Roma was having trouble sleeping even though she and Ardeth had made love. If she ever had trouble sleeping, Ardeth's embraces were usually the cure. Even if the cots weren't big enough for them to sleep together, his presence was reassuring and she felt safe and protected knowing he was there.

Now, however, something was disturbing her sleep. She was dreaming of the skeletons in the shaft. She was looking down on them, the tears in her eyes full of pity. How could someone be so cruel as to murder men who did not more than take pride in the work they did for the son of the Pharaoh?

As she stood and watched, the bones began to articulate and the skeletons began to take shape as each bone took its place. Then, to her horror, the skeletons stood up and flesh began to cover the bones. What were once merely skeletons were now men clad in ragged linen loincloths who held in their hands the ancient hammers and copper chisels that ancient stoneworkers used to carve the stone contained in everything from the pyramids to the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

They stood mute before her, voiceless, but their piercing eyes said everything that did not need words. She wanted to turn and run but stood there, frozen in place. These poor victims did not wish to harm her, they were trying to tell her something, but what?

A scream woke her out of her dream, and she recognized the voice—Evelyn. She threw a gallabiyah over her, turned to wake Ardeth to find him already sitting up.

"Evie," he said, and she nodded. He pulled on his robe and took her hand as they ran out of their tent to the pavilion that contained the sarcophagus.

"Oh no," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "The pavilion, why is it lighted? Oh god, Ardeth, what has happened?"

They went inside to see Rick with Evie in his arms. "I found her lying in the sand, for how long I don't know but her body is cold. We've got to get her warmed up. And where did those torches come from?" He pointed at the flickering forms that had now burned half down, "Did either of you do this?"

"No, of course not. I thought she was in the tent with you, what happened?" Roma laid a hand on Evie's cheek, shocked to see how cold it was.

"I thought I heard a scream," said Rick, "It sounded like Evie, but she was in bed, I thought. I looked over and saw her cot was empty and her shawl was missing. We all know there was only one place that she could have been, so I pulled on my clothes and came in here. I saw her lying in front of the sarcophagus, saw the torches, and wondered how they got there. I tried to wake her but I couldn't."

"Take her to your tent, Rick, and put her to bed. Ardeth and I will bring some extra blankets." She looked at Evie then recoiled in horror, "Rick, look, her eyes—they're open! Was she like that when you found her?"

"Well, yes, I thought she was awake at first but she's unconscious. Her eyes seemed to follow my movements so I thought she had fallen and hit her head and maybe she was only stunned. Now she doesn't respond to my voice, she didn't even snap out of it when I slapped her, she just follows me with her eyes."

Though it was high summer in Egypt, blankets come in handy at times so Roma had brought a few along. They bundled Evie in them, tucking them securely around her. The heat from them would cause a normal person to become unbearably hot, but Evie's body seemed to warm so slowly as to be imperceptible.

"I'd like to get some hot tea in her, but I don't know if she'd be able to drink it in her condition. In the morning we need to load up that sarcophagus and get it to Cairo, I don't want it in the camp. We need to take her along, too, if she doesn't come out of this."

O'Connell looked down at his wife and Roma could see tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He took her hand and with a slow, gentle touch began to stroke it.

Roma put her hand on his arm. "Don't worry, Rick, let's hope this is nothing Something probably frightened her and she fainted, the cold sand just aggravated the problem, that's all."

"Then where did the torches come from?" he asked and Roma had no answer.

"Let us pay the workers and leave this accursed place," said Ardeth, "And hope whatever it is does not follow us back to Cairo.'

"I promised the skeletons I'd dig them up, once I free their bones I'll leave. In the meantime, if Evie isn't better, we've got to get her to a hospital. Either way, she leaves this site and doesn't come back."

"For once I am going to make her listen to me," said Rick, "She's leaving here whether she wants to or not.

There was nothing to do but eat breakfast and get back to work. Rick, however, would not leave Evie's side, but sat by her cot, watching while the faithful Ali fanned the flies away from her face.

Roma went down into the shaft, feeling a fear she had not felt before. She took extra care excavating the skeletons, brushing each bone carefully as she placed them into muslin bags before having them hauled to the surface. Each skeleton was placed in its own bag before it was pulled to the surface in the hopes that each bone was not intermingled with the others.

Wearily she pulled herself up the ladder and collapsed, exhausted as she reached the surface. What had happened with Evie had robbed her of the joy she had felt at the beginning of the excavation. Now she could only wonder if Evie had fallen victim to the spirit that haunted this tomb.

Evie was half Egyptian-her mother had been an Egyptian who had fallen in love with her English father. While she had no proof, Roma wondered if Evie's Egyptian blood had attracted the spirit of Penteweret.

Now they waited for Evie to regain consciousness, after that none of them knew what would happen. Would the spirit leave her alone or was he after another to take his queen's place? Had he chosen Evie to be his new queen of the damned?

She sat at the table and examined each skeleton. Each man had had adequate nutrition but had spent his life working very hard. Their arms and shoulders were well developed, indications that they had been stone workers, perhaps the first evidence of what the workers had been like who had carved the tombs not only here but in the Valley of the Kings.

She assembled each skeleton, making sure that only the proper bones were contained for each, then placed them in boxes to be sent to the labs at the museum in Cairo.

It was around sunset when she heard screaming coming from the O'Connell's tent. She dropped what she was doing and ran to see what had happened to Evie.

Evelyn was sitting up, her eyes wide with fear, but the expression on her face was not hers but another's. She was babbling in another language—was it ancient Egyptian?

Roma tried to make sense of the words. Only two-thirds of the hieroglyphics of the Rosetta stone had been translated, and scholars could only guess at how it had sounded. What would they think if they could hear the words coming out of Evelyn's mouth?

"What is she saying, Roma," begged Rick, "Can you understand?"

"She's speaking so quickly that I can only guess. I think she's saying, 'Where am I? Who are you? Where is my husband, the king's son Penteweret?' I'm only guessing." She put a hand on Rick's arm as he tried to rush forward, "No, let her be, wait until she stops speaking, she may faint then come back to herself. Just don't touch her yet."

Rick restrained himself but it was hard. As Roma said, when Evie finished speaking, she fell into a faint, then after a moment regained consciousness.

"Wh-where am I? What am I doing here?" She tried to sit up but Roma pushed her gently down.

"We found you unconscious in the pavilion this morning, lying in front of the sarcophagus. You have spent the day comatose, we tried to revive you but could not." Roma was reluctant to tell her next of what had followed but knew she must, "You regained consciousness but were not yourself. You were speaking ancient Egyptian, asking about your husband...Penteweret, then you fainted and after a few moments woke up. Do you remember anything?"

"No, I remember going to bed and having horrible dreams but I don't know what they were about. The last thing I remember is waking up here. Roma, what happened to me?"

"I know what I think, but it's hard to tell you. We have got to get you out of here, tonight if possible. I couldn't think why the spirit of the tomb was attracted to you until I remembered you are half Egyptian. I think it tried to transfer itself to you," she paused and took a deep breath, "I think Penteweret is trying to resurrect the spirit of his dead wife. We're taking the sarcophagus to Cairo, along with the other remains I found."

"Oh dear," said Evelyn, and Rick thought, oh no. Once before Evelyn had almost been sacrificed to replace the long-lost love of Imhotep, now was another attempting to possess her? She had been so eager to explore this tomb, now did she understand that it was trying to kill her?

"Ali is packing our bags and putting them in the Land Rover, we are leaving now. I don't want you to spend another moment here. I'll help you get dressed and then we'll be ready to go. First, it was after me, now it's after you, but I'm not letting it have either of us. I'm afraid, Evie, and you should be too."

Roma talked to the drivers. They would follow them to Luxor where they would spend the night before they continued to Cairo. Missy Roma was paying not only their full wages, but extra, Allah be praised, but they would not receive their money until the sarcophagus reached Cairo.

Roma got behind the wheel of the Land Rover. Although it was dark, she was now familiar with the road they would take. Ardeth sat in front with her and Rick sat in the back holding Evelyn securely in his arms.

She put the key in the ignition and trying to turn it over. Silence. She pumped the accelerator and tried again but the engine would not start. "Damn," she said and slumped in the driver's seat.

"Let me look," said Rick, the jack of all trades, and got out of the car and threw open the hood. He peered underneath, fiddled with whatever his fingers could coax into moving then called, "Try again."

This time, by a miracle, the engine started. "That was no accident," Ardeth muttered, "but the help of God that is saving us."

"I just may agree with you on that," said Rick and jumped in the car, "Get us the hell out of here."