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They arrived at their destination as dawn approached. Rick felt no small amount of satisfaction at knowing he had brought them here at exactly the right moment … although that satisfaction was tempered by the arrival of Beni and the Americans at the same time.
"Good morning, my friend." The smug grin on Beni's face was just itching to be wiped off by Rick's fist.
Rick and Beni took up positions, waiting for the sun to rise to the right angle. The others took up their spots behind them—all of the Americans and the many diggers and other native servants they had brought along. Jonathan and Evelyn pulled up their camels next to Rick's.
"What the hell we doin'?" asked one of the Americans.
"Patience, my good barat'm. Patience." Beni sounded like he was at the end of his. Probably just sour he actually had to come all the way out here to get paid.
Another of the Americans leaned forward on his horse. "Remember our bet, O'Connell. First one to the city, five hundred cash bucks."
Rick curled his lip in something that might pass for a smile and shook his head. He could gamble with the best of them when he felt like it, but Hamunaptra did not make him feel like it. He'd far rather turn tail and get the hell out of here than take these men's money … but as long as he was here, and so were they, and Evelyn Carnahan was set on this insanity, he might as well join in.
The first American cleared his throat, looking at Beni. "A hundred of them bucks is yours if you help us win that bet."
"Oh, my pleasure," Beni said. Rick snorted, and Beni looked over at him. "Hey, O'Connell. Nice camel." Beni grinned.
Rick smiled, patting the top of his camel's head. It wasn't a bad beast, all things considered. He didn't bother to point out that Beni was also riding a camel. He looked up, judging the angle of the sun. "Get ready for it."
"For what?" Evelyn asked.
"We're about to be shown the way."
The sun rose above the sand, a shimmering orange ball. Light rippled across the desert, dazzlingly brilliant, while around and behind him, Rick could hear the hushed murmurs and small movements of people seeing the magic for the first time. It was pretty, all right … but also deadly, and it didn't do to forget that.
Evelyn's eyes widened. Right in front of her, an empty stretch of desert shimmered into a ruined city, as though it had been there all along, which she was quite certain it had not.
One of the Americans whistled, impressed. "Will ya look at that."
"Can you believe it?"
"Hamunaptra," the third one whispered.
Evelyn ignored them. Silly Americans. What did they know? This country and its history wasn't in their blood. But she could feel it in hers, the beat of her pulse and the tingle in her fingers. She could hardly sit still. She wanted to be there, inside those walls, right now.
Next to her, O'Connell muttered, "Here we go again."
She refused to let his cynicism get her down, especially because he had barely finished speaking before his weaselly little friend was spurring his camel onward. O'Connell cried out to his at the same time, and Evelyn urged her camel forward, as well.
They were all shouting, spread out across the desert in their mad race to be first into the city. Evelyn ignored them all, focusing only on her camel and on crossing the sands and on the ruins in front of her. The men's bet didn't matter to her—what mattered to her was getting there, finally getting her life started, feeling closer to the parents she barely remembered by doing what they had done. Exploring. Adventuring.
Just ahead of her and to the side, she could see O'Connell and his friend fighting. Eventually, as she had expected he would, O'Connell came out the victor, knocking the other man off his camel. Evelyn looked down at him as he rolled in the sand. "That serves you right," she told him tartly. Anyone who tried to win a race by whipping another man with his riding crop deserved to be turned off his mount.
Tapping her camel with her own riding crop, she urged him on, catching up to O'Connell with what appeared to be surprising ease. They rode side by side for a moment, smiling at each other. Evelyn laughed in delight—she couldn't remember the last time she was so happy. And then her camel put on an unexpected burst of speed, and it was all she could do to hold the reins and keep her seat.
Behind her, she heard Jonathan call out, "Go, Evie! Go!"
And then she was there. Inside the ruined walls of the mythical city of Hamunaptra. Far ahead of the pack, the clear winner of the bet, as well. Take that, Bembridge Scholars. Take that, maiden aunts who had wanted her to stay in England and get married and settle down like a proper lady. Take that, every man who had ever pooh-poohed her dreams. Because here she was, Evelyn Carnahan, librarian, and she had won.
O'Connell was behind her as her camel climbed the rise into the heart of the ruins. She whooped with joy, looking around her, trying to take it all in at once.
She pulled up short, looking around her, as O'Connell brought his camel to a stop next to hers. He climbed down, and then reached up for her hand. She put it inside his, letting him help her down. After so much riding, it felt strange to be standing still. Or it felt strange to be so close to him. Either way, she swayed a little, and his hands went to her waist. "You all right?"
Evelyn looked up into those blue eyes and was not sure she was all right. Suddenly she wanted— well, it didn't matter what she wanted, because she could hear the others arriving, the jangle of their horses' reins. She stepped back abruptly. "Fine. Thank you."
O'Connell nodded, moving away to tie up the camels, and she wondered if she had only imagined the huskiness of his voice and the way his eyes had dropped to her lips as if he wanted to kiss her again.
The Americans left their horses to be handled by the servants they had brought with them, and approached Evelyn. "Nice riding, little lady."
"Never knew a camel could move like that."
"Guess this is yours." One of them handed her a bundle of bills.
"Oh. I, um …"
"I'll take that. Thank you, gentlemen. Pleasure doing business with you." Jonathan grinned at them, plucking the bills from her hand.
But he had no sooner done so than O'Connell retrieved them from him. "Maybe I should hold on to this for your sister."
Evelyn thought about explaining that she had plenty of money and Jonathan would get it from her sooner or later, but really, what did money matter? She was in Hamunaptra. She left the men to their petty gambling and walked toward the center of the city, looking around her in triumph and wonder.