Okay, everyone, sorry about the wait on this chapter… college is hard work, and my major is probably the most difficult major in the entire school… so you can all imagine. Though my hard work is paying off… made dean's list last semester, and I'm pulling A's in all my classes this semester so far (except for Brass Class, because let's face it, clarinetists are not meant to play French horn!). I know this chapter is shorter than others, but I thought that I would rather just post what I have so that you at least have something to read, and when the semester is over, which is only 6 more weeks, post longer chapters.

As usual, thanks go out to my reviewers, new ones of benign and FalconWings14, you guys are awesome, and my regular reviewers, Snowfire the Kitsune, BlackEmpathy, and of course, my wonderful, totally awesome, soccer playing mummy mate, Lilylynn! I love you all! Anyways, a much longer chapter will come here in May, and I'm sure I will have much more to tell you all, and much more to add to Leah's saga… but until then, just think of this short chapter as something to hold you over until then. As usual, enjoy!

Chapter 13 Shut-up, Izzy!

"Bent Hair?" Ardeth whispered, his lips next to Leah's ear as they moved over the desert behind Evelyn and Jonathan.

"Yes?" she asked softly.

"Good, you are awake." Ardeth reached for his canteen, which was slung over the side of his horse, and held it in front of Leah with his free left hand. "You must drink," he told her, unwrapping his right hand from her waist and twisting off the cap.

Leah slowly shook her head. "No, thanks," she whispered, pushing herself deeper onto Ardeth's chest. "Just hold me. Don't let go."

"I will not let go. But you must drink. You need water," Ardeth whispered into her ear.

Leah giggled softly. "That tickles, Ardeth," she said.

"Yes, I know. Drink, please," Ardeth told Leah, holding the canteen to her lips.

Leah drew in a breath and sighed. "For you, Ardeth, I'll drink," she said quietly, and sat up and allowed the opening of the canteen to meet her lips. She sipped at the cool moisture, and although most of the water ended up on the front of the shirt that Evelyn had loaned to her instead of in her mouth, she at least tried to swallow some of it. She coughed a little, then settled back against Ardeth.

Ardeth was not pleased with the amount of water that Leah had managed to consume, but she was too tired and too weak to drink any more so he didn't press it. Instead, he put the canteen away and wrapped his arms firmly around Leah's waist.

"Thank you, Ardeth," Leah whispered, turning her head slightly so that she could see him. Though it hurt her neck, face, and what seemed like every other part of her body, she still managed to smile when she caught sight of his chocolate eyes looking back at her. "I love you," she whispered, and her eyes closed.

"I love you, Bent Hair," Ardeth whispered.

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Rick awoke to find himself lying in the middle of the desert, his hands and feet still tied together. He struggled a bit to see if the restraints would budge, but of course they didn't, so he gave up and instead began to look around himself.

He hadn't been moved since the last time he was conscious. He did notice, however, that the tents of the camp had been collapsed, and that it looked as though they were getting ready to move on. Who cares? Rick thought to himself. They don't have Leah, so who cares if they get to Rathshad? Rick seemed comforted by that thought, until something else occurred to him. But if Evelyn finds out… she'll follow us there. And I can't have her involved with this guy again! Oh, this can't be good!

Rick was about to attempt to free himself from his bonds when a shadow appeared over him. Looking up, Rick saw Beni standing over him.

"Well, well, well," said Beni, a cheesy smile on his face. "Look who's decided to join us."

"What do you want, Beni?" Rick muttered through clenched teeth.

"You know what I want," Beni told Rick. He got on his knees in the sand and sat down next to the prisoner.

"And you aren't going to get it," Rick said, venom in his voice.

"Well, then, I guess I'll have to kill you," Beni answered, standing and pulling a sword out from his belt.

"You and what army?" Rick asked. "You couldn't kill a flea!"

"I resent that!" Beni yelled. "I so resent that!" Still, he pocketed his sword and sat back on the ground.

Rick just rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you just tell me where the princess is? I mean, it would make your life a whole lot easier," Beni commented.

"Because I don't know where Leah is! And she's not a princess, she's my sister!"

"Well, you have a pretty nice looking sister," Beni said with a knowing nod of his head.

Rick's eyes widened as he heard what his ex-friend was saying. Realization dawned on him. "It was you, wasn't it?" he asked. "It was you who was in that tent with her! You bastard!" Rick shrieked, a wave of adrenaline coming over him. He struggled with the restraints on his hands and feet.

Beni stood up quickly, a look of horror on his face as he observed the rage on Rick's face. But there was not any time to dwell on this.

Imhotep was striding quickly over to the two, a determined look on his face. As he reached them, he spoke to Beni.

Beni laughed. "He says he knows where your son is," he translated.

Rick had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Though he didn't know that Evelyn and Jonathan had sent Alex with Izzy to Hamanaptra, he knew what Beni was getting at, and he didn't like it one bit. "Alex?" Rick questioned instead.

Beni nodded, an evil smile on his face. Imhotep spoke again, and Beni said, "Lord Imhotep insists that your son is getting in the way, and that if you do not cooperate with us, he will be forced to deal with the boy."

Rick's heart lurched. Even if he did know where Leah and Ardeth had escaped to, Beni was asking him to choose between two family members, both of whom he loved dearly. "Beni. Beni, I told you, I don't know where Leah is. Seriously. Beni. Beni, look at me."

Beni's smile fell as he looked at Rick.

"Beni, if our friendship ever meant anything to you, you'll believe me. Please. Please do not hurt my son. Please."

Beni's eyes narrowed as he looked into Rick's begging features. Rick saw the wheels turning in Beni's head, and he was sure that Beni was going to change his mind when Imhotep intervened.

The regenerated mummy, who had seen the exchange between Beni and Rick, knew what was going on between the two. He did not understand the language that they were speaking, but he knew. Taking a breath and raising his hands, Imhotep promptly dealt with the situation.

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"Izzy! Izzy, look out!" Alex shouted, the wall of sand coming quickly towards them.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Izzy yelled as the plane zigzagged every which way. "I knew I was going to die today!"

"I-I-I-I-zzy-y-y-y-y!" Alex had turned around to face the sand storm, and what he saw scared him more than he was willing to let on. An image of Imhotep's face was present in the center of the storm, with a look of pure evil on it.

Izzy glimpsed it, too. "Holy sh"

"Izzy, this is no time for swearing!" Alex called. "Just shut up and fly this stupid thing!"

They swerved in every direction as the wind whipped around the pair. The little plane was creaking and groaning under the stress, and suddenly, the engine gave out, and the contraption and the mismatched pair of aviators began plummeting to the ground.

"No! No! Not again!" cried Izzy. "No, don't give out on me ol' girl. Come on!"

Their descent continued.

"Do something, Izzy!" cried Alex from behind his father's friend. "We're going to crash!"

Izzy nodded. "Okay! Okay!" He paused and crossed himself, then began to chant, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me lie down in"

"Izzy! Don't do that!"

"Then what should I do?" asked Izzy.

Alex never got to answer, for suddenly, the plane hit the ground nose first with a thud.

And as suddenly as the sand storm had started, it vanished. When the last cloud of sand had cleared, the plane could be seen on the desert floor, half of the propeller broken off, and one of the wings horribly bent. Its passengers were still strapped inside, one of them moaning the Psalm of David.

Alex, looking slightly dirty from all the sand, coughed a little to clear his lungs and looked around. Though his head hurt a little, he seemed none too worse for wear. "Izzy?" he asked, unbelting his seatbelt and leaning forward to get closer to the pilot. "Izzy, are you okay?"

Izzy continued chanting. "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil… evil… evil…" he groaned.

"Oh, good freakin' Lord," Alex muttered, standing unsteadily inside his little cubby of the plane. "Izzy, you're not dead, and you're not going to die anytime soon."

"Evil…" Izzy murmured. "For thou art with me. Evil… oh, god, have I been shot?"

Alex sighed and lifted himself out of the plane. He jumped to the ground and began to walk around, assessing the damage. Aside from the broken propeller and bent wing, the plane looked to be in tact. Though he wasn't sure if the engine would run, he knew that Izzy was a creative mechanic, and he could fix her up in no time. Alex headed away and stopped about twenty feet from the nose of the plane, searching the horizon for any signpost of where they were.

While Alex was searching, Izzy finally brought himself back to reality. He slowly pulled himself out of the pilot's seat and stood on the ground, taking in everything. Then he caught sight of the damage. "My plane! My beautiful plane!" Izzy said as he knelt at the nose of his contraption. He let his head fall forward until it hit with a klunk on the metal of the broken propeller. "Ow," he muttered to himself, but he didn't move. "My poor, poor, beautiful Clementine…"

Alex turned to face Izzy, his hands on his hips. "You named your plane?" he asked, his lips pursed indignantly, his head wagging from side to side.

"Yes!" shouted Izzy, lifting his head and turning quickly to face Alex. "Sea captains name their ships, knuckleheads like your father name their cars, and I name my plane!"

"Okay, okay," said Alex, letting his hands fall to his side. "Jeez!" He turned and shielded his eyes with his hands as he scanned the desert before him. After a few short seconds, he turned back to Izzy. "Well, the good news is, we seem to be within a short walk of Hamunaptra. The bad news is, we seem to be stranded here without a way back to Rathshad."

"I know! Poor Clementine!" said Izzy, still hugging the half of the propeller that was left of his plane.

"Izzy! Shut-up!" Alex said. "We don't have time for this! Listen to me!" He stepped forward, grabbing the tail of Izzy's white blouse and giving it a tug.

Izzy went tumbling through the air, and Alex wasn't far behind. When the two stopped rolling, Izzy let loose with a few choice words.

"Izzy! Izzy, get off me! And shut-up!" barked Alex as he laid squashed under Izzy's weight. He felt something sharp poke him in the leg. "Izzy, what's in your pocket, man?"

Izzy rolled off Alex quickly. "Nothing. There's nothing in my pocket," Izzy lamented.

"Right," said Alex, though he knew better. However, he didn't want to dwell on something so trivial. He and Izzy had a job to do. "How long will it take you to fix her?" Alex asked, standing and facing Izzy.

"What?" asked Izzy.

"The plane. Your darling Clementine. How long will it take you to fix her?"

"I can't fix her," Izzy said. "She needs a new propeller and"

"Fix her," said Alex. "Fix her as fast as you can. I've got to get to Hamanaptra to get the Book of the Living."

"But" started Izzy, at the same time that Alex said, "Izzy"

The two were silenced when they heard a roar in the distance. Both of them turned to face the direction of Hamanaptra, and their faces both fell as they saw several of Imhotep's soldiers coming towards them.

"Izzy?" asked Alex.

"Yes?" asked Izzy.

"Izzy, I think I'm going to get shot today," Alex said.