Phantoms of the Pharaoh (A Lady Marmalade Mystery Book 4)

by Jason Blacker

  Trenglove stared down at the Egyptian sand. He had liked this place up until now. It had carried his dreams in the mirages and the hot baked sand. Now like a ghost it had whisked away his hopes and dreams and ground them into nothing against the granite of the pyramids. He pulled out a fresh white handkerchief and mopped his brow. Vipond looked up at him from his own camel and shook his head sadly. He had never known Trenglove to be a quitter, let alone a doubter. That was his job. But here he was, about to turn his back on millions.

  "What are you waiting for, I said we're leaving," said Trenglove, his voice getting a littler angrier.

  "I'm disappointed. I am really, and truly, very disappointed in you, Howard."

  That caught Trenglove off guard. He pulled his head back and frowned at Vipond.

  "You of all people. I never would have thought that you'd give up so easily."

  "Now listen here," said Trenglove. "We've been over the chambers and passageways with a fine toothed comb and we've come up empty. You've seen it yourself. There is nothing inside that bloody pyramid. What are we supposed to do? Really, Art, there is nothing there. If there was, then why the hell didn't you say anything when we were inside."

  Trenglove was exasperated. He looked down at Vipond and shook his head.

  "There's nothing there, Art. Nothing. It's time we faced the truth of the matter, which you've been trying to tell me for days now."

  "I agree, Howard. There is nothing inside the Menkaure's pyramid. You're right. If there was a secret chamber we would have found it. I agree with you, there is nothing to be found. At least not by the north entrance."

  Vipond nodded towards the entrance they had just come out of.

  "But what if there is another way into the pyramid?"

  "There isn't another entrance to the pyramid. Everybody knows that."

  "I know," said Vipond, walking up closer to Trenglove, and put his hand up on the rump of the camel. "But I've been thinking about something you said Walker told you."

  "And what's that?"

  Vipond had piqued Trenglove's curiosity now. Trenglove was a man whose curiosity was easily piqued and that's mostly how he had found himself on these wild adventures.

  "You told me that Walker had said something about the entrance being in the bigger of the three pyramids."

  "Yes, but we've already discussed this, the Pyramid of Menkaure is the smaller of them," said Trenglove.

  "Right," said Vipond nodding, "but he also mentioned the entrance being on the south."

  "He was confused. The Pyramid of Menkaure is the southernmost pyramid, that's probably what he meant. He said it was the biggest, and it's not. As you rightly pointed out, it was over fifty years ago when he was here last. The first and last time I might point out."

  "But he wouldn't let you write any of this down would he?" asked Vipond.

  "No, he didn't want the information getting into the wrong hands."

  "That's a pity, because we both know how unreliable your memory is."

  "Yes, well, I wasn't sure I believed him at the time until I did my own research."

  "I'm not blaming you," said Vipond, "I'm just saying, maybe what you remember him saying, which is likely not all of it, is actually accurate."

  "And how do you come to that conclusion?" asked Trenglove.

  "Get off your camel. I want to show you something."

  Trenglove brought the camel to kneeling and climbed off it. He followed Vipond who started walking towards the northeast corner of the pyramid where he stopped and faced southwest.

  "All right," said Trenglove, when he was standing next to Vipond. "I don't see anything. This place is mostly barren."

  "You're looking too far away," said Vipond.

  He pointed his finger at the closest pyramid of the three that ran from west to east, the largest of them a true pyramid, the other two were terraced pyramids.

  "The biggest of the three pyramids on the south side of the Pyramid of Menkaure."

  Trenglove followed Vipond's hand pointing at the closest true pyramid. It was centered in the middle of the Pyramid of Menkaure.

  "By Jove, Art, I think you're right. The biggest of the three pyramids."

  "Maybe we've been looking at the wrong place all this time," said Vipond.

  Trenglove nodded his head thoughtfully.

  "Perhaps your enthusiasm is contagious, Howard, but what if, just maybe, there's a secret passageway from that pyramid to Menkaure's?"

  Trenglove put his index finger and thumb of his right hand around his chin and thought for a moment. Then he pulled out his pocket watch. He adjusted it until he could read the dial in the moonlight.

  "It's just gone half past midnight," he said. "At four we have to meet our carriage if we have any hope of getting anything to the boat on time."

  Vipond nodded.

  "Then we best go exploring," he said.

  "Right," said Trenglove. "You grab a spade and rope and I'll grab a pickaxe and rope, just in case."

  The two of them started off back towards the camels and found the gear in the boxes that they needed. They checked the fuel in their lanterns and found that they had more than enough until morning, though they'd be long gone by then.

  "We've never been inside this pyramid," said Trenglove, "we'll be learning as we go."

  Vipond nodded. As they rounded the corner of the Pyramid of Menkaure Vipond noticed an entrance on the north side of the closest third pyramid, just a foot or two above ground level. Trenglove nodded.

  "If I recall correctly, some had thought that this is the pyramid of Khamerernebty, Menkaure's wife."

  Vipond nodded.

  "Apparently. But perhaps it was just a myth. Perhaps this pyramid is actually nothing more than a secret passageway for accessing the riches that we'll find in the Pyramid of Menkaure."

  "Time will tell," said Trenglove. "We'll find out soon enough."

  Trenglove climbed up into entrance way of this pyramid. It was of a similar height but tighter on the width. Only one man could fit in at a time. Vipond climbed up behind him. The tightness of this passageway made Vipond even more uncomfortable than he had been before.

  The corridor dipped downwards at a similar angle as the entrance passageway inside Menkaure's pyramid had dipped downwards. Eventually after about fifty feet they came into a burial chamber. It had been ransacked. There was nothing in it except for broken pieces of ceramic, some ratty matting and burned and charred wood. It was small and square with about eight foot long lengths. The height was about six feet, not quite enough for Trenglove to stand fully erect inside it.

  The two of them surveyed the area for a while, traveling up and down each side. There was no indication of secret doorways or passageways, though at the far end, it appeared as if the wall there was made of a separate large stone piece. Trenglove took his pickaxe off his back and tapped at the stone wall. It sounded thick, there was no sense that it was hollow on the other side. He turned to look at Vipond.

  "This appears to be the only suggestion that there might be something on the other side."

  Vipond came up and had a look at the corners where the far wall joined the side walls. He nodded.

  "It's definitely a separate wall," he said. "Though the workmanship is incredible. You can't fit a finger between the joints."

  "But if it is wall, how the hell do we get through it. It sounds incredibly thick. You'd need dynamite just to make a dent in it."

  "And that would bring the whole pyramid down around you."

  Trenglove nodded. He held his lantern up and around. The ceiling was right above him, and he still had to duck his head down slightly in order not to bump his head.

  There was a smaller and thinner granite platform that might have held another sarcophagus on it at one time that was on the right wall as you entered the chamber.

  "Perhaps we can move that slab of stone. Maybe the way past that wall is under it," offered Vipond.

  "Worth a try," said Trenglove, "I see no othe
r options."

  They both moved round to the entrance side and sat down. Vipond removed the spade from his back and sat it next to the pickaxe. There was about two feet between the far wall and the platform slab. The slab itself was about four feet long, leaving two feet on the far end for it to move if indeed it could move.

  Trenglove and Vipond braced their backs against the wall and put the heels of their feet against the slab.

  "On my count," said Trenglove. "On three. One, two, three."

  They both pushed with all their strength and the slab moved more easily than they thought it would. After about a foot, the slab stopped. They tried again to push as hard as they could, but it wouldn't budge. Vipond got up and walked around the other side of the slab and noticed that it was caught by the bedrock that had been carved up into a wedge to stop the slab from moving further.

  "We won't be able to push it further," he said. "Looks like the bedrock here has been cut in a manner to act as a stop for the slab."

  Trenglove looked at his side, and there was a similar stop carved out of the granite.

  "Same here," he said. "But this is hardly enough space for us to fit through."

  Vipond came over and they held their lanterns so that they could see into the small one foot opening, which was two feet wide. Peering inside, it looked to be no deeper than two feet. But there was what appeared to be a granite cog with two small levers attached to it.

  "You put your feet on that one," said Trenglove, "and I'll put my feet on this one and let's see what it'll do."

  It was as good an idea as any, so Vipond got back down and they braced themselves against the wall again and pushed as hard as they could on the levers. They moved ever so slowly away from them. It took incredible strength to push these levers each inch. After a few minutes they had to take a break.

  "Well, at least they're moving," said Vipond, breathing heavily as a trickle of sweat rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away with this shirt sleeve.

  "Yes, but nothing's bloody well happening yet."

  "Maybe we have to push it the whole way before anything happens."

  Trenglove grunted.

  "Then let's get it over and done with to see if we're going home into the pyramid," he said.

  They got repositioned and pushed hard against the levers again. At the very last moment, when they felt they were out of breath, as sweat trickled down the sides of their faces, and their legs were about to give out, shaking from the exertion, the levers clicked into their last place.

  Trenglove and Vipond leaned back against the wall, their chests heaving with the exertion. Trenglove reached into his front pocket and took out his handkerchief. He wiped his face, and then looked over at Vipond.

  "Well," he said, trying to get a handle on his breath. "That was for naught."

  And just as he said it, a loud sound, stone scraping upon stone, brought their attention to the far wall which began to move. It only took several seconds and then it stopped again. Trenglove and Vipond watched, slack jawed. The far wall had moved, showing an opening of no more than two feet that seemed to lead into another passageway.

  Trenglove got up and Vipond followed him. He picked up his lantern and went over to the far wall.

  "Good grief man, it seems that Walker might have been right after all."

  Trenglove put his hand through the opening and looked down the rest of the passageway.

  "What can you see?" asked Vipond.

  "A short passageway, it's tight, like the first one we came through, and it appears to jog right about six feet up."

  Vipond slapped his friend on the back, and laughed out loud.

  "We might yet find those riches after all," he said.

  Trenglove walked into the hallway, blading his body slightly to get through the opening.

  "What about the tools?" shouted Vipond after him.

  "I want to find the chamber first, then we can determine what tools we need. Leave them there and follow me."

  Vipond went back and picked up his lantern and followed Trenglove down the narrow hallway that continued on a decline of about twenty-five degrees.

  Vipond looked back at the wall that had moved and he noticed that it seemed to be circular, riding in a track of some sort. He didn't know how they did it, and he didn't particularly care, just so long as it stayed open for their return. Vipond turned back, and as he did he saw Trenglove, hunched over, disappeared right, which would have him heading west. This hallway continued downward at the same angle of decline.

  "We've got to be underground by now, surely," said Vipond.

  "I'd say we're likely fifteen feet, if not more underground at this point," came back the answer from Trenglove.

  That didn't bolster Vipond's confidence. The only thing that kept him going was the imagery of riches beyond his wildest imagination. Trenglove disappeared right again, now heading north, and as Vipond came round the corner it still headed downward at a steady angle.

  After about fifteen feet it leveled out horizontally.

  "How deep do you think we are now?" asked Vipond, the telltale sign of nervousness hollowing out his voice.

  "What do you care? The deeper we are the more secure we are. Probably at least twenty feet though."

  They carried on hunched over along this level and small passageway for what must have been a hundred and thirty feet or so, when the passage they were in took a left at about a forty-five degree angle, heading northwest. It was at this point that the passage started at an incline of about twenty-five degrees.

  "Ha!" exclaimed Trenglove, "we must be inside the Pyramid of Menkaure now."

  "How can you be so sure?" asked Vipond, hopefully.

  "I'm not, but I've been counting our steps and we must have walked over a hundred feet, maybe as much as a hundred and fifty, that would put us well within the pyramid. Additionally, why would this passageway start angling up if it weren't inside Menkaure's pyramid?"

  "Yes, I suppose you're right," mumbled Vipond.

  The air was dank and musty in here, with a smell of moss and rotting wood and mulch, which seemed odd as they were surrounded by stone. They continued up this incline for about a hundred and thirty feet when it turned at a ninety degree angle to the right heading northeast. The angle remained the same. They continued on in silence for another fifty feet before another right ninety degree turn had them heading southwest at the same constant incline.

  "I'm getting dizzy," said Vipond, trying to make light of what was making him nervous. They had to be well into the Pyramid of Menkaure by now, and well above ground.

  They continued in this direction for seventy-five feet when the passage jogged right at ninety degrees, heading northwest for about thirty feet and then it jogged right one last time, keeping the incline consistent for the last fifty feet where it opened up into a large chamber that had to be fifteen feet by ten feet with eight feet ceilings.

  The chamber was ornate with brightly colored paintings and Egyptian hieroglyphs all over the wall. A large sarcophagus lay lengthwise to Trenglove's left as he stepped into the chamber. Two granite sculptures stood on either side of the sarcophagus in the image of Horus, and they carried spears. Vipond smiled at Trenglove.

  "I think this is what Walker meant when he mentioned two guards that would stand by the sarcophagus. The hidden chamber must be under him," said Vipond, pointing at the sarcophagus.

  "Agreed," said Trenglove, still surveying the chamber.

  The chamber held wooden shelves at the opposite end from where the sarcophagus was, and upon these shelves were everyday items such as combs, tools, bowls and now dried food. The bowls were simple and made of copper or wood. There was nothing of great value in this chamber.

  "All right. You see if you can't dislodge that guard and I'll push this one out the way," said Trenglove.

  Vipond walked around to the far side of the sarcophagus and pushed on the Horus sculpture. It didn't take immense strength to topple it over, and it crashed down onto then ston
e floor raising dust and making a loud thundering sound. One of the arms broke off, the one carrying the spear and the beak broke off as well.

  "That was loud," said Vipond somewhat guiltily.

  "I suppose that's one way of doing it," said Trenglove struggling to wobble and move his Horus out of the way. He gave up and just push it over as Vipond had done. It picked up more dust and made a great crash. Trenglove and Vipond waved their hands in front of their faces to dissipate the dust. They both coughed, the air inside wasn't thick and the dust wasn't helping them breathe.

  Trenglove's Horus broke both his arms and beak as he lay there looking up at Trenglove admonishingly.

  "Let's try pushing this coffin off the platform from your side," said Trenglove.

  He walked around to where Vipond was standing.

  "I think the correct term is sarcophagus," offered Vipond.

  "I don't care about the correct term, I want at the gold and jewels."

  They stood up onto the platform and pushed, but the sarcophagus just wouldn't budge. They tried a few more times before giving up.

  The dust had settled and Vipond hung his head in defeat. He noticed something odd. There were tracks on each side of the sarcophagus that ran for a few feet towards the end of the platform. It looked as though the sarcophagus might have been put in place on rollers.

  "I think we're pushing from the wrong end," he said to Trenglove. "Look at his tracks, I bet we're supposed to push from your end."

  Trenglove slapped his friend on the shoulder.

  "Good heavens you're right again, Art," he said. "Once again, I am delighted to have you along."

  "Then perhaps we can renegotiate my percentage. I'll keep fifty percent and you can pay Walker out of our fifty percent."

  Vipond grinned at him.

  "I didn't say I was that delighted."

  They moved round to what was the head's end of the sarcophagus and started pushing. For a surprisingly heavy granite sarcophagus it moved easily. It was indeed on some sort of rolling mechanism. They pushed it slowly but steadily as far as they could. It came to a stop about four feet from where they had started.

  Below them was a four foot by three foot wide opening that held a staircase built out of granite that went down about twenty feet. Trenglove went over and picked up his lantern and brought it back. He laid down by the opening and dangled his arm into the opening with the lantern.