"What do you supposed killed him?" asked Jamila.
"Did you ever see him eat?" asked Jonathan.
Jamila smiled at the bad joke.
"Seems that our American friends had a little misfortune of their own today," said O'Connell joining them at the fire. "Three of their diggers we, uh…melted."
"What?" said Evelyn.
"How?" asked Jonathan.
"Salt acid. Pressurized salt acid," O'Connell. "Some kind of ancient booby trap."
"Aren't you glad we went somewhere else now," said Jamila.
Evelyn just ignored the statement.
"Maybe this place really is cursed," said Jonathan
"Oh, for goodness' sake, you two!" said Evelyn.
"You don't believe in curses?" asked O'Connell.
"No, I don't," said Evelyn. "I believe if I can see it and I can touch it, it's real. That's what I believe."
"I believe in being prepared," said O'Connell.
"Let's see what our friend the warden believed in," said Jonathan grabbing the satchel.
He started digging through the bag and suddenly pulled his hand out shouting. Jamila jumped and Evelyn shouted.
"My God, what is it?!" shouted Evelyn.
"A broken bottle," said Jonathan pulling it out of the bag. "Glenlivet. Twelve years old!"
"He may have been a stinky fellow but he had good taste," said Jamila taking the bottle from Jonathan and taking a swig.
O'Connell suddenly turned to look towards the American campsite. They heard horses whinnying. As he stood he handed his shot gun to Evelyn.
"Take this. Stay here," he said before walking off.
"No, wait, wait! Wait for me. Wait!" shouted Evelyn getting up and following after him.
"Hey! I'm going too!" shouted Jamila as she stood up from her seat and hurried after her cousin.
"Evy! Excuse me, but didn't the man just say "stay here"? Evy? Jamila?" said Jonathan getting up to follow.
As they neared the camp a group of men came galloping in on horses and hollering. They were dressed head to toe in black, like the men from the barge. They started to set fire to the tents and shooting the diggers the Americans had brought with them. Both the Americana and O'Connell started shooting back at them. Jamila was almost run over by one of the horse me.
Henderson shot one of the men down off his horse. Jamila grabbed his sword as one of the cloaked men charged her. She quickly brought the sword up to defend herself. They carried on as he backed her across the ground for a few feet. After another moment someone gave a command and all the cloaked men stopped fighting. Jamila turned to see the one who gave the command standing across from O'Connell, who had a lit stick of dynamite in his hand. She held onto the sword and walked over to O'Connell.
"We will shed no more blood, but you must leave," said the man. "Leave this place or die. You have one day."
"Well isn't he a ball of sunshine," said Jamila.
The man climbed back onto his horse, "Yallah! Nimshi!" he shouted before they took off into the night again.
O'Connell watched them leave as he pulled the fuse from the dynamite.
"Evelyn," he said walking over to where she lay on the ground.
"Hey," she said.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she said.
"You sure?"
"Thank you," she said quietly as he inspected her face.
"That proves it. Old Seti's fortune's got to be under this sand," said Daniels.
"For them to protect it like this, you know there's treasure down there," said Henderson.
"No, these men are desert people. They value water, not gold," said O'Connell.
"You know, maybe just at night, we could, uh, combine forces, hmm?" asked Burns walking over to them.
"You missed a spot," said Jamila pointing to his face.
He reached up and touched the shaving cream that was still on the left side of his face. Jamila smiled when he cursed softly and wiped the stuff off his hand.
"Hey, tough stuff, try a right hook," said O'Connell.
Jamila was watching him give her fighting lessons while Jonathan slept.
"Ball up your fist and put it – put it up like that.."
"Mm-hmm," said Evelyn getting into the pose.
"And then mean it. Hit it right here," he said smacking his left hand.
"I mean it!" she said swinging her arm.
She put too much power into it and lost her balance. O'Connell caught her before she hit the sand. Evelyn started laughing. She'd had a bit too much to drink.
"Okay, it's time for another drink," said O'Connell setting her down on the ground.
"Unlike my brother, sir," said Evelyn a bit woozy. "I know when to say no," she said taking a swig from the bottle.
Jamila laughed as she took the bottle back from her cousin and took another drink.
"I think I can fight better than she can drunk," said Jamila.
'Oh, hush! I'm not drunk," said Evelyn giving her a glare.
Jamila started laughing again.
"Uh-huh. And unlike your brother, miss, you I just don't get" said O'Connell.
"Ah! I know," she said wiping her mouth. "You're wondering what is a place like me is doing in a girl like this."
"Yeah, something like that," said O'Connell with a smile.
"Egypt is in my blood," she said holding up her wrist. "You see, my – my father," she said pulling her locket open, "Was a very, very famous explorer and he loved Egypt so much he married my mother, who was an Egyptian and quite an adventurer herself."
"Hmm. I get your father and I get your mother, and, uh, I get him," he said pointing to Jonathan. "What are you doing here?"
"Ohh! Look, I – I may not be an explorer or-or an adventurer or a treasure seeker or a gunfighter, Mr. O'Connell. But I am proud of what I am!" said Evelyn standing up.
"I…am a librarian," she said after a moment.
After another moment she dropped to her knees and looked at O'Connell. "And I am going to kiss you…Mr. O'Connell."
"Call me Rick," he said.
"Oh! Rick," she said with a smile.
She closed her eyes and started to lean forward. When she was only half an inch from his face she passed out, falling face first into his lap.
"See, most people can't hold their liquor," said Jamila. "I saw that coming a mile away.
"Shut up and go to sleep," said O'Connell. "We've got a lot to do tomorrow.
Jamila rolled her eyes as she capped the bottle and laid down on her mat.
"Rise and shine," said O'Connell.
"Uhn…" said Jamila pulling her small blanket over her head.
"Come on. Time to crack open that sarcophagus," said Evelyn cheerfully."
"Uhn…" said Jamila. "I be down in a bit."
"Fine, suit yourself," said Evelyn as they headed towards their dig site.
Jamila had only been asleep for a few hours. She had tried to sleep but she kept seeing that man's face in her dream. There was something about him that she was drawn too. He almost had the same look the curator did about them being in Hamunaptra. But it was more than that. It was as if he was surprised to see her there.
She shook herself from her reverie and stood up and dusted herself off. There was no point thinking about him. She was probably never going to see him again.
"Oh, I've dreamt about this day since I was a little girl," said Evelyn as they lifted the sarcophagus up right.
"You dream about dead guys?" asked O'Connell.
"Look, his sacred spells have been chiseled off," said Evelyn. "This man must have been condemned not only in this life but in the next. "
"Tough break," said O'Connell.
"Yeah, I'm all tears," said Jonathan turning the key. "Now let's see who's inside, shall we?"
Rick and Jonathan grunted as they tried to force the top off of the case. When it finally pulled free the mummy inside jerked forward scaring everyone.
"God, I hate it when these things do that," said Evelyn.
"Is he supposed to look like that?" asked O'Connell.
"No, I've never seen a mummy look like this before," said Evelyn staring at it. "He's still – still…"
"Juicy," said Rick, Jonathan and Jamila.
"Yes," said Evelyn. "He must be more than 3000 years old and, well, it looks as if he's still decomposing."
"Look at this," said Jamila.
She was bent over the lid of the case.
"What do you make of this?" asked O'Connell pointing to the marks on the lid.
"My God, these marks were made with…with…" said Evelyn.
"Fingernails," said Jamila tracing the marks with her own nails.
" This man was buried alive," said Evelyn.
"And he left a message, too," said Jamila.
"What does it say?" asked Jonathan.
"Death is only the beginning," read Jamila.
"Say, O'Connell, what do you think these babies'll fetch back home?" asked Henderson sitting down at the fire.
"We hear you boys found yourself a nice gooey mummy," said Burns. "Congratulations."
"If you dry that fella out, you might be able to sell him for firewood," laughed Daniels.
"Look what I found," said Evelyn joining the group.
"You're in her seat," said Rick looking at Beni.
"Yeah," scoffed Beni.
"Now" said Rick.
"Yup," said Beni standing up.
"Scarab skeletons, flesh eaters," said Evelyn.
"Where did you find those?" asked Jamila taking one to look at.
"I found them inside our friend's coffin," said Evelyn. "They can stay alive for years feasting on the flesh of a corpse. Unfortunately for our friend, he was still alive when they started eating him"
"So somebody threw these in with our guy and then they slowly ate him alive?" asked Rick.
"Very slowly," replied Evelyn.
"He certainly wasn't a popular fellow when they planted him," said Jonathan.
"Well, he probably got a little too frisky with the pharaoh's daughter," chuckled O'Connell.
"Well, according to my readings our friend suffered the Hom-Dai, the worst of all ancient Egyptian curses, one reserved only for the most evil of blasphemers," said Evelyn. "But in all my research, I've never heard of this curse having actually been performed.
"That bad, huh?" asked O'Connell.
Jamila looked over to the Americans all of them had a slightly terrified look on their faces. She was curious as to why, though.
"Yes, well, they – they never used it because they feared it so," said Evelyn. "It's written that if a victim of the Hom-Dai should ever arise he would bring with him the ten plagues of Egypt."
"And after that, I think I'm going to go to bed," said Jamila standing up. "Good night."
Jamila was woken from her sleep by people talking. She cracked her eyes open to see Evelyn walking over with a book.
"According to you and my brother it's called borrowing," said Evelyn fiddling with the key.
"I though the book of Amun-Ra was made out of gold," said O'Connell.
"It is," said Jamila.
"Yes, it is made out of gold. This isn't the Book of Amun-Ra. This is something else," said Evelyn. "I think this may be the Book of the Dead."
The key clicked open and she put it into the slot and turned it, opening the book.
"The Book of the dead?" said O'Connell. "Are you sure you want to be playing around with this thing?"
"It's just a book. No harm ever came from reading a book," said Evelyn.
As she opened the book the wind whistled in a mysterious way.
"That happens a lot around here," said O'Connell.
"Isn't that the truth," said Jamila settling next to her cousin.
"So, what's it say?" he asked leaning forward.
"Amun Ra. Amun Dei," she read. "It speaks of the night and of the day."
She continued to read the ancient writing. As she read the Egyptologist sprung up in his bed.
"NO! You must not read from the book!" he shouted.
As he jumped up the wind started to pick up around them.
"What is that sound?" asked Jamila standing up.
As they stood looking at a large hole in the surrounding wall, Jamila noticed that the night sky was moving. Not only was it moving, it was moving rather fast and in their direction.
"Run!" shouted O'Connell.
"Shit!" shouted Jamila as they took off for the safety of the catacombs of the city.
"Where the hell did they come from?" shouted Henderson as they ran through the corridors.
"I aint waitin' around to find out," said Daniels running behind him.
They turned one corner in the maze of halls. When they did the floor started to shake. Jamila looked down at the sand covered floor and saw that a mound was starting to rise.
"What the hell is that?" she asked pointing at it.
Everyone looked down at it. It was then that thousands of scarabs popped out of the top. Jamila screamed as they ran the other way.
"Run, Evy!" shouted Jonathan.
"Go, go, go! Run!" shouted O'Connell as he blasted them with his shotgun.
They turned the corner and ran up a ramp. Jonathan and Rick jumped to the left of the ramp while Evelyn and Jamila went to the right. They backed against the wall as the scarabs continued their path up the ramp and out of the room. Evelyn leaned on the wall and it gave behind them. Both girls fell through the hole and into a dark room.
"Where are we?" asked Jamila as she looked around.
Before Evelyn could answer they heard a moaning sound. They turned to see Mr. Burns standing in an adjacent room.
"Oh. Oh, Mr. Burns. Thank goodness," said Evelyn. "I was just starting to get scared. I thought we'd lost everyone."
Evelyn went to touch his shoulder when he turned around. Jamila screamed as she backed away from him. Evelyn did the same. He was missing his eyes. As they backed away from him the mummy they had found earlier that day came out of the shadows. The girls screamed again and backed against the wall.
"Please help us," whispered Evelyn to Mr. Burns.
"My tongue. He took my tongue," moaned Burns as he crawled on the floor.
"Please don't leave us," said Evelyn frightened.
Jamila had slipped the mummy's gaze. He was focused on Evelyn. She crawled over to where Mr. Burns was lying on the ground. She cradled his head in her lap and "shushed" him trying to calm him down. She watched as the mummy advanced on her cousin more.
"Anck-su-namun?" said the mummy looking at Evelyn.
The mummy extended his hand as he spoke in Ancient Egyptian, "Come with me my Princess Anck-su-namun."
"There you are!" shouted Rick as he ran by the door leading to the chamber Evelyn was in. "Will you quit playing hide-and-seek? Come on! Let's get out of here!"
Rick ran over to Evelyn and grabbed her arm. When she didn't move he turned to see what she was looking at.
"Whoa!" shouted Rick looking at the monster.
"Evy" shouted Jonathan.
Jonathan, Henderson and Daniels stopped short when they saw the mummy. He roared at O'Connell. O'Connell yelled back at him before he shot him with the shot gun. The monster shrieked before falling to the ground.
Jamila watched from a dark corner as everyone ran from the room. She had the urge to get up and run with them but she couldn't leave Mr. Burns there. Not in the condition he was in. She slowly stood to her feet and tried to pull him up as well. When she had gotten him to his knees someone grabbed her arm. She screamed and threw a blind punch in the dark. She connected with something. It was when they spoke she knew who it was.
"We warned you to leave!" he said.
It was the man in the black robes. Two other men grabbed Burns under the arms and started to drag him out of the room. As she was led from the room she head and saw the mummy start to move. She screamed again before she fainted. The man sighed as he picked her up and carried her from the room.