Chapter 18 – Remembering the Curse
The sun was under the horizon when Ardeth and Rick pulled up their horses for the third time. "There is no point in continuing," Ardeth said heavily. "We can't follow this trail in the dark." They'd already had to backtrack twice. "We could lose the trail completely."
Rick nodded wearily. He hated the thought of delaying until morning, but there was nothing else to do. He glanced at the small sliver of moon in the sky. Not enough light to go by. He dismounted, wincing as his feet touched the ground. "You know, Ardeth," he said, rubbing his backside. "Remember when I told you I liked your horses? I take it all back."
Ardeth grinned briefly, then arranged his saddle on the ground to use as a pillow. "Here," he said, tossing Rick a blanket.
"Thanks," he said, propping his shotgun next to his own saddle for easy reach if necessary. "Did your mother pack any food in that thing?"
Ardeth rummaged around. "Dried strips of meat and some bread." He handed some over.
"Dare I hope its beef?"
"Mutton."
"I hate mutton," Rick said conversationally, and then philosophically took a bite.
"I suspect our friends are headed toward the river. They must have a boat waiting to take them to Cairo."
"You think they're going to Cairo?"
Ardeth shrugged. "That's where Varne is. I cannot imagine who else could be behind this."
"I'm going to kill him."
"Not if I get to him first."
"Hey, it's my job to kill the bad guys."
"You got to kill Imhotep and the Scorpion King. I just get mummies and flunkies. It's my turn."
"You got all those Anubis warriors." Rick pointed out.
"True enough."
"Only one problem that I can see," Rick sat up straighter and looked at Ardeth. "If this guy keeps getting reincarnated, what's the point of killing him? Won't he just come back?"
Ardeth frowned. "There must be a way to either trap or destroy his soul."
"The Scorpion King couldn't come back without the bracelet of Anubis, and Imhotep needed someone to recite from the Book of the Dead. What's this guy's story? How did he come back?"
Ardeth's frown grew deeper. "I don't know. We'll have to find out."
Sir Randolph Varne prowled restlessly around the Cairo Museum of Antiquities, once again after hours. Word had come that evening that his men had picked up Tia DeWitt. Good. Time to end things again. He sat on a wooden bench and stared sightlessly at a sarcophagus. How many times would he need to do this? Sir Randolph closed his eyes. The memories flooded back. He was at Hamunaptra, in 1290 BC.
Ramses II, Pharaoh of all Egypt sat impassively and surveyed the scene before him. He was in the preparation room, watching as Imhotep's priests were mummified alive. The terrified screams and struggles failed to move him. So should all traitors perish. Two Medjai guards led Imhotep before him.
"So you have killed the girl and the child." It was not a question. Ramses stared back without answering. Imhotep looked almost amused. "So anxious were you to destroy my seed that you murdered a young girl and a babe in arms. And the girl WAS pregnant, Ramses. The god Anubis told me so. One day I will be granted command over the sands, and will visit the ten plagues on Egypt. It will happen within your lifetime, Ramses, I swear it.
Ramses smirked. "High words from a man about to endure the Hom-die."
Very well, Divine Pharaoh," Imhotep mocked, "my line is extinct and will no more walk on this earth. You have murdered my son and destroyed my wife before her womb could bear fruit. You have cursed me for all eternity. Now I curse you. If I have lost a son, you will lose a dozen. The soul of my child will be your downfall."
Ramses smirked again and jerked his head toward the Medjai. "Finish it." The small smile remained on his face throughout the gruesome process. He left the room only after the lock had turned in Imhotep's coffin.
Sir Randolph opened his eyes, this time focusing on the darkened displays around him. It HAD come true. He had lived to see the deaths of twelve of his sons. He had outwitted the curse, however. Between his eight wives and all his concubines he'd had a great multitude of children. Yes, losing twelve of his sons was tragic, but the thirteenth lived to rule after him. The ten plagues, well that had come true as well. Yet he, and Egypt had survived them.
Imhotep had sworn that the soul of his child would be Ramses's downfall. Impossible. It had been his intention to bury Tiye and Horemheb without the funeral rites expected of the Egyptians. He had intended to banish their souls forever. His wife, however, had intervened. Nefertari had been a woman of great strength of character. He'd ended up promising to have them buried properly. He had, however, taken one last precaution without her knowledge.
The ancient Egyptians believed in life after death, and that the dead went to some blessed afterworld. In addition to the ka (spirit guide), Egyptians had a soul that was released from the body after death. This soul traveled wherever it pleased during the day, but at night the soul returned to the body. The body was preserved – mummified – so that the soul could recognize to which body it belonged. Mummification was a long, exacting process. It took seventy days to complete. Vital organs were removed and placed in Canopic jars. Natron salt was used to dry out the body completely. The body was then anointed with coniferous resins, and wrapped in linen cloth soaked in resin. The mummy was placed in its tomb along with whatever was needed for a happy afterlife. The very last ceremony was the opening of the mummy's mouth. Without this ceremony, the soul would not be able to travel. It would be trapped, helpless, within the mummified body.
Sir Randolph rose to his feet and moved toward the exit. Yes, he was safe. This last ceremony had never been done on the mummy of young Horemheb. The soul of Imhotep's child was trapped inside the 3000-year-old body. And the Medjai, he thought to himself, would continue to guard the tomb and make sure that no nitwitted archeologist would ever stumble across it.
Author's Note: BIG bit of creative license here. The bit about the soul traveling around and returning to the body at night is indeed ancient Egyptian belief. The opening of the mouth ceremony is indeed the last ceremony performed on the mummy. However, the reason for it is so the mummy could regain the ability to move, talk and eat, which it would need to be able to do in the afterlife. I made up the bit about trapping the soul to serve the plot of my story.
Like I mentioned earlier in the story, Ramses II was thought to be the Pharaoh who dealt with Moses over the Hebrews leaving Egypt, so the Ten Plagues would indeed have been visited upon him. The part about twelve of his sons dying before him is also true – his thirteenth son is the one who succeeded him as Pharaoh. That son, Merneptah, was the fourth son of his second wife, Isa-Norfret. (Of course, since Ramses lived to be in his 90's, it isn't surprising that he outlived many of his children. Supposedly he had around 100 of them.)
Thank you for the reviews, Lometari, lilylynn and ephona. And Nakhti, as to your question about whether or not they had two-way radios in the 30's? I haven't the faintest idea.:)