“Many people think that he is the first depiction of Satan.” Sophia turned towards the next column depicting the goddess Maat wearing the feather of purity on her head as she enfolded the Pharaoh Khafre in giant wings. “Perhaps they are right.” Taking only a few steps, she paused a few feet from the pillar.
Samuel turned to follow behind her but was stopped short. The floor itself had risen in front of him a foot, whereas it had sunk the same amount where she stood. A large piece of the granite had separated from the floor with Sophia on it.
Slowly she tried to retrace her step on the sloping surface. It continued to move at an increasingly sharp angle despite her attempt to right it.
Samuel jumped on the other end to balance it back. His weight sent the giant teeter-totter rocking back the other way. It quickly passed level and started to dip on his end, sending Sophia up on the other side.
“I think we’ve found the scale,” Samuel held out his arms for balance. Unwinding his rope, he tossed the end of it to Alec who had come up behind him.
Akeim came around the side, reaching for Sophia. “No,” she shook her head as she stepped further toward the edge in an effort to balance their weight. “We’ll lose Samuel if I get off.”
Akeim looked for a moment as though he was debating the loss before he jumped onto the middle of the stone, slowly walking toward Sophia. The slab of granite slowly started back the other way. “Sophia, I want you to step off as I walk out to you.”
She nodded, stepping off the end to where Genevieve waited. The scale rocked back toward Samuel without her. Akeim slowly stepped to the end until the stone started to level itself once again.
“Let’s step off at the same time,” Samuel suggested. At Akeim’s nod, he continued. “To the count of three…Ready?”
Akeim raised a brow, but nodded all the same.
“One… Two… Three-e-e-e-e!” Samuel hollered as the marble slab fell taking both men with it.
Chapter 25
Samuel and Akeim both jumped for the edge. Akeim was able to hold on, but the rope around Samuel’s shoulder pulled against him, ripping him from the ledge. The stone plummeted into the darkened pit below, taking him with it.
“Oh-h, No-o-o-o!” Samuel’s voice echoed up from the hole.
The rope that Alec held was almost pulled from his hands. “Bloody Hell!” he braced himself against the weight of it while Genevieve and Sophia pulled Akeim to the top.
“Samuel can you hear me?” Sophia called down into the pit.
“Do you think he’s trapped under it?” Genevieve peered over the edge.
“Augh, of all the rotten!” They heard Samuel voice from far below.
“Samuel,” Sophia tried to see into the darkened pit. “Are you all right?”
“Ah, Pic-plah-k!” Samuel spit.
“What did he say?” Sophia looked up at Alec.
“Pull me up!” Samuel yelled from below, “Hurry! Ah, Plah-k!”
“This weighs a ton,” Alec strained against the taunt fabric.
Genevieve came to stand behind him followed by her mother and Akeim. Together they pulled on the rope as they hoisted the disagreeable retch up. The smell hit them before he actually emerged from the hole. The creature that came over the edge was hardly recognizable as human, let alone Samuel.
“Oh, Hell!” Samuel rolled onto the floor covered in foul smelling slime. Sophia put a rag to her nose as she bent to wipe his face with a piece of cloth.
“Who would have thought that bat guano and beetle dung would be so lethal a weapon?” Alec took a step back, holding his nose.
“Oh, God!” Samuel moaned, “Where is the water when you really need it?”
“You should probably keep your mouth shut,” Sophia advised him as she wiped at it, smearing it all the more.
“Oh, this really is hell!” he shook his head, rolling to his side, “Water,” he begged.
Exasperated, Sophia tossed him the rag. “Here, you do it.”
“Next time,” Akeim stood with his hands crossed over his chest, watching as Samuel struggle to stand, “we go on one.”
“Sure, now you’re the critic,” Samuel stood, peeling off the heavy garment that was plastered to his body. “I feel like I’ve been to the bowels of the earth!” Dropping the offending garment to the floor, he stepped out from the pile wearing only his pants.
“You certainly smell like it,” Alec tore a swath from his own clothing and handed it to him.
Samuel liberally coated it in the contents of his bottle of spirits and wiped at his face and hands. “Tell me that was worth it,” he looked up hopefully. “Did it open the next door?”
“Not exactly, but I believe you have shown us the way,” Sophia pointed to the wall where a large scarab beetle was enveloped in the body of a five-headed snake. “The god Khepri is the god of transformation.”
“Exactly how does this show us the way?” Alec followed behind Genevieve as she walked back to the hall where the hieroglyph was located.
“The scarab beetle is also known as the dung beetle for its penchant for laying its eggs in manure.” Standing before the carving of a beetle, she looked back at him, “Essentially causing new life to spring from the decay, the very definition of resurrection.”
“I hardly feel reborn,” Samuel commented as he tried to sponge the filth from his hair. It was a useless endeavor.
“Hmm, this is interesting,” Sophia examined the wall.
“How so?” Genevieve leaned over her shoulder.
“There are five snakes, yes?” Sophia considered them. “Are they for the remaining hours? Or…” She went to the next register. A rendering of a baboon holding an ibis was on the adjacent wall. A five-pointed star with a depression in the middle was above him.
“Is it a reference to the keeper of knowledge?”
“I think Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing, is definitely hiding something,” Genevieve’s smile faded when Samuel joined them, she wrinkled her nose as the aroma hit her.
“How so?” still rubbing at his arms, Samuel came around the side to see.
“It was his role to found a city for the gods and rulers of Egypt,” Sophia answered him as she reached above her head and pressed the tip of her knife into the hole. Air burst from the edges of the slab as it rolled back, revealing a passage.
Samuel jumped in front of them. His heroic effort only succeeded in blowing the debris clinging to him back towards the rest of them.
“Oh my,” Sophia coughed, waving her hand in front of her face. “Thank you ever so much,” she stepped around him, peeking inside the entrance. “Let’s see what kind of city the gods have created, shall we?” Excitement danced in her eyes as she looked back at them.
Akeim stepped in front of her with the torch. “If you will allow me,” he nodded politely before taking the lead. A narrow passage rose steeply above them.
Samuel glanced up at the ceiling cautiously as he followed behind them, “Watch out for spears.” The stairway continued for another fifty feet before opening up into another room. “And be sure and roll something across the floor,” he instructed from his place at the back of the line, “Oh, and stab the ground with something as well.”
Akeim’s sigh was audible as he threw a few pebbles and poked the ground with his sword. With a nod of satisfaction, he entered, holding the light high.
The room was square with a cone-shaped ceiling. Sophia and Genevieve immediately went to the wall where the hieroglyphs began. A scene of a great harvest emerged in the flickering light. On the border, a giant cobra was drawn with a double-twisted cord being unwound from its throat.
Samuel stood behind them as he assessed the drawing, “Looks as if we’ll be needing more rope.”
Sophia looked up to see what he was referring to, pointing out another symbol, “It is merely the symbol for time.”
“More time then?” Samuel wondered aloud as she covered her nose, looking back at him.
Noticing her glance, he steppe
d back, “Oh, sorry,” he smiled apologetically. “I’ll just go have a look from over there.” Leaving them to their studies, he ambled around the room meeting up with Alec on the other side.
“What do you think of this?” Alec stood before a drawing of the royal barque with the god Ra and his entourage. His enemies were shown being decapitated and lassoed with a rope by the gods who sailed with him. Unfortunately, it also depicted the boat sailing right into the waiting jaws of the god Apophis who waited on the next register.
“We’re definitely going to need rope,” Samuel said with certainty.
“If you’ll recall, that didn’t work out so well the last time,” Alec pointed to the snake which was being held at bay with forked poles. A rope, which looked suspiciously like a hangman’s noose hung around its neck. “Suppose next time it gets really ugly?”
“What do you mean?” Samuel looked slightly askance, “If I hadn’t had rope, I could have drowned down there!”
“You wouldn’t have been down there in the first place,” Alec reminded him, “If your rope hadn’t been caught.”
“Well, talk about unappreciative,” Samuel raised his chin a notch.
“It’s a hard thing to appreciate if you get my drift,” Alec thumbed his nose.
“Well,” Samuel harrumphed as he left, joining the ladies once again. “What have you found?” he made sure to stand a gentle nose distance away.
“Here in the upper register are two groups of the blessed dead,” Genevieve pointed up at the pictographic cornucopia that covered the wall, “One with baskets of grain and the other with baskets of feathers.”
“They will exist until the end while sheltered by the goddess Maat.” Sophia read, “While the damned below are consigned to their place of annihilation.”
“Just annihilation?” Samuel replied with a high degree of levity, “Glad it’s nothing too drastic.”
“Let’s just say nothing has reared its ugly head,” Sophia gave him a sideways glance.
“Yet,” Samuel warned with a note of ominous portend. “I think you should see what is on the other side, it may change your mind.”
“Really?” Genevieve turned to him, “Show me.”
Just as she said it, Alec who was walking across the floor, stopped in the middle and looked up.
“What is it?” She asked as he brushed a sprinkling of dust from his shoulder. When it was immediately replaced, Genevieve grabbed him by the front of his kaftan and pulled him roughly to her. His eyes opened in surprise as she turned and ran, dragging him with her.
Alec had only taken a step when he felt the sharp sting on his back. An immense weight pressed down on him as a torrential downfall of petrified grain poured out from the top of the ceiling.
“Watch out!” Samuel covered his head with his hands for protection as he dove out of the way, rolling to the edge of the wall as the room was filled up with a billowing cloud of dust.
Akeim joined Sophia next to the wall as the wheat cascaded down from the giant hill to the outer edges of the room shielding her with his body.
Alec looked over his shoulder at the mountain of disintegrated grain that had fallen where he had stood only a moment ago. “You’ve saved my life,” he turned back to the woman who still had a grip on his collar. She let go of him, smiling apologetically for her rough handling. “Thank you,” he kissed her briefly.
“Keep moving!” Sophia yelled, “Don’t let it bury you!”
“Oh, why couldn’t it have been feathers?” Samuel grumbled as he passed in front of Alec. Running knee deep through the bountiful harvest, his pant legs were quickly becoming caked as the granules stuck to him everywhere they touched. He stumbled, falling head first into the grain, only to emerge a moment later totally covered in the tiny particles.
Alec gave him a hand up, “Steady there.”
“Easy for you to say,” Samuel said as he stood, “You’re not fast becoming a rolled oat loaf.” Alec chuckled as he righted him. They were suddenly plunged into darkness when the light that Akeim held was extinguished.
“I’m sure you’ll manage,” Alec set him free. Taking up Genevieve’s hand, they circled the room, keeping to the edges as much as possible. A fine dust filled the air as the wheat separated from the chaff. Around and around they went, getting higher and higher as grain poured in through the hole in the center of the roof.
“Good Heavens!” Sophia exclaimed as the flood trickled to an end and the dust cleared. “I feel as though I’ve been in a giant-sized hour glass.”
Exhausted, Samuel fell to his knees landing face first into the pile, “I feel as though I’ve been rolled in offal and baked in the fires of hell.”
When Akeim relit the torch, Genevieve found herself facing Samuel, she took one look at him and opened her mouth in surprised laughter. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she covered her mouth in dismay. One more glance in his direction caused another giggle to escape despite her effort. “I can’t seem to help it,” she smiled apologetically as the others glanced over.
Samuel tilted his head up at the remark. His eyes were the only thing visible as he blinked back at them. With his hair on end, it looked as though he were wearing a giant rooster’s tail on his head.
Alec started to laugh, while Sophia tried to stifle her own mirth at the sight.
“Hum,” Samuel huffed as he rolled over and sat up. The action only increased the bobble of his crown. “Alas, my worst nightmare has arrived.”
“Hoh-hoh, ho,” Akeim’s deep booming laughter filled the remaining area of the room. In shock everyone turned to look at him.
“I was wrong,” Samuel dropped his head, “Now it’s my worst.”
“Oh, come now.” Sophia went to him, offering him a hand up. “If you could see yourself, I believe you’d find it amusing as well.”
Samuel sighed, “At least now, I smell more like a ripe barnyard than just the pigsty.” He stood, brushing the pieces from his face and body, “I feel that it’s only fair to tell you that the city of the gods is a bit lacking in my estimation.” Samuel critically assessed the hill they were perched on, “I still wouldn’t call this heaven.”
“I understand,” Sophia nodded sympathetically.
Akeim held the light up towards the hole in the center of the roof. Alec came to stand beside him. The ceiling was still several feet above their heads at the top.
“Here,” Alec folded his hands together, “I’ll give you a lift.”
Akeim gave him a nod before stepping up to look through the opening. “There is a door,” he climbed up into the room above, taking the torch with him. Holding out a hand, he drew Sophia up. Genevieve followed next.
“Jump on,” Alec motioned to Samuel, “I’ve got this one.”
“Alright then, if you insist,” Samuel scrambled up. His rooster tail appeared in silhouette as he leaned back over the hole and offered Alec a hand up.
Alec climbed through, sitting on the edge, he looked around at the new room. It was larger than the one below it, the ceiling was much higher. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only thing that soared above them. Alec stood, looking up at the opening located near the top of the wall.
“Any ideas?” Samuel asked, noting the direction of his gaze.
Sophia sighed as she too gazed up at their only means of escape, “It’s so high.”
“I suppose we now know how they filled this room with so much grain.” Samuel followed Alec as walked to the wall. “How did they get these things so close?” Samuel bent to examine the cracks between the stones in the otherwise smooth wall. “It’s completely useless,” he stepped back with his hands on his hips, “There is nothing to climb.”
“Don’t be too sure about that,” Genevieve said from behind them.
“Do you mean the grain?” Samuel gave the floor a quick glance. “I suppose we could give it a try,” he scraped his toe through the wheat which still remained on the floor. “Although I doubt there is enough here to pile up.”
“Actually, I was
going to suggest that we stand on each other’s shoulders,” Genevieve looked up at the opening. “I believe I could reach the ledge.”
Surprise registered on Samuel’s face. “Has that knock on your head made you addled?”
“Are you sure?” Alec looked over at her with concern.
“There is plenty of grain on the floor to break my fall should something happen.” At his look of alarm she smiled, “I’ll be fine, truly.”
“Should we give it a go then?” Samuel rubbed his hands together. “There’s no time like the present, I always say.”
Alec sighed, resigned to his fate, “I’m the biggest, so I’ll be the base.” He walked over to the wall and braced his back against it.
Samuel grinned over at Akeim who was the next in line as far a size went. “After you,” he bowed with a flourish.
Alec stood on the ground with Akeim on his shoulders while Samuel climbed up. Samuel teetered as he stood, groping the wall to steady himself. “Why is it that I suddenly feel as though I’ve run off and joined the circus?”
Sophia waited until he nodded before she quickly climbed to the top.
Genevieve smiled at Alec’s concerned look. “I’m afraid you’re the one who may be in traction after this.”
“Maybe they have a rack?” his attempt at levity was followed by a grimace.
“I’ll be quick about it,” she climbed up over the men quickly. Her mother’s legs wobbled ever so slightly as Genevieve stood on her shoulders.
“Nearly there,” Genevieve straightened up to her full height. The ledge was just below her shoulders. She climbed up and turned around, reaching down for her mother’s hand. Their fingers barely touched as she bent over the edge. Sophia reached higher threatening her balance.
“Whoa,” Samuel teetered, rocking side to side as he tried to hang on to her, “Steady there Mum.”
“There’s no way around it, we need rope,” Genevieve called down.
“I knew it!” Samuel looked down, “Any rope?
“Samuel, keep still,” Sophia steadied herself on his shoulders.
Treasure of Egypt Page 32
