The Mummy: The Tomb Robbers' Secret

The Screaming Mummy

"Maybe he had a premonition, maybe he and Tiye talked about it before it was actually carried out. I know that he was a priest of the Set cult, though may not have anything to do with it. This may explain the lack of any writing on the tomb wall and the omission of names. He may have wanted to remain anonymous for the protection of his family."

"They must have buried his body in secret. There's evidence that there were grave goods, and some of them must have been quite valuable, hence the robbing of the tomb sometime in antiquity. Someone must have known about his tomb for his corpse to be moved to the mummy cache, but who?"

"And the tomb lay forgotten all this time until you and Ardeth found it," Evelyn said in a thoughtful voice, "I wonder how many centuries it's lain open."

"Or why none of the Bedouin told the archaeologists about it? They can be a useful source of information because they know the desert. There are tombs in the cliffs that were used over time, but nothing like this. The carvings are exquisite and detailed, this is a tomb intended for a pharaoh's son or someone of importance, but why in the middle of the desert, he could have had a tomb prepared in the Valley of the Kings or at least the Valley of the Queens or the Nobles."

"We have to return to that tomb," Evelyn said, her voice full of enthusiasm, "If we can claim its discovery..."

"Our reputations will be made," finished Roma, "But first, I want to go to Cairo and check out that papyrus, I'm sure someone will let us see it. And I want to see that mummy, but it may prove difficult to get permission. We will have to find out if the tomb has been mapped, if it hasn't, Lacau may permit us to mount an expedition when the cold weather returns.

"Are you still afraid?" asked Evelyn, despite some unpleasant experiences her curiosity tended to overcome a sense of caution. She was eager to see the tomb, but she was not sure if Roma shared her enthusiasm.

"Yes, yes I am," Roma confessed, "But this is an opportunity we cannot pass up. I cannot let my fear guide my actions. I need to do this for myself."

Rick O'Connell was less than enthused when Evelyn announced that she and Roma intended to go to the desert to try to locate the tomb. They were in possession of what amounted to a treasure map, and he was hoping to find some long-lost Pharaonic jewels he could sell to the museum for ready cash, plus a couple less-valuable pieces to bring home as souvenirs.

Ardeth did not care about treasure, but he did not want Roma to return to the tomb, knowing what had happened before. Therefore, he became a willing ally with Rick to try to dissuade the girls from the plans they were hatching.

That night he tried to make Roma see reason. "You can't go to Cairo," he tried to be persuasive, knowing that he could not flat out refuse her permission. "You've just recovered from your fever, you need to take it easy for a while."

"I've taken it easy or over a week," she fumed, "And I may have discovered something important, but I won't know until I check out that papyrus. And," she added, "I need to see that mummy. I may have made an important discovery, something that has never been credited to a woman before. We won't be gone that long, Evie and I will spend a couple of days in the Cairo house, I'm sure it's been cleaned up by now. The only thing that will take a long time will be the boat ride."

"Remember what happened to your house in Cairo? And your nightmare? It is not safe for you to do this, you don't know what will happen."

"I had a Coptic priest bless the house, and an imam exorcise the spirit, surely that would be enough to drive out anything that was left. And now I have a strong young man, not an elderly gatekeeper, who I pay well to guard the house—that should take care of intruders. No matter what you say, Ardeth, I am going and you will not succeed if you try to stop me."