The Broken Souls

by Rivka Spicer

  “Are you ok?” Kim asked as Jen tumbled into her and Jen nodded.

  “Just didn’t hold on in time.” She explained, but Kim looked her straight in the eye.

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Oh.” Jen felt the blush rising in her cheeks again and quickly checked to make sure Mark wouldn’t overhear them. No chance of that – he was engrossed in conversation with Jim in the front. “I don’t know.” She admitted honestly. “It was such a shock to bump into him. I had no idea he was here. I was so tired that I just didn’t know what to say and did the pathetic girlie thing by bursting into tears so he took me up and put me to bed. We haven’t even really had a chance to talk yet.”

  “How did he know you were here?” Kim’s curiosity was genuine and Jen shrugged.

  “He said the office told him I was on holiday and he just put 2 and 2 together.”

  “Oh yes, I see.” Kim didn’t really believe the story either but then what did it matter? He was here and now they’d just have to deal with it.

  They drove down through Luxor and across the river, heading out into the arid and dusty land. It was funny, mused Jen, that people always assumed the desert in Egypt was sandy but it’s not – it’s all dust and rocks in these parts. There was a wind blowing in across the Nile and the locals had their veils wrapped around noses and mouths, eyes squinting against the glare of the sun to watch the car as it drove past. Jim was pointing out features of the landscape but he might as well have not bothered. Memories were floating back to Jen and, despite the obvious changes over the centuries, she felt she recognised many of the hills and landmarks as they passed. A deep sense of uneasy foreboding filled her to the bottom of her stomach and she recognised it as fear of this place. Amazing that a feeling attached to a place of death could last almost four thousand years, even when the tombs had been dug up and there really were no curses.

  Jim drove right into the Valley of the Kings and pulled up by a busy site where Arabs and Westerners alike were crawling all over the rock face like ants. They got out and the heat hit them like a blast furnace – it beat down on their heads and Jen could feel her skin sizzling.

  “Did you bring sun screen?” Kim asked as they began taking bottles of water out of the boot of the car and Jen nodded. “Good. Well put it on and put it on thick – the sun is merciless out here. If it gets too bad we’ll get you a veil.” She was all business now they were in her place of work and Jen had to smile despite her uneasiness as she accepted a four-litre bottle of water to carry. “I expect that all to be drunk by the time we leave.” Kim told her sternly and Jen saluted.

  “Yes Ma’am!” Mark sniggered quietly somewhere behind her but Kim looked at Jen seriously.

  “I mean it. I wasn’t kidding when I said heat stroke is a major issue out here. If you feel nauseous or start getting a headache I want you to tell me immediately ok?” Jen nodded, feeling chastened like a school girl and followed Kim as she headed up into the site, Mark at her back supporting her over the rocky ground.

  When they arrived at the entrance to the tomb Mark went straight in with Jim but Jen shied back with an insane terror of the yawning hole in the ground.

  “You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.” Kim said quietly. “I can understand it must be a bit weird for you. We can just stay up here and look at some of the artefacts we’ve recovered…”

  “No. It’s ok.” Jen steeled herself and took a step towards the tomb. Kim smiled encouragingly and led her down into the dusty earth.

  It was spectacular. Even with the damage and the rubble, the hieroglyphs looked like they could have been painted only last week. Several of the rooms they’d uncovered were large and full of light reflected from the halogen floodlights by the bright white plaster of the walls. Despite herself Jen was impressed. She only had vague memories of this place.

  “Mirrors…” she murmured wonderingly. “It was all lit with mirrors!” Kim nodded and pointed out the brackets they had found for said mirrors. There was a whole series of them going deep into the tomb to bring in the light from the outside. They walked and crawled until they’d seen as much as they could see but the heat was almost unbearable underground and when they emerged Jen had finished most of her water already. She came out blinking into the sunlight, grateful for the breeze on her face and then froze as another memory hit her.

  “Come with me.” She said quietly to Kim and began to lead her down the hill and across the valley.

  “Where are we going?” Kim asked, but Jen shushed her and began to hurry. They laboured across the dusty ground for almost half an hour and even Kim was struggling by the time she realised they’d entered the Valley of the Queens. Totally ignoring the spectacular monument of Hatshepsut’s temple, Jen headed across to the far side of the valley and began to climb, her breath coming in ragged gasps as they got higher.

  Finally she straightened up and gazed around to judge her position.

  “Dig here.” She said to Kim, a strange faraway look in her eyes. “Dig here and you’ll find treasures you’ve never seen the like of before.” Kim was astonished. There was nothing to say there was a tomb there.

  “Are you sure Jen?” She asked gently and Jen nodded, her eyes filling with sadness.

  “I should be. My daughter was buried here.”

  After a long moment in which the world seemed to hold its breath Kim swallowed and lifted her radio to her lips.

  “Jim? Can you bring a geophys team and some digging equipment to the Valley of the Queens? I’m sending you some coordinates now.” The radio crackled as she pulled a phone out of her pocket.

  “Why?”

  “Just do it Jim. Now. And bring some water and a couple of veils while you’re at it.” She knew she felt, and sounded, bizarrely calm. It was all just so surreal. Up until this moment she had believed the whole business of past lives and memories on Jen’s part to be astonishing coincidence. Away from Mara’s school it had all seemed so far-fetched and scepticism had easily slipped in. Now, here, in her place of work, suddenly she didn’t have the faith to doubt Jen when she seemed so certain.

  Jen herself was pale and shaking. As she stared out across the dusty valley memories were still flooding back like a tide. Her life had just irrevocably changed forever and she couldn’t meet Kim’s gaze.

  “Are you alright?” Kim asked quietly as the digs Landrover bounced into the valley, heading up the hill towards them, but Jen didn’t answer and Kim didn’t know what else to say.

  They waited for the vehicle to approach in silence, expectation hanging in the air around them. Jim was first out and he frowned at them.

  “What’s up ladies?”

  “I want you to scan this area.” Kim said calmly. “Peg out 30 metres square and start with that.” Jim crossed his arms mutinously.

  “Are you going to tell me what the hell this is about?” He demanded and Kim shook her head. There was no way to explain it without sounding crazy.

  “Please Jim, I’ll explain later. Just trust me this once.” Jim sighed.

  “Ok, but there had better be a really good explanation.” Grumbling he handed over the water and veils and set about pegging out the area she indicated and with Mark helping too it didn’t take long. Jen blankly followed Kim’s instructions to rinse the dust out of her mouth and nose and patiently accepted the veil she wrapped around her head to protect her pale skin from the sun. She watched with a distant look in her eyes as Jim paced slowly backwards and forwards in the square. Suddenly he froze and tapped the machine as though it had stopped working. Taking two steps back he paced towards that same region again, before stopping in the same place.

  “What is it?” Kim asked, a little bit of hope stealing into her voice and Jim tapped the machine again.

  “It’s reading a large void down there.” He muttered. “Must be something wrong with the machine.”

  “Or there’s a large void down there.” Kim said slowly and Jim went pale.

  “What a
re you saying Kim? There’s an undiscovered tomb down there? Is that why you wanted me here? What…?” He trailed off with wide eyes. “How…?” Words failed him and he just gaped at her.

  “Mark out the perimeter of the void.” Kim said gently. “We’ll dig an exploratory trench. How deep is it?” Blinking, Jim looked at the readout on the screen.

  “Says about three meters down. Mostly rock though. I can’t seem to find an entrance to it through softer gravel.” Kim nodded.

  “I’ll radio over for the Manatou. That’s too deep to dig by hand.”

  “We aren’t licensed to dig here.” Jim said quietly and the realisation hit Kim hard.

  “Oh my god, I’d totally forgotten about that.” Howling with frustration she stomped down the hill.

  “Where are you going?” Jim called after her and Kim spun round.

  “I am going to the director.” She declared and stomped back towards the cars. “We are going to dig this up damn it!”

  Eventually the heat in the valley got unbearable and Mark asked Jim if he’d take them back to the hotel. Jen was still pale and sweat had beaded on her forehead as she sat in silence looking at all the little pegs and markers.

  “Sure.” Jim was putting the last of his equipment back in the car and he sighed. “Doesn’t look like Kim’s coming back any time soon but I’ll radio over just in case.” He climbed into the driver’s seat and used the radio while Mark went to get Jen and when they returned he was frowning.

  “Where is she?” Mark asked and Jim shrugged.

  “Search me. Apparently she and the director lit out of the dig likes bats out of hell on a hush-hush mission.”

  “Must have gone to get a license to dig.” Mark stated the obvious and Jim shrugged again.

  “Must have. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  As they headed towards the hotel Jim sighed.

  “I just don’t get it. How did she know there was something down there?” He sounded like he was just thinking aloud. “Even in one of my inspired moments I’d have never picked it as a suitable site for a tomb. How did she know?”

  “I told her.” Jen said quietly and the other two gaped at her in astonishment, narrowly missing a large pothole in the road as Jim’s attention slipped.

  “How did you know? You’ve never been to Egypt before you told me!” His tone wasn’t quite accusatory but it held a large amount of disbelief.

  “Not in this lifetime, no.” Jen replied enigmatically. “Do not ask a question to which you will not believe the answer.” As she spoke the words she had to smile, remembering the time Mara had said the self-same thing to her all those weeks ago but Jim clearly didn’t think it was funny.

  “Look Jen, I don’t know how you found out about that tomb down there but if there’s something dodgy going on here you need to tell us because we could get in a lot of trouble. It’s taken us years to get the license to dig out the sons of Rameses. We can’t jeopardise that for any reason. The Egyptians are incredibly picky about who they do and don’t let dig and what excavations they’ll allow.”

  “There’s nothing dodgy about it Jim.” Jen didn’t know how to explain it. “I just knew, like you know how to breathe. I can’t explain it because you won’t believe me.”

  “How do you know that unless you try?” It was a fair point. Jen took a deep breath.

  “I have past life memories.” She blurted it out before she could chicken out of it and then winced as she waited for the outburst of laughter. But it never came. Jim just nodded slowly.

  “And you’re here in Egypt because this is where some of these memories came from?” His tone was suddenly gentle and questioning and Jen felt a warm flush of surprise at his sincerity.

  “Not quite.” She replied. “I didn’t believe they were memories, I thought I was going crazy. Nkara and Kim persuaded me to come here to see if it felt familiar, like I’d been here before.”

  “And was it familiar?” Unexpectedly Jen felt a lump rise in her throat.

  “Like I’d lived here my whole life.” She said distantly, remembering dust and heat in a different age and a mother named Istnofret who had given her love.

  “Are you okay?” Mark asked softly and Jen shook her head, resting her head on his shoulder for comfort as the tears began to fall.

  “It’s all a bit overwhelming.” She whispered back. “I’m so very tired Ankhmet, I just want to sleep.” Mark stiffened and Jen froze. “I’m so sorry.” She said desperately. “It just slipped out.”

  “You know about me? From…before?” His tone was guarded but there was a tinge of hope to it and Jen blinked.

  “You mean you don’t?” He shook his head.

  “I knew I’d been here – the heat and the smell were familiar – but I don’t know the story at all.”

  “Oh. Okay. Well, then I guess we need to talk.” Jim was listening to their exchange with fascination and then suddenly comprehension dawned.

  “You’re the reason Kim was asking about Bint’Anath aren’t you?” He asked, pulling up outside the hotel and Jen nodded. “Well suddenly it makes sense. Do you mind if I tag along? I’d really like to hear this.”

  “It’s not pretty.” Jen warned and Jim grinned with a flash of humour.

  “History rarely is pretty lady.” He waited until they’d climbed out of the car before pulling around the corner to park and reappeared within moments. “Where do you want to go?” He asked.

  “Are there any tea houses this side of the river?” Jen asked. “I really don’t want to be stuck in the hotel all afternoon.”

  “Of course.” He led them up the street and through a small arcade where vendors were hawking glass perfume bottles and ornaments of the old gods. Curiously the vendors left them alone but none of the three paused to reflect on this fact. They were all too lost in their own thoughts. Finally, after a good half hour of walking, they emerged onto a small back street where a group of men in dirty white jellabiyas were seated around the entrance to a small building and Jim left them outside to find a seat while he went in to get tea. Mark and Jen ended up perching on a low wall that ran across the front of the house as there were no seats left, grateful for the cloths hanging from strings overhead to provide shade.

  “Are you sure it’s okay to talk about this?” Mark asked in a low voice as they waited for Jim to return and Jen nodded.

  “You need to know and I think we owe it to Jim to let him know what’s going on.” She sighed. “How are we supposed to live out the rest of our lives knowing what we know?” She said plaintively. “It was bad enough before.”

  “Isn’t that the whole point?” Mark asked gently. “Our souls have split Jen. We must do what we have to do to fix it so that next time round we are whole without remembering this pain.”

  “Perhaps it is better to remember though!” Jen sighed again. “Look around you Mark. Can’t you feel the magic in this place? We were here in a time when the gods walked the earth and great things were shaping history!”

  “I don’t remember it though.” Mark pointed out. “To you it’s special, to me it’s an irritatingly unexplainable familiarity. You remember me, you even remember my name but I remember nothing!” Jen sighed.

  “Your name was Ankhmet. You were a palace guard here. You had much the same physique as you have now but your face was different.” She gently traced his jaw line with her fingertips. “Your eyes were darker but your eyelashes were just as beautiful. We all wore kohl in those days to protect our eyes from the glare of the sun. You walked me home after I met my father for the first time and you begged me to be careful. You made me put my hand on your chest so I could feel your heart beat and at fifteen years old I was so impressed I thought I’d die.” She grinned. “You were my first kiss and my first lover. We hid in the palace garden and you loved me, teaching me everything so that I wouldn’t be scared when the time came.”

  “Did it work?” He asked softly and Jen shuddered violently. No, it most definitely had not and that
was a memory she never wanted to relive. She was saved from having to reply by Jim returning with three small glasses of tea and a bowl of sugar.

  “So,” started Jim heaping sugar into his glass. “Start from the beginning and tell me everything.” So that’s exactly what Jen did. She told them of the sleepless nights, the visits to Mara’s home and the school, the memories she had experienced and what Mara had said about them. It was late afternoon when she had finished and they had been through four glasses of tea each. As she trailed off Jim leaned back and whistled softly through pursed lips.

  “Wow.” He shook his head. “I have to say that I agree with Kim – the knowledge is too detailed to be anything other than a memory, unless you’re a really clever fake that’s done the research.” Jen opened her mouth to protest but Jim waved her into silence. “I know you’re not making it up. I trust Kim’s judgement and to be brutally honest there’s no other way you could have known about the tomb. So what are you going to do now?”

  “I don’t know.” Jen sounded small and miserable but for once Mark didn’t comfort her. He had gone pale and his gaze was distant as he thought about a past he had caught glimpses of but didn’t know much about, suddenly brought to life by Jen’s recollections.

  “Well surely it’s obvious?” Jim chuckled. “You guys are in love! Run away together and be whole again.”

  “It’s not that simple.” Jen said angrily. “I wish it was! I wish I could drop everything and walk away but I can’t! Do you have any idea how many people I would hurt?” Realising people were staring she lowered her voice. “There is so much riding on this wedding and at the end of the day I love Tom too. That small fact seems to have escaped everyone’s notice. If I didn’t love him I wouldn’t have said yes.”

  “I’m sorry.” Jim said tritely. “I didn’t mean to make light of it. I don’t know about your situation with Tom. It’s easy to speak about that which is right in front of us.”

  “It’s ok.” Jen was back to sounding miserable again. “I can’t expect anyone to understand really. It’s not exactly a normal situation. Until I got here I’d managed to convince myself it was all just coincidence and now that illusion has been permanently shattered I don’t really know where I stand with any of it.”