiful Lotus flower, I only charge half price." He kissed her hand.

Evie beamed at him, thanking him for his generosity and compliments. She had to yank her hand from his grasp as Rick shoved one of the bags of clothes at her.

Rick grabbed two of the treasure bags and threw them over his shoulders. Evie and Jonathan grabbed the third bag in one hand and the remaining bags of clothing and supplies in their other.

"What is your problem, O'Connell?" asked Evie.

"My problem? You're the one that's going to end up with a problem on your hands if you don't stop acting so friendly with men you don't know."

"For your information," said Evie sounding proud of herself, "I just got us a deal. He only charged us half his usual price."

"Yah? But don't be surprised if he expects something else from you to make up the difference."

Evie made her sound of annoyance and stopped in her tracks. "Is that right? For your information, not all men have a one track mind. And tell me, Mr. O'Connell," she said, putting an emphasis on his name, "what constitutes someone as a stranger? Perhaps a lack of knowledge of someone's past and background? Or perhaps the length of time you know them? In either case, that would mean I need to keep my distance from you as well!" she finished with a huff and continued in to the hotel, dragging Jonathan along.

"She's got you there, O'Connell," Jonathan said over his shoulder.

"Shove it, Carnahan."

The gold coins that Rick had given to the hotel manager had gotten them two of the best rooms in the place as well as a guarantee that they may stay however long they wished.

Jonathan had insisted on sharing a room with his sister. She'd get the bedroom and he would sleep on the couch in the main room. He claimed that it wouldn't be safe for Evelyn to be in a room by herself, but Evie knew it was because he wanted to keep an eye on her. She wouldn't be able to sneak out without him knowing, since he'd be sleeping so close to the door.

Evie was going over everything that had happened between herself and Rick while she unpacked. She heard him leave his room and she begin pacing, expecting him to knock at any moment in order to apologize. She was still rather angry at him and was going over what she'd say to him. After about an half hour of pacing, she realized that he would not be knocking and figured that he had left the hotel. After finishing up her unpacking, she sat down on a chair and stared out the window. It had now been about an hour since he'd left. Her anger had been replaced by sadness and her heart felt heavy.

Jonathan sat down in a chair opposite her, bringing her out of her reverie.

"Let me tell you a secret, Ol' Mum. When a man starts having feelings for a woman, he tends to act like a jackass at times and the most asinine things can come out of his mouth. It's as if we can't control ourselves. Then we spend a lot of time pondering why the devil we just did what we did or said what we said."

Evie raised her eyebrows and looked at Jonathan. His words had made her feel better, but now she was highly curious.

"How do you know that, Jonathan? In all my years, I cannot recall a time when you've spoken about any particular woman. In fact, I don't remember seeing you in the company of the same woman for more than a week's time."

Jonathan waved his hand to stop her thoughts from wandering in that direction. "I don't speak from experience. I, for one, have been able to keep my head and have not gotten my heart involved when it comes to women."

"Then how do you know that for a fact?"

"Well," Jonathan said, "father had a man-to-man talk with me a few months before we lost him. He told me all about the crazy mixed up emotions and drama. In fact," he said in a tone of someone who thought he was quite clever, "his talk helped me to remember to keep any emotions out of a relationship."

Evie now looked a little worried. What if all men did the same thing? "Jonathan, I don't think father intended for you to lock up your emotions. He was most likely giving you a heads up on what to expect. I'm sure he'd be sad to know that you have not experienced any of those things."

Jonathan looked as if he were really thinking that over. His pondering was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Ah, that will be the extra blanket and pillow," said Jonathan.

Evie faced the window once more and was immediately lost in thought over what Jonathan had just said. She was startled back into reality when a beautiful bouquet of flowers appeared in front of her face. Her heart beat quickened as she took the flowers and turned to face Rick. When their eyes met, butterflies took flight in her stomach.

Rick felt the same fluttering and thought he had maybe eaten something funny.

"May I?" he asked, gesturing to the chair. When she nodded, he sat down.

Evie looked at her brother who gave her the thumbs up. He sat down on his couch and picked up one of Evie's books on Egypt, pretending to be absorbed in its content.

Rick looked over his shoulder to see what Evie was looking at. He knew his chances of getting Jonathan to leave the room were slim to none. He'd just have to do what he came to do in his presence. He turned back to face Evie.

"Evelyn, I'm really sorry about the things I said."

Evie didn't say anything to that. She thought she'd make him sweat a little. She saw Jonathan peering over the book to see her reactions.

Rick did begin to sweat. He had spent more than an hour going over what he'd say to her and it all left his head as soon as he had looked at her. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Look, I know I've been a jackass."

Upon hearing that word, Jonathan pointed to Rick then tapped his nose as an "on the nose" sign. Evie bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Rick turned around quickly, but Jonathan appeared to be reading.

"And tell me, O'Connell," said Evie getting Rick's attention back, "why have you been acting in such a way?"

"Well," Rick said wiping his sweaty palms on his pants, "I'm still trying to figure that out."

At that, Jonathan began vigorously signaling. He pointed to Rick, then drew a heart in the air with his pointer finger, then pointed to Evie.

Rick saw Evie's eyes widen and a blush creep up her cheeks. He whipped around quickly and Jonathan threw his hand in the air as if he were stretching, throwing in a yawn for good measure. He then resumed looking at the book.

"From the bottom of my heart, Evelyn, I'm truly, honestly sorry. I'd really like to take you to dinner tonight so we can get to know each other better."

Jonathan started to clear his throat loudly.

Rick got the 'subtle' hint. "Of course, with your brother's permission."

Evie smiled. "I accept your apology and I'd love to have dinner with you. Just give me a couple of minutes to get ready."

"Until then." Rick kissed her hand and walked towards the couch. "Jonathan, may I have your permission to take your sister to dinner?"

Jonathan, still holding the book in one hand, rubbed his chin as if he were seriously thinking about it. "All right, I give you my permission. But have her back by eleven. And keep your hands to yourself. Oh, and-"

"Thank you," Rick interrupted through gritted teeth. "By the way," Rick grabbed the book, flipped it around, and put it back in Jonathan's hands, "you may get more out of it this way."

Jonathan reddened with embarrassment as Rick left the room. He had been holding the book upside down the whole time.

A/N: Once again, sorry for the delay in updates. I've been extremely busy and I'm a slow writer, but I hope to give this story more attention! Please R&R (be nice & no flames!) as it motivates me to get my rear in gear!