Harriet Potter in: The Mummy

Chapter 5

We all follow the warden, and when we get to the gallows courtyard, the warden looked back at us and said, "No women allowed."

Eve just barreled passed him and said, "We are English women." The warden looked confused, then shrugged and sat down to watch the proceedings.

We all sit next to the warden and Eve starts, "I will give you 100 pounds to save this man's life."

The warden scoffs and said, "I would pay 100 pounds just to watch him hang."

Eve counters, "200 pounds."

The warden ignored her and shouted, "Proceed!"

Eve then gets desperate, "300 pounds."

I can see that the man hears every word, and he looks hopeful. The whole courtyard was completely silent, and then the hangman turns to the man and says, "Any last requests?"

The man grunts and the noose is tightened, and he said, "Yeah. Loosen the know and let me go."

The hangman then grabs the lever and Eve shouts, "500 pounds!"

The warden puts his hands on Eve's leg and says lecherously, "And what else? I am a lonely man."

Eve is revolted and I leaned over to whisper, "You take your hand off her leg, or I will cut it off myself." The warden was about to dismiss me, but he saw my eyes.

He gulped, let her leg go, then shouted, "Go!"

Eve shouts, "No!" The man drops, but we could all see that he was struggling.

The warden looked pleased and said, "Ha! His neck did not break! Good. Now we get to watch him strangle to death."

There is shouting and yelling from all the prisoners in anger. The guards are looking around, nervous. The man is slowly turning purple.

Eve is beyond desperate at this point and said, "He knows the location to Hamunaptra."

The warden spins to face her, shocked, "You lie."

Eve looks offended, "I would never!"

I was close to getting the man down myself. I didn't save him just for him to die in front of me again. Death wasn't ready for him yet.

The warden looks incredulous, "Are you saying this filthy, godless, son of a pig knows where to find The City Of The Dead? Truly?"

Eve nods and says, "Yes. And if you cut him down, we will give you 10 percent."

The warden narrows his eyes, "50 percent."

Eve counters, "20."

The warden huffs, "40."

Eve then shouts, "30!"

Then the warden smiles and says, "25!"

Eve knew she had him and nodded, "Ah! Deal."

The warden groaned, knowing that he got cheated, but nodded and yelled for the man to be cut down. The man lay in a heap in the dirt, looking up at Eve who was beaming and waving down on him.

***

That night, in the Curator's office, were several men garbed in black with facial tattoos.

The Curator sounded grim, "She must die."

One of the garbed men, with a hook shrugged and said, "She is like all the others. She will die in the desert."

The Curator looked upset and said, "No! She knows too much." He then sighed and said, "They all do." It was quiet for a moment before he said, "Not only does she have the map, but she has the key."

This causes the men to stir in agitation. The one with the hook said, "The key?! She has the key?!"

The Curator nodded and said, "Yes. No one has ever had so much, been so close. We must stop her, or it will be the end of us all."

The man with the hook nodded and said, "The we will kill her. We will kill her and all those with her."

The Curator looked sad and said, "And burn the map and retrieve the key."

The man with the hook nodded and said, "It will be done. But what of the American expedition? They will leave tomorrow as well."

The Curator huffed and said, "Forget the bumbling Americans, they will be like all the others. Without the map to guide them how can they possibly find Hamunaptra?"

The men all nodded and stepped out into the night, and the Curator sighed. He could only hope that everything turned out all right.

***

It was the next morning, and Luna and I were on our way to meet Evelyn and Jonathan. We were heading out to Hamunaptra. Hopefully, that man shows up.

We finally see them and wave. As we get closer, I said, "So, ready to head out?"

Eve nodded and said, "Do you really think he'll show up?"

Jonathan nods and said, "Undoubtedly, I know the breed, he may be a cowboy, but his word is his word."

I nodded and said, "I believe in him."

Luna says dreamily Eve, "He'll be wonderful for you."

Eve looks confused, but said, "Personally, I think he's filthy, rude and a complete scoundrel. I don't like him one bit."

Then we heard a voice behind us that said, "Anyone I know?"

We all turned and saw that the man was clean. He had a haircut, was shaved, and had on new clothes. He really wasn't Harri's type, or Luna's, but he was handsome. Anyone with eyes could see that.

Evelyn looked shocked and said, "Oh... um... hello."

Jonathan then grabs his hand and shakes it, "Smashing day for the start of an adventure, eh O'Connell?"

Huh, that must be his last name. I then smiled at him and said, "Glad to see you're alive."

He nodded, and when John let his hand go, he quickly patted his pockets, saying, "Yeah, sure. Smashing." When he feels his wallet, he relaxes.

Jonathan just smiled and said, "Oh! I would never steal from a partner, partner."

O'Connell just smirks and mimed hitting him and said, "You don't mind about the..."

John laughs and said, "No! No... happens all the time."

Eve then interrupts and says, "Mister O'Connell, can you look me in the eye, and guarantee me this is not some sort of flimflam? Because if it is, I'm warning you –"

O'Connell then steps closer to Eve and says, "All I can tell you, miss, is that my Colonel found that map in an ancient fortress, and the whole damn garrison believed in it so much, that without orders, we marched halfway across Libya and into Egypt to find that city. Like I told ya, all I saw was sand. Everybody else was wiped out by Tuareg warriors. I'll take your bags."

Huh so that was what happened to him out in the desert. O'Connell then walks off with the Carnahan's bags.

Jonathan, Luna and I watch Eve as she watches him leave, and John said with sarcasm, "Yes, yes, you're right. Filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel, nothing to like there at all."

Eve gives him a side glare and John just grins. Then, Luna was almost pushed over when the warden pushed passed her to get to the ship. I growled.

The warden smiled and said, "A bright morning to you all."

Eve just levels him a look and said, "What are you doing here?"

He huffed with fake importance and said, "I have come here to protect my investment."

We all just look at each other, roll our eyes, and get on the ship.