"What do you suppose killed him?" Evy asked us as we all sat around the fire, still slightly shocked over the death of our once unwanted comrade.
"Did you ever see him eat?" Jonathan replied.
"Have some respect." I snapped, reaching over and smacking him on the arm.
"Sorry..." He whispered.
"Seems that our American friends had a little misfortune of their own today," Rick said, joining us suddenly and sitting down next to me. "Three of their diggers were, uh...melted."
"Melted? What?" I asked, suddenly very worried.
"How?" Jonathan added.
"Salt acid. Pressurized salt acid. It's some kind of ancient booby trap."
"Maybe this place really is cursed," Jonathan whispered, as the wind howled around us. nearly putting out our fire. I shuddered suddenly and Rick put an arm around me for a moment, giving me some reassurance.
"Oh, for goodness' sake, you three!" Evy said to them in a slightly raised voice.
"You don't believe in curses, then?" I asked her softly, reaching forward with a stick and poking at the fire.
"No, I don't. I believe if I can see it and I can touch it, it's real. That's what I believe."
"I wouldn't be so sure..." I whispered.
"I believe in being prepared," Rick added, picking up a rifle and cocking it.
"Let's see what our friend the warden believed in," Jonathan said, picking up the warden's bag as he dug through it. Suddenly he screamed, causing both Evy and I to cry out as well.
"What? What is it?" I demanded, leaning closer to Rick.
"What?" Rick asked, looking over at Jonathan.
"A broken bottle." I sighed softly, pulling away from my brother who wasn't any the wiser to my fear. "Glenlivet. Twelve years old! He may have been a stinky fellow, but he had good taste." Jonathan opened up the bottle and drank a mouthful as Evy chuckled
"Thank god, that's all it is." I sighed, rolling my eyes with a chuckled, just as the unmistakable sound of horses carried over to us.
Looking about, I could tell that Rick sensed something. "Take this. Stay here." Rick said, handing the rifle to Evy, before he jumped up. I quickly sprang up and fallowed him.
"No, wait, wait! Wait for me! Wait!" Evy scrambled up and ran after us.
"Evy! Excuse me, but didn't the man just say 'stay here'? Evy!" Jonathan yelled at her, getting up and fallowing as the sudden sound of horse's stampeding towards us arose.
It became quite apparent to me that we weren't the only ones who knew where Hamunaptra was. And we certainly weren't alone as a group of men dressed in black raced into the city on horses, reminding me of the boat and of the men who attacked us there. And I had been right.
Instantly a battle of gun fire erupted around us, with the riders shooting at us and with Henderson, Daniels and Burns shooting back, hitting them men and knocking then off their horses, dead.
"Evy!" I yelled, turning for a moment to see her standing there with the rifle in her hands simply aiming it. "Shoot!" I screamed, as I started shooting once again.
That was when I saw Jonathan, running towards us, gun and booze in hand, with a rider right on his tail.
"O'Connell!" He cried out, to either myself or my brother. As I pulled my gun up, poised to shoot, Rick jumped down from where he was standing and knocking the man off his horse and onto the ground, where the man rolled and his scarf fell from his face.
Quickly, the man pulled a sword out and was about to head for Rick, when I acted, firing my gun off near him and grabbing his attention. And that was when this man, with tattoo's on his face, turned and charged me, pulling out a dagger.
"Oh...dammit." I sighed, my gun no longer loaded. "RICK!" I screamed as the man collided with me and sent me flying to the ground. As fast as I could I reached up and slammed my hand into the man's face, shocking him and giving me some ground over him. But he was strong, and held me down fast, pushing his rock hard body against mine, forcing me to stay put.
"You must leave." He said to me, looking right into my eyes as he held me to the ground, his face so close to mine that I could almost taste him. "Leave or risk everything."
"HEY!" It was almost as if the man was suddenly flying as he jumped up off of me, as Rick held out a stick of dynamite. "Get away from my sister." He called, threatening him with the now lit explosive.
"Enough! Yallah!" The man commanded, once again speaking that all to unknown language that was Arabic. "We will shed no more blood, but you must leave. Leave this place or die. You have one day."
"Why?" I asked him softly. He turned suddenly and looked right into my eyes, shocking me to my core as I felt my cheeks grow warm.
He quickly turned away from me and mounted his horse, never answering my question. Yelling out another command in Arabic, the men all started to pull away as they left the city.
I heard a grumble come from Rick as he ripped the still ignited fuse of the dynamite out and toss it to the ground.
As I looked around, surveying the damaged, i noticed that Burns had shaving cream on his face. A held back a laugh. An that was when I saw Evy, lying on the ground.
"Evelyn?" Rick called, as he went to her aid. "Hey. Are you all right?" He asked, helping her to her feet.
"I'm fine." Evy answered, looking a little stunned.
"You sure?" Rick studied her closely.
"Yes, thank you," She replied.
"See? That proves it! Seti's fortune's got to be under this sand," Daniels cried out.
"For them to protect it like this, you know there's treasure down there." Henderson added in agreement.
"How can you be sure?" I called out.
"No, these men are desert people. They value water, not gold." Rick explained.
"Exactly." I added.
"You know, uh, maybe just at night, we could uh, combine forces, hmm?" Burns suggested. Rick looked at him.
"Not a chance." He called.
V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~V~
It was late as we sat around the fire. Jonathan had fallen asleep, clutching the warden's bottle, which was empty, and Rick was trying to teach Evy how to fight. And due to the ungodly amount of alcohol we'd consumed, and because Evy was drunk, he was having a hard time at it.
"Really Ellen, you should learn to fight as well." She called, looking over at me before giggling.
"Way ahead of you on that front Evy." I smiled at her. "Rick taught me how to fight ages ago."
"And I see from tonight that you haven't forgotten." He smiled.
"Can't forget those kinds of things." I mumbled, before lying back and looking up at the night sky filled with stars while Rick and Evy chatted away. But quit suddenly, Evy's voice rose and i rolled over to see what was happening as she got to her feet.
"Look I...I may not be an explorer, or...or and adventurer or a treasure seeker or a gun fighter, Mr. O'Connell!" She called out, her balance a little on the light side. "But I am proud of what I am."
"And what's that?" I called, holding back a giggle.
Evy smiled happily, looking up at the sky. "I! ...Am a librarian!"
At that very moment I rolled back over, laughing softly to myself and ignoring them again for the most part.
Until I noticed something in the air between them, and I turned back to watch as Evy leaned up to kiss my brother, before she passed out in his lap. A small giggled rose from my lips before I could even stop myself.
"Quiet." He muttered over to me, as he helped Evy into her bed, before coming over and sprawling out to my right.
"Nice night huh?" I smiled, still looking at the sky.
"Go to sleep Ellen." He growled.
"Yes big brother." I smiled, closing my eyes and slipping away into a dream that, oddly, was filled with visions of the man in black.