“Josie,” said Jonathan.
“Jon? Oh Jon! Thank God. I was so scared,” she went towards him, he took her into his arms and hugged her, kissing her on the forehead.
“My darling girl. I was afraid I was too late. Where’s Imhotep?” he asked.
“He’s gone to find his dead mistress, they need her before they can…” she trailed off and leant into Jonathan more, seeking comfort. She suddenly stiffened and moved out of his embrace, “Oh God, Charlie! Is he OK?”
“I don’t know. Evy’s looking after him though. They were waiting for Ardeth – he’s a friend. He’ll be well looked after. Don’t worry he’ll be fine.” He held her close, ‘I hope he will be fine,’ he thought.
“Can we get out of here? I want to go to Charlie. He’s hurting and needs me.”
They let go of each other. Josie reached up and kissed him on the lips, the kiss deepened and then Jonathan pulled away.
“There’ll be time for that later,” he said, “come on, we’ve got to go.”
“I love you, Jonathan,” she told him, he kissed her lightly on the lips, “Come on, whilst the coast is clear.” They went to the door.
~**~
The others had just got to Ardeth’s village.
“Zahrah! Zahrah!” Ardeth shouted, “Zahrah!”
A beautiful Arab woman appeared from one of the tents; she was around Ardeth’s age and was tall and elegant.
“I am here, Ardeth. Why do you shout so loudly?” she asked him.
“We have a wounded man here. A friend of the O’Connells. He has been shot.”
Zahrah looked concerned. “Take him to the medical tent. I will see to him.”
One of Ardeth’s men carried Charlie to one of the tents, Zahrah followed him.
“I’ll go with them,” said Evy, she followed them into the tent.
“O’Connell, if you will come with me.” Rick followed Ardeth.
*
The man laid Charlie down on a bed; Zahrah went to get the things she needed to treat him. He stirred slightly.
“Josie?”
“No, it’s Evy. You’re going to be patched up, then have a nice sleep and when you wake up Josie will be here.”
“Need… Josie.”
“She’s coming, Josie’s coming.”
Zahrah returned. She knelt beside the bed and raised him slightly and placed a cup to his lips.
“I need you to drink this, it will help the pain.” He sipped from the cup, when he had finished Zahrah laid him back down and he closed his eyes.
“We need to wait for that to take effect. What is his name?” Zahrah asked.
“Charlie. His parents were friends of my parents. I think Lord Roderick, that’s his father, is going to kill us. We’ve managed to get him shot and Josie kidnapped.”
“Who is Josie?”
“His twin sister. I’ve told him when he wakes up she will be there. I hope she is.”
Zahrah turned to her patient; he was completely unconscious.
“We can remove the bullet now. You can stay and help if you want. Just as an assistant, nothing medical but I think it may be better for him if you are here.”
“Yes I think I shall. I don’t want to leave him. I feel responsible.”
*
“Here, O’Connell. My tent. We can begin to make plans.” Ardeth gestured for Rick to sit down.
“Rick.”
“Pardon.”
“Call me Rick. You have men watching Imhotep then, I gather?”
“Yes, O’C-err-Rick. We are getting reports often. They have seen Jonathan.”
“Good, good. Well, what are we going to do?”
“I suggest we wait, I have a feeling Jonathan will be back soon with the girl. They will know more about Imhotep’s position and the girl might know his plans. First we shall have something to eat and drink. Mariam!” he called out.
A woman appeared from the tent near them, she was pretty and looked very much like Zahrah but wasn’t as tall and was less regal looking. She went to Ardeth’s side.
“This is my wife Mariam. She is the sister of Zahrah.” Mariam smiled at them, Ardeth said something to her in Arabic and she went back into the tent.
“She doesn’t know much English, though.”
“Do you have any children?” Rick asked him.
“Yes, five. I have two boys and three girls. My sons are Hasan and Asad and my daughters are Zaina, Amira and Leila. Hasan will be leader of the Medjai after me.”
They sat for a few minutes in silence
“I don’t like waiting around, I want to be doing something,” Rick said.
“Sometimes it is best to wait. If we rush ahead into the unknown we may endanger Jonathan and your friend’s lives.”
They sat for a while.
*
Back in Zahrah’s tent Zahrah was just finishing stitching Charlie’s shoulder. She put her needle down and put a dressing on him. She then felt his forehead, checking for fever. She then smiled at Evy.
“Is he going to be OK?” Evy asked her.
“Yes, he has a slight fever but that should go soon. He will sleep now and when he wakes he will be thirsty, he has lost quite a lot of blood but he will be fine after a rest. Come, we will go to Ardeth and your husband, Na’ima will watch over Charlie.” She gestured for a young Arabic girl to come over and she and Evy stood up and they left the tent.
~**~
Jonathan looked out into the corridor and saw that it was empty.
“Come on, it’s all clear.” He took Josie by the hand and they went out into the corridor. They advanced cautiously down the corridor until they heard footsteps, Jonathan then pulled Josie into a doorway and they watched as two of Lock-Nah’s men came out of another doorway further down. Jonathan nodded at Josie.
“Come on,” he whispered.
“Do you know where you are going?” she whispered back.
“Yes, it’s ok, just follow me.”
They set off again down the corridor Jonathan led the way. They got near the entrance, Jonathan could see that the guards were once again preoccupied with something else.
“This way.” They went outside and Jonathan led her along the same way he had gone in. Suddenly the guards turned towards them.
“Run!” he grabbed Josie hand and pulled her along with him, she gasped as a bullet whizzed passed them. They ran as fast as they could across the desert.
Jonathan looked ahead and saw a group of Medjai warriors. “Thank God, come on, they’re friends, they’ve come to help us.”
“You are O’Connell’s brother-in-law?” one of them asked.
“Yes. Where are they?”
“They have gone to our village. The one who was shot needed medical attention.”
“Charlie. Is he alright?” Josie asked.
“Yes. We have a very good doctor. We have been told to take you to the village. Come.”
They were showed to a spare horse that they had with them. Jonathan got on and then instructed Josie to get on in front of him. He then took the reins in one hand and kept his other arm around her waist. The warriors then led them to the village.