Flashback:
Archaeological Site
Egypt,
Along the Red Sea
1947
Indiana Jones ran with his ten-year-old, oldest daughter, Annie and the young Egyptian boy, Farouk, around the side of the sandstone cliffs. Marion had gone on horseback to gather their climbing gear.
Indy held both children's hands as they all craned their necks upward. The desert and sea had carved out an ancient sandstone bluff, marking each side of the otherwise featureless land with sheering and measurements of where the ocean dared to rise against the desert. The layers of sandstone were red and yellow swirls.
Annie would have rushed them, tracing them with her small hands, smiling in awe... if they weren't in a crisis, searching for a way to rescue four-year-old Emily... but in a crisis Annie was terrified and frozen to the spot. Indy knew it was overwhelm, but it also worried him, because the way he and Marion had survived so many dangerous situations was to act against them - not freeze in terror.
Farouk pointed.
Indy knelt to the children's level. Annie was ten. Ten-year-olds had a different view of the world. "Where?" He asked Farouk.
The boy pointed again.
Indy followed his gaze. There in the sandstone were worn notches... footholds. But nothing he could anchor a whip or a rope to in order to climb inside the half collapsed ruin where he hoped Emily was still alive. Indy swallowed.
Marion raced around the edge of the rock formation, her horse jumping a ditch. Indy blinked...
Marion slowed the horse to a stop, her grip on the reins sending the horse into a slide, nearly sitting down, sand spraying up in waves. The horse regained its footing and gave a shake, lowering its head to gently bump Annie with its nose.
"I grabbed all the ropes and climbing gear that I could find," Marion explained, breathless, unloading it from the horse.
"We'll need it," Indy replied. "What did you jump over?"
"No idea."
Indy ran past her, studying the terrain. He swung over the roll in the sand, discovering a trough. Looking up the trough continued up the sandstone cliff, worn strangely smooth. "Marion?"
She climbed over the small ridge. "Indy! We're wasting time!"
"What does this remind you of?" He asked.
Marion stared. "I... Oh." She looked at him. "The dimensions of most obelisks and columns from Egyptian ruins."
"Yeah." He grimaced. "Which means, we thought this was a tomb - its actually a quarry."
"But we found evidence of a tomb..." Marion answered. "The hieroglyphics -"
"I know. They may have used it for both purposes. And that might be why its flooding..."
"Because they dug out the foundations?" Marion's voice flooded with panic. "Indy! We have to save Em!"
"I know, Marion. I know. Believe me, I want my little girl back. I want everyone here safe." He looked at Annie, who was hanging onto the horse's head, petting it, fear written all over her face. Indy knew that expression. It was an echo of himself when his mother had died. He winced. The memories had made the situation worse.
Farouk was looking at them confused.
Indy scrambled over the ridge and helped Marion.
"What else do you know, Farouk?" Indy asked.
The little boy started chattering.
Indy shook his head. "Slower."
"I got this, Jones," Marion answered, switching to Egyptian Arabic. "Farouk, we're going to climb up there. What's up there? What do you know? Tell us everything."