Secret of the Ankhs: A Maggie Edwards Adventure (Maggie Edwards Adventures Book 2)

by Nellie H. Steele

  Maggie toggled on her flashlight. “I’m pressing it.”

  “No!” Emma exclaimed.

  “Yes! Emma! What choice do we have?”

  “Perhaps we should wait a few more hours. Only press it when we have no other choice.”

  “No! I’m NOT waiting until the last minute. Let’s just try it.”

  “Fine, go ahead. But if we end up worse off, you won’t have to worry about suffocating. I’ll kill you myself.”

  “If that pedestal slides open, I’ll kill you for making us wait down here this long.”

  “Deal. If we’re saved, you kill me. If we’re doomed, I kill you. Okay, press it.”

  Maggie nodded. She crossed to the carving. Her light hovered over the etched heart. Maggie’s pulse quickened, and she swallowed hard. As much as she wanted to press the stone, a pang of fear held her back. Maggie shut her eyes for a moment and steadied her nerves. She breathed out a long breath. “Here goes nothing.” She reached a shaky hand out. Her fingers caressed the rough stone. She pressed the carving.

  Chapter 19

  A whirring noise filled the chamber. A whoosh of air gusted past Maggie. She spun to face the steps leading upward. No light filtered down from the chamber above. Maggie’s brow furrowed. “What happened?” she inquired.

  Emma toggled her flashlight on and swung the beam around. “There!” she shouted.

  Maggie followed the direction of the light. Along the wall across from the steps, a new opening gaped.

  “Well, it’s not all I hoped for, but it’s a start,” Maggie admitted. She moved toward the doorway.

  “Wait!” Emma said, racing ahead of Maggie. “There could be a booby trap.”

  “I’ll help you check.”

  They swept their beams across the exit door. Maggie studied both sides of the doorway on the right side while Emma studied the left. “Find anything?” Maggie inquired.

  “No,” Emma admitted.

  “Me either,” Maggie answered. “Think it’s safe?”

  Emma shrugged. “I guess it’s no worse than staying here.”

  Maggie began to step through the opening when Emma pulled her back. “Wait.”

  “Now what?”

  “We move slow, check everything as we go.”

  “Okay,” Maggie agreed. She stepped through the doorway. “So far so good.”

  Emma followed her. “Switch off your light. Let’s conserve our batteries.”

  Maggie toggled her flashlight off. They relied on Emma’s light beam. Together they inched down the corridor. The stone walls only allowed them to proceed shoulder to shoulder. They made it ten steps down the hall when Maggie ground to a halt.

  “What was that?” she whispered.

  “What?” Emma inquired.

  “Shh, listen. I heard something growl.”

  Silence fell between them as they both listened. “Do you hear it anymore?” Emma breathed.

  Maggie paused before answering, her ears straining. “Yes!” she exclaimed. “There! Did you hear it?”

  Emma rolled her eyes. “That was my stomach.”

  “Oh,” Maggie answered. “Sorry.”

  “Let’s keep going.”

  They continued their slow creep down the hall. Maggie traced her fingers down the rough stone wall as they plodded forward. Emma kept her flashlight beam swinging from side to side in an effort to uncover any concealed traps or hidden triggers.

  The floor seemed to shift, and Maggie sensed her feet sliding forward. “Are we going down?”

  “Seems like it,” Emma answered. “We’ve been in a gradual descend since a few feet into the corridor.”

  Ahead, Maggie detected a spot on the floor darker than the ground surrounding it. She pointed toward it. “What’s that?”

  “I’m not sure,” Emma responded. “Careful.”

  Maggie nodded and guarded her footing as she crept toward the dark spot. “Is that…” Maggie’s voice dropped off.

  Emma grimaced. “Yeah, yeah it is.”

  They approached the black spot, now realizing it represented a large pit. Emma shined her light into the hole. Maggie’s eyes widened as she spied the bottom. Metal spikes poked from the bottom. Emma swung the beam across the crater. The floor continued uninterrupted on the other side.

  Emma pointed the light in the direction from which they came. “Now what?” Maggie inquired.

  “Go back?” Emma said, phrasing it as question.

  “Shouldn’t we try to get across? There’s no way out back there.”

  “How?”

  “Jump?”

  “Jump,” Emma said in an unimpressed voice. “Jump? Are you crazy? We’ll be impaled if we don’t make it.”

  “Or we’ll die from carbon dioxide poisoning or suffocation or whatever.”

  “I’d rather fall asleep and die than be skewered!”

  “Give me the flashlight,” Maggie said. She wrested the flashlight from Emma. Maggie trained the beam on the cavity’s edge. She followed the border, searching for anything they could use to assist them in crossing the crater.

  Maggie raised the beam to the walls and ceiling. She found nothing that would help them to cross. Maggie stared at the gaping hole for another moment. “It doesn’t LOOK that far,” she conjectured aloud.

  “Maggie, that’s at least six-feet across!”

  “Seems do-able.” Maggie swung the flashlight’s beam up the corridor behind them. “We could get a running start. We could make it.”

  “You try first. If you get lanced, I’ll know not to try.”

  Maggie gave Emma a wry glance. She rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She shoved the flashlight back into Emma’s hands. “I’ll toss my flashlight over there first. Take yours and point it at the other end. I’ll get a running start and jump first.” Maggie reeled back and lobbed her flashlight over. It landed on the opposite side and skittered across the floor. “See. Nothing to it,” Maggie said in a shaky voice.

  “Wait. I’ll shine it from the spot you start in so you can see the whole way down.”

  Emma followed Maggie a few feet up the chamber. She aimed the flashlight at the other side of the gap. Maggie squirmed. She shimmied her shoulders back and forth in an attempt to loosen up. Maggie rolled her neck around, then grabbed her ankle, pulling it toward her backside. She switched ankles. With a deep exhale, Maggie squatted a few times.

  “Finished with your Olympic preparations?”

  “Don’t rush me,” Maggie responded. She took another deep breath. “Okay,” she said with a hard swallow. “I’m ready.”

  Emma squeezed Maggie’s arm. “Good luck,” she said.

  “Thanks.”

  Emma pointed the flashlight’s beam down the corridor toward the gap. Maggie bit her lower lip and squeezed her eyes shut as she offered a silent prayer. After another hard swallow, Maggie began her run.

  She pumped her arms. Due to the gradual descent, she picked up speed easily as she ran the short distance to the hole. As the gap approached, Maggie leapt through the air. She landed just short of the other side. Her arms hit the edge, and she clutched at the stone floor to find purchase.

  “Maggie!” Emma called. She raced toward the hole.

  Maggie clung to the side. “I’m okay,” Maggie answered in an unsteady voice. “I just need to climb up.”

  Maggie pushed with her feet. The stone did not provide any traction. Her feet slipped with each step. She slipped further down, her arms grabbing at anything to stay up.

  Emma trained her beam on a stone protruding from the wall. “Can you reach that stone?” she questioned. “Maybe you can use it to pull yourself up.”

  Maggie glanced at it. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I can. I just need to shimmy over there.” Maggie hefted herself up as high as she could on her forearms. She inched toward the stone jutting from the wall.

  When it was within her grasp, Maggie reached out and clasped it. With a solid object to grip, she hauled herself up, scrambling out of the pit and onto the ledge. As
she pulled, the stone shifted downward. A clanking mechanism sounded as the stone slipped.

  “What was that?” Maggie asked as she stood.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Okay, your turn,” Maggie encouraged.

  “Uh…”

  “Oh, come on, Emma. I made it. I’ll pull you up if you land short. You should make it. You’re about my height.”

  “Okay… just… give me a minute.”

  Maggie wrinkled her brow. A grinding noise sounded throughout the corridor. “What is that?” Maggie toggled her flashlight on and pointed it up the chamber. Her eyes grew wide.

  “Emma! JUMP!” she screamed.

  Emma glanced behind her. A large stone ball rolled down the corridor. It threatened to crush her in its path if she did not move quickly.

  Emma blanched at the sight. She turned to Maggie, fear apparent on her face.

  “JUMP!” Maggie shouted again. Emma dropped her flashlight and raced the final few steps to the gap. She leapt across the chasm headlong. She smacked into the wall. Maggie grasped at her forearms as Emma’s fingers sought to cling to the stone floor.

  Emma slipped through Maggie’s fingers. She slid further down, her fingers clutching at the edge. Maggie dove toward the crater. She slid toward the edge, the front of her body hanging over. She reached for Emma as Emma’s hand slipped from the edge. Maggie clasped Emma’s hand in hers and pulled. She heaved Emma upward as Emma ran up the wall, using Maggie to steady herself.

  Maggie pulled her over the edge. They collapsed in a heap as the stone ball smashed Emma’s flashlight into a pancake before rolling in the pit behind them. Maggie rolled onto her back. Her chest heaved from the effort as she gasped for air. Emma lay next to her, still breathing hard from her scramble to safety.

  Maggie glanced sideways at her as her breathing began to return to normal. “You okay?” she inquired.

  Emma nodded, then answered. “Yeah. Yeah, I think so.” She hesitated for a moment. “Thanks for the save,” she said as she glanced at Maggie.

  Maggie returned her gaze to the ceiling. “Sure.” Maggie laid for another moment, staring at the ceiling. “I can’t believe a giant ball nearly squashed you.”

  “Oh, please,” Emma groaned. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

  “Whatever you do,” Maggie warned, “don’t tell Piper.”

  “What?” Emma inquired, her brow scrunching.

  “Don’t tell Piper. I’ll never hear the end of it if she finds out. I teased her about there NOT being a big rock that would roll down and kill everyone like in Indiana Jones.”

  “Ohhhh,” Emma answered. “Wow, bad call there.”

  “Tell me about it,” Maggie answered. She rolled onto her front and pushed herself up to sit on her haunches. “Well, should we keep moving?”

  “Ugh,” Emma groaned. “I guess so.”

  Maggie stood and reached down to pull Emma to standing. Emma climbed to her feet and brushed herself off. “Wow,” she muttered. “I’m filthy.”

  “Well, we are in a tomb,” Maggie joked.

  “Funny.”

  “Ready?”

  “Yeah. My legs are still a little wobbly, but we should keep going.”

  Maggie picked up her flashlight from the ground. “Down to one flashlight.”

  “I hope it holds out.”

  “Fingers crossed,” Maggie said. She handed the flashlight to Emma. They began their slow creep up the passageway. “I hope there are no stone balls on this side.”

  “Don’t tempt fate,” Emma whispered.

  “What are the chances…”

  “Shh, I’m serious.”

  Emma swung the flashlight beam around the entire corridor as they crept along. They moved at a slow, cautious pace, both women afraid of another mishap. After a tedious twenty minutes, they reached the end of the passage.

  “Whew,” Maggie gasped out. “Made it.”

  “Yeah, but made it where?” Emma questioned. Her flashlight’s beam rested on the end of the corridor. A large stone wall blocked them from moving further.

  Maggie shut her eyes for a moment. “I’m really getting tired of this tomb,” she grumbled.

  Emma sighed.

  “It can’t be a dead-end, right?” Maggie inquired.

  Emma shrugged. “I wouldn’t think so.”

  “Guess we’d better search for the trigger that opens this wall,” Maggie suggested.

  “Yep,” Emma agreed. “I’m almost afraid to find it.”

  Maggie chuckled at the comment. Emma pivoted the flashlight to face the left wall. She swung the beam up and down as they both searched.

  “There!” Maggie exclaimed as they searched the right wall. “Another carved heart.”

  “Guess we’ll push it,” Emma said. Her fingers hovered over the carved stone for a moment before she pushed it. The wall blocking them slid to the side. Emma breathed a sigh of a relief. “Let’s check for traps.”

  “Okay,” Maggie nodded.

  After finding no signs of a concealed trigger, they entered the room. Emma swung the flashlight around the chamber. It appeared devoid of anything beyond a large wooden rod in the room’s center.

  Maggie took a few steps into the room. She stumbled as her foot caught on the stone floor below her. “Whoa!” she exclaimed as she flailed her arms in an attempt to keep her balance. A boom reverberated throughout the chamber. A hiss sounded and a scraping noise began.

  “What happened?” Emma asked.

  “I almost tripped over this divot! Ugh, why is this dust falling on me?” Maggie held her hand out as dust trickled from the ceiling.

  Emma raised the flashlight’s beam to the ceiling. Her eyes widened. “Uh, Maggie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “We need to go.”

  Maggie’s eyes raised to the ceiling. Her jaw went slack, and she gulped. The room’s ceiling inched toward them.

  “Ummm,” Maggie began. She searched the room in the dim light. “Go where?”

  “There’s no exit!” Emma shouted. She swiveled the flashlight wildly around the space.

  “Back the way we came?” Maggie suggested.

  Emma pointed the light at the entry door. “It’s closed!”

  The ceiling continued its crawl toward them. “There must be another way out of here!”

  “Where?!” Emma exclaimed.

  Maggie grabbed the flashlight and scanned the room with it. “There!” she yelled, pointing across the room. “There’s an outline of a doorway.”

  They rushed across the room toward it. “Where is the trigger to open it?” Emma squealed in a panicked voice.

  They searched the immediate area. Maggie pressed on every inch of stone surrounding the door. It triggered nothing. “Nothing’s happening!” Maggie cried.

  The ceiling slid closer to them. Maggie could almost touch it when she reached up. “We have to figure something out!” she exclaimed, scanning the room again.

  “The lever!” Emma called over the din.

  Maggie nodded in understanding. “Let’s try it!” She dropped the flashlight on the floor, pointing it toward the mechanism.

  They hurried to the lever. It stood at a forty-five-degree angle with the floor. Maggie grasped it and tugged it up and away. It didn’t budge. Emma also grabbed hold of the wooden pole. They struggled to move the ancient mechanism.

  “Pull!” Maggie shouted.

  “I am pulling!” Emma shot back.

  Maggie glanced upward. “Well, pull harder!” she insisted. The ceiling skimmed the top of their heads. Maggie and Emma leaned their weight back, both groaning with effort to shift the lever.

  As the ceiling threatened to flatten them, the mechanism broke free. It swung toward them. “The door’s open!” Emma shouted.

  “Let’s go!”

  As they let go of the lever, it began a slow slide back to its original position. “The door’s closing! Hurry!” Emma screamed.

  Maggie and Emma rushed across the cha
mber, bent over as the ceiling continued crushing down on them. Emma dove through the closing doorway. Maggie followed behind her. As the ceiling approached the floor and the doorway slid closed, Maggie reached through the opening and snatched the flashlight before it was squashed.

  She leaned her back against the door, her eyes closed as she breathed a sigh of relief. Maggie rested her head against the stone door.

  “Oh my God!” Emma breathed.

  “What is it now?” Maggie questioned, her eyes still closed. “Pit of poisonous asps? Viper den? Bed of scorpions? Flesh-eating scarabs?”

  “No, look!” Emma scrambled to her feet.

  Maggie popped her eyes open and glanced around the room. Her eyebrows raised at what surrounded them. Her jaw slackened, and she pushed herself to her feet.

  “Oh, WOW!” Maggie exclaimed.

  Chapter 20

  Maggie’s eyes scanned the new chamber. In complete contrast to the previous areas, this space enjoyed a level of opulence rivaled only by Cleopatra’s chambers. Golden walls sparkled under the flashlight’s beam. Intricate carvings and murals decorated each surface.

  The contents of the room also sparkled. All manner of treasure filled the chamber: bejeweled chalices, golden staffs, jewelry with gemstones so large some were the size of eggs, gold and silver pieces and statues.

  Maggie picked up a handful of coins, letting them slip through her fingers and back into their chest. They clinked against each other as they fell back into their places.

  “This is amazing!” Maggie breathed.

  “Incredible,” Emma acknowledged.

  “Do you think this is Marc Antony’s burial chamber?”

  Emma swung the beam around the space. “Not his burial chamber. His body isn’t here.” She paused. “But I’d bet this is the antechamber to his burial chamber.”

  Emma rested the flashlight’s beam on a doorway across from where they entered. “I bet that leads to his burial chamber,” she said.

  “We should check this room for the ankh,” Maggie responded.

  “Yes,” Emma agreed.

  “I hope we find it!” Maggie replied. “It’ll make all this worth it.”

  Emma rested the flashlight’s beam against an object mounted to the wall. “Torches,” she murmured.