“Oh, are we here?” asked Jonathan. Rick nodded. They got off their camels. “Evy,” Jonathan turned to his sister, “Are you sure it’s a tomb we’re here to dig up? Those ruins look more temple-like to me.”
“Quite sure. It does look more of a temple though. Ah well, better than getting here and finding nothing. Shall we get started?” she asked.
“Woah, Evy! Let’s get settled first,” Rick said. “We can set the tents up over there, use the space in front for the living area. Jonathan you get started, Charlie help him, and you two,” he said to Evy and Josie, “start unpacking.”
“Is he always this commanding?” Josie asked Jonathan.
“Oh yes. That’s why him and Evy get on so well, you should try living with the two of them, it’s awful” he said.
“Aww, poor Jonny. Do we get bossed around? Poor little thing!”
“Miss Mackenzie-Watson I do believe you’re mocking me”
Josie grinned at him, “Reverted back to ’Miss’ have we? Gentlemen I’m familiar with don’t normally call me ‘Miss’”
“What do they call you then?” asked Jonathan, wondering where this was leading.
“Usually Bubbles.”
Jon looked at her with disbelief, Josie burst out laughing.
“Joke! I’m joking. Your face!”
Jonathan shook his head. “Where did Bubbles come from?” he asked.
“Just sounded good at the time. Charlie and I had a pet duck called Bubbles. Its mother didn’t want it so we adopted it, called it Bubbles. Unfortunately it turned out to be a drake so it ended up with a rather effeminate name. He disappeared one day, in pursuit of some lady ducks. We think he was trying to prove himself.”
“You, Josephine Mackenzie-Watson, are like no woman I’ve met before.”
“Thanks. I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, I’d better go before Rick gets cross.” She stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss on the cheek and then left. Jonathan started unpacking his camel.
“You’ll never get away from Josie now.” Jonathan turned around and saw Charlie, who gave a small smile.
“Oh?” said Jonathan.
“Yes, I can read my sister like a book. She’s in love with you, well and truly. Mind you, so are you.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Couldn’t do anything about it if it did. I’ve never been able to stand up to Josie. She could do a lot worse than you, Jonathan.”
Jonathan smiled at him, knowing that Charlie was now willing to accept him and Josie together.
“I’m warning you though, if you hurt her…”
“I’m not going to hurt her. I love her.”
“Good, good. Now, we’d better get things set up before your brother-in-law gets even more annoyed with me. Are you going to share a tent with her?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you going to sleep with my sister?”
Jonathan looked at him in complete shock. “Pardon?!”
“Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. Are you going to sleep in the same tent as Josie? Get to know each other. Because if you are, I’ll sleep in a separate tent.”
“No, I don’t think Rick will be too happy if we do. Anyway, come on, we’ve tents to put up.”
~**~
Once they had set up camp Evy persuaded Rick to let them start and her and Charlie began excavating, Rick was putting finishing touches to the camp and Jon and Josie were sat chatting.
“What are we expecting to find then?” asked Charlie.
“I don’t know, finding a temple instead of a tomb has thrown me,” Evy replied.
“Any find will be good. Rick not joining us?”
“He will later. I see Jonathan and Josie are getting on well. Does it still bother you?”
“No, not really. Couldn’t do anything about it if it did. Josie’s a very forceful woman, very good at getting what she wants, she’d soon wear me down.” He smiled. They watched as Jonathan and Josie gathered up their equipment and went to where their dig site was going to be.
“Well!” Charlie said, “Jonathan must be good for her. That’s the first time I’ve seen her begin work within a few hours of arriving.”
“Funny, I was going to say the exact thing about Jonathan.”
*
“I can’t believe I’m actually working.” Jonathan said.
“Same here, I normally have Charlie do most of the work then join in when he’s started finding things.”
“I thought you were really interested in all this,” he gestured around the camp and excavation site.
She shook her head, “I prefer the artefacts, don’t like all digging and whatnot. Charlie’s the archaeologist as well as being an Egyptologist; I’m just more of an Egyptologist. When I get my degree I’ll be more museum-based rather than like my father and Charlie, going all over. What about you?”
“Same. I would have got a job at the British Museum probably but after my parents died I lost interest. I associated it all with them so I didn’t want to have anything to do with it. But I couldn’t find anything else to do, nobody wanted a man who drank so I just tagged along with Evy and found that I just seemed to cock everything up. Digs would go wrong, Evy would get annoyed, didn’t really help her career either. I’ve never been able to save my career, I’ve tried but never really had any drive. I’m going to try again, though.”
“And I’m going to help you!”
Jonathan smiled and leant across to kiss her on her cheek.
*
Evy and Charlie watched them from their dig site.
“I think we are going to hear wedding bells soon,” Evy said, “I’ve never seen Jonathan like this with a girl before.”
She watched the emotions flicker briefly across his face before he turned to her with a smile.
“I hope Jonathan likes big weddings then. Our family tends to go for celebrations in a big way. Maman will be pleased she loves weddings. She’ll like having something to organise.”
“I remember your sister Elizabeth’s wedding, quite different from most weddings I’ve been to.”
“That will be the French influence from Maman’s family.” He sighed, “I guess it will leave me as the only unmarried one.”
“Oh Charlie! You’re only twenty.”
“Doesn’t mean anything in my family. My brothers had already got through a fair chunk of Oxford’s female population at this age.”
“I know, your Henry once approached me.”
“Really?” Charlie brightened at this, “What did you do?”
“Turned him down, he was rather annoyed.”
“I knew it! He always boasts about his so-called conquests so I’d remember if you were mentioned.” He laughed and Evy smiled at his reaction. Rick came over to see what was so funny.
“What are you laughing at?”
“I was just telling him how I turned his brother down”
“Fantastic,” said Charlie, “I wonder how many more there are. He’s not as irresistible as he thinks. I remember this for the next time he’s teasing me for my lack of success with the girls. I’ll have to go tell Josie this.” He got to his feet and went over to his sister. Rick watched him as he went.
“Ok, what have you done with him? He’s undergone a complete personality change.”
“Nothing, I told you he’d change once we got here.”
“God, I hate it when you’re right.”
The rest of the day was spent excavating, they only stopped for tea and even then Evy was urging them to hurry up so they could carry on. It was starting to get dark when Evy called out.
“I think I’ve found something.”
The others went to join her. There was something in the sand, it looked big and what they could see of it was flat and made out of metal.
“Come on, if we all join in we’ll get it out quicker,” she said
“Hang on Evy” Rick told her, “it’s getting dark. I suggest we wait until the morning.”
“Rick…” Evy started.
“No, Evy, it’s getting late. I’m sure it can wait.”
“Yes old mum, it’s been there for the past few thousand years, another night won’t matter,” Jonathan added.
Evy, knowing she had been defeated, started to put things away for the night and they prepared themselves for bed.
They woke the next morning and after they had had breakfast they began work again, Jonathan and Josie worked together, though most of the time was spent talking. Rick, Evy and Charlie worked together on the object that Evy and Charlie had found the day before.
“What is it?” asked Rick
“Don’t know. Looks to be made out of gold.” Evy replied, “Come on.”
They began to uncover more of the object, it was made out of gold and was a fairly thin sheet and set around the edges there were precious jewels – rubies, sapphires and emeralds. On the sheet were engraved hieroglyphics. Evy became more excited the farther they excavated it.
*
Jonathan looked over at his sister from where he and Josie were sat.
“Ah, Evy’s happy now, they must have found something good. That will keep her occupied for the rest of the day.”
Josie looked up from the little model she was making out of sand,
“Shall we go and join them?”
They looked at each other, “Nah!” they chorused together. Jonathan picked up a tiny stick and stuck in the top of Josie’s sand model.
“Oi!” she exclaimed and slapped his hand away.
“It’s a flagpole!” he grinned at her.
“No it’s not! Go and make your own and leave mine alone.”
“Let me just…” he started, fiddling with the sand around it.
“No! Shoo!” she pushed his hands away and they burst out laughing.
*
The others looked over at them. Evy and Charlie looked at each other and shook their heads. Rick groaned.
“Do you think they will ever grow up?” he asked. Evy shook her head.
“I’m going to go and start a new site, it doesn’t need the three of us to do this one now,” Rick said.
Charlie and Evy carried on working on the gold sheet whilst Rick started uncovering another are and Jonathan and Josie finally started to work. Once it was fully uncovered they lifted it out. Evy started to translate the hieroglyphics in her head.
“What does it say, then?” Charlie asked.
“I thought you could read ancient Egyptian.”
“I can,” he said, “but I haven’t got my glasses on me, I can’t make out the symbols out properly without them.”
“Hang on then.” She started to read it out aloud. Rick turned when he heard his wife’s voice.
“Evy! What have we said abou-” He was cut off mid sentence by a crash off thunder. Storm clouds had appeared, blocking out the sun. In the distance lightening could be seen flashing. The wind had started to blow stronger. The earth started to tremble beneath them. Jonathan and Josie ran over to them.
“What on earth have you done?” Jonathan shouted.
The ground stated to shake even more and the five of them were forced back as the ground split near the temple. They watched in disbelief as the temple started to rise through the split.
“Evy, what the hell did it say?” Rick asked. A sandstorm kicked up and they pressed themselves to the ground. When it became less violent Evy looked up.
“Something about whoever disturbs my rest will see a return of old enemies.”
The sandstorm slowed and became focused on one area. When it stopped a familiar figure was left standing. Rick, Evy and Jonathan stared in horror when they realised who it was.