There's A Fine Line Between Coincidence & Fate ✓

Chapter 3

I dismounted my horse and walked over to where my brother was giving orders to Dr. Chamberlain to give to the local diggers they had hired. I didn't like Dr. Chamberlain. We were both well-educated in our field, yet he still held himself above everyone else here and looked down on me as I am a woman. "I don't think that way is going to work. That door looks like it was shut good and tight." I informed them.

"Worst case scenario, I brought something special from home," Jack said, pulling a stick of dynamite out of a crate that was off to the side.

"Great," I said sarcastically, "Let's just scare the crap out of anyone in a fifty-mile radius." He just responded with a sheepish smile and I shook my head, smiling back at him. My brother, he was the only person I knew who got super excited at the possibility of blowing shit up. We jumped at the sound of the diggers yelling, letting us know that they had succeeded in opening the door. Jack entered the tunnel first; I was right behind him. I could tell that the good doctor was put off by that but what was he going to do about it. I looked around in amazement. The hieroglyphs on the wall were stunning. By the light of the torches that one of us thought to light, I could make out some intense stories in the glyphs detailing life at the time of Seti I.

Continuing forward. Jack led us into a room where a pair of legs were coming down from the ceiling. "This must be it, the statue of Anubis." I whispered. I was going to continue but we all heard a noise coming from around the other side of the statue. Immediately on edge, we had all heard the stories of this place being cursed, I grabbed my pistol out of its holder on my leg, flipping off the safety. Jack turned to us and held up three fingers, signaling to us to jump out on three. When he reached one, we jumped around the legs of Anubis, guns drawn.

I was met with the end of Rick's gun. Relief immediately flooded through me. 'Thank God that wasn't a mummy,' I couldn't help but think. My brother, however, was more put out. "Jesus, O'Connell, you scared the shit out of us," he breathed out before sighing in relief.

"Likewise."

I noticed Evy standing behind Rick and her brother, holding something that she hadn't had the last time I saw her. But in this crappy lighting, I couldn't make out what it was. Bernard, however, did. "Hey, that's my toolkit." He said, just now realizing that it was missing. Evy immediately pulled it to her chest and Rick and Jonathan raised their guns back up.

"I don't think so." Rick warned him. I wasn't the slightest bit impressed by this measuring contest they were having with their guns, so I put mine away and stepped back, trying to get Jack to do the same, which went over about as well as one would think.

"Okay. Perhaps I was mistaken." Poor Bernard, he never was one for confrontation, even if it meant losing something of value of his.

"Well, this has been exciting, gentlemen, Margaret. But we have a lot of work ahead of us." Evy said, trying to diffuse the situation and get us to move along. This wasn't going to go over well, I already knew.

As if he had read my mind, Dr. Chamberlain finally decided to make himself known. "Push off! This is our dig site." He told her in a very snooty way. Goodness, could this man get any more annoying?

Evy, it seemed was not one to back down, not even from the royal prick. "We got here first." She countered. I was inclined to agree with her seeing as I didn't think we'd find what the others in my group were looking for in a statue, but it was now a matter of male pride with them, something even my brother was having trouble overcoming seeing as they all whipped out their guns again.

"This is our statue, friend," Daniels seemed to feel the need to let them know.

"I don't see your name on it, pal," came Rick's witty response.

"Yes, well there are only four of you and fifteen of me. The odds aren't in your favor, are they O'Connell?" Beni taunted. Personally, I would've fed Beni to whatever bugs might be lying in wait in here, but my brother and the others promised to pay him and unfortunately, my brother was good on his word.

"I've had worse." Rick responded to him and based on the look he was giving Beni; I would say Beni knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Yeah, me too." Somehow, I wasn't surprised that Jonathan had a similar experience.

"Goodness gracious children. Must it always come to violence?" I asked them. Bernard and Jack at least had the decency to look ashamed, Daniels just grunted and rolled his eyes at me. I had a hand on one of Jack's guns, attempting to get him to lower it. Seeing the look on my face, one that I had perfected from momma over the years, Jack slowly lowered his guns.

"Exactly. Let's be nice children. If we're going to play together, we must learn to share." Evy said, walking up to the rest of them, lowering their weapons as she spoke. "There are other places to dig." She said, turning to Rick and lowering his gun last. With that they turned and walked down the corridor that they had come from. Dr. Chamberlain and Daniels looked mighty proud of themselves. I couldn't stop the eyeroll that was brought on by their actions.