Genevieve considered that for a moment. “It has to be Wadjet.”
“Of course,” Sophia nodded.
“Why exactly does it have to be that goddess?” Samuel looked curiously from one to another.
“Wadjet is also known as the all-seeing eye.” Genevieve explained, “The left eye of Ra.”
Samuel shook his head in confusion. “Am I missing something?”
“You need ask?” Akeim punctuated his words with the raise of an eyebrow.
Samuel gave him a baleful glance in response.
Sophia walked toward the sconce. “The image of the great lioness Sekhmet is not the only one in the moon.”
“You’re telling me that there is yet another image on the moon?” Samuel asked in amazement. “How is that possible?”
“I assure you it is,” Sophia promised.
“Why is it I’ve never seen them?” Samuel looked over at Alec. “Have you ever heard of this?
When Alec shook his head, Genevieve left them to retrieve the book her mother carried. Opening it, she turned it for them to see.
On the page was a drawing of the moon. “There are many ancient cultures which have seen them as the Ancient Egyptians did. The Chinese for instance also saw the likeness of a dragon when they gazed at the moon. It has been there from the beginning, rising in the east. The tiger and the dragon… yin and yang.”
Genevieve traced the ancient symbol of light and dark with her finger. “As you have already heard, when the moon sets in the west, it is Sekhmet who rules the sky.” This time she traced the silhouette of the great lioness head with her finger.
“When the moon rises in the east, however, it is the image of Wadjet, the cobra goddess, who rules the heavens.”
She turned the book upside down, displaying the same picture. “Besides, she is also known as the Opener of the Way.” Genevieve couldn’t help but smile.
Chapter 23
“Simply amazing,” Samuel moved to get a closer look at the image. “May I see more?”
“I’m sorry,” Genevieve gently closed the book in her arms. “There is much here that is not for the viewing of… well you know.” She smiled before returning the book to her mother.
“Touché,” Alec grinned when Samuel looked over at him. “Perhaps you should have shared the secrets of your diary in retrospect.”
“I doubt that would have been wise under any circumstances,” Samuel snorted. “But I was right,” he smiled triumphantly. “She does know how to read it.”
“So it appears.”
“Speaking of which, did you notice that the writing in that book looks like the chicken scratch on the other side of the map?” Samuel asked in a hushed tone. “Even Champollion’s expert couldn’t translate the cuneiform text. He said it was from a dead language.” Looking briefly around he added, “No pun intended.”
Alec groaned. “You never stop, do you?”
“Well, aren’t you in the least bit curious about it?”
“No!” Alec gave him with a look of disbelief. “I’m fairly certain we have enough to contend with.”
“You mean, with being in the Egyptian equivalent of hell?” Samuel indicated the space around them. “Well, how much worse can it get?”
Alec sighed, “Would you like to know the true meaning of hell?”
“Is this a philosophical or rhetorical question?” Samuel asked suspiciously.
“Hell, I believe is when you have the same conversation over and over again with the same outcome.”
“Are you implying that I am incapable of a new argument?”
“I’m glad you see my point.” Alec commented dryly as he walked away.
“Alec, I believe you were right about this sconce.” Sophia looked over the ornate handle of the cobra. “It was meant to light the way.” She moved to take the sconce from its holder, but was stopped by Akeim.
“Sitt Hakim,” he bowed his head respectfully before placing his own hand above hers. He then waited patiently for her to back away.
“Of course,” Sophia smiled at him before moving.
The rest of them waited as Akeim slowly removed the sconce from its holder. There was an audible sigh as soon as he held it within his hand. Their relief was short lived however, for the bracket fastening the holder to the wall moved several inches up without the weight of the sconce.
“Now what?” Alec breathed in the silence as they waited to see what the trigger might unleash upon them.
“We’re going to be crushed, that’s what!” Samuel hollered as the exterior walls started to move toward them.
The edge of Akeim's kaftan became trapped beneath the stone as it slid forward. He wasted little time tugging on the fabric, choosing instead to unleash his sword and slice the garment free. He then pulled several spears from the edge of the corridor and braced them between the walls.
“I was really hoping those little balls were part of a child’s game.” Samuel lamented as he pressed against the stone. “Now it appears they are the grease behind this little torture chamber.”
Alec pushed against the other side to no avail. “Moving a stone that weighs several tons is hardly child’s play.”
“And they said the Egyptians didn’t have wheels,” Samuel scoffed.
The spears snapped like toothpicks as the walls continued to close. The only escape was the dark passage that Samuel had almost taken earlier. The remaining spears jutted up from the floor, looking like sharp teeth of a beastly creature in the flickering light.
“We must go forward.” Sophia called out as she headed toward the passage.
“Wait… Are you sure?” Samuel eyes darted quickly over to the yawning mouth of the beast. “It’s an obvious trap.” He looked back at Genevieve. “Isn't there another way?” He took a step toward the passage they had come through. “What about going back?”
Just as he spoke, the large slab of rock above the opening crashed down, sealing off the passage. “On second thought, that passage looks quite welcoming.” Samuel turned back to the spear-filled opening.
“Are you sure?” Alec raised a questioning brow.
“Quite,” Samuel said with a nod. Despite his new attitude toward the death trap, he paused at the threshold while Alec and Genevieve wove themselves through the forest of spears.
“Samuel, come on!” Alec called from the other side. “Hurry!”
Samuel remained where he was, unwilling to brave the short distance, until a chunk of plaster crashed to the floor behind him.
“Glad you could make it.” Alec said when he joined them on the other side. “But I would not stand there if I was you.”
“Why is that?” Samuel jumped back looking all around for the next booby trap.
“You’re casting a shadow in my light.” Akeim stepped forward with his knife held high. The flame he carried shed light upon the wall that Sophia was studying.
Samuel narrowed his eyes on Akeim’s back as he passed.
“You had to see that one coming.” Alec chuckled as he joined Samuel.
Out of sorts, Samuel reached inside the waistband of his kaftan and retrieved a small bottle. Prying the cork out with his teeth he took a healthy sip. “I’m not going to be the same after this.”
“Sure you will,” Alec clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ve been in worse scrapes.”
“Yes, but I’ve a bad feeling about this.” Samuel replied, trying to shake his feelings of doom.
Alec looked at his expression of gloom. “You said that in Amsterdam and that turned out all right.”
“For you,” Samuel glared at him. “If I remember correctly, I awoke to Helga the hairy,” he shivered for effect. “'Twas enough to make me want to gnaw off my own arm rather than risk waking her, I tell you.”
“Waking who?” Genevieve inquired as she joined them.
Samuel took another sip, leaving Alec to play dumb until he had to swallow. “Aaugh,” Samuel sighed exaggeratedly. “Sleeping demons,” he cleared his throat. “Uh-um,
I for one will be glad when this nightmare is over I tell you. Which brings me to ask, what can we look forward to in the next hour?” He looked over at the wall, which depicted a boat with several gods within it.
“The second hour is devoted to granting land rights to the grain gods.” Genevieve replied.
“That sounds fairly hair—I mean harmless.” Alec quickly amended.
“Nothing is ever harmless,” Samuel’s eyes narrowed on Alec then darted behind him. “Speaking of which…” he quickly side stepped Alec. “Are you sure that is a good idea?” He asked as Sophia lit the sconce she held.
Holding the torch high she looked over at him. “I’m fairly certain that it is how to light the way.”
“What if it explodes?” Samuel asked in alarm. “Is it possible to vote on actions of this nature in the future?”
“No.” Akeim said flatly.
Sophia chuckled at his remark. “I did not expect you of all people to become so skittish.”
“Skittish?” Samuel practically snorted. “I have almost been crushed, skewered, drowned, skewered and flattened again,” he defended. “And have no idea what is to happen next.”
“And yet you’re still here,” Akeim remarked.
“Here, hold this.” Sophia stepped between them. “I need your keen artistic eye to help me translate some of these writings.” It appeared as if he might refuse as she spoke. “You see how these have deteriorated?” Sophia focused on the wall beside her. “Perhaps you could help me make out the images.”
Samuel looked at the sconce in her hand as if the cobra she held might come to life and strike him at any moment. With a sigh, he did what he could under the circumstances… he took the torch from her hand, but not before pulling up a spear from the entrance. He followed behind her, poking the ground as they proceeded down the ever-sloping passage.
“You see here the barque that the god Ra sails in his journey through the underworld,” Sophia pointed out the long boat that the scene depicted.
“I am more concerned about what is happening here.” Samuel used the spear to indicate a group of mummies floating above the souls of the damned.
“It appears they are awakening from the dead.”
“I was afraid you would say something like that.” His trepidation was obvious as they continued further down the passage, finally stopping before a huge image of a serpent, which dominated the scene.
“Ah, here we are.” Sophia pointed to the large snake coiled around the boat. “Our first run in with the god Apophis.”
“That doesn’t sound like a favorable thing.” Alec said as both he and Genevieve joined them.
“In this case, I’m afraid it is not,” Sophia sighed regretfully as she started to walk down the passage again. “He could strike at any moment.”
Samuel remained rooted where he was. “What do you mean strike?”
“It is the eternal quest of the god Apophis to destroy the sun god as he travels through the underworld.” Sophia turned to look back at him when it appeared he would go no further.
“You’re telling me that a giant snake is about to attack us?” His voice was suspiciously higher than normal. “How exactly would he destroy him?”
“By swallowing him of course,” Sophia waited patiently. “Metaphorically speaking that is.”
“Metaphorically?” Samuel repeated in alarm.
“What of this?” Alec pointed to an area of blue water with figures floating within it that had been drawn as a border across the bottom.
“It depicts the ambivalent lake of fire.” Genevieve stepped closer studying the wall, “Where the damned will meet the flame.”
“Ambivalent?” Samuel eyebrows shot up. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? It can’t make up its mind?”
“They are opposing elemental forces,” Akeim supplied.
Both Alec and Samuel turned to look at the warrior in surprise.
“Whatever it is,” Sophia said, “it appears that it also comes in the form of a test.”
“A test?” Samuel’s ears perked up. “What kind of test?”
“A test of purity,” Genevieve indicated a symbol of a foot with a pitcher where the knee should be pouring water out over it. “It also warns,” she turned back to look at them, “of the fires of damnation.”
“Oh, is that all?” Samuel replied sarcastically, “and here I was worried.”
“What of this test of purity?” Alec came closer to the wall. “Does it say how it is passed?”
“Perhaps all we need to do is wash our feet,” Samuel considered the symbol a moment, “Metaphorically speaking of course.”
“Although washing of the feet did signify purity, most purification ceremonies within the temple involved the priests pouring water over a stone alter.” Genevieve clarified as she continued her study. “Look here,” she referred to the upper register. “It shows Maat, the goddess of purity with the blessed whom are provisioned from the flame.”
“How are they provisioned?” Alec leaned over her shoulder.
“It, it doesn’t say,” she stammered slightly as his breath caressed her cheek. His grin was enough to tell her that he was aware of the affect he had on her. Without a word he took her hand in his and squeezed it.
“Isn’t Maat the goddess who presides over the weighing of the heart against a feather in the judgment hall?” Samuel asked as they moved down the incline.
“Is this the judgment hall then?” Alec looked around with interest.
“Yes, she is and no this isn’t,” Genevieve responded to their questioning.
“What have we here?” Samuel stopped in his tracks. The light he carried revealed an ornate archway that held him enthralled.
“The Gate of Passage,” Sophia announced as she stood beneath the elaborate carvings. Fantastic snakes with human heads on either side of the opening were entwined with serpents with wings across the top.
“So this is Hell,” Samuel looked up at the beastly creature in the center, which stared down from its many heads. “Finally.”
When Sophia moved to take a step forward, Samuel’s arm shot out in front of her. “I’m not sure we should just enter.” As a precaution, he withdrew several stones from his pocket and rolled them across the floor. They scattered across the room. When nothing happened, he threw a few more for good measure. Holding the sconce as far as he could reach without actually entering, he stood on the precipice and looked around.
“Is there a time limit to this excursion?” Alec waited with arms folded across his chest for Samuel to finish.
“It’s possible,” Sophia said with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Great,” Samuel bemoaned before stepping across the threshold.
“So what exactly is the Gate of Passage?” Alec watched Samuel walk in a large circle in the center of the room.
“It is the entrance taken by the dead.” Genevieve answered.
“But we’re not dead.” Samuel stopped what he was doing at that revelation.
“Details, details,” Alec sighed as he stepped within the room. “You might get an invite to that party yet.” He chuckled as he walked across the floor. “It looks fine to me.”
“How would you know?” Samuel’s expression was one of annoyance. “Did you even notice how this floor is flat compared to the slope of the rest of the passage?”
“Yes,” Alec answered simply as the others joined them. “I also noticed that the drawings are in relief and richer in color.”
“We must be getting closer,” Sophia turned around looking at the opulent designs within the room.
“To what?” Samuel eyes widened in alarm.
“To the burial chamber of course,” Sophia supplied.
“We are definitely getting close.” Genevieve stood before a large portrait of the god Osiris. “The priests of Amun are bestowing Osiris with the two divine forces of will and mind.”
Sophia walked to the opening on the other side of the room. Centered on the archway above her was
a drawing of a goddess with two, white spheres on each side of her.
“That must be the two images of Sekhmet and Wedjat.” Samuel stood looking up at the drawing. “I still can’t believe that they’ve been on the moon all this time and I’ve never seen them.” He shook his head with a chuckle, “At least now the Frenchman’s love sonnet makes sense.”
“The Frenchman?” Sophia raised a questioning brow in his direction.
“Yes, you know,” he nodded as he peered into the room. “The man Alec won the map from. He had a little note tucked within the scroll that extolled the virtues of the goddess Hathor, the golden one.” He held the flame aloft as he tossed a few pebbles across the threshold and stabbed the ground.
Sophia took the sconce from him as she spoke. “I’m surprised you didn’t plague him to death with questions.”
“It was too late for that,” Samuel missed Alec’s look of concern. “Someone else beat me to it.”
Sophia turned the light towards his face. “Whatever do you mean?”
Alec rolled his eyes, gesturing with his hand for silence. Samuel might have seen him if not for the bright flame.
“Why yes, he was already dead.” Samuel was more than delighted to inform her.
With her brow raised higher than before, Sophia turned the torch toward Alec. “And you didn’t feel that this information might be pertinent?”
“I thought only to stick to the facts,” Alec quickly placated her. “If you will recall, I was being held at knifepoint by a man who had already seized my weapons and promised death for trespassing.”
She turned to Akeim with a look of I told you so. “You see, people are much more forthcoming when not coerced.”
Akeim gave both Alec and Samuel a look of extreme irritation before he followed behind her. Alec in turn gave Samuel a look of disbelief.
“What?” Samuel lifted his hands as if to imply his innocence.
Alec shook his head, “And you consider yourself a spy.”
“It’s not as if it were a national secret,” Samuel replied as he followed after them.
A great hall, wider and longer than the one they had been traveling through, emerged in the dim light. “That must be where Wedjat belongs,” Sophia pointed to an ornate holder on the wall.
Treasure of Egypt Page 29
