Luxor Lost and Found

by Graham Warren

  Emmy heard Cairo deliver her cue. She stepped out from behind the pillar, waving her arms slightly. Cairo was, after all, supposed to be bringing her back from the dead. To her surprise, and also her pleasure, the two royal guards looked horrified.

  Henuttawy heard her cue. Just after Emmy stepped back from view, she came into view. Not by stepping out from behind the column, which was the plan, but by walking through it. In her time, only the base had remained. She appeared exactly as a ghost would appear. Nothing more was needed. One guard fainted, the other turned, then in blind panic ran straight into a marble column. Both were now equally unconscious. There was no need of Alex’s grand finale, the moving curtain, so he called Kate and David out.

  The guards were immediately disarmed. Using cords from the curtains, they were tied together before being hidden as best as possible. Initially nobody had noticed Cairo fall to the floor. The stress had been too much for him. David gently picked him up and put him over his shoulder. Behind the door in front of them was the bedchamber of Nefertiti. They had come this far, they had been so successful, yet there was a reluctance to open the door in front of them.

  “Oh, you wimps,” said Kate, as she pushed the doors open. On first glance it appeared as though the room was devoid of people. They bolted the doors behind them. David placed Cairo onto a chaise longue. It was a room which was obviously the room of a queen. Opulence was piled on top of opulence. Everything was far bigger than it needed to be. Gold everywhere with precious gems that were of a size and craftsmanship beyond anything any of them had ever seen – even Henuttawy, who had spent her early years in Ramses’ palace. This room alone made the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun look like a doll’s house.

  Upon pulling back the curtain which surrounded a bed the size of a five-a-side football pitch, they found themselves looking upon the Great Royal Wife of Akhenaton, Nefertiti, sound asleep. It took no great work of detection to see that she had walked into her bedroom, kicked off her shoes and collapsed, still fully dressed, onto her bed.

  This was the part of the plan which Alex was most unhappy with. Knowing she was such an awful person eased his guilt slightly, though only slightly. In his plan he was the one who was supposed to have held her hostage, but he had never really expected to be where he was right now. He did not know what he had expected to happen, but this was not it. Yes, this was his plan and it had gone even better than he had planned, but when did any plan go to plan?

  “Are you with me?” asked Kate.

  Henuttawy and Emmy both said, “Yes.”

  The three of them disappeared behind the curtain. There were muffled grunts and groans before the curtains were pulled back to reveal a tied, gagged and fully awake Nefertiti.

  “It looked as though you needed help,” whispered Kate to Alex, as she returned to stand between him and David.

  “I did. Thanks.”

  For the very first time it hit Kate that she had stepped into history. Here before her was Nefertiti. Okay, in her version of history she was tied to a bed and being held hostage, but all the same, she was looking at Nefertiti, not an actress, not a bust, but the legendary figure from history. She then wondered why meeting figures such as Ramses II and Alexander the Great had not had this effect on her. Seeing the shoes on the floor beside the bed, which had obviously been kicked off, the hairbrush which she had knocked onto the floor, the disorganised makeup box, her creased, crumpled and stained dress all went together to allow Kate a glimpse of a real person, an intimately personal glimpse of a great figure from history.

  They knew Tutankhamun, the son of Akhenaton and Nefertiti, was asleep in the adjoining bedroom. Alex had thought the threat of killing his mother would have made him go with Henuttawy, calmly and peacefully, and bring back twelve grains of sand of the Sun. The reason why Alex had intended to ask for twelve, rather than the ten grains which were needed, was because he understood that they were so small. He did not want to get back to Gadeem only to find out he had lost one.

  This was the first part of Alex’s plan that did not go well, even though it started well. David went into the adjoining bedroom with Henuttawy. They woke Tutankhamun and brought him into his mother’s room in total silence. He seemed pleased to have someone to talk to. He even appeared to be happy to go with Henuttawy and get twelve grains of sand of the sun. Why Kate felt she needed to add, “Call for the guards, and we will kill your mother,” was beyond anybody’s reasoning.

  The previously compliant Tutankhamun was now calling for the guards at the top of his voice.

  “We will not kill your mother, whatever you do,” shouted Alex over his screams.

  “You won’t!” he said in disappointment as he stopped screaming.

  “No, we just need the twelve grains of sand of the Sun. Dr Margretti said you would help us?” Alex worked on a hunch.

  “You have seen him?”

  “Yes, we are friends, and he is a great friend of my father.” Guards were now pounding on Tutankhamun’s bedroom door.

  “Can you tell me how he is?”

  “Yes, but only if you go back into your room, let the guards in to check that you are not in any danger. Please do also order a tray of food, just for yourself of course, as I think this may be a long conversation.”

  “Okay, I understand,” and with that said he went back into his bedroom.

  David closed the doors behind him. He could not see any way of locking them, though doubted royal guards would dare to enter the Queen’s bedchamber without being summoned by her.

  “Do you think we can trust him?” asked Kate.

  “I’m sure we can, just as long as you don’t repeat your threat to kill his mother if he calls the guards,” replied Alex, who expected to receive the wrath of Kate by reply.

  “I don’t know why I said that, sorry, I wasn’t thinking. But, oh boy, does he hate his mother!”

  Alex regretted that Cairo was still unconscious because he would never believe what Kate had just said and how calm she was as she said it. The father factor was indeed good for her. He thought that if they did get through this alive, then she could be as good for her father as he would be for her.

  “Someone coming,” said Emmy who had her ear to the door. Moving to take cover, they each took hold of a weapon borrowed from the guards outside. These would allow them some level of defence, though not enough without an element of surprise. “Not soldiers,” she said, so they stood their ground. “Can’t make out what it is. Sounds like single footsteps and a rattle.”

  The door started to open. Emmy offered help as Tutankhamun pushed a trolley loaded with food into Nefertiti’s bedroom. As he did, the gold plates rattled against each other.

  “The soldiers will know this is too much food for you alone, they will know someone is in here with you,” said Kate.

  “You are obviously not used to the ways of a royal palace. This is what I receive when I order a snack. If I asked for a meal, there would be at least six of these.”

  “Okay, sorry.”

  Alex was dumfounded with the change within Kate. “Another ‘sorry’, wow, that was so totally unheard of,” he thought.

  “Do tell me how Dr Margretti is, I must know.”

  Firstly, Alex wanted Tutankhamun to witness a miracle. He wheeled the trolley of food over to where Cairo was sleeping. Before it had come to a complete halt, Cairo was sitting up and eating. “I do not know how he does it, but it works every time,” said Alex over the sound of general amusement.

  Chapter 27

  -

  Too Late to Find Out

  “Well, that is about it,” said Alex. “Now you know everything I know about Dr Margretti. However, there is one thing I would like to ask, if you don’t mind.”

  Tutankhamun did not mind.

  “How do you know Dr Margretti?” Alex asked his question because he wanted to hear the reply directly from the lips of Tutankhamun. He was not alone in being pretty sure he knew the answer.

  “He is Akhenaton
, his dad,” said Cairo through a mouthful of food, as he shouted across the room. “I told you ages ago.”

  “He did,” said Alex.

  “He is,” confirmed Tutankhamun. Kate audibly gasped, Emmy had to take a seat as her legs turned to jelly, and David nodded almost imperceptibly.

  “Then how come he can walk on modern ground?” asked Alex. “Surely being an ancient, not a god, this is something he cannot do.”

  “I really do not know. He never had gods such as Thoth, Bast or Sobek as his religion was the Aton. What I do know is that he never walks on anything except modern ground … never! I shall go now, in order to get you what you need before the guards change. These are pussycats compared to those who guard the first hours of every new day, because they are the most dangerous hours for pharaohs.”

  “That’s a worry, because when they change they will certainly come across the guards we tied up. Then all hell will let loose. We don’t even know how to get out of here, as we can’t leave the way we had planned to.”

  Everyone agreed with Kate as Tutankhamun left in a hurry. “I will not be long, and I have got a way for you to get out, do not worry,” he called back as he turned to close the door to his bedroom. And despite being where they were, they did not worry.

  “So, what actually are the ten grains of sand of the Sun? I know why you need them, I just do not know what they are.”

  Henuttawy enlightened David. “You know of the Aton, the large stone stele showing the rays of the sun.”

  “Of course.”

  “Well, Akhenaton needed to prove beyond any shadow of doubt that his one god was the only god. He placed an empty bowl on an altar in front of the Aton, into which he forced his most influential sceptics to each put a handful of ordinary sand. Turning to face all those gathered for this event, several hundred people, Akhenaton proclaimed that they would all become believers of the one god, the Sun god, when his god turned the sand into grains of sand of the Sun.

  “There was a flash of light from the bowl. On inspection, the sand had indeed turned into extremely small diamonds, or sand of the Sun, as they are known. It was, however, nothing more than ancient magic. A very difficult spell, by all accounts. Some of this spell remains in every fragment of diamond, so they in turn are sought after by practitioners of magic. Especially for either extremely difficult or extremely powerful spells. And that is about all there is to it.”

  “That now makes perfect sense,” said Kate. “Gadeem told us what it was. He rambled on so long that I lost the will to live, and had definitely stopped listening before he had finished the story.”

  “He is a very kind man,” said Henuttawy, “though he can take you on a long trip around the mountain with his stories when the short path is quite adequate.”

  Tutankhamun re-entered the room holding a small wooden box. Upon removing the lid everyone saw so many grains of sand of the Sun they would have been difficult to count. “Please give this to my father,” he said as he slipped a folded papyrus into Alex’s hand. “I am sure we will all meet again and I look forward to that day. Now, regrettably, you must go.” He pulled out a very official looking papyrus which he gave to David. “Royal passes are always held by the oldest male member of the group, which is why I gave it to you. I had to write it quickly, but it will be my seal they will be looking at. It will allow you all to walk directly to, and then out of the main gate. Nobody would dare challenge it, nobody at all. Also, nobody, however high ranking, would expect you to speak to them, without me being present, because I have given you some rather grand titles.” They left by a minor door in the queen’s bedroom, which took them straight down to the garden via a stone staircase.

  Alex was the last to leave. Just before he did, he thanked Tutankhamun, reaffirmed that he would give the papyrus to his father, then quickly mentioned that Mr and Mrs Inky were looking forward to seeing him again.

  “Oh, yes, such nice people, and I just love their bulls’ head sandwiches.”

  Just thinking about their sandwiches as he ran down the steps, caused Alex to struggle with his own stomach, as he wanted to keep what little contents it contained in place.

  Tutankhamun went back to his room in the happiest frame of mind he had experienced for many, many years. He had left his mother tied up on her bed as he pretended to sleep, because, of course, he was far too excited to sleep. He also had no worry of retribution. Yes, the guards would eventually break into her room and free her. When they asked, he would say he had been asleep all the time, having been disturbed by nothing out of the ordinary. He may even show a little overacted, though totally insincere, concern. What mother would want to let everyone know, and telling a guard was as good as telling everyone, just how much their son hated them? None was the answer, so he was quite safe and also quite happy.

  David had shown their papers to several guards. The seal alone had been enough to let them pass. Now only the main gate was between them and freedom. It really was the main gate of all main gates. This was no pylon, as this was truly massive. It looked as though it belonged to a medieval English castle, only it was on a giant scale. They slowed, not that they had been moving quickly. David held out their papers again.

  Alex glanced at the back of man whose papers bore a larger and far more ornate seal than theirs. Despite the late hour, he was on his way into the palace. Cleared to enter just as they were cleared to leave, the man turned; he and Alex locked eyes, though Alex was no longer sure if it was a man. He was only sure of one thing which he shouted loud enough for possibly everyone in Amarna to hear … “RUN!”

  They ran alright, they ran for their lives. “Hit the dirt,” he shouted, just as loud as he had shouted run. If this had been a competition for synchronised diving, they would have taken gold. As one they hit the sand, just as a translucent lime green blade, approximately four metres wide, shot over their heads. It embedded itself in the buildings before them, then disappeared, however, the damage it caused did not. It was obvious for all to see that not one of them would have survived had it hit them.

  “No time to hang around,” called out Kate. As Emmy stood, a large clump of her hair remained on the ground. It really had been too close for comfort. They ran and they ran. David got them a little lost, so Henuttawy took over. She did not do any better. They had both been searching for a way out to the modern day. Knowing where they wanted to be was one thing, finding it in the pitch-black whilst in a panic was quite another.

  “I can’t run anymore,” said Kate, as she collapsed against the wall of a mud brick house. None of them could run anymore. What little light there was from the houses around made their skin shine. They were each soaked in sweat.

  Alex took out the little wooden box he had been given by Tutankhamun. Still panting, he said, “We need to split up, calm down, then get out of here. What can I put some of this into?” David passed him a small self-seal plastic bag. Alex tried to pour some of the sand of the Sun into it, but he was shaking far too much. Emmy took hold of the bag and held it open. With the box lid back on and the now half-filled bag sealed, Alex offered the bag to David. He asked Emmy to give the box to Henuttawy: both contents and box were of her time. Neither wanted to take the items.

  “Look,” said Alex, “you are the only two who know how to get out of this place. At this moment in time anybody else is expendable.” Understanding the logic of his argument, they quickly took the items, putting them safely away.

  “David, you take Emmy and Cairo with you.”

  “I’m not leaving my father,” Kate shouted at Alex in panic rather than anger.

  “Okay, okay, sorry. David, you take Kate and Emmy with you. I will go with Henuttawy and Cairo. We will all get out of here safely … and … we will all meet back in the bar at the Winter Palace. Are you listening, Kate, as that is an order!”

  “We will keep the tamar-hindi cold for you,” she said, just as the two groups turned away from each other, then started running again.

  The reflected shimmers
of water moved in rhythmic sequence on each wall as well as across the ceiling. This had a somewhat calming effect as Kate and Emmy caught their breath. David, still panting, checked that the public baths they had just broken into were indeed empty. Public that was, for anyone rich enough.

  The Nile flowed through these series of baths all day, every day, so the water was never still. The water entered, filling, what was by all accounts, a swimming pool. It overflowed to fill a debating area in the next room. They knew this as Kate read the sign on the wall over the door. This was a shallower pool with underwater seating on three sides and a speaker’s platform on the fourth. It was surrounded by a library of papyrus rolls. These were stored on shelves which filled the walls of the room. Finally, it was the room of the baths themselves. Kate looked down at twenty of them, she knew it was twenty because she had counted. All were flush with the marble floor, though there were many different widths and lengths. Neatly stood beside each were soaps, oils, perfumes and towels. She imagined very important people having their favourite bath.

  “I can see you two are eyeing those baths. Go on, refresh yourselves. I shall keep watch.” David was being a gentleman, as he was just as hot and sticky as they were. There was no need to keep watch, as this was a prosperous area. Here, there were no people on the streets at this time of night. The only guards were those who ringed the area, which they had managed to evade. The rich of Amarna were late risers, so they had all the time in the world, or a few hours at least.

  “We are in our baths,” called out Kate. “Why don’t you come in and relax as well?”

  David shot into the room with a finger to his lips. “You must keep it down. We are far from safe yet.”