The Mummy: The Tomb Robbers' Secret

To Luxor

Evelyn settled on a medium-sized hotel that catered mostly to travelers and archaeologists, and a few locals. It had once been a way station and boasted of having been there for almost one-hundred-fifty years.  Although there was no restaurant, the downstairs canteen catered both to locals and out of towners and frequently could be a good source of gossip, both local and outside of Cairo.

The first stars were pricking the Egyptian night sky when the foursome unloaded themselves wearily from the taxi. The driver retrieved their bags, holding out his hand which Roma filled with a generous tip.

"Please let me know if you hear any gossip that might be of use," she told him, dropping another coin into his hand, "Nothing is too unimportant, mind you, I will pay you well for anything you hear."

The hotel was comfortable but lacked valets, only a weary-looking concierge sitting behind a counter. Roma paid for the rooms, plus a little extra.

"No one needs to know we are here," she told him, "And there will be more if you let me know if someone asks about any of us." Greed, she knew, could be counted upon and taken advantage of when opportunity presented.

It took all of her energy to consume the excellent dinner at the little restaurant they had found around the corner from the hotel. The Muslim proprietor did not approve of spirits of any kind but he had learned that if he kept a good red wine to be consumed with dinner, he attracted more of the European travelers who appreciated the good food and service that he provided.

The sky had now filled with stars when they left, but Roma was too tired to appreciate the beauty of the night sky. Ardeth's strong arm kept her from stumbling as they made their way back to the hotel for one last drink in the canteen.

"As soon as Father's body arrives, I can get him buried and then we can go to Luxor." Roma held up her glass and gazed at the amber liquid she swirled around, "Ardeth, do you think we should show them what we found?"

"I thought you didn't want to go back there," he replied but she shrugged her shoulders.

"Now that I'm away from it I don't think it's as evil as what happened to Father. Evelyn, I think you would want to see it. An elaborately carved tomb with no cartouches to reveal the name of the owner. The sarcophagus made of basalt and polished to a shine, but even with no carving on it the owner must have been someone important." She looked at them to see if she was holding their interest. "I was wondering if it belonged to a priest of Set, I saw a carving of him on the wall, complete with the ankh and a staff."

"Really," Evelyn breathed and Rick thought, oh no. To search for jewel caches in the Valley of the Kings under the nose of Howard Carter sounded harmless in comparison to the tomb of a priest of the God of Chaos.

 Ardeth came to her rescue, "You had nightmares in that place, Roma, you said that you never wanted to go back. You are over-tired, that is all. Let us go to bed and get a good night's sleep. The events of the past few days have been hard on you, you are not thinking clearly."

And it did feel good to slide into bed, feeling his naked body against hers. He made love to her as if she were one of her fragile artifacts then held her in his arms all night as if he would ward off any bad dreams.

Towards morning, the dawn sky lightening but the sun not yet risen, she opened her eyes to see a tall black figure standing at the foot of the bed. She closed her eyes, then opened them—it had not gone away. She started screaming, disturbing the guests in the rooms near them.

Ardeth took care of them, assuring them that the Englishwoman had had a very bad nightmare, but she would be all right, and apologized for what had happened. The hostile glares he received let him know that apologies weren't sufficient, but they were too polite to say so.