I'd like to thank you for supporting this story, dear readers, only one favor I'd like to ask. Could you review or follow or fave this? I don't have many reviews and I think I'd like to have more, if you don't mind.
If the desert was treacherous in the heat of the day, it was equally perilous at night. The road was mainly sand pressed down by the weight of vehicles traversing it, but it was not clearly defined. Roma would have driven as fast as the Range Rover would go, but it was not advisable. Stray from the basic track and tires could be trapped by the treacherous sands, and it was not just her but the whole caravan.
A further complication had arisen. Sometimes mists form in the desert and at night they took on an unearthly and deadly quality. This one had seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. It was not solid fog, but swirled around, like ghosts whirling through the air, seeming at times to swoop down blocking Roma's vision.
"This is no ordinary fog," said Ardeth, "It has a will of its own. Take care and do not go fast, the other drivers will not like it but this seems to have a deadly intent, may Allah protect us!"
Then the wailing started up and Evie covered her ears, saying, "Make it stop, make it stop, I cannot bear it!" She started sobbing and buried her head in Rick's shoulder.
Ardeth leaned over the seat and put his warm hand on Evie's thigh to comfort her. "Do not listen to the voices, your fear gives them power. They will disappear with the mist." Evie, still sobbing, nodded, her fears not assuaged but comforted just the same.
Just don't let an animal run in front of me, Roma prayed, trying to see the faint marks of the road through the mist. Just how long would this devil fog last, anyway? She peered ahead, watching for signs of the road. If they got off track they would be lost and would not find their way back until dawn—if the fog had lifted by then.
She was growing tired and gratefully let Rick take over for her. Their sleep had been interrupted by the events of the previous night and they all were tired, but there was no option but to continue. It was a long drive to the Luxor ferry, but as they grew closer to the towns on its outskirts the road would improve. In the meantime, there was nothing to do but drive.
She and Evie held tightly onto one another. "Do try to go to sleep Evie," Roma said, "It will make it easier for you. I know we are driving slowly, but we must. You're not alone, we will keep you safe."
Long hours passed, but lights from the first villages soon appeared like little twinkling stars. The mist reluctantly dissipated as they grew closer to the Nile. Roma almost clapped her hands in glee at the welcome sight of the great river.
Home, she thought, we're almost home. He hasn't gotten us, not yet, but I can fight him on my terms in Cairo.
The first streaks of dawn were concealed by the mist, but as the hot summer sun broke through it was consumed by the early summer heat. The Nile was a sparkling blue, bordered by the green bands of cultivation.
The great white ferries sat at their docks, smoke coming from their funnels. The sight of the ferries filled Roma with hope, soon they would be home, and on her familiar ground.
They pulled along the roadside and Roma took out the strongbox and distributed wages to the men. The drivers of the lorry that carried the sarcophagus received half their wages and would receive the remainder when the sarcophagus and skeletons were unloaded in Cairo.
"I want to go home, Ardeth," but she meant Luxor, not Cairo. Like it or not, they would have to make the trip to Cairo.
"You can't, Evie will be safer in Cairo and you have to deliver the coffin and sarcophagus to the Cairo Museum."
"Let's go then," she said, "I want to take them directly to the museum, I don't want that sarcophagus in my house."
They drove into the bowels of the ship. Since it was early, they were able to bribe the steward into assigning them a large, roomy stateroom. They would be able to get some much-needed rest. The drivers could remain with the vehicle, or take turns watching the treacherous cargo.
Roma was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Evie lay down, but after the long hours she spent unconscious she was restless and could not sleep. Rick sat next to her, maintaining his vigil as he watched over his wife.
Roma woke after a scant three hours sleep and Ardeth took her up on deck. "I wish I could talk to Lacau now. I'm sure he'll be at the museum but I hate to just surprise him."
"With what you have to give him, I'm sure he won't mind. Once the coffin is safely handed over to him, we will be safe again."
She sighed and rested her head against him, unaware of the stares they were receiving. "I wish I could say the same thing, this spirit is powerful. Maybe, if the 'screaming mummy' is Pentawaret, he'll be content with being united with his wife, maybe. Or maybe he is out for vengeance because we disturbed her grave. Maybe his tomb didn't contain his hieroglyphs so they couldn't be defaced—but they found it and his mummy anyway. Maybe he lay there for centuries plotting his revenge—and now he has help."
"The angry dead are dangerous indeed," agreed Ardeth, "Evie was almost possessed, and she may not be out of danger." I am only glad that it was her and not you, he thought but did not say.
They ate their excellent meal in silence, not even the bottle of French wine that she ordered could lift their spirits. Despite the chatter of the diners around them, no one wished to speak. The same silence surrounded them as they returned to their cabin.
The women lay down on the beds to catch some sleep while Rick and Ardeth went up on deck to take the air. Evie did not even object but nodded her assent as he kissed her before he left.
Roma woke to Ardeth shaking her awake. "We are docking at Cairo," he told her, We must get down to the trucks. The drivers are eager to finish their job and get paid."
"I am anxious to get rid of this sarcophagus, I am beginning to wish we never found it. I only hope that Lacau is there, but if he is not, an assistant can take it off our hands. This was supposed to be a dream find for me, instead, it has turned to a nightmare."
The doors to the hold opened and the cars began to pull out. Roma, Ardeth, Rick, and Evelyn pulled out in the Rover, the lone lorry remaining that held sarcophagus followed in its wake.
"Here goes nothing," Roma muttered as they made their way through the traffic of downtown Cairo. They made slow progress, they had hit afternoon traffic, blocked by both cars and animals, but eventually, they pulled up to the back entrance to the museum.
"Wait for me," she told Rick and Evie, but Ardeth insisted on accompanying into the museum. She looked up, "I don't see anyone in his office, but let's try," and took him by the arm and dragged him up the stairs with her.
Lacau's assistant was sitting in his office. "Is Dr. Lacau available," Roma asked, using the polite address for the museum's director.
"No," his assistant shook his head, "He will not be back for a week."
"I need to speak to him; I have found something he will want to see. I need to hand it over to the museum, it's three thousand years old and very fragile. My name is Roma Wilkes-Emberly."
"Ah yes, the finder of 'The Pharaoh's Cache'. It's become a very popular exhibit. I can try to reach him, but I don't know how long it will take for him to return. Can't you store it yourself until he returns?"
"Is there any way the museum store it until Lacau returns? I don't wish to keep it in my home, it's far too valuable." Roma was using her most persuasive voice but it was doing no good.
"I can't accept it without Mr. Lacau's permission, you'll have to wait until then. Maybe Cairo university will agree to take it, although I am not sure."
"Never mind," snapped Roma, "Please tell Dr. Lacau that Roma Wilkes-Emberly has a find she wishes to turn over to him, and can he call her as soon as possible." She turned around, resisting the urge to slam the door shut. Ardeth took her arm and she leaned against him.
"Fool!" Roma struggled to keep her voice low, "The absolute fool! Lacau would have taken it off our hands—immediately. This idiot didn't bother to ask to look at what we had. Everyone is so wrapped up in the gold Carter is finding in Tutankhamon's tomb that they think of nothing else. What we have is a danger to us, but now we have no choice." They exited the museum and when they reached the truck Roma began to pound on it in frustration.
"Any luck?" Rick asked but Roma's frustration was clear on her face.
"No, Lacau was gone and he is not picky about who works for him. He won't be back for a week and now I don't know what to do. We'll have to keep it with us until he comes back. I hope he fires that nincompoop assistant of his."
"What? We have to keep it?" Evie appeared at Rick's side, "We can't, what if...?"
"I don't know, Evie," the weariness in Roma's voice was evident, "I'm tempted to dump it into the Nile—it will be too much trouble to return it to the desert now."
She wrapped her arms around Ardeth's waist and started crying—a sign to her of weakness but now it didn't seem to matter. "What am I going to do, Ardeth?"
"We don't bring it into the house," he answered, "We can put it in the guest house, we can store it in the garage."
"Let's leave it in the alley and hope someone steals it." Rick said, "Do we need it?"
"Too late for that," said Roma, "We can be prosecuted now for destroying it. For better or for worse it's our responsibility now. I wish we never would have found it, I wish we'd left it in the ground."
"The garage then," said Ardeth, "We can lock the door and it will be safe there, at least. We must do something; the workers want the rest of their wages and to return home."
"They are probably as eager to be rid of it as we are and I don't blame them. Ardeth, I'm afraid for Evelyn."
"And I am afraid for you. You have Rick and me to watch over you, we won't let anything happen to you."
The coffins were unloaded and the workers were paid. Roma made sure that the faithful Omar received extra. "Be careful, miss," he said as he left, "There is a curse on this coffin, you must get rid of it as soon as you can."
It was exhaustion that drove them to bed that night. None of them were looking forward to sleeping but none of them could keep their eyes open so there was nothing to do but go to bed.
Late at night: The full moon lit the courtyard, shining bright as day. There was no sound, nothing, not the nightjars, the insects, not even the screech of cats fighting in the alley.
Until. The sound of a heartbeat coming from the garage, beating louder and louder until it was Evelyn who had been sleeping peacefully-until now. She sat up and tried to shake Rick awake but to no avail, he was sleeping like the dead.
She slipped quietly out of bed, unable to stop herself, and did not even wrap herself in her shawl as she let herself out the patio door and made her way to the garage despite herself.