Well, here is the long-awaited for third chapter of this story!  Special thanks to AnimeChick91 and Lilylynn for their words of encouragement.  Thanks for reviewing guys, it makes me feel really good and makes me want to write more.  So anyways, I had a little trouble with the last chapter getting the formatting to look normal, every time I went to a new scene, the computer sort of ran it together with the scene before it, which I know made it hard to figure out what was going on in some sections.  I really did put spaces between them!  I swear!  I hope it looks better in this chapter, but sorry if it doesn't.  Anyways, I'll shut up now and let you all read what you came here to read.

Chapter 3  Bump in the Night

            "No!  Evelyn, no!  We've been through this before.  Do you remember what happened the last time we went exploring in some guy's grave?" asked Rick.

            "Yes!  We made the discovery of a life time!" said Evelyn.  "And this isn't just some guy's tomb.  This is the Pyramid of Samir-hi.  The Egyptian princess, daughter of the pharaoh Rathshad, who led the Egyptian rebels in their plight against their brothers."  She smiled sexily at Rick.  "It's just a monument.  If we're lucky, we'll find her tomb."

            "No, only if we're unlucky.  Which is usually the case.  Evelyn, we can't."

            "Yes, we can.  We need some family bonding time right now."

            "We can't!  I'm not sure that I can put up with your brother for that amount of time."

            "Rick, you put up with him every day of your life.  What's the difference if it's in Egypt or London?"  Evelyn laid her hand on Rick's back.

            "Alex has school," said Rick.

            "Spring break is next week," argued Evelyn, placing her other hand around Rick's neck.

            "Leah doesn't need this kind of pressure on her right now," said Rick.

            "This will be the perfect thing for her!" exclaimed Evelyn.  "It will get her out of London and away from Andrew."

            Rick closed his eyes for a second and sighed loudly.  Then he turned to face his wife and sighed again.  "Okay.  Okay.  We'll go.  But only if we don't bring any mummies back to life!"

            Evelyn laughed.  "Oh, Rick, I promise, no more mummies."

            Rick laughed too and wrapped his arms around Evelyn's waist, pulling her close.  "Why do I let you talk me into these things?"

            "Because you love me," said Evelyn flirtatiously, moving her lips close to Rick's.  "And because you can't resist me."

            "Do we have to go?" whined Jonathan later that evening at the dinner table.

            "No, you don't," said Evelyn sarcastically.  "We just thought it would be nice to go together and have some family time."

            "Family time?  Mum, I'm perfectly willing to enjoy some family time with all of you!  But does it have to be in Egypt?  Why can't we go to America?  Or France?  Or Japan?  Or the Caribbean?  I'm pretty sure there aren't any chances of accidentally bringing ancient mummies back to life in those places!"

            "Right," said Jonathan.  "And I can meet some lovely young ladies in all of those places.  But in Egypt?  I can hook up with a great big pile of sand, maybe."

            "How about a nice, long-legged tan camel, Uncle Jon?" asked Alex with a smirk.

            "Alexander O'Connell!" said Evelyn, appalled.

            "Relax, Evelyn," broke in Rick.  "Now, Jonathan, you can stay home if you want, but Alex, you're going.  End of discussion."

            "But Dad--"

            "No buts, Alex," said Evelyn.

            "But how come he doesn't have to go?" Alex whined, pointing at Jonathan, who was eagerly filling his mouth with stuffed olives.

            "Didn't I just say no buts?" reprimanded Evelyn.

            "Yes, Mum," said Alex, lowering his head to look at his plate.  "I'm sorry.  I'll go."

            "That's better," said Evelyn.

            "Leah," said Rick, trying to get his sister attention.

            Leah, who had been picking at her food for the length of the conversation, finally looked up.  "Yes?" she asked softly.

            "Leah, the invitation includes you.  We'd like you to come along with us.  If you want."

            "Definitely!  You're part of our family, too, and we'd love you to come along!" piped up Evelyn.

            "Oh, please, please, Aunt Leah?" begged Alex from next to the young girl.  He grabbed her hand.  "Pretty, pretty please?"

            Leah looked back down at her plate.  "Thanks, but no thanks," she said.  "I—I'm not really in the mood for traveling."

            "But this is just what you need!" said Evelyn.  "You need to get away from London, take a break from your job, and get away from… um, him.  This is the perfect excuse to do all three!  Come on, Leah," Evelyn begged.  "It'll be such fun."

            "Please, Lee.  I promise you won't regret it," Rick said.

            "We won't make you work—too much," added Evelyn in a teasing tone, trying to encourage a smile or a laugh from the redhead.

            "Wait!  How come she doesn't have to work, but I do?" asked Jonathan.

            Everybody ignored Jonathan.

            "Please, please, Leah!  I'll be there with you!  You and I can have so much fun together!" said Alex.  "We can run in the sand dunes and wear turbans, and best of all, we can ride camels!  Won't that be so much fun?"

            "Just say yes, Lee," said Rick.  "It wouldn't be the same without you."

            The family was quiet as Leah finally looked up.  She looked around the table for a few seconds, taking in the hopeful expressions on everyone's faces.  Finally, she spoke "You guys sure drive a hard bargain."

            "Does that mean that you'll go?" asked Evelyn quietly.

            Leah chuckled.  "Yes, that means I'll go."

            "All right!" cried Rick and Alex together, jumping out of their chairs.  Alex started to do a little dance, while Rick walked around the table to Leah and squeezed her shoulder.  "I promise, we'll take good care of you, little sis."

            "I have no doubt you will," she said, laying her hand on top of his and squeezing it back.  "Even if I can take care of myself."

            Rick grinned happily and headed back to his seat.  Everybody began talking excitedly, making plans for the trip.

            "All right, all right," said Jonathan a few minutes later, out of the blue.  "I'll go, too.  Just quit pestering me about it!"

            Although a comment like that would have usually made Rick and Evelyn annoyed, Evelyn instead just grinned at her husband and answered her brother, "Of course.  The more, the merrier!"

            Two weeks later, Leah flopped heavily onto a stack of pillows and sighed appreciatively.  "This is the life," she said, taking a quick sip of water from her canteen.

            "It is," Evelyn agreed from the other side of the tent, where she was rubbing her legs with lotion.

            "After two grueling days of digging, that campfire dinner really hit the spot," added Leah.  She laughed.  "Especially when Jonathan caught himself on fire."

            Evelyn chuckled too.  "Yes.  Jonathan and fire just do not mix."

            "I sure could use a break from digging," said Leah, laying back onto her makeshift bed.  "Work on my tan a little."

            "You don't want to work on your tan here," said Evelyn, capping the bottle of lotion in her hands and placing it in the open bag next to her.  "The sun here in the desert is dangerous without protection.  You'd become the poster girl for skin cancer if you decided to tan here!"

            "Oh, all right.  I'll settle for a nap and playing cards.  How about it, Evie?  Can we take a day off tomorrow?  You told me we'd have some family bonding time, and so far, we haven't had any.  Please?" asked Leah, drawing herself onto all fours and crawling quickly to Evelyn.  She rose up on her knees and clasped her hands together in front of her face.  "Please, please, please?" she pleaded, grinning hopefully.

             "I think I can deal with a break," Evelyn said, giving into her sister-in law.  She looked up and smiled at Leah.  "Tomorrow is dedicated to working on our tans."

            "And playing cards," Leah added, smiling back at Evelyn.

            "And playing cards," Evelyn repeated, glad to see Leah so happy.  This really was a good idea, she said to herself. Leah is really coming out of her shell and enjoying herself.  She hasn't said one word about Andrew in the last three days.  I knew this trip would be therapeutic for her.

            "Knock knock," said a voice outside the tent.  "Are you both decent?"

            "Yes, we're decent," said Leah, laughing as her brother lifted the door flap of the tent and entered.  "But I bet you wish your wife wasn't!"

            Rick smiled happily at his sister, glad that she was acting like herself again.  He didn't say a word, just dropped to his knees and kissed Evelyn.  Then he leaned over and kissed Leah on the cheek.  "We're getting ready to turn in," he said.  "We just wanted to make sure there was nothing you ladies needed."

            "Well, if there was, we're perfectly capable of getting it ourselves," said Evelyn.  "Aren't we, Lee?"  She glanced over to her friend and grinned.

            "Right," said Leah.

            "Okay, okay," Rick surrendered.  He knew that both women felt strongly about things like independence and he didn't want to get involved in an argument.  He instead reached into the holster on his pants and pulled out a small handgun.  "I also wanted to give you this," he said.

            "What would we need that for?" asked Leah, half afraid to touch it.

            "For protection," Rick answered simply.

            "Protection from what?" asked Leah.  "We've gone two nights now without a gun in this tent, what makes you think we need one now?"

            "Don't ask questions," said Rick in a low voice that was tinged with just a bit of urgency.  "Evelyn, you know how to use it, so if you feel the need, you know what to do."

            "But I don't understand!" said Leah as Rick kissed his wife.  "I hate guns!"

            "Well, some day they may save your life," Rick said as he kissed Leah's cheek good-bye.

            "But--"

            Rick headed towards the tent flap and lifted it up.  "You don't have to use it.  It's just to make me feel better.  Now, I love you both, sleep tight, and yell if you need me."  And he was gone into the sand outside, heading towards his own tent on the other side of the dwindling campfire.

            "Well!" said Evie brightly, quickly pushing the gun under a pillow and out of mind, at least she hoped.  "Are you about ready to turn in?"

            Leah sighed deeply.  "I guess so."  She settled into her stack of pillows and pulled her blankets around her, shivering against the chill in the air.  Desert days she knew were hot, but desert nights were downright chilly.

            Evelyn dimmed the light in the lantern next to her until it went out.  "Cheer up, Lee," she said as she snuggled into her own bed.  "Tomorrow is a brand new day."

            Leah smiled to herself.  Evelyn was right.  Leah's eyes drifted closed on thoughts of sunshine and fun with her family.

            Leah awakened suddenly later that night.  She estimated that it was around three o'clock in the wee hours of the morning.  Drawing in a deep breath of the cool air around her, she rolled over to face Evelyn's sleeping bag.  However, Evelyn was not there.

            Leah sat up, pushing her blankets off her body.  She saw her sister-in-law crouched by the flap of the tent, listening intently.

            "Evie?" asked Leah sleepily.  "Evie, what are you doing?"

            "Shh!" said Evelyn urgently, glancing at Leah and then back out the tent flap.

            Leah crept out of her sleeping covers and joined Evelyn.  And she heard it.  Men screaming.

            "What is that?" asked Leah, her heart beginning to pound.

            "I don't know," whispered Evelyn.

            "It's not Rick and Alex and Jonathan, is it?" asked Leah, worried.

            "I don't know," said Evelyn again.

            This is serious, thought Leah, scared.  Rick and Alex—and Jonathan—could be in danger!

            As Leah looked down, she caught a glimpse of something shiny and silver in Evelyn's hands.  Upon a second look, she realized that Evelyn was holding Rick's gun.  This is soooo serious.  "What should we do?" she asked, beginning to shake as the screaming continued, closer this time.

            "Leah!" hissed Evelyn.  "Shh!"  She gently nudged Leah away from the tent entrance as a large crash was heard outside, just a few feet from where the two girls were kneeling.  "Stay away from the door!"

            Suddenly, a shadow appeared on the tent wall next to the door.

            Leah's heart stopped as a bloodcurdling scream erupted from her mouth.

I had to leave you all hanging on this so you will review and beg me for the next chapter!  Thanks a lot for reading guys, and if you like it or don't like it, review, but just don't flame me!  Thanks a lot everyone!