The Most Loved of All

Chapter 3-2

There was a great deal of excitement when a tomb was discovered, but that excitement fizzled when they realised it was too small to be that of the king they were searching for. Still…it appeared to belong to a royal of the eighteenth dynasty, and it hadn’t been looted.

I was drawn to the tomb, and I couldn’t understand why Charlie wasn’t fascinated as well. That was, until the passage into the burial chamber was cleared, and I entered it.

The stone sarcophagus in the centre of the chamber was plain, although once Cramdon and I opened it, we could see the coffin within was gold and inlaid with jewels—sapphires, rubies, and emeralds—and when the lid was removed, a fine silver chain was seen to rest on the linen-wrapped mummy within it. Surprisingly, the chain gleamed in the torch light. It wasn’t even tarnished.

Edward Cramdon and I were alone in the tomb—I wasn’t pleased when he followed after me, but he was the expert, and I had no say in the matter. Having the width of the tomb separating us was my idea, and if he’d taken a single step toward me, I’d have struck him again. He had tried to interest me early on in whiling away the hot afternoon hours in his bed—since Charlie and I weren’t sharing a tent, he was under the erroneous belief I was unattached. When he refused to take my polite refusal seriously, persisting in trying to touch or kiss me, I knocked him on his arse. He kept his distance after that, but I was still wary of him.

“Interesting,” he murmured now, regarding the chain, and he reached out to pick it up. The delicate links caught on the linen, and it was as if it tried to cling to the body it had once belonged to. He gave an impatient tug, and the linen tore. I’d have thought it was most likely due to its age, but he frowned and said, “The wrapping of every mummy I’ve come across has disintegrated or rotted to rags eons ago. This, though…” He shook his head, dropped the belt—somehow I knew it was worn low around the hips—and walked back to the entry to the burial chamber. He scowled at the hieroglyphs etched into the stone above it. “Teremun? I’ve never heard of him. Probably some merchant or craftsman or minor nobility.”

“With such an adorned coffin?”

“Anyone with a handful of jewels could consider himself a prince,” he scoffed. “Although…” He became pensive.

“Although what?”

“That image on the rear wall. It’s Anubis, god of the dead.”

“I thought you said Osiris was god of the dead.”

Cramdon would often insist on spending the evenings “entertaining” us with tales of the Egyptian gods. I’d have preferred to spend the time in bed with Charlie, but that wasn’t an option.

Cramdon waved aside my observation. “After Osiris became god of the dead, Anubis was relegated to the task of ferrying souls to the afterlife, as well as overseeing the mummification process.”

I walked up to the wall and studied the image, powerfully muscled, with a jackal’s head. I could swear the god’s golden eyes gazed down on me, and I backed away hastily, reluctant to turn my back on the god.

Only when the length of the chamber was between us did I turn to see what Cramdon, who had fallen silent, was doing.

He had withdrawn a knife and was trying to pry off a sapphire the size of my fist from the sarcophagus. The tip of his knife broke, and he swore, then snatched up the silver belt.

“Is that a good idea?”

Cramdon gave an affronted huff. “I’m not going to keep this. I plan to show it to Mr Carter.”

“That wasn’t what I…”

He strode through the doorway, and I followed him out of the tomb, shaking my head.

“Roddy.” Charlie called to me, and I paused.

Cramdon curled a lip at my love, then strode past, hurrying on to the tent where Mr Carter and Lord Carnarvon had their field office.

I used the ends of the bandanna I’d tied around my throat to mop at the sweat that rolled down past my cheekbones. I started to tell Charlie what Cramdon and I had found in the tomb we’d just left. Cramdon wasn’t the only one who dismissed the importance of that particular tomb. For obvious reasons, neither Mr Carter nor Lord Carnarvon had seemed interested in excavating and exploring it rather than continuing the search for the Boy King’s final resting place.

Even the few men remaining seemed reluctant to enter the tomb, but while something about it intrigued me, I hadn’t had the opportunity to take Charlie aside and talk with him about it.

“What is it, Charlie?”

“I want you to go back to Cairo,” he said abruptly.

“What? No!”

“You’re looking very tired. I think you need a break from this place.” He cut off my automatic protest. “Howard and I have been discussing this with Lord Carnarvon, and we desperately need men to replace the ones who’ve run away. You’ve always been a good judge of character and would be perfect to select the men. Will you do this for me?”

“But it’s so far.” It had taken Charlie and me about three weeks on horseback to reach the Valley of the Kings, where camp had already been set up.

“It will take you a couple of months.” He saw how appalled I looked and patted my shoulder. “Three weeks there, two to find the men we’ll need, and three weeks back.”

“Will you come with me, Charlie? Our anniversary is in a few weeks.” We’d lost track of time as we boated down the Ruzizi, and I’d selected October 31 at random as the date we’d married each other. “We could have some time alone together. Please come with me.” I couldn’t help how desperate I sounded. He seemed to be drifting further and further from me. I’d expected him to share my tent, but instead he’d refused to come to my bed, even for a cuddle. And he coughed more and more.

“No, I can’t come this time, little Rev. Howard needs me here.” He lowered his voice. “But I promise you a second honeymoon as soon as this dig is finished.”

I was uneasy at the thought of leaving him behind, but God help me, I jumped at the opportunity to get away from that place.

So the plan was put into effect. I would have a guide, and we would each take two horses and a donkey when we left for Cairo the next morning.

But there was still that night to be gotten through…