Elizabeth squinted in the dim light. They’d spent the better part of last night going through possible scenarios. What if the watch was sitting out in the open? Surely, Jouvet would notice the blatant incongruity. He’d probably take it immediately to his rooms or the press. That was if, as Simon said, always a ray of sunshine, Katherine Vale didn’t shoot him first. While that was possible, it didn’t seem probable. Vale had kept a low-profile so far and if they were right, getting the watch wasn’t her true end game. She wouldn’t risk it all just for the sake of expediency. She’d try to swipe it later, just as they would.
It was also possible the watch was buried in the midst of hundreds of other artifacts. King Tut’s tomb had thousands of things in it. If that were the case here, they’d have to come up with a way to beat Vale to it.
The last possibility was one Elizabeth didn’t want to think about. What if the watch wasn’t there at all? They would have to start over from square one and neither of them had any idea where the heck that square was.
“If you will stop here, please?” Henri said, bringing the chatter to a halt.
“These walls are quite unstable,” he continued. “Please do not touch or disturb the bracing struts as we descend into the ante-chamber.”
“How unstable?” Trevor Everett asked.
“If these were to give way,” Henri said, waving his hands toward the broad support beams, “we would be crushed beyond recognition.” He smiled. “So, do not touch them, eh?”
Trevor looked up at the rough ceiling of the tunnel and paled. “I don’t know, darling. What’s another dusty old tomb?”
His wife seemed to have the same idea. “Yes,” she said. “You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
“Quite.” Trevor turned around. “We’ll see you out there,” he said, trying not to sound like a man who had just taken the chicken exit.
He and Constance shouldered past the others in the narrow corridor, nearly pushing people out of the way in their haste.
“Anyone else?” Henri asked.
Whiteside looked at his daughter.
“Don’t be silly, papa,” she said.
He smiled. “That’s my girl,” he said, but then cast a concerned look at the wooden beams. “But do be careful.”
When no one else had any more objections, Henri continued down the sloping corridor to the doorway Elizabeth had seen on their first visit to the tomb. Remembering how that had gone, she made sure to walk in the middle of the path, as far away from the walls as she could.
“The ante-chamber itself appears quite safe.” Henri stopped at the bottom of the corridor at the mouth of the doorway. He extended his arm. “Entrez.”
One by one the group filed into the large chamber, perhaps fifteen by fifteen. There were no electric lamps, but two workers held aloft large lanterns bright enough to illuminate the brightly painted walls.
Elizabeth looked at the art, and when she turned, the back of her neck tingled with the undeniable sensation that she was being watched. She knew before she looked who it was. She glanced over and saw Vale simply watching her, a small smile on her lips. Elizabeth looked away. She wasn’t going to let her get into her head. Stay focused, Elizabeth, she told herself. Don’t let her get to you.
“As you can see,” Henri said. “The walls are quite elaborate. We thought at first this was the burial chamber.”
He took one of the lanterns and lifted it to better light some of the detailed reliefs. “These are from the Book of Gates. It is a guide for the soul through the trials one must face to reach the next life.”
“Each represents an hour of the sun’s journey through the underworld during the night,” Arthur said, pointing. “The Gate of Teka-Hra, and here the fifth hour, the Judgment of Osiris.”
Each section was incredibly detailed with dozens and dozens of figures acting out parts in a complex play.
“These are beautiful, Henri,” Diana said. “The colors are still so vivid.”
“You thought this was the burial chamber, but…” Elizabeth asked.
Henri smiled and walked over to the far end of the room. “Until we found this.” The light from his lamp lit another doorway and a dark corridor beyond.
They all gathered near.
“This is why we were delayed,” he said. “It is as though the hand of God pushes down on this place. It was difficult to secure, as you can see.”
The corridor had multiple protective struts and cross beams. At the end of the ten-foot tunnel was a doorway with two handles and a rope wound between them.
“This is the seal,” Henri said, as he knelt down next to one of the handles and pointed at a wax blob formed over one of the ropes. “Unbroken for thousands of years.”
His smiled. “Until today.” He held out his hand and one of the workers handed him a small tool.
Butterflies finished their pre-flight checks in Elizabeth’s stomach and took off as she and the others waited.
Carefully, Henri broke the seal, trying to preserve as much as he could, but it crumbled at his touch. He sighed and set to work on the rope.
It only took a few minutes, but the anticipation was agonizing. Finally, he unwound the ropes and gripped one of the handles. He nodded for one of his workers to take the other. They both braced their shoulders against the stone. “Un, deux, trois.”
Together, they pushed the heavy doors forward. Elizabeth glanced up anxiously at the ceiling to see if any of the struts gave way, but it seemed solid enough. Once the doorway was opened, the first thing she noticed was the horrible stale air. It fled the chamber in a wave. She coughed and raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose and squinted to see into the darkness.
“Merde,” Henri whispered.
Elizabeth didn’t need a translator for that and craned her neck to see.
Henri took a deep breath and stepped into the empty chamber.
Like the outer chamber, the walls were filled with detailed reliefs, but there was nothing else. No golden thrones or ivory headrests. No royal beds, no chests filled with jewels and, worst of all, no sarcophagus. And no watch.
Elizabeth’s heart sank and she and Simon shared a look of disappointment and frustration. They’d been hurtling toward this moment and it ended with a whimper instead of a bang.
Henri stood in the middle of the empty chamber, a look of such utter defeat on his face, it was all Elizabeth could do not to comfort him.
“You were right about this being for Akhenaten, Henri,” Whiteside said. “These reliefs were designed for him and no other.”
“And here’s his cartouche,” Christina added excitedly.
“Yes.” The despondency in Henri’s voice was palpable.
“It’s still an amazing find,” Diana said. “These paintings are priceless.”
Henri forced a smile to his face and nodded. His eyes were downcast as he looked toward the doorway where Katherine Vale stood. “I am sorry, it is not what you hoped for.”
Vale glanced at Simon and Elizabeth and her lips curled into a smile. “Isn’t it?”
Elizabeth felt the usual chill that came with the Katherine Vale smile and watched as the woman nodded once to Henri and then left the room.
“What was that?” Elizabeth whispered to Simon.
He shook his head. “More theatrics.”
Elizabeth looked around the chamber. Maybe there was a hidden panel or another door. After all, the one to this room had been hidden. She slowly walked the perimeter of the room looking for some sign, some unnatural edge, but she didn’t find anything, although it was still very dark and she couldn’t exactly look thoroughly without drawing attention.
She saw that Simon was doing the same thing as she was, and with the same success.
“Well,” Henri said finally. He looked about to say more when he decided against it. With one last forlorn look around the empty chamber, he gave a curt order to one of his men. “Do not linger too long,” he said. “The air is unfit.”
With that he
walked through the doorway and disappeared.
“Poor chap,” Whiteside said. “I wish there’d been something. Anything really. Even just one thing.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Elizabeth did her best to look casual, but knew the harder she tried the more awkward she looked. She leaned against one of the large columns and tried to look like she wasn’t about to have kittens right there in the lobby of the Winter Palace hotel.
“He’ll be here,” Simon assured her, but he looked as anxious as he ever allowed himself to be in public.
She and Simon had spent most of the evening trying to figure out what the heck to do. The tomb was empty. Or at least, it looked empty. They all knew that looks could be deceiving though, and they had to be sure. They planned to meet Jack in the lobby at midnight and sneak back into the tomb for one more look.
Elizabeth looked at the grandfather clock in the corner. He was late.
With midnight come and gone and no Jack, Simon went off to find him. Elizabeth waited at the appointed spot in case he showed up while Simon was off looking for him.
She crossed and uncrossed her arms. Trying to look blasé was impossible. She decided to try sitting down instead and found a rattan chair nestled next to a large potted palm.
Despite the hour, the lobby was busy with people. The nightlife in Luxor centered around the Winter Palace and a few other posh hotels. Just as it had been in Cairo, the not-yet-jet set partied well into the night and early morning. Groups of revelers streamed in and out of the large front doors.
Elizabeth watched them a few minutes until she finally saw Simon heading toward her from across the lobby. But he was alone. He caught sight of her and quickened his pace, a deep frown on his face. In his haste, he bumped into a little man with a pencil mustache, nearly knocking him over. Simon apologized brusquely and hurried over to her.
Elizabeth stood up and met him half way.
“Not in his room,” he said, his frustration plain on his face.
Elizabeth felt a lump settle into her stomach. If something happened to Jack…
“Damn it,” Simon said under his breath.
“Let’s give him a few more minutes,” she said, leaving out the “and then we’ll” part because she had no idea what that would be.
Simon nodded curtly and they lingered near the doorway. After a few incredibly long minutes, Jack appeared and Elizabeth let herself breathe again.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said, holding up a hand to stave off the dressing down Simon had poised and ready. “I couldn’t find Diana.”
Simon grunted and ground his teeth, but didn’t say anything more than, “We’ll just have to go without her then.”
Jack’s eyes darted toward the lobby, clearly hoping to somehow see her appear there.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Elizabeth said, hoping she sounded convincing.
Jack nodded again, unconvinced, and glanced once more around the lobby. “She can take care of herself,” he said, but Elizabeth could hear the worry in his voice.
With an effort, he shook that off and looked to Simon, his focus entirely on the matter at hand. “Everything’s ready.”
“Good.” Simon nodded his head toward the front doors. “Let’s get this over with. Hassan’s waiting.”
~ ~ ~
“Are you sure you know the way?” Elizabeth whispered.
“We’ve driven it three times,” Jack said. “I think we’ve got it.”
They had been down the road three times now, but she couldn’t remember the way if her life depended on it. She shook off that thought and hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
She sat back in the carriage Hassan had hired and tried to pay attention to the route, but they were nearly there.
Hassan pulled the carriage up to a spot in a nearby ravine and they quietly climbed out.
“We’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” Jack said.
They’d suspected there might be a guard on duty. Even though the tomb was empty, it was still an important find.
The four of them walked swiftly, hugging the dark edges of the cliffs above them. The moon was bright and while they tried to be quiet, every footstep seemed to echo in the silence.
Before long, they came to the small wadi that held Henri’s tomb. Jack peered around the edge as the others pressed themselves against the rocks. He nodded his head. “Clear.”
He looked again and then started the dash across the open, moonlit ground toward the steps of the tomb. The others followed until they were all safely on the other side and standing at the entrance.
Hassan held out the two lanterns he’d been carrying. “Do not light them until you are inside,” he cautioned.
Simon and Jack each took one. Hassan gave Elizabeth a small rucksack with a few small tools in it.
“I will stay here and keep watch,” he continued. “Be quick and be safe.”
Elizabeth squeezed his arm in thanks as they passed him and started down the steep stairs. Once they were a dozen feet inside the tomb and the darkness was nearly complete, Jack lit a match and they lifted the glass coverings to light the lanterns.
Simon went first, Elizabeth second with Jack behind her. They made their way through the first and second corridor until they reached the rough walls.
“Be careful,” Simon said, needlessly.
Elizabeth had already almost caused a cave-in here, she wasn’t looking for a repeat performance. She gathered her skirts close to her body and walked slowly and carefully down the steep sloping stairs.
They passed through the large outer chamber and finally made it into the smaller chamber at the dead end of the tomb. Both Jack and Simon held up their lanterns and quickly scanned the walls before setting them down near the middle of the floor. The room was small enough and the lanterns bright enough that they could see the entire room clearly.
“Jack, you take that wall, I’ll take this one,” Simon said. “Elizabeth, the back. Feel for any indentations, any seams, any anomaly. We’ll search the floor and the ceilings next.”
Elizabeth nodded and set to her task. She hated touching these beautiful frescoes, but they had no choice. Gently, she ran her fingers along the outlines and felt for anything out of the ordinary. The reliefs were very detailed making it slow going. The wall was fairly smooth beneath her fingertips. Occasionally, she could feel a chisel mark or a tiny bit of 3000-year-old paint would flake off. She would have to volunteer the rest of her life at a museum doing restorations to make up for this.
Her wall was divided into three large panels. The first showed Akhenaten and Nefertiti seated opposite each other as they held their three children. It was remarkably normal. The king held one of his daughters to kiss her while the others climbed all over their mother. It was something she expected to see at a mall not in a Pharaoh’s tomb. It made these people who live millennia ago, so real, so human.
Elizabeth tried not to get caught up in the images and stick with the task at hand, but it was nearly impossible. She was in an ancient tomb and her imagination started to take flight, but she clipped its wings and forced herself to focus. The watch had to be here.
She moved on to the second panel, this one more formal with the King and his family offering something to the Aten. The giant sun disk hung above him, its rays reaching down toward him. She felt around the edges of the Aten disk, hope flaring in her chest, but it was just stone.
The Aten disk was repeated lower, smaller, but it wasn’t a relief, just a painting. She ran her fingers over the smaller disk anyway.
“Show me,” she whispered to it.
She waited for something magical to happen, but nothing did. “Open sesame?”
The walls didn’t speak or move.
“What?” Simon said.
“Nothing.” So much for Hollywood.
With a sigh, she continued exploring the outline of the Aten disk when something suddenly gave. She gasped as a bit of clay or plaster or whatever it was, fell away.
> “Guys,” she whispered, her heart beating just a bit faster with each passing second.
“Have you found something?” Simon asked as he came to her side.
Elizabeth traced the edges of the disk and more clay fell away. Something was embedded in the wall.
Jack brought one of the lanterns closer and as another bit of paint and plaster fell away, a glint of gold caught the light.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said.
Elizabeth turned to smile in triumph at Simon, but he’d gone to retrieve the chisel from their tools.
Carefully, he ran the tip of it around the edges of the disk until he could get a little leverage. With a few gentle pushes, he pried something out of the wall and it fell into his waiting hand. Elizabeth held her breath as he brushed the remaining paint and clay away until all that was left was a gold watch.
Elizabeth laughed, releasing pent up tension. “How about that?”
“Yes,” a voice behind them said and Elizabeth’s blood ran cold. “How about that?”
As Elizabeth started to turn, she saw Jack out of the corner of her eye reaching for his gun. She was vaguely aware of Simon dropping the chisel and doing the same thing, when a shot rang out, nearly deafening in the small chamber.
Instinct made her duck and cover, but not before she heard Jack grunt and saw him spin away from her. Dear God, he’d been shot. She looked back to see that a bullet had torn through his arm. His gun slipped from his fingers and clattered to the stone floor.
“Jack!” Elizabeth cried.
He groaned and heaved a few deep breaths to try to control the pain. Across the small room, Simon moved to point his gun.
“I would think twice about that if I were you, Mr. Cross,” Katherine Vale said, as one of her henchmen leveled his gun at Simon’s chest.
Simon had been too slow on the draw and was caught still trying to get his gun from his jacket pocket. And thank God he had. It was the only thing that kept him from being shot.
One of the four henchmen Vale had with her stepped past her in the tunnel and took Simon’s gun and retrieved Jack’s from the ground.
Sands of Time (Out of Time #6) Page 25