Tomb of the Lost

by Julian Noyce

  “I’ll have Lamb Kleftiko please.”

  The waiter beamed and took the menus away.

  “Is that nice?” Louise, the other rep asked.

  Natalie was just taking a swig of her drink. She released the straw.

  “Kleftiko?”

  Louise nodded.

  “It’s beautiful. The best Kleftiko in all of Zakynthos. The lamb kind of melts in your mouth. I’ll let you try some of mine when it arrives.”

  “Do we have a big group tomorrow Natalie?” Alex asked.

  “Twenty two,” she looked at the empties on the table “I don’t mean to be a killjoy but you’d better not get too drunk.”

  George was the only one of the group sitting quietly staring into his glass. Natalie guessed at what was wrong with him but asked anyway.

  “Have you heard from your wife George?”

  He turned a dark eye to her.

  “Yes.”

  The others were trying not to smirk. George and his wife Rosa’s fights were legendary. They lived on the neighbouring island of Kefalonia and George hadn’t been home for two weeks.

  “She’s accusing me of cheating on her. Of having affairs which is keeping me away from home. I tell her that I’m always working hard to provide for her and the little one. She says if it wasn’t for little Costas she would kill herself for the misery I cause her. Then the line went dead. So I ring back and she no answer. So I ring and ring and ring and when she answers she crying, so I tell her I love her which is why I’m never home and she doesn’t believe me.”

  “George take tomorrow off. Take a few days. Take the speedboat tomorrow and spend some time at home.”

  “I can’t afford to take time off. I can’t afford to lose the money.”

  “I’ll pay you. Don’t worry, no one will have a problem with it,” she said looking at each individual in turn. No one raised an objection. George had tears in his eyes.

  “We have a big group tomorrow. It’s not fair on the others.”

  “We’ll manage,” Natalie said knowing they would be stretched without a third diver. The others would understand. George was looking at his colleagues.

  “I can’t Natalie. It wouldn’t be right.”

  “George look at me,” she held his gaze “I’m your boss and that is an order. I’m telling you to take time off. You’re no good to anyone in this state, especially yourself. Get some rest, you’re tired and I won’t have you diving while you’re like this. Do you understand?”

  George smiled at her.

  “Yes Natalie thank you. I’ll do as you say.”

  She looked at the others for reassurance. None of them dared to object.

  “Now,” she said “When the food arrives would anyone like a drink? The next round is on me.”

  Natalie waved once more from the top of the steps as Alex and Tom sped away in their open top Jeep. Once inside her door she kicked her shoes off and got herself a glass of water from the kitchen and went into the lounge. She threw herself down onto the sofa and picked up the T.V. remote and pushed the power button. The television came on and she pushed the correct number for satellite. She flicked through half a dozen channels or so and not finding anything of interest she turned it all off again. Glancing at the clock she saw it was just after 1a.m. Tired, she got up, emptied her glass in one gulp and refilled it to take it to bed. On her way past the telephone answering machine she saw the red light flashing. Glancing down at the little digital screen she saw a two. Two new messages. Despite her tiredness she pushed the play button. First came the bleep, then in an excited voice.

  “Hi Natalie it’s Jim Hutchinson. If you’re there can you please pick up. Something very exciting has occurred. You’re not going to want to miss this. Call me as soon as you hear this. Bye.”

  “End of message,” the machine said “Next new message.”

  “Natalie it’s Jim again. Did you get my previous message? Can you please call me. I’ll be in my office until at least ten tonight. If not can you please call me at home. Don’t worry about what time you get this. Please call it’s urgent. I’ve tried your mobile.”

  “End of messages. To delete all messages, press delete.”

  She played them through again. There was an urgency in his voice she’d never heard before.

  Jim Hutchinson, was an American by birth but had lived in England most of his life. He was the head of the small research company that employed Natalie and her crew, the Oceanic Archaeology Institute, otherwise known as OAI. He was fifty eight, tall with a neatly trimmed beard, typical university lecturer in his corduroy suits with elbow patches.

  She took her Nokia out of her bag. Three missed calls. She hadn’t heard the mobile ringing in her bag on the floor in the bar. She brought up the number for the Institute, then remembering the time, she found Jim’s home number and yawning pressed the green button. After six rings a sleepy female voice answered.

  “Hello.”

  ‘Jim’s wife,’ Natalie thought ‘I bet I’ve woken her.’

  “Hello Carol It’s Natalie Feltham.”

  “Oh hi Natalie.”

  “Carol I’m sorry it’s late. Did I wake you?”

  “Yes you did. What time is it?”

  “It’s a quarter past one. I’m sorry but Jim left a message for me to ring as soon as I could and I’ve only just got his message.”

  “He’s not here Natalie. He rang at about ten thirty to say he wasn’t coming home. He was waiting for a call from you. If you ring his office he’s staying there tonight.”

  “OK I’ll ring the Institute. Once again sorry for disturbing you Carol.”

  “That’s all right. Goodbye Natalie.”

  “Bye,” Natalie rang off. She felt bad about having woken Carol, Jim’s long time suffering wife. He, like all Archaeologists she knew, spending more time in the field than with his wife. Natalie selected Jim Hutchinson from her mobile’s phone book and rang. The telephone ringing woke him with a start. He had been asleep on a couch in his office at the headquarters of the OAI in Alexandria, Egypt. He pushed the blanket that was covering him off and sprang up to answer the phone.

  “Hutchinson,“ he called into the mouthpiece.

  “Jim it’s Natalie Feltham.”

  “Excellent. Natalie thank you for ringing. You’re never going to believe what’s happened.”

  Natalie knew of Hutchinson’s enthusiasm for his work. It was, in the institute, legendary.

  “I’m fine thank you Jim, how are you.”

  “What! Oh I’m sorry, how are you? Natalie I’m so excited about this.”

  “Jim it’s nearly half past one in the morning. Can this not wait. What could possibly be so important?”

  Hutchinson paused to compose himself.

  “How about the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great.”

  There was a long silence, it lasted for nearly half a minute.

  “Natalie are you still there?”

  “Yes of course Jim. Just letting it sink in. You’ve actually found it? In Alexandria?”

  “What? Oh no. Not here. It’s not as simple as that. Um listen, are you at home?”

  “Yes,” she replied all tiredness now forgotten as the impact of what she’d just been told finally hit her.

  “Let me ring you back,” he said “You might want to get yourself some coffee. I need one.”

  Natalie got up and quickly went to the loo and on the way back fetched herself a can of Red Bull. Hutchinson on the other hand poured himself some strong black coffee. He then dialled Natalie’s apartment in Tsilivi. He felt an overwhelming excitement fill him as he thought about what he was going to tell her.

  “Hi Jim.”

  “Now the tomb or rather his sarcophagus was apparently discovered by a German team of archaeologists during World War II in Tunisia.”

  “Why haven’t we heard of this before?”

  “They were all killed in the battle for Gabes. The sarcophagus was loaded onto a freighter and, well, appare
ntly the Captain of the freighter panicked and left with hardly anyone on board. The freighter didn’t get very far before it was sunk in an air raid.”

  “So how has this story come about. I don’t understand why this is the first anyone has heard of it.”

  “Because only two survivors knew about it, a German Colonel and an English engineer. The story has been revealed by the Englishman who has recently died. His grandson is a reporter for the British magazine ’The Country’, Peter Dennis. Have you heard of him?”

  Natalie hadn’t.

  “He’s also a writer, books, history mainly and he has this magazine column. I‘ve e-mailed him many times but never received a reply.”

  Natalie’s head was buzzing.

  “So what does that have to do with us?”

  “The search for Alexander is the dream of every Archaeologist Natalie. Even Carter dreamed of finding him after Tutankhamun. I’m putting up the money for the expedition and I want you to head it.”

  Her heart almost skipped a beat.

  “Jim are you serious?”

  “You should know me. I never joke about my work. I am deadly serious. I know it’s short notice but I need you and your team in Tunis on the next available flight. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Jim I’m….I’m tired. I need some time to think. And plus there are the excursions. We’re fully booked for the next two weeks.”

  “We’ll have to refund Natalie. This is an opportunity in life we cannot miss. Just imagine it! The sarcophagus of Alexander the Great! Restored to its rightful place in the first city he ever founded and you Natalie….You can do it!”

  They talked for over an hour and by the end of it all she was hooked.

  “I’ll ring you as soon as I reach Tunis and get us a hotel organised. I’ll give you the details of the operation then.”

  “Very well Jim. I’ll see you in Tunisia.”

  “A.S.A.P. Natalie. This will make you and your people famous.”

  “That’s the one thing I’ve always managed to avoid. Is there anything else for now?”

  “Yes. Don’t tell your team, just that it’s important but no details OK. That’s all for now,” Hutchinson went to put the receiver down then brought it back to his ear.

  “Nat are you still there?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m counting on you.”

  “That’s precisely what I feared.”

  The line went dead. She picked her mobile up, selected G from the phonebook and pressed green. She didn’t want to do this but had no choice. A sleepy voice at the other end answered.

  “George it’s me, listen, I’m really sorry to have to do this to you but something just came up.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

  Eighteen hours later and a very tired group from the OAI cleared customs at Carthage airport, Tunis, Tunisia. After baggage reclaim they’d proceeded to the passport control where the customs and police had held Natalie up just long enough to ogle her. Once outside they were met by Jim Hutchinson. He embraced Natalie and kissed her on the cheek, shook hands with the others then insisted he wheel Natalie’s suitcase to the waiting mini-bus, leaving her with just her hand luggage. The mini-bus driver, Yusuf, flicked his cigarette butt away and opened the back doors and began loading their suitcases as the six of them climbed in and did up their seatbelts. Hutchinson took the front seat. He turned back to face them, draping his arm over the seatback.

  “How was the flight?”

  “Awful. We had to fly to London to get to here,” Natalie replied as always the spokeswoman for the group.

  “Well done for getting here at such short notice. I know you’re all very tired. Our hotel is fifteen minutes away. Dinner is for nine o’clock and is on me, that’ll give you all time to refresh yourselves. Have you managed to get much sleep?”

  No was the general consensus.

  “We slept a little in the airport and on the plane. It wasn’t very comfortable.”

  “You’ll get a couple of hours each now, before we eat and then tomorrow we leave at eight for Gabes.”

  Hutchinson turned round as the mini-bus braked and stopped at a set of traffic lights. A policeman was in the road directing traffic and he blew his whistle every few seconds. The van in front disappeared in a cloud of black smoke and Yusuf nosed forward into the evening traffic. It was hot in the mini-bus so Hutchinson got the driver to put the air conditioning on. Yusuf turned off a roundabout and began doubling back the way they’d come. Hutchinson pointed ahead.

  “That’s our hotel for the night.”

  They could all see the huge building ahead.

  ‘Hotel Mediterranean’ spelled out in large red letters along the roof and down the side. Yusuf pulled up at the grand entrance. A bell boy instantly there with a luggage trolley, tough looking men in suits patrolled with walkie talkies.

  Hutchinson bounded up the steps, his employees following at a more leisurely pace. When they gathered at check in he was already dealing with their reservation. The receptionist flashed them all a smile as Hutchinson began filling out the check in form. The receptionist smiled again at Natalie and felt himself blush as she smiled back. Flustered he turned and began taking keys from hooks and placed them on the counter.

  “Grab yourselves a key each,” Hutchinson said passing them forward, “I’ll have your luggage sent up to your rooms in a minute, you should all be on the same floor, floor 3, if you can quickly check your room numbers, Good? Yes! Excellent.”

  He signed the check in form and handed it back to the receptionist. The bell boy stood by patiently as each piece of luggage was rearranged in room order.

  “Thank you,” Hutchinson said to him “Now if you are all ready shall we proceed,” he said leading them to the elevator.

  Natalie’s room was the last one on the third floor. Hutchinson accompanied her, opening the door for her. The coolness from the air conditioning rushed out at them and they felt it on their faces. Hutchinson entered the room. It was clean and tidy. He went over to the windows. The curtains were partly closed and he yanked them apart, opened the windows and peered down at the noisy traffic. The sound of car horns rising up from the street below. He closed the windows and peered into the bathroom. Everything was perfect. Natalie kicked her shoes off and put her handbag on the bed. Her shoulders were stiff and she moved her head from side to side to ease the muscles. It helped a little. Hutchinson came out of the bathroom. The front door was still open.

  “Natalie close the door.”

  She did as she was told trusting him fully.

  “Let’s sit,” he said sitting on the edge of the bed and patting the place next to him. She sat next to him, flexing her toes.

  “I won’t keep you. I know you’ve had a long journey.”

  “I’m just so tired.”

  “I know,” he said patting her arm “I really do appreciate what you’ve done. What have you told the others?”

  “Exactly what you asked me to say.”

  “So none of them knows the truth.”

  “No. I told them that you’d telephoned and told me that you had an assignment for us and that I couldn’t disclose what because you wanted to tell them in person.”

  “None of them were suspicious? They didn’t push you?”

  “No. I told them to trust me on this. I told them that none of them would want to miss this for the world. Exactly as you said.”

  “Thank you Natalie thank you,” he got up and patted her arm again “I’ll see you downstairs for nine. The main dining room is through the double doors to the left of reception. See you later,” he said as he closed the door behind himself.

  Natalie threw herself back on the bed and was almost instantly asleep. She woke an hour later, showered, got changed and went downstairs. A chaperone greeted her at the door enquiring if she wanted a table for one.

  “No I’m with Mr Hutchinson.”

  “One moment please,” he said checking his reservation list “Ah yes Mr Hutchinson’s p
arty. Follow me please.”

  Natalie glanced at other diners as they weaved their way through the tables. The food looked exquisite. She was oblivious to the admiring looks she was getting from various businessmen as they passed. Jim Hutchinson stood as they approached. The others slowly rose as Natalie was helped to her seat.

  “Where’s George?” she enquired.

  “His wife rang his mobile and he stepped out to speak,” Hutchinson replied.

  “You’ll never guess what Nat….” Tom said.

  She shook her head, glancing at the others.

  “What?”

  “George only had to pass the phone to Jim so George’s wife could speak to him. Only once she heard his voice did she believe it was true.”

  “Now that’s enough!” Hutchinson said.

  “I was just saying boss,” the smile disappeared from Tom’s face.

  “I’m sure George has his problems just like everyone else.”

  “Too many affairs probably,” Alex cut in.

  “That’s enough! George is a key member of this team. What he does in his social life is up to him and it’s his business. It hasn’t interfered with his work and let me assure you if it does I’ll be the first to say something. Now who would care for wine? Ladies first, red or white Natalie?”

  “White thank you.”

  Hutchinson waited until their main courses had arrived before he got their attention by tapping on an empty glass with a knife.

  “Lady and gentlemen,” he began once again “Thank you all for joining me here at such short notice. I know you’re all very tired. George I understand you’ve cancelled some leave, you’ll get that back again as soon as is possible. I hope your wife understands….”

  George nodded.

  “I’d especially like to thank Natalie who knows precisely why you’re here but under my wishes has revealed nothing to any of you.”

  He looked at each of them. Their faces were expectant.

  “We now know where the final resting place of Alexander the Great is.”

  There was a stunned silence.

  “James are you sure?” Alex was the first to speak. He often referred to Hutchinson as James.