Even the most hardened adventurer enjoys the occasional night's sleep in a comfortable bed. For Rick O'Connell, the satisfaction lay in being able to hold his wife in his arms while he slept, something he had not been able to do for days. That plus the luxury of being in the relative safety of Cairo assured him that he could rest without worry.

At first, it had been a good night's sleep—until he woke up and found Evie's half of the bed empty. He thought she got up to use the lavatory but when she didn't return, he began to worry.

He pulled on his pants, then went to the door of the bathroom and tapped gently on the door. "Evie?" he asked but when he received no answer, he opened the door and found it empty. Oh no, he thought and tore out of the house heedless of his bare feet and ran to the garage.

There were footprints in the dust on the patio—the prints of Evie's delicate feet. The prints led from the patio to the garage, which had been locked but now the padlock hung open and the door was open just enough to admit her tall, slim figure.

He swung the doors open with a crash. There, as in the desert, sat the sarcophagus, flanked by two torches. The scent of frankincense hung in the air but there was no sign of his wife.

Rick O'Connell screamed and the heart-rending sound of that scream brought Roma and Ardeth to see what was wrong.

Rick stood, his fists clenched, in the open doorway of the garage, his breaths coming in heavy gasps. Seeing Rick's tears was unbearable, but Roma went to him and put her slim hand on his bicep.

"She's gone, Evie's gone, what happened to her, Roma?" Rick's voice was hoarse and he labored to speak, "Tell me, what do you think happened to her?"

"I think you know; I think we all know. Pentaweret has her trapped in the spirit world. I don't know how; I don't know much about these things. I've studied a little Egyptian magic but there is so much I don't know."

"What has he done with my wife?" Rick's voice grew louder and seemed to echo through the courtyard, "Where is she?"

"She's with him, he's hypnotized her, put her into a trance. She believes she is Sitamun-Ta Sherit, his wife. I think he was watching us as we excavated her mummy, hoping that she would rise from the dead, but she didn't."

"He committed suicide—according to the Turin Papyrus. He was guilty of a terrible crime so even though he had his tomb he can't rest. Maybe Sitamun was an innocent party so she wasn't punished, she was able to pass into the Land of the Dead. He's spent an eternity alone and angry and then he saw Evie who is not only beautiful she's half Egyptian. He saw her and decided that he wanted to have her." The expression of sorrow on Rick's face cut at Roma's heart.

"Because of him, Evie thinks she is Sitamun-Ta Sherit because that is who he is telling her she is. As far as she knows, she is in ancient Egypt, wandering through the palace at his side. Who she really is has been forgotten."

"Except." Roma paused so Rick could take in her words, "Except in a little corner of her mind. Evie is there, sleeping. The longer he has her, the weaker her true self will become. But she may wake up, if only briefly and try to find a way back to her true self and you. You see, she doesn't forget who she is because she can't forget. The danger is, the longer he has her, the harder it will be for the real Evie to emerge."

Rick let out a heavy sigh and shook his head, "Dealing with Imhotep was simple compared to this. How can we get her back?"

"The true Evie must awaken and try to make her escape." Ardeth took over for Roma, "My tribe has stories about this. We must try to call Evie back but she must find her way."

"And how does she do that?" if there was skepticism in Rick's voice, no one could blame him.

"There is a tiny dot of light that will show her the way. She will have to see it for herself and follow it. It will not be easy, she will have to fight her way out of the trance and if Pentawaret notices, he will try to send her back to sleep so the spirit of his wife will take over."

"Ardeth is right, Rick, Evie will have to help herself but we will do what we can to help her. We must go back to the desert. That tomb was intended to be his house of eternity and I believe that he is tied to it. He never intended to spend eternity alone, so he buried Sitamun with him. That tomb must be his portal so we must find the entrance. It may be a false door, anything. He must have been a powerful magician in his lifetime, just think, he was so sure that if he got his father out of the way the throne of Egypt would be his!"

"So how do we get her back?" asked Rick.

"Your love for her, your love for her will help call her back. It's not going to be easy. We have to go back to the tomb, that's the only way we'll get her back."

She did not tell either of the men what she was wondering, if she could unite the mummies would the souls of Pentaweret and his wife be re-unite? Would that be enough to release Evie from Pentaweret's spell?

"Maybe not," she told herself, "she has been with him in that tomb for millennia, but when Ardeth and I entered, he tried to attach himself to me. When he was thwarted, he bided his time until we returned and then tried to attach himself to Evie—only with her he succeeded."

"I had thought of returning her sarcophagus to the tomb but I don't think that will do any good," she said out loud, "His body is in the Egyptian Museum and maybe if she can join him, his spirit will rest at last. I'd like to dynamite that tomb; I think it's evil."

"Anyway, we have to go back to the desert. We may have to do some digging so I'll take along a couple of workers to help us. We'll need a few tents and a cook, and I'll have to pay them double because we can't let them know why we're going to dig in the hot season."

"What about the mummy?" Ardeth asked.

"She stays here. We can't wait for Lacau to return and we can't bring her with us. I wish I knew more. I never placed much faith in magic, I'm a scientist. I'm only guessing that we should go to the tomb because I can't think of any other place to start. I know we have to leave soon; we don't dare leave Evie with him for any longer than we have to." She sat down and covered her eyes so that the two men could not see her tears.

They spent the day making preparations to return to the desert. Omar insisted on going with them and brought along his brother Yusef who was an excellent camp cook. They would only take two vehicles, one that Omar would drive, filled with food and equipment, and Roma's beloved Land Rover which would convey Rick, Ardeth, and her.

Everything was packed and ready to go. Roma was eager to leave but Ardeth persuaded her that departing early in the morning while the sky was still dark would be best.

She stood in front of the garage, staring at the padlock which kept the door secure. They had erected a shelter of sorts to protect the guard from the sun, and Busa had promised to keep him plied with food and cool drinks. There were two, and they had agreed to four-hour shifts, for the sun's rays shone harshly on the courtyard in the Egyptian summer.

She could not sleep that night and resented the fact that both Rick and Ardeth slumbered peacefully. She threw off the covers, careful not to wake Ardeth, and put on her cotton robe, then grabbed the keys and slipped quietly off to the garage.

"What are you doing?" she asked herself as she unlocked the garage and swung the doors open then stepped inside. There was not enough light to see so she took a match and lit a torch and set it in its holder.

Even in the heat of the summer night, the garage was cold. She walked over the sarcophagus and held her hand above it—waves of cold seemed to emanate from it that rose to the ceiling and went, where?

"We should have left it in the ground," she said to no one in particular and stepped back in alarm as she felt the cold waves slowly start to creep up her arm. "What are you?" she asked, then turned and ran back to the house.

Ardeth was waiting for her, his robe wrapped loosely around him. "I woke up and you weren't in bed and I became worried. There was only one place you could be."

"I want to burn it, Ardeth, but I can't until we get Evie back. It's evil, Ardeth, she may have been his wife but I think she must have been a powerful sorceress. We need to take it back to the desert and leave it there, who knows how much harm it could cause? I am frightened for Evie, who knows what this thing will do to her?"

"We will know soon enough," Ardeth answered, "But come back to bed, you are shaking with cold." He led her back to their bedroom.

Even in the warmth of his embrace, she could not stop trembling. She held onto him tightly, wanting the comfort of him but the fear she felt enveloped her. He pressed her against him holding onto her until the convulsive shivers finally stopped.

"We have to leave tomorrow, we can't wait any longer," she told him, "Maybe it's a good thing Lacau was not there. We have to take it with us, it's too dangerous." They both knew what she meant. "Then, when we get Evie back, I'm going to burn it. I don't care if I can't ever excavate again, we've brought an evil into this world that should have been left in the ground." She buried her face against his chest and started to cry.