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

by Nellie H. Steele

  “I’d agree with that, mate,” Charlie chimed in from the living room. “Since you’ve been dating chicky there, you’ve become quite a charming chap. Some may even say friendly. Soon you’ll be running tours and making balloon animals for children.”

  Henry rolled his eyes and Maggie smiled at him. “Well, I think you’re quite a charming chap,” she said with a grin.

  Piper stumbled in from the bedroom with a yawn. “Good morning,” she mumbled.

  “Good morning,” Maggie answered. “Coffee?”

  “Please,” Piper grumbled as she slumped into a chair next to Maggie.

  Maggie retrieved a cup for her and refilled her own. She plated some eggs from the skillet and set them down in front of Piper.

  “Thanks,” Piper answered. “What time do we leave? Do I have time for a shower to wake up?”

  “Aren’t you staying here?” Tarik questioned.

  Piper took a few bites of her breakfast and a sip of her coffee. She shook her head. “I decided against it,” she answered.

  “You’ll be perfectly safe here. Sefu will let nothing happen to you,” Tarik assured her.

  “It’s not that,” Piper countered. “What kind of friend am I to let everyone go into the wilds of the desert without my help? Where they’ll have to face the elements, nature, crazy men with guns. Dr. Keene and his assistant need our help. I can’t abandon my friends now! Not when they need me the most!”

  “That was quite a speech!” Henry said.

  “And quite a brave decision, fair maiden,” Charlie said, approaching the table.

  “Thank you, kind sir,” Piper answered.

  “Well, eat up and get showered, we leave in thirty,” Henry announced.

  “Good thing I’m faster in the shower than you, boss lady,” Piper said as she ate a few more bites. “We’d be late for sure if she had to shower.”

  Maggie gave her a wry glance. “I’m glad to see you back to your normal self, Piper. Last night’s hug really had me worried for you.”

  Piper shoved down her last few bites and stuck her tongue out at Maggie. She leapt from her chair with a chuckle and dashed to the bathroom.

  They cleared the breakfast dishes and Henry prepared several items in the remaining time. Piper emerged from the bathroom with ten minutes to spare.

  As the sun rose over the horizon, they exited the apartment building. Sefu arranged for two vehicles to transport them to the Valley of the Kings to begin their search. Sefu, Tarik, Charlie and Piper piled into one van, leaving Henry, Maggie and Sefu’s brother, Seth, in the second. Henry carried the ankhs in their cushioned case across his body along with several hidden weapons.

  Maggie breathed a shaky sigh as she stared out the window. The buildings sped past her as the sun crept further over the horizon behind them. They left the city behind, traveling into the desert.

  In forty-five minutes, they arrived at the Valley of the Kings location. Tourists already milled about near the visitor’s center, even at the early hour. The hot desert sun, now fully above the horizon, lit the magnificent location.

  “Wow,” Maggie murmured as she stared at the entrance to the tourist attraction. “It’s really something!”

  “Too bad we don’t have time to take the tour,” Henry lamented.

  “I will take you next time,” Seth promised.

  “You’re on,” Maggie agreed. “I’d love to visit here. You know, sometime when we’re not being chased by men with guns and my uncle and friend aren’t being held captive.”

  Seth swung the car into a parking space next to Sefu’s and they climbed from the van.

  “The fastest way to this location is to cut through the west valley. We’ll continue into the desert once we get there.”

  Maggie nodded, and they proceeded to the visitor’s center to purchase their tickets for the site. The group set off on their trek, climbing the hilly route from the parking lot to the West Valley. This path included far fewer tourists than the crowded East Valley.

  “Most of the tombs open to the public are in the East Valley,” Sefu explained. “It’s quite a trek to this one, so we’ll have a far quieter journey there.”

  “That’s good,” Henry answered. His eyes scanned the horizon, searching for any sign of trouble.

  “Spot anything?” Maggie asked as they climbed the hill.

  “Nothing,” Henry said with a shake of his head.

  “Should be easy to spot,” Tarik offered. “We’ve left most of the tourists behind.”

  Maggie glanced around. No one accompanied them on the path. “How long until we get to the location?” Maggie inquired.

  “Perhaps an hour’s walk,” Tarik said as he checked their handheld GPS system.

  They veered off the marked path before reaching the sign for the Tomb of Ay, the only tomb open to the public in the West Valley. They left all traces of civilization behind, entering a time long forgotten. Other tombs dotted the landscape of the West Valley.

  “What are these?” Maggie inquired as they passed the sites.

  “Unknown tombs, mostly,” Sefu informed her. “One is for Amenhotep III, but the others are unidentified. None of them are open for touring.”

  Within a few more moments, they left even these slight traces of civilization behind. They continued through the hills surrounding the West Valley into the desert. Maggie searched the sands for any traces of the other group. She found none.

  Despite the early morning hour, the sun already heated the air to uncomfortable levels. Maggie fanned herself as they ambled through the sand.

  “Whew!” Piper exclaimed after twenty minutes of their expedition. “It’s way hotter than I bargained for.”

  “As Emma would say, ‘Welcome to the desert,’” Maggie said.

  “Not too much further,” Tarik promised. “Should be just over this dune.”

  “But…” Piper said, giving a side-ways glance to the group. “The dune’s huge.”

  They continued on their journey. As they reached the peak of the dune, Henry slowed. He scanned the area in every direction.

  Maggie began down the sand bank, heading toward the location on the GPS. “You coming?” she asked when Henry didn’t follow.

  He shook his head. Maggie stopped short.

  “What’s up, my friend?” Tarik inquired.

  Henry’s eyes scoured the sands. “Something’s wrong.”

  “What?” Maggie asked, climbing a few steps to rejoin him.

  “Nobody’s here,” Henry answered. “Could be a trap.”

  Maggie searched the area. “I don’t see anyone or anything. Not even a footprint in the sand.”

  “That’s what worries me. Do you imagine Bryson’s crew had a leisurely sleep in rather than try to beat us to the site?”

  “Knowing that jerk, he’d want us to do the work for him. And his employer didn’t seem too keen on hard work either, so perhaps we did beat them.”

  “I don’t like it,” Henry said, his hands on his hips.

  “What do you propose?” Sefu inquired.

  “Why not continue to the site, mate? Piper and I can stay here as lookouts. If we see anyone coming, we’ll give you a shout,” Charlie suggested.

  “I agree,” Maggie said. “We should continue to the site. I can’t spot anything from here, but it appears as though we’ve got our work cut out for us. Unfortunately, I don’t see a giant library anywhere.”

  Henry considered the idea for a moment before he responded. “All right. Keep your eyes peeled,” he said to Charlie and Piper.

  “Will do, mate. Oh, here,” Charlie said as he pulled earpieces from his pocket. “We can keep in touch with these.”

  Charlie placed one in his ear. Henry accepted the earpiece and placed it, giving it a test. Satisfied, he motioned down the sand dune. “All right, I guess we’re ready.”

  They proceeded down toward the spot identified on their GPS. Henry’s head remained on a swivel as they traveled away from Piper and Charlie.


  Maggie glanced backward. Piper waved from the top of the dune. Maggie returned the wave. “So far so good up there,” she informed Henry.

  It did little to ease his nerves. “I don’t like this.”

  “You mentioned that,” Maggie said as they continued their journey.

  “This is the worst place to be for defense. We’re surrounded and on the low ground.”

  “We’ll search for the library in rounds. Two at a time, the others stay alert,” Tarik suggested.

  “Good plan,” Henry agreed. “Maggie, you do the searching and one of us will help you, the others keep watch.”

  “As usual, I always have to do the hard work,” Maggie joked.

  “I have every faith in your investigative skills, princess,” Henry said, cracking a smile for the first time since they arrived.

  “There’s that charming chap,” Maggie answered with a grin.

  Henry rolled his eyes. “Remind me to speak with Charlie about that comment later.”

  “Charlie may be joining you as a charming chap by the looks of it,” Maggie said, motioning to the couple they left behind. Piper clasped Charlie’s hand as he pointed out several things in the West Valley behind them.

  “Hey,” Henry shouted into the radio, “stop showing off to Piper and pay attention up there.”

  Maggie overheard Charlie’s response through the earpiece. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist, mate. We can see the whole valley from here. No one’s getting past us.”

  “Happy now?”

  “Not in the slightest. The faster we find this place, the better.”

  “We’re here,” Tarik announced as the GPS beeped, indicating their arrival.

  Maggie spun in a circle, searching the area. “Well,” she began, “I don’t see anything.”

  “Let’s have a look around before we talk about next steps,” Henry suggested.

  With Piper and Charlie covering the east, Sefu and Seth spread out to watch the south and west directions. Tarik jogged a few steps away, keeping his eyes on the northern horizon.

  Maggie and Henry combed through the area, scouring the sands for any sign of a structure. After fifteen minutes of searching, Maggie threw her hands in the air. “There’s nothing here. At least not on the surface.”

  “I don’t see anything either,” Henry admitted.

  “It could be buried,” Maggie postulated.

  “When I programmed the GPS, I programmed for the center of the area shown by the ankhs. The area cordoned off by the ankhs was much larger,” Tarik hollered.

  “Good point, about how large?” Henry called back.

  “About a five square mile radius,” Tarik shouted.

  “So, it could be anywhere,” Maggie said.

  Henry spun as he studied the area. “What would Ollie do?”

  Maggie considered it, her mind flitting to Uncle Ollie’s situation. She pushed it from her thoughts and forced herself to concentrate on the situation at hand. “He’d say…” Maggie hesitated, her brow wrinkling as she summoned her inner Ollie. An idea occurred to her. “He’d say it’s likely contained in this valley somewhere. Probably not right in the center, but around some landmark.”

  “Where’d that come from, princess?”

  “Listening to Uncle Ollie talk about archeology for decades. Let’s check the edges of the valley, near the rock face.”

  “All right, princess, let’s try it. You good to keep watch?” Henry shouted to Tarik.

  “All good, my friend.”

  “Charlie,” Henry said, “we still all good?”

  “All good, mate,” Charlie confirmed.

  “Let’s have a look,” Henry said to Maggie.

  They approached the edge of the valley. Maggie stared up at the rock face in front of her. The sheer cliff shaded them from the sun. “At least it’s cooler here,” Maggie noted.

  “Any idea what might signal something significant?” Henry asked Maggie.

  Maggie shrugged. “Ankh carving? Scroll? Tablet? Library sign?”

  “Very funny, princess.”

  “Let’s just have a brief glance over the cliffs marking the perimeter and see if anything stands out.”

  “All right, professor.”

  Maggie scanned the rock face in front of her, her eyes panning up and down. “You know,” she said as she stepped to the north to continue the search, “if this whole government agent thing doesn’t work you, you could try comedy, babe.”

  Henry rolled his eyes at her. He scanned the horizon in all directions again. “Will you pay attention to what we’re doing and stop gaping around?”

  “You’re looking, I trust you.”

  “I might miss something!”

  “I’m not gaping around. I’m scanning for the enemy.”

  “Everyone else is scanning for the enemy,” Maggie pointed out.

  “I don’t like this. No one’s here yet? They’re not searching for the library or us?”

  “Perhaps they’re searching for us back in Luxor,” Maggie responded. “You said Sefu’s safe house was secure. They should have no idea we’re here yet.”

  “But why didn’t they come here?”

  “Because they think they need the ankhs, and they don’t have them. So, they are searching for us to steal them back.”

  “Why not find the library at the same time?” Henry questioned.

  “Don’t have the manpower to split the team?” Maggie suggested in a questioning manner.

  “I don’t buy it. Bryson wouldn’t be this sloppy.”

  “Well, he is a bit under the weather,” Maggie said.

  “It wouldn’t stop a guy like Bryson.”

  “Do you have a history with him?” Maggie inquired, stopping short from her search.

  “Yeah,” Henry admitted. “A long and unfortunate history.” Maggie raised her eyebrows. “Remind me to tell you sometime.” Henry pulled his collar to the side and pointed out a circular scar under his collar bone. “He gave me this.”

  “Is that a bullet wound?” Maggie asked. Her jaw went slack.

  “That it is, princess.”

  Uneasiness grew in the pit of Maggie’s stomach. She swallowed hard. “Let’s keep searching.” Maggie bit her lower lip, glancing warily to the clifftops in all directions.

  They approached the northern most area of the enclosed valley. The rock squeezed together on each side, but a small passage still existed between them.

  “Let’s check in here,” Maggie suggested.

  They passed through the thin opening and into a circular space. Maggie approached the rock wall across from the opening. A small outcropping stuck into the sand on the right. She bent down to study it. “Henry!” Maggie exclaimed as she glanced at it.

  “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure, but it looks like a carving in the stone here.” Maggie blew on it. Sand flew into the air. She brushed more away with her hand. Her pulse quickened as her fingers felt the outline of a carving. “This is definitely something!” Maggie’s voice rose with excitement as she continued to uncover the remaining portion of the engraving.

  “We may have something here,” Henry informed Charlie. “Keep an eye out while we work.”

  Maggie did not hear a response through Henry’s earpiece.

  “Do you have a brush or something?” Maggie inquired.

  “No, sorry.”

  Maggie groaned. She dug in her pocket and pulled out a small compact. “The government owes me a new powder brush,” Maggie commented. She popped open her compact and removed a small brush.

  Maggie swept the soft bristles over the stone. She followed the line of the etching, brushing sand from the crevice of the carving. Maggie sucked in a breath as the shape became obvious. She raised her eyebrows, her heart thudding in her chest. “It’s the shape of an ankh!” she exclaimed.

  Chapter 26

  Henry peered over Maggie’s shoulder at the carved shape. “It is! But it’s upside down.”

  “It has to mean some
thing!”

  “I’d be inclined to think so,” Henry agreed. “But why is it upside down? Does it point toward where the location is?”

  Henry turned and stared behind him. Maggie continued her work. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “There’s another here.” Maggie worked on brushing the sand from another carving below the first. She uncovered it section by section. “And I’d guess,” she said as she worked, “there’s a third one, right about… here.” Maggie began to brush sand away in a third area, revealing another shape.

  A smile formed on Henry’s face. “Fantastic work, princess!” He kissed the top of her head as she finished her work.

  “The library’s got to be around here somewhere,” Maggie surmised.

  “Do we need to use the ankhs, perhaps?”

  “Uncle Ollie seems to think we do, or the bad guys wouldn’t be after them,” Maggie responded. “But not here. These are too small.”

  Henry removed an ankh from the bag and compared it. “You’re right.”

  “Which means we’re close, but not there yet.” Henry replaced the ankh as Maggie examined the stone carving. “I’m not spotting any clues that give us any more information. Though, I’m not as good at this as Uncle Ollie.”

  “All right, let’s have a thorough search around this area. This must be the spot.”

  “I agree. Should we get help?”

  “I prefer to leave them on watch,” Henry countered.

  “Okay,” Maggie agreed. She stood from the stone and surveyed the area. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted a flat area in the stone face. Maggie wandered to it. She touched the flat stone, letting her fingers explore the area.

  Henry joined her and investigated the cliff. Maggie kicked the sand around on the ground near them after she searched the flat rock.

  “Got something!” Henry shouted, drawing Maggie’s attention.

  “What is it?”

  Henry’s fingers pried caked sand from an inset in the stone. “Give me your brush.”

  Maggie handed him the makeup brush. He used it to clear more sand from the depression. A smile crept across Maggie’s face as he worked, and she bounced on her toes. The shape of an ankh began to form as Henry labored to remove the sand.