Chapter Seven
The evening of Catherine's graduation from university was an energy-filled buzz of activity. Larry had planned a bit of a surprise party to congratulate all of his niece's hard work and accomplishments. Something else that both Akhmenrah and Larry had taken note of was that Catherine and grown very fond of Kahmunrah, and it seemed he returned that feeling.
"They're really good friends." Larry said to Akhmenrah that evening.
"Yes, it's nice to see my brother have a woman who likes him just the way he is." Akhmenrah thought about what he said for a moment. He had no doubt that the pair had started to develop romantic feelings for each other; it was almost as if history was repeating itself to an extent.
"Go outside and wait for Catherine. I'll take care of everything else." Akhmenrah darted outside where he found who he was looking for.
"Hey Akh. How are you?"
"I'm well. Congratulations on your graduation."
"Thanks, I'm glad school is over. I don't know what I want to do next though. I might take some time to just decompress from the stresses of university life and just do nothing."
"Well, close your eyes. Your uncle has a surprise for you." Akhmenrah led Catherine inside, where all the museum was waiting for her. He gave Larry a moment to do a quick head count to make sure everyone was there.
"Alright, open your eyes."
"SURPRISE!" All the exhibits exclaimed together.
"Oh wow, Uncle Larry, how'd you do all this?"
"It's been planned for a while now." Teddy nodded.
"Indeed we all wanted to reward your for your hard work."
"Thanks again, everyone!" Just then, Catherine's cell phone rang. Everyone went silent.
"Wow, really? They want me? Oh wow, thank you so much!" Catherine shut her phone off.
"What was that, my lady?" Octavius spoke to Catherine with a great deal of respect.
"That was my former professor. I've been invited by Cambridge University to go on a six-week trip to Egypt to study the tombs in the Valley of the Kings." Everyone was buzzing.
"I'm jealous." Nick said. "I've always wanted to go to Egypt."
"As have I, and now I am finally getting the chance, and I have every intention of taking it."
"When do you leave?"
"I leave in a week on Thursday." Larry was very proud of his niece, and he smiled as she darted off to go see Kahmunrah. The pair were best friends, and Larry had begun to suspect that Kahmunrah held romantic feelings for Catherine. She always spoke very highly of him.
"Well, everything is working out well." Teddy said to Larry as the two cleaned up as the exhibits began to return to their correct places.
"You're right Teddy. Everything did work out." Teddy was like a brother to Larry, always willing to offer advice to those who wanted it. In the mean time, Akhmenrah and Alexandria were helping the miniatures get back to their correct exhibits whilst Catherine was with Akhmenrah's brother.
"Will you return to the museum when you come back from Egypt?"
"Kahmunrah, you know I'll return. You're my friend, and I flat out refuse to abandon my friends. I'll take plenty of pictures so I can show them to you when I come back. Where I'll be studying is quite close to where your family was found, so there's a good chance I will see the artifacts that belonged to your father whilst I'm in Egypt."
"Take care of yourself." Catherine smiled.
"I will." A chaste, gentle kiss was shared between the two before Catherine had to leave. When the day came for Catherine to leave for Egypt, Larry drove her to the airport, along with Akhmenrah and Alexandria.
"Alright, enjoy yourself, work hard and call me when you arrive so we know you got there safely." Larry hugged his niece as they trio waved off the young woman. Sitting on the plane, Catherine hummed a tune to herself as she looked out the window. She was looking forward to working with the others who would be there.
"Are you Miss Catherine Daley?" The young woman nodded.
"Yes, that's me. Who might you be?"
"I'm Robert Fredericks. I'm in charge of this expedition." The two shook hands.
"Alright. I'm really looking forward to working with everyone."
"Perfect. I'll show you to your room so you can put your things away. You will be put in charged of caring for the artifacts that we find and take plenty of notes." Catherine understood her responsibilities perfectly. She got to bed early that night, wanting to get a good night's sleep. The following morning, she got dressed, had breakfast and grabbed the things she would need. When she saw the tomb where Akhmenrah and his family had been found, the young woman was blown away at how grand the place was.
"This is amazing. The detail is incredible." Catherine spent the whole day taking pictures, drawing sketches, and taking detailed notes on every little thing she saw. The room where Akhmenrah and his tablet had been found was in perfect condition, as if it had been built only yesterday.
"Amazing, Uncle Larry will love to see the pictures of this place." Stepping back for a moment, Catherine felt her foot hit something. Turning around and bending over, she picked up the item in question. It was a pendant, and right in the center of the pendant was an engraving of the goddess Bastet.
"You are coming with me." Catherine carefully placed the pendant in a compartment on the outside of her bag. She had spent several hours in the burial chamber taking notes and pictures, and she was grateful to get out and take a bath. Afterwards, she showed Robert the pendant.
"It must have been well hidden. What are you going to do with it?" As it turned out, Robert was also aware of the powers of the tablet of Akhmenrah.
"I'm going to take it back home to New York to study it further and then donate it to the museum when I'm finished with it so others can learn from it." The time had passed by quickly, and Catherine was sad to leave Egypt, but she had taken many pictures and had filled several notebooks with notes and sketches of what she had seen. The flight back to New York was a long one, and Catherine wrapped her arms around her uncle.
"How was the flight?"
"Pretty boring. I'm glad to be back."
"Well that's good that you enjoyed yourself. When are you coming back to the museum?"
"I plan to rest for a day or two so I can get over the jetlag and then I'll come back." Once they got back to Larry's apartment, Catherine showed everyone the pendant. Akhmenrah was surprised.
"I have not seen this for such a long time. Apparently this pendant is supposed to have magical properties similar to those of my tablet, but my father never really spoke of this pendant."
"Well, if you don't mind, I would like to study it further." Akhmenrah nodded.
"Of course I don't mind. What do you plan to do with it?"
"Once I'm done studying it, I plan to donate it to the museum. It'll make an amazing addition to the Egyptian wing." It had only been two days when Catherine made her return to the museum. After greeting her friends in the lobby, Catherine went upstairs to search for the friend who meant the most to her.
"You look even more beautiful than the last time we saw each other."
"You're a sweetheart." Catherine showed Kahmunrah the pendant she'd found.
"Akhmenrah said that your father never really spoke of this, but apparent it has magical properties of it's own." Meanwhile, Akhmenrah had gone into what had been his exhibit for many years in order to think. He missed his daughter terribly and he wished he could have Zahra back. Sometimes he wondered how different things would be if Zahra had decided to not help save the tablet's power. Looking over his tablet, Akhmenrah wished he could have his daughter back. However, he knew that was impossible.
"Zahra, wherever you are, I hope you're okay."
If only Akhmenrah had remembered the saying of be careful what you wish for.