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Chapter 2 of Egyptian fantasy novel Ra's Warrior
Chapter 2
Elise towed her sister through the bustling streets of Cairo. Silence sealed them in an envelope of eeriness. Her concern was far greater than the distance she could put between them and the café. “We need to find Adel. He’ll know what to do. People don’t just vanish. How did he know us? Damn, if I keep talking, maybe you’ll snap out of this. He was solid; I swear . . . I don’t understand it. Andrea!” Elise joggled her sister. “Talk to me, damn it.”
Still, no response, and they were almost at the Jeep. Elise threw the bags into the back and eased Andrea into the passenger seat. Burning rubber polluted the garage. Smoke choked the air. In her head, the stranger’s words echoed. What does it all mean?
Weaving and honking through cramped streets cluttered with Fiats, donkey-pulled carts, bicycles, and people, Elise finally crossed the river and raced toward the plateau. Andrea hadn’t even so much as twitched.
The panic was so intense that Elise couldn’t think straight and she drove around all three pyramids trying to find Adel even though she knew he wasn’t there. He’ll know what to do, she reassured herself. Where the hell is he? Finally, she found him standing by his apartment talking to a worker. The rear wheels skidded left. Sand plumed, making the men cough and covering them with a fine layer of yellow speckles. She flung open the door and almost fell out. “Adel, we’ve got to talk,” interrupted Elise.
Their godfather’s salt-and-pepper hair barely moved when he shook his head. “Have you forgotten your manners?” One suggestive nod caused the worker to leave. “What is wrong with you, Elise?”
“A, An, Andrea found a scroll in the Khufu pyramid. We were going to tell you after we--“
“Why was I not informed immediately?” His stern-set mouth compressed. As dig supervisor he tried to stress to Andrea the importance of advising him of everything.
Hearing his anger, touched with disappointment, Elise dropped her head and raised her eyes. A sharp inhale did little to overthrow the anxiety at having to explain it. Her ponytail twisted and turned between slender fingers as she relayed the day’s events.
Lines webbed Adel's sun-worn face as he studied them. “Get out of the car, Andrea. Come inside.” His redwood-thick arm extended, but it went ignored as Andrea brushed past him. Once inside, Andrea fell onto the multicolored pillows forming his couch.
“She’s been this way since we left Cairo.” Elise wiped away brimming tears and sniffled.
He walked over to Andrea, smiled gently, and said, “My dear, you must talk to us.”
Andrea seemed stuck in a semi-catatonic state. She sat there with her hands folded in her lap staring, without expression, at the wall. After moments of silence, she jolted to her feet. “I’ve got to find it!” Adel grasped her shoulders and shook vigorously. Her head lolled and then Andrea shivered as if an ice cube had been put down her blouse. “How did we get here?”
"You fell asleep in the car," Elise said.
“You had fun in Cairo.” Adel winked at Elise. She understood its meaning: Don’t say anything to return her to her previous state.
“Well I’ve work to do. Elise, would you fill in the details for Adel?”
“Sure. Will you be okay though?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Andrea scrunched her eyebrows.
“Oh, no reason,” said Elise hurriedly.
They waited for Andrea to be out of earshot before Adel said, “Her behavior is odd. Why is she indifferent about missing time?” Concern tinctured his light brown eyes.
“It’s so vivid I can’t forget it if I tried. She shouldn’t be alone.”
“She’ll be fine, Elise.” His plump, olive-tone face wrinkled. He tapped the pen against his cheek. “Andrea hasn’t acted this way since Salena died.”
Shudders of remembrance raged through Elise.
At age thirteen, it happened. Their mother had gone upstairs for an afternoon nap. Nobody thought anything of it. Right before dinner, Andrea went to wake Salena and it wasn’t long until Andrea returned, alone. Her eyes had been parched. She had descended the steps and sat, trembling, in her father’s lap. Dad knew something didn’t fit; he rushed upstairs.
Cause of death: unknown.
Adel squeezed her hand when Elise said, “I miss Mom.”
#
Andrea wanted to know why the scroll was presumably stowed away for all eternity. Since the Sphinx was closed for repairs it was a good place to sit and think before she went back to work. Determination was a Regal family trait--one they would have been better off without.
She walked between the paws of the limestone lion whose shadow bathed her in an orange aura. With the sun creeping toward the horizon, she settled down, crossed her legs, clasped her hands, and steadied her breathing. Andrea fondly recalled an Egyptian love song her mother had sung to her and Elise at bedtime, all those years ago. Serenity’s song awakened the gods.
Andrea abruptly stopped singing and turned her head to locate the origin of a creaking noise. Eyes thinned against the solar glare bouncing off the purple cloud-clad sky. There was a crack forming near the Sphinx’s body. That’s odd, she thought. Untangling her legs, she crawled toward it. Her eyebrows arched incredulously. Frenzied, but cautious, fingers brushed away the layer of white and yellow grains from the stone leg. No inconsistencies. No markings either . . . What?
Instincts shoved her hand against the cooling rock, and the cream colored stone turned white around her fanned out fingers. The ground trembled. “That’s not a crack!” Andrea was running before she even realized it. Sand plumed behind her. Leaping over obstacles and dodging tourists, Andrea dashed toward Adel’s apartment. She quickly drew close.
The wooden door smacked mud-brick walls with a muffled thud. “I found something! I found something at the Sphinx! Isn’t this exciting?” Her voice fluctuated.
“Wh-what?” Elise stuttered. Panicked eyes fixated on her.
“Grab some flashlights,” Adel said.
Speed seeped from Andrea’s unwavering legs as they struggled to keep up. She led them behind the Stele of Thutmose, near the Sphinx’s chest, and pointed. Nestled by ancient paws was a large rectangular opening. Elise gasped. Adel glared. He looked up; his lips parted wordlessly. When he finally spoke, his terse tone harbored underlying fears. “We can do nothing this evening. We’ll return tomorrow.”
Andrea smiled wider than the Cheshire cat. If something more was beyond that doorway, she would become the next 'Howard Carter' of Egyptology. She prayed the passage led to an untouched tomb, one larger than Tutankhamun’s whose cache of artifacts rivaled a gold mine.
Chapter 3
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, Jun 6 2008, 9:15 AM EDT
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Pyramid
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