Rick O'Connell held his trusty crowbar tight. He was standing in an underground room, boots filled with sand and surrounded by carvings that covered the stone walls. Giant golden statues of cats with ruby eyes, tall as men, guarded the doorways. There was something about them, something unnatural. He moved closer to inspect a cat. To either side of the head, a torch burned and cast flickering light across the statue. Rick moved to blow the dust from the cat's face, but to his surprise, there was none.
"That's weird,' he said as he looked closer.
'Rick! I think it's over here!'
Evelyn O'Connell traced the hieroglyphics on the ancient door. They lined a figure in the middle of the door, a creature with the body of a woman but the head of a lioness. Rick headed over with his crowbar.
Behind them, a fifteen year old boy by the name of Alex O'Connell was bent in front of a golden statuette on a square stone stand. It was the 3D version of the figure on the door. He wasn't surprised by the weird mixture. He had grown up surrounded by the ancient Egyptian artefacts that his mother had collected over the years. Egyptian artefacts were always strange. Alex turned as he heard the cracking of stone. His father was popping nerves as he forced open a hidden door.
'Why can't these people use handles?' Rick panted as Evie cautiously peered in.
'Because this place was never meant to be found,' Evie answered as she reached for a burning torch.
'Funny how we keep finding places like that.'
Evelyn flashed the torch to reveal the narrow corridor through the door.
Rick eyed the corridor. 'Down there?'
'Down there. Alex, are you coming?'
'Yeah.' He went to follow, and then stopped. He leaned back, grabbed the statuette and placed it carefully in his backpack. After all, he thought, I did promise to bring him back a souvenir. He hurried after his parents.
Rick still clutched his crowbar. His experiences with the land of the sand had not been pleasant and memories like that were not quick to fade. Undead mummies, Biblical plagues, sand storms, water walls, life-sucking bracelets and vanishing pyramids. Not to mention his new car being smashed in by undead mummy guards. That was definitely the last straw.
'Oh!' breathed Evelyn in awe.
At the end of the corridor was a room adorned with all things Sekhmet, the goddess with the head of a lion and the body of a woman. Basalt statues of the sitting goddess and wall paintings filled the room without cluttering it. Just like the other rooms before, the eyes were painted red or filled by rubies.
'This is absolutely amazing,' breathed Evie in awe.
'These Egyptians really loved their kitties,' Rick remarked. This was not his forte. It was Evie's and he was only there because he loved her. If he had his way, he would confine her to England, where no ancient creature could take her away from him ever again. But this time, it wasn't his wife who had found out about the underground temple of Sekhmet, but his son.
