Missing in Egypt

by Rita Lee Chapman

  I could see a man waiting under the overhang of a rock. The sun was already beating down on us and I knew Yasmeen must be as thirsty as I was. Nothing really mattered though except the thought that we would soon be free. “That’s my father” Yasmeen whispered to me.

  Yasmeen’s father was not at all like her in appearance. He was short and tubby but when he saw his little girl his eyes lit up and I could see the resemblance in his broad smile. “My darling daughter” he said “I hope they haven’t hurt you”. “Never mind about all that” said Rashidi “Give me the collar and the dagger. Yasmeen’s father produced them from inside his jacket and they glittered in the sunlight. Rashidi turned them over and over in his hands, examining them. “They are truly remarkable” he said “and now it is time for you to show us where the tomb is that contains all these treasures.” From beneath their robes both Rashidi and Mosi produced guns and waved them at us, signalling for Yasmeen’s father to lead us to the tomb. He nodded to me briefly in acknowledgement as we turned back into the hills the way we had come. “It is hard for me to find this” Yasmeen’s father was explaining to Rashidi. “I have not been here since I was a boy. My father brought me just before he died. The man who showed my father the tomb died suddenly and not long after my father brought me here he also died suddenly. It is believed there is a curse on most of these tombs and that is what I also believe. That is why I have not come back here. I have only those two items you have heard about, which my father took out and which came to me on his death. In fact I had all but forgotten about the tomb. These antiquities have been in my shop for years. People comment on them and I say they are not for sale, they are just part of the shop”. “That’s enough talk old man” said Mosi “just keep walking until you find this tomb”.

  We walked to a ravine by a huge boulder, which looked for all the world like it was about to topple and roll down the valley. “We are close now” said Yasmeen’s father. We walked between the sides of the sharp ravine and beyond it the ground opened up again. “Oh” said Yasmeen’s father, sucking in his breath “oh dear, what has happened here.” Before us was a pile of rocks and shale in a huge mound. “It was not like this” he explained “we covered the entrance to the tomb with rocks and stones so that it was hidden, but it was not buried under all these rocks. Some heavy rains over the years must have caused a landslip. The tomb’s entrance was way below ground level.”

  Rashidi cursed and Mosi said “Great, what do we do now?” Rashidi kicked at the rubble and cursed some more. “After all this” he said “we are no closer. What is

  Mohammed going to say?”

  At least we had the name of the top man. Not that it would help us much as every second person in Egypt seemed to be called Mohammed. We didn’t know any of their surnames and I was sure they would soon disappear once they had cleared out the treasures of the tomb. But it was nice to have confirmation of our thought that Rashidi and Mosi were not smart enough to be acting alone.

  “This Mohammed” I asked. “Where is he? We have brought you to the tomb, now you should let us go”. “Let you go?” said Rashidi. ‘How do we know there is any tomb here? The old man could have brought us on a wild goosechase for all we know. Now you will have to dig.”

  “Dig?” I repeated incredulously. “Dig that huge pile of rocks? We have an old man, a woman and me. We don’t even have any tools. How do you propose we are going to dig through that?” “We will get tools” Rashidi answered “and you will all dig. You are not going anywhere until we see the treasures in the tomb. Now we know where the tomb is supposed to be we can drive to the road behind the hills and carry the tools across. Mosi, you stay here with them and I will go and arrange everything”. “You’d better bring some water and plenty of food. We are weak from not eating” I retorted.

  We sat in the narrow ravine to avoid the direct blast of the sun. Mosi positioned himself between us and the Valley of the Queens, his gun ready at his side. I introduced myself to Yasmeen’s father. “Please call me Masud” he said. “I am pleased to meet you – my daughter told me all about you over the phone before we went away”. At this Yasmeen kissed her father’s cheek. “I am so sorry papa” she wept. “Don’t be Yasmeen” he replied. “It is me who is sorry that you are in this awful mess.” “I never even knew about the tomb” she continued. “No, my daughter. Not even your brothers know about this. I decided to let the secret die with me. It has already cost two lives. I am sure my father died when he removed just two pieces of treasure because of a curse put on the tomb. That is why I have never sold them. I hoped the curse would die with him”.

  “But you could have been rich if you had sold the treasures – even if you had turned it over to the authorities you would have received a very handsome share”. “I know” he replied. “In some ways I suppose I was silly. But I made a promise to my father to keep it secret. I have enough money for what we want, I do not need any more. It is so sad that all the tombs are raided, even though many of the treasures go to museums. Surely we should leave some for future generations to discover, or even to lay in peace as it was intended?”

  “Are you sure this is where the tomb is?” Yasmeen whispered, so that Mosi couldn’t hear what she was saying. “Yes” he replied, also in a whisper “I thought about taking them to the wrong place but your life to me is worth more than any treasure. Although I was very young when my father brought me here he showed me how to line it up with the Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb to bring me to this ravine and then it was sixty paces from the end of it. I hadn’t thought about it being covered over though.”

  “Stop the whispering – or you” Mosi bellowed pointing at Yasmeen “will be very sorry.”

  “So how did your father find the tomb?” Yasmeen asked after a few minutes. “Did he discover it with the other man?” “Oh no,” Masud replied “the other man, my father’s great friend Edjo, told my father he knew of it only as a rumour which had circulated in his family from the times of the burials of the Queens in the Valley. He believed one of his ancestors may have worked on the tomb. Many had gone looking for it but without success. Edjo also had searched for it in vain. Then one day he stumbled across the ravine and he said as he came through it the sun shone on a very bright stone in a hole in the ground. Curious he went over to look at it and found that the ground around it was falling away. He marked the spot and came back the next day with a shovel and a pick. He camped here for a couple of days and it wasn’t long before he found an opening to a tunnel. Some of the ground must have been washed away, much as it has now been heaped back on top of it. It doesn’t rain here very often, but when it does it roars down. He told of a long tunnel going down deep into the ground. It opened into a big chamber which was filled with treasures he had only dreamt about. Off this big chamber there were two smaller chambers. One held the sarcophagus and the other more treasures to help her on her journey to the next world. He said the pictures covering the walls were still very vivid and beautiful to behold. He marvelled at the gold carriage, ready but not assembled. There was everything the Princess could need for her journey to the after-life – jewellery, gold combs and hair adornments, urns and pitchers full of food, wine and water, knives, forks, dishes – the chambers were bursting with beautiful objects.

  Not wanting to draw attention to his find by taking anything too large, Edjo had simply taken the jewelled dagger, which he slipped inside his robes. He covered the entrance to the tunnel before returning to his village to consider what to do next. He told my father and took him there to see it. This time they took away the golden collar. The next day Edjo took ill. On his deathbed he told my father he believed he

  had been cursed for disturbing the tomb. “Take the dagger and the collar” he begged my father “and promise me you will keep the secret”.

  A few months later my father took me to see the tomb. He said someone else should know about it. He told me to remember the location of the ravine. Then we paced out the distance from the end of the ravine to the ope
ning of the tomb. He told me never to forget it – to keep it as my inheritance.

  My father died the next week – hit by a truck crossing the road in Cairo. You can say this was just an unfortunate accident but I took it as a sign and I never returned to the tomb, nor did I mention its existence to anyone, except once to my wife Waleed. We agreed never to talk of it again, nor to tell our boys”. “Then how did these two clowns find out about it then?” I asked him. “I don’t know” Masud replied. “But there was a man in my shop a couple of months ago who showed a great interest in the collar. He asked me if I had anything similar and I showed him the dagger. He wanted to buy them and became quite agitated when I said they were not for sale. He eventually went away and I didn’t think anything more of it.”

  “What did he look like?” I asked. “He was a big man” Masud replied. “He seemed to fill the doorway. He was very Egyptian looking – dark eyes, dark hair, not very good looking. I’m sure I’d recognise him again”. “If he’s anything like the others, you won’t get a look at his face. They have been very careful to keep themselves covered all the time” I pointed out. At this point Mosi told us to get up. “We are going to meet the truck now so you can bring back the tools you will need. Start walking”.

  It took us about 20 mins to get to the track which served as a road in these parts. Not long after we saw the cloud of dust as Rashidi returned. He had brought cold meat, bread and more water. Yasmeen and I fell on the food and the others ate their share. Then we were ordered to pick up the shovels and picks and head back to the tomb site. “Now” commanded Mosi “start digging”.

  It was very hot and hard work. Masud soon worked up a sweat and I wondered how long he would be able to continue. Yasmeen was struggling but went at the task with her usual vigour. I was the only one able to move the bigger rocks and after an hour or so it was starting to tell on me. I looked at what we had achieved – very little. “One of you is going to have to give us a hand” I said. “Give the old man a break”.

  Rashidi pointed at Mosi and ordered him to take over Masud’s shovel. Between us we managed to make some impression but it was obvious that it was going to take us several days to remove the mountain of rubble covering the tomb. I just prayed that Masud was accurate with his pinpointing of the entrance! We took it in turns to spell in the shade of the ravine and drink water. At all times Rashidi watched over us with his gun ready should any of us try to escape. I don’t think any of us had the energy to try and run.

  Just before nightfall we were ordered to pick up our tools and walk back to the truck. I gave Yasmeen my arm – she was barely able to walk. Her father stumbled a couple of times and I could see he too was close to collapse. We fell into the truck and were driven about 10 miles down the track. The truck stopped at a cave which looked similar to the one we had been kept in before. We were told to get inside quickly. Once inside we realised this was a proper house set into the hill. It had very little furniture – a couple of mattresses and cushions on the floor and a rough table with a four chairs. Apart from this room, which contained a small kitchen there was a bathroom. “Wash yourself in the other room” Rashidi ordered Yasmeen “and then make yourself useful in the kitchen. You will find some meat and vegetables in the fridge. I knew Yasmeen was almost too tired to stand, let alone cook, but somehow she managed to fix us some food and we sat down to our first proper meal in days. Just as we finished another man arrived. Apparently he was going to be our guard overnight. Masud and I washed the dishes and we all fell asleep almost immediately, physically and mentally exhausted.

  This routine was followed for the next couple of days as we gradually cleared away the rubble. I thought about trying to leave in the middle of the night and go for help, but I couldn’t leave Yasmeen and I knew she wouldn’t leave her father. It seemed a hopeless situation. By the end of the day we were almost too tired to think. But gradually we became quite fit and we were given plenty of food to sustain us. Thank goodness it was not the middle of summer. As it was we rested in the middle of the day, taking shade in the ravine whilst we ate our lunch. In the 40 plus degree heat of summer none of us would have survived. I think our night guard, Gahiji, felt sorry for us because after the first day he was at the house before we arrived and had a meal prepared for us. He had much kinder eyes than the other two and was very small and thin. If I get the chance, he would be the one I would have the best chance of taking, I thought, even though he’s probably very wiry.

  Finally we made the breakthrough we had been hoping for - we found the entrance to the tomb. Mohi and Rashidi were ecstatic. “Come” Rashidi said to Mosi “we will go and tell Mohammed. He will be very pleased and he will want to be here when we uncover the tomb’s entrance”.

  We were bundled back out to the truck and taken back to the house. Soon Gahiji came to guard us whilst Rashidi and Mosi headed off to tell this Mohammed. At last we were going to meet the mastermind behind this plan. Mohammed obviously had the contacts to move the treasures and I couldn’t wait to see if Masud would be able to identify him as the man who had come to his shop. “I will know his voice” Masud whispered to me. “If he speaks, I will know him”.

  It was not long before Rashidi and Mosi were back with Mohammed. He too had his face well covered. He was even taller than Rashidi and as stocky as Mosi. “So” he boomed “we have found the treasures. Let us go and see them”. Masud caught my eye and gave an almost imperceptible nod. So this was the man who had come to his shop!

  We headed back to the tomb and I looked in dismay at the biggest of the rocks blocking the opening. How were we going to move it even with an extra man? Mohammed must have seen my expression. “We will soon move it. In here I have some dynamite” he said, pointing to the bag he was carrying. “Don’t worry – I know how to use it – I will not blow up the tomb”. He laughed aloud at this. Then he carefully set the dynamite and we all stood back in the ravine whilst he lit the fuse. “Perhaps the bang will bring someone to see what is happening” I thought. When it went off though, it was only a small bang and although it echoed around the small valley, ricocheting back off the ravine walls I doubted that anyone would have taken much notice even if they had heard it.

  The dynamite did the job and Mohammed quickly disappeared down into the blackness. We could see the light of his torch going down very steeply and then nothing. I prayed that Rashidi or Mosi would follow him down. Now would be our chance to get away if we only had one of them to deal with. I tried to remember who had the keys to the truck this time. I was pretty sure it was Rashidi. I looked around for a suitable rock to hit our guard with whilst we made good our escape.

  But it was not to be. Rashidi and Mosi stood like statues at the top of the tomb but did not make any effort to enter it. When Mohammed finally returned he was visibly shaken and excited by what he had found. “You have no idea” he said to his partners in crime “what treasures there are down there. It will take us weeks to remove them. I believe it is the tomb of a Princess. She has everything with her that she could possibly want in the afterlife. Go Rashidi – take the torch and go and see for yourself”.

  Rashidi came back equally stunned by what he had seen and then it was Mosi’s turn to descend into the blackness. He was babbling when he came up again. “We are rich” he cried “richer than our wildest dreams. Our families will never have to work again. We will all live like Kings”.

  Mohammed descended once more into the tomb and returned with a dazzling ruby and emerald necklace. “I must have a little souvenir” he said to Rashidi and Mosi. “Next time you two will have a little something but right now we must seal the tomb. There is wood and some nails in the truck, as well as a big lock – take Ramy with you and get them. We will make a gate.”

  When the gate was finally in place and locked we were taken back to the truck and returned to the house. Mohammed, Rashidi and Mosi stood talking outside waiting for Gahiji to come back to guard us. They stood far enough away that it was hard to hear them, but their e
xcited voices turned to angry ones and we knew they were arguing amongst themselves, no doubt as to what their next move would be. When Gahiji arrived they went their separate ways. Yasmeen and I looked at each other. Gahiji spoke very little English so we were able to talk quite freely, although

  usually by the time we had eaten we were too tired to talk. We would fall asleep in each other’s arms, hoping that when we woke up we would find it had all been a terrible dream and our lives would return to normal. Masud spoke first. “It is all as I left it then. No-one has touched it in all these years”.

  “Now that they have what they want, what will become of us?” Yasmeen asked. “They promised to let us go“ I replied quickly. “But I think they will need us for quite a while yet, to bring out the treasures and carry them to the truck. It will be a long slow job and it will depend on where they are going to store them and how quickly they can move them. They may already have buyers for them. You can be sure they are not going to tell the authorities about their discovery – they want it all for themselves.”

  “I don’t understand how they found out about it” Masud said. “I have told no-one about the tomb or its treasures.” “I have been thinking about that” I said slowly. “Edjo must have told someone in his family. I can’t see any other explanation.” “Well, although I was only small when I went into the tomb, I am sure it is still a long way down, with many steps, and it will not be an easy task to empty the tomb”.