Evie glared at her older brother as she took the golden statuette of Bastet from his hands. "Jonathan, I cannot believe that you can get yourself into so much trouble! I thought that after the British Museum hired you as their liaison here in Egypt, you'd never get into trouble again!" As she spoke, she strode back to the study, where the statuette had originally been placed.
What am I ever going to do with him, Evie wondered as she placed the statuette back in its place on the shelf between the golden Ra and Isis statuettes.
She moved back slightly, glad to have the set complete. The three sculptures had been found all together in a beautiful ivory-inlaid ebony chest, when she, Rick, and Alex went to Bubastis two months ago, where they had discovered an entirely new series of tombs and chambers buried below the cat mummy catacombs. Although there were records of an underground resting place having been built for the priestesses who served Bastet, no one had ever been able to find it. Some believed that it had collapsed in on itself during the earthquake that had nearly destroyed Bubastis in 2770 B.C., and that it would never be found again.
But, as she, Rick, and Alex had discovered, the underground tombs had not been ruined at all. They intended to go back again once they had been granted permission by the museum, which should not be long in coming.
"Come on Evie!" Jonathan protested. He had followed her into the study, and was now standing beside her. "At least I got it back."
Evie sighed, and rolled her eyes, but she smiled briefly at Jonathan. "Yes, I suppose you're right. And at least you didn't get hurt."
Jonathan grinned. "Well, I have Cathy to thank for that. And Ardeth too."
Evie nodded in agreement. She had been very much surprised when Jonathan showed up in a taxi, and with Catherine in tow. Her best friend was currently upstairs in one of the spare bedrooms, washing up and changing into cleaner clothes.
"Have I missed anything?"
Evie looked up, and smiled broadly when she saw Catherine standing at the doorway, looking refreshed after a bath and a clean change of clothes. "Cathy!"
Catherine smiled, and she walked up to Evie to give her a fond hug. "Oh Evie, I've really, really missed you."
"And I you." Evie stepped back, and the two of them shared a giggle as Evie gazed up a little at her dear best friend. Catherine was taller than her, about as tall as Ardeth, now that she thought about it, but not nearly as tall as Rick - that would have been a little too much. She was also quite thin - bony, Evie mused - and made her cheekbones show more prominently. That, Evie knew, was a sign that Catherine had not been eating very well.
She patted Catherine on the hip, feeling the bone sticking out more prominently than was normal. "You haven't been eating much, have you?"
Catherine laughed ruefully as the three of them sat down. "Well, it's been a hard life these past few years, going through the jungle and chopping my way through it to get to the ruins."
"That does it then: I will have to make sure that you put some meat on your bones while you're here," Evie said with a smile. Suddenly, she wondered if Catherine would like to try some Egyptian cuisine, while she was here, and she made a mental note to herself to get Francine to whip something up while Catherine was around.
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "How are you supposed to do that when I will be staying in a hotel?"
"Who said that you were going to stay in a hotel? No, you are staying in this house, where I can make sure you eat and get you to tell me stories about what you have been doing halfway around the world. And don't you argue with me," Evie cut in when Catherine opened her mouth to protest. "I haven't seen you in a long time, and you owe me stories."
"But I've got a friend with me," Catherine said then. "I told you about him, remember? Andrew Delaney?"
Evie waved her hand dismissively. "It will be fine, Cathy! He can stay here too, if he wants." She wiggled her eyebrows teasingly. "Do I have to give him an adjoining room to yours?"
Catherine's mouth dropped open. "What are you trying to imply, Evelyn?! Andrew is not my lover!"
Jonathan blinked. "Really? You could have fooled me, Cathy."
"Jon!"
"Uh, what's all the hubbub about?"
Evie looked over her shoulder, and smiled as Rick stepped into the room. "Well now, you're back early."
Rick nodded and smiled as he approached, lifting an envelope in the air as he did so. "Just got permission from the museum. We can go with Jonathan to Dendera." As he handed the envelope to Evie, he leaned down to brush a kiss on her lips - one that Evie willingly accepted.
"Mmm, that's good news," Evie murmured as she tucked the envelope away in a safe place. She turned to Catherine, and grinned brightly. "Cathy, I'd like you to meet my husband, Richard O'Connell. Rick, this is my best friend, Catherine Ashlar."
Catherine smiled as she stood up, holding her hand out to Rick. "A pleasure to meet you at last, Mr. O'Connell. Evie has told me much about you in her letters."
The first thing Rick thought when he saw Catherine Ashlar was that she was tall - almost too tall. She's probably as tall as Ardeth, he thought. The second thing he noticed was that she was thin - maybe a little too thin. Compared to Evie, who was prettily petite and had curves in all the right places, Catherine wasn't quite as beautiful. I could snap her in two like a twig, he thought.
That changed somewhat, of course, when he shook her hand. The way she grasped his fingers - firm and confident - told him that she was a woman who was sure of herself, in spite of her physical flaws, and the calluses on her palms and fingers told him that she was no stranger to hard work. At least she wasn't some stuck-up English lady who looked down on people like him.
He smiled at her, relaxing at the thought. "Pleasure's all mine, Ms. Ashlar. Or should that be Lady Ashlar?"
She chuckled in response. "Just Cathy, or Catherine if you must. I never did like formalities."
"Then just call me Rick."
Just then, the sound of the front door opening echoed down the foyer to the study, and they heard voices. One Rick recognized as Ardeth's. The other was an unfamiliar one, and sounded Scottish.
Apparently, Catherine was familiar with the mysterious person, because she smiled brightly, and called out the mystery person's name. "Andrew! We're over here!"
In no time flat, a man appeared in the doorway of the study. He was quite tall, an inch or two taller than Rick, and had piercing green eyes with a head of dark brown curls to match. The way he stood and the way he walked told Rick that this man was like him: an adventurer.
The man - apparently called Andrew - smiled in relief when he saw Catherine. "Thank God you're safe and sound, Cathy!"
Catherine laughed. "I'm fine, Andrew." She winked at him. "You know me: I can get myself out of trouble just as easily as I can get myself into it!"
Andrew shook his head, and rolled his eyes, but when he looked at Catherine again, he was smiling. "So you do, lass."
Catherine lightly punched him on the arm, and then she turned to Rick and Evie. "Oh, and before I go on: Evie, Rick, Jon, this is my best friend and colleague, Andrew Delaney. Andrew, these are Richard O'Connell, Evelyn Carnahan-O'Connell, and Jonathan Carnahan."
Rick shook hands with the man, liking the firm grip that he exerted when he grasped Rick's hand, as well as the work-roughened feel of them. Like Catherine, Andrew was someone who was sure of himself, and wasn't afraid of hard work. "Great to meet you."
Just then, a dark figure appeared in the doorway. Rick looked up, and grinned when he saw that it was Ardeth. "Ardeth, old buddy! Good to see you here!"
The Medjai chieftain offered a small smile, and bowed in greeting. "It is good to see you as well, O'Connell." He turned to Evie, and smiled and bowed as well. "I hope that you do not mind my presence, Evelyn."
Evie waved her hand. "Oh Ardeth, stop that! You know you're always welcome in our house." She turned to Catherine then, and smiled. "I suppose you've met Catherine already?"
Ardeth turned to look at the young woman, and he shook his head. "I am afraid that we have not had the time to be properly introduced."
Her eyes were gray - steel-gray, and keen as the edge of his sword. He could see the glimmer of intelligence, and the sparkle of wit in her eyes, and he knew that this woman was a match for any man in verbal sparring.
She smiled, and walked up to him, her stride confident and sure. Indeed, he thought, she is a match for any man. It was only when she was standing two feet away from him did he realize that she was rather tall - as tall as he was.
And for Ardeth Bay, who was used to being the dominating figure around females, that fact was a little discomfiting.
"Well, we did not have the time, all things considered," she said softly, in response to his previous statement. She held her hand out to him. "I am Catherine Ashlar. But please, call me Cathy, or Catherine, if you really must."
Ardeth gazed at her outstretched hand, a little at a loss about what to do. Should he kiss her hand, as he knew was custom amongst the nobility of the English? Or did he simply shake it? After all, she was so much like O'Connell in her attitude and her personality that perhaps there was no need for formalities with her.
In the end, he decided to kiss her hand, just to be sure. He bent down over her hand, and brushed his lips over her knuckles briefly. "I am pleased to meet you, Lady Catherine."
She laughed softly, and he looked up at her, wondering whether he had made some mistake. But her eyes were kind when they looked at him. Her smile was bemused. "It's been quite a while since someone kissed my hand that way."
"Well you have been away from England long enough to forget about it," teased the dark-haired Scotsman named Andrew, whom Ardeth had helped make an escape from the thugs who had attacked Jonathan. As Ardeth straightened up, Andrew smiled at him, and shook his hand. "If it weren't for him I think I'd still be very busy at the port."
Catherine nodded. "Yes, I must thank you for helping me and Andrew here. You saved our lives. We both owe you a debt of gratitude."
Ardeth shook his head. "No, you owe me nothing. I was glad to be of help to you, who are friends of my friends."
Just then, the housekeeper came in, and said that lunch was ready for them in the dining room. As they all shuffled out of the study, Ardeth's thoughts constantly turned to the woman who walked and laughed with Evie, wondering to himself why her gray eyes, sharp as steel, seemed to constantly lure him and spin his mind away from duty and towards other things he had long not thought of.
He shook his head to clear it. I am merely startled by her eyes, he told himself. He had not seen that particular shade of gray in the eyes of any foreigner.
A hand clasped his shoulder, and when he looked up, he realized that it was Rick.
The American gave him a concerned look. "You okay, buddy?"
"Yes. Yes, I am fine," Ardeth, replied.
Rick nodded. "Okay." He grinned then. "Come on, let's get to the dining room. I'm starving."
Ardeth chuckled, and followed Rick to the dining room.
CREDITS:
The information on Bubastis came from The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt by Margaret Bunson.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
I wish to thank the following, who left reviews on this fan fic:
Mommints - I thank you for following my story thus far. I am very grateful for your praise, especially with my portrayal of the canon characters and the general plot of the story.
I have been to your website, and I have seen your "stable of warriors," as you so put it. I have a feeling I will want to borrow one of those fine stallions, since I have quite a few mares prancing around in my head who wish to be given some time on the written page - Catherine was simply one of those mares. But that is still a long way in coming, since I am quite preoccupied with writing out this story.
Nakhti - I am honored that you speak well of my story. I dropped by your profile page, and I am quite pleased to see that you are taking a Master's in Literature. I am taking up Literature as well, but still in the undergraduate level, though I do hope to take my Master's as soon as I graduate.
Again, I thank you for speaking well of my story, and I hope that you will continue to follow it when you have the time. Oh, and I hope that you will write that Lord of the Rings fan fiction piece soon; I will be keeping my eye out for that one.
LOTRgurl - I thank you for your compliment, and I am glad that you find this story interesting. It is amazing, really, the things one can find when one is reading.
Julie - I am glad that you like Cathy's character. I had some qualms about introducing a new character into the storyline, but I am happy that she is one of the select few of original characters that you like. Again, I thank you.
Fan of the Mummy - Thank you for being the first to review this story, and for convincing me that someone will read it.