Roma woke before the rest of the camp and, leaving Ardeth still asleep, she went to inspect the results of Rick's handiwork in the light of the early morning Egyptian sun.
If she had expected to see that parts of the tomb walls had survived with their carvings, she was disappointed. Rick's expertise with explosives had surpassed even his expectations and nothing larger than the size of a pebble had survived.
The pulverized limestone that had survived for millennia, lay like a pile of terracotta powder that some ancient Egyptian lady might have used as a rouge to enhance her cheeks. She dipped her hand in the pile of powder and found that it coated her palm. She rubbed her hand on her trousers in disgust to try to remove it, but it clung to her hand.
She hoped, foolishly, to find a scrap of turquoise, or perhaps faience, but Rick had done his job too thoroughly. She wandered over to where the shaft had been, only to find it full of fine rubble, any secrets it might have contained now lost.
"This was to be our triumph," she said to the empty sky, "Evie and I were going to present a find to the archaeological world, the discovery of a tomb like no other, and now it's gone. No bones, no skeletons, no mummies, no nothing. It's all gone, forever."
"What are you doing here?" She jumped, surprised to see Ardeth standing next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder, "Are you dwelling on what might have been? That will do you no good. You helped rid the world of great evil—is that not enough?"
"Once it might have been, but now I'm not so sure. You don't know what it's like to be a woman, Ardeth, especially when you try to succeed in a world dominated by men. You've been raised in a culture where women don't question their place--it's your culture. It's not so different for Evie and me, but women are changing--we want more, and someday I hope we can get it. I had my father to help speed up my success, but now I've lost him. It was this damn tomb, it was going to help Evie and me—and now it's gone. I've lost everything."
"You haven't lost me," he told her firmly, "Whatever I can do to help you, I will. Perhaps I didn't understand you but now I do. What I want for you is what you want."
He was going to take her into his arms and kiss her when Rick came running up to them.
"It's Evie, I think she's better, she may even have returned to her old self. She wants to talk to you, Roma, please come."
They went to Rick's tent where they found Evie sitting up in bed, drinking a cup of tea. Though there were deep shadows under her eyes and newly etched fine lines that had not been there before, the look in her eyes was the old Evie, the honest Evie. She had lost some of her youthful looks, but what remained was a mature beauty who had perhaps learned from her ordeal.
Roma went to her and hugged her. "Is it you now, Evie, is it truly you?"
"Yes, yes it is. The last thing I remember is seeing him standing by the coffin in the torchlight. I can't remember anything else, though I have memories from..." She paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued, "Rick told me he blew up the tomb—was it necessary?"
"Yes, Evie, it was, it was the only way we could save you. We had to break the link that tied you to him. Even after you were freed and returned to us, well, it wasn't enough. for a brief moment, we thought we had you back, but then you were lost to us again. Whoever or whatever possessed you had a power I can't even comprehend. I think when we found Sitamun's mummy and removed it from the tomb we released a spirit into the world that had a powerful intent, an evil intent."
"Sitamun, it was her, I am sure of it. I had no idea I was under such a powerful spell, or that she could follow me back here." Evie set down her cup and lay back on her pillows. "Nothing like this has ever happened to me, I would not have thought it possible."
"And it won't happen again, I promise. Her mummy was destroyed in the blast, along with the bones and everything else we found in the tomb. The Egyptian authorities would not be pleased to learn of it, but it's so remote they may not find out, or maybe they will blame it on looters. Do you feel strong enough to travel?"
"I don't know, I've felt nauseous though I don't know why. Maybe I haven't eaten enough, but I'm sure if I make an effort to eat I'll feel better. Then, tomorrow, we can leave."
Roma kissed her, "Of course, one more day won't hurt, but we've got to get away before anyone discovers what we've done. If we're careful we can cover our tracks and maybe blame it on looters if anyone finds out."
The three left Evie to rest, satisfied she was all right. Roma could smell the cookfires burning as Ali began preparations for the morning meal.
The tent she and Ardeth shared was old and ragged but still functional. She poured water into a basin and began to splash her face and arms. She could not wait to get home and take a real bath, she thought. She'd been living out of tents for longer than she was accustomed to. It would feel good to sleep in a real bed again, she decided the first thing she would do was soak for an hour in a tub in waters scented with attar of roses.
She became aware of just how tired she was and decided she would lie on her cot for just a moment when the wave of nausea swept over her. She ran out of the tent, not caring if anyone could see, and threw up.
She waited until evening to tell Ardeth. "I think I'm pregnant," she said, in much the way someone might offer an apology, "I didn't give much thought to it, I'm sorry Ardeth, I didn't intend this."
He took her hands in his, "Do not be sorry, for I am not. I am happy. To me, this is happy news, but Roma, what do you want to do?"
"Well," she sat next to him on the cot. "If you truly want this child, then I do too, but what will we do? I cannot live in your world, any more than you could live in mine. Do you think we could raise this child together, in both of our worlds? I want him to know his father and how he lives."
"And you will also want him to be of your world, but that is fine with me. Roma, I would ask you to marry me, but the British make it all but impossible for people like us to wed."
"Yes, and they frown on mixed-race children but we can teach him that it doesn't matter. I don't know if I ever want to marry, but I think Papa was right--we always loved each other but were too blind to see it.
"I'll have to hide my pregnancy, but I can leave Egypt and go to Paris or Rome and come back after the baby is born. I'll tell people I adopted it. I don't care if they believe me or not, you and I will know the truth."
Ardeth lay his hand with its long fingers on her cheek. He was about to lean down and kiss her when Rick appeared in the doorway.
"It's Evie, something's wrong but she won't tell me what it is. She wants to talk to you, Roma, alone."
"Of course," Roma stood up, "We can't expect her to be back entirely to her old self, not just yet."
Evie was sitting in bed, tears staining her cheeks. She looked at Ardeth and Rick, "Would you please leave us alone?" she asked. They looked at each other and left.
Roma sat on Evie's cot, "Whatever is wrong, Evie? You look like you've seen a ghost, you're white as a sheet."
Evie grasped Roma's wrist, "I'm pregnant, Roma."
"Are you sure?" Evie nodded. "Well, shouldn't that be good news? You told me you always hoped for another child." Roma tried to be reassuring, but Evie was clearly distressed.
"No, you don't get it, this isn't Rick's child, it can't be."
"Evie, don't be silly, you're talking nonsense." Roma took her hand and stroked it.
"No, you don't understand, he had me, well he had her, a few times while I was trapped in her body. And she was pregnant, so she couldn't have conceived, so he may have impregnated me instead."
Roma took a deep breath; no, she told herself, this can't be, no way could happen. She turned to Evie and said:
"You've been through an ordeal, a horrible one, one that no one besides us will believe. It's only natural to have thoughts like this, but it's not real, Evie. You were probably already pregnant but you didn't know it until now. You need to get away from this god-forsaken tomb and have a chance to clear your head. Please calm yourself, what you're thinking just isn't possible." She bent down and kissed her, "In the morning when we leave you will feel much better, I promise."
She left the tent and went to find Rick. "You need to go comfort your wife. I'm afraid this ordeal has been too much for her." She watched Rick disappear into the tent.
"What's wrong?" asked Ardeth.
"Well, it seems that Evie is pregnant, too, and she's taken it into her head that it might be Pentaweret's baby. There's no way that it's possible, but she's very fragile and Rick will have to watch over her. And I want to go home, Ardeth, I need to go home. I want to get away from this god-forsaken place, it's brought us nothing but trouble. I'm afraid it's going to be a while before Evie can recover from what she went through.
"She'll forget that she's afraid it's not Rick's child," Ardeth tried to comfort her, "Of course, it's not true, it's not even possible."
"Of course, it's not possible," Roma replied. God, I hope it's not possible, she thought. No, it's not, I'm sure it's not. She was probably already pregnant but didn't know it. Let that be the truth, please, I couldn't bear it if it wasn't--and neither could she.
Nine months later:
Roma lay in her bed in the safety of the Charity Hospital in Paris holding her new son. The nuns asked few questions and were happy to accept the generous amount of francs she had offered them.
The infant had dark blond hair and her grey eyes. He had the pale skin of a newborn but she was sure that his skin tone would darken. Except for his hair and eyes, he was the very image of Ardeth, and she could not wait to show him their son.
Evie lay in her bed in the British hospital in Cairo. She held the baby gingerly, not sure what she thought. The baby possessed a thatch of black hair and dark eyes. Alex had the blond hair and blue eyes of his English grandfather, but this baby was all Egyptian.
Rick took the baby from her, "He looks like you, Evie, fortunately, he doesn't resemble Jonathan. I never met your mother but I'm sure he must look like her."
"Yess, I suppose," she said but Rick missed the doubtful tone in her voice, "He does have my coloring, but it's hard to tell who he will resemble."
"Well, he has my nose and mouth, he'll resemble the old man, just you wait. A chip off the old block, aren't you?" he said and bounced the baby gently.
Evie closed her eyes and could hear the wind blowing the leaves and dust near the tomb. "Who are you?" she asked her newborn, but the if the baby had secrets, he was too little to tell them.
Ardeth had been waiting for Roma's return. He'd been staying in the old Ottoman house, impatient to see his son and now Roma was about to return.
She'd dressed in Egyptian garments, her hair now grown out and tumbling to her shoulders. There was a smile on her face when she saw him standing in the doorway, so eager to see her that he ran the few steps to reach her.
"We have a son, Ardeth, a beautiful son." She laid him in his waiting arms, smiling as she watched Ardeth hold their son close to him.
"What have you named him?" he asked, but she shook her head.
"I waited until we can decide together what his name should be. When the time comes, we'll know, in the meantime we can call him 'Baby'."
He stretched out an arm to embrace her. "I think he knows what his name is, all we have to do is wait until he tells us." He kissed her, basking in the warmth of her smile and the bundle he cradled in his arm. Life was good, inshallah.