Authors: Kathryn Le Veque
“Exactly.”
By this time,
Morgan had stopped hugging Fox and was now sitting on his lap with his big arms
wrapped around her.
“I can’t believe
it,” she murmured, kissing Fox’s cheek. “You and Allahaba are the smartest men
alive. The way you read the clues make so much sense; it just has to be true.”
Fox looked at
her, studying her magnificent face, feeling happier and more content than he
ever had in his life. So much of his life had come together and now, a
potential of something that would make Howard Carter’s discovery pale by
comparison. He struggled to think calmly about it and not jump in a car that
very moment to rush off to the Arabian Desert.
“We’re going to
check it out, that’s for sure,” he told her. “I think our next step is to
return to the hotel and make arrangements to travel to Mt. Nuqrus to see what
we can see.”
Allahaba entered
the conversation. “I have a cousin who runs tours out of Thebes,” he said. “He
can take us to the mountain.”
Fox looked him.
“I’d like to check out Manjam Hamsh also. I’ve an itch to do some excavating.”
Allahaba
grinned. “It has been a long time since I have worked with Dr. Fox in the
field,” he said. “This is an exciting prospect.”
Fox wriggled his
eyebrows. “Exciting but secretive,” he told him. “What we discuss can’t go
beyond the three of us for obvious reasons. Too much is at stake.”
Allahaba nodded
vigorously. “Absolutely,” he agreed. “I will not even tell my wife. But we are
going to need supplies and a plan.”
Fox nodded.
“Let’s make them now so Morgan and I can return to the hotel and prepare. I
think we’ve got a big trip ahead of us.”
Allahaba’s brown
eyes glittered, suddenly serious, suddenly intense. “You have a trip of a
lifetime ahead of you.”
Morgan looked at
Fox and they grinned; neither one of them could disagree. This is what they had
come for, what had brought them together in the first place. But it was more
than that; now, it was writing the final chapters of the story.
“For Fanny,”
Morgan said softly.
Allahaba nodded
his head faintly, with understanding. “For Fanny.”
November 12,
1923
We
saw the most wonderful and magical statues today. Some call then the statues
of Memnon but some call them Tammy and Shammy. They are two enormous statues
of a man seated, though you cannot make out his face. They are very ancient.
Mr. Sula says they are images of a god but Mr. Sula likes to tease me. I am
not sure if they are statues of a god, but they are quite fascinating!
~FS
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Love, come and
take a look at this,” Fox called.
It was dusk on
their second day in Egypt. After a busy day making plans with Allahaba, Fox and
Morgan had retreated back to the hotel to make preparations. Part of those
preparations involved Fox mapping out their destinations to down to the last
inch. He was at the desk in their bedroom with the computer on while Morgan was
in the bathroom getting ready for dinner. But she was just out of the shower,
putting lotion on her legs and not inclined to go running out into the bedroom
at the moment.
‘What is it?”
she called. “Can it wait a moment? I’m almost done.”
“Sure.”
Fox’s eyes were
glued to the computer screen, the LCD display reflecting off his glasses. He
was on the satellite earth mapping program again, now fixated on the Manjam
Hamsh wilderness. With the detailed satellite images, he was getting a feel
for the lay of the land. It took him back to his days at Edfu, the desolation
of the desert yet the undeniable primordial beauty of it. He was very much
looking forward to it.
“God, I love
modern technology,” he snorted as he jotted down some notes and printed off a
page on the inkjet printer they had purchased on their way back to the hotel.
“These satellite images are amazing.”
“What did you
say?” Morgan called from the bathroom.
He grinned.
“Nothing,” he told her. “I’m just talking to myself.”
As he continued
to jot notes, she suddenly came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around
her body.
“You know what
they say about people who talk to themselves,” she warned him.
He snorted as he
wrote. “Want to see something cool?”
She was digging
in her suitcase but stopped and went over to him, leaning against one massive
shoulder and peering at the computer screen.
“What?” she
asked.
He took the
eraser end of the pencil and pointed to the screen. “See this?”
“Yes.”
“It’s the Manjam
Hamsh wilderness,” he told her. “See what looks like a crazy road right over
here?”
“Yep.”
“That’s a fossil
river,” he told her. “If you track it, you can see that it ran all the way back
to the Nile at one time.”
She stared at
the screen. “What does that mean?”
He puffed out
his cheeks as he thought on her question. “It means that thousands of years
ago, there was a subsidiary of the Nile that ran in this direction,” he told
her. “It runs right through the Manjam Hamsh area.”
Morgan knew that
was significant. “A big enough river to support an ancient city?”
“More than
enough.”
“Why didn’t anyone see this
before?”
“Because no one knew what to look
for; there are hundreds of fossil rivers all over Egypt. Only this one, because
of the clues from the papyrus, is just a little more significant.”
He turned to
look at her, catching her dimpled smile before she kissed the end of his nose
and went back to getting dressed. Fox watched her a moment before turning back
to his maps and notes.
Morgan pulled
out a lightweight black dress with a silver chain belt from the suitcase,
laying it on the bed. It was stylish and clingy. But as she pulled out
undergarments and shoes, her mind began to move from the Manjam Hamsh
wilderness to other things.
“I’ve been
thinking,” she said.
He was focused
on his printed map. “What about?”
She looked down
at the finger with the beautiful ring on it. “Well,” she began. “Now that
you’ve officially proposed, it looks like we have some logistics to work out.
Like, where we’re going to live, for instance.”
He didn’t miss a
beat. “I already told you,” he said. “I’ll move to Los Angeles and get a job
there.”
She shook her
head. “And I told you that it’s silly for you to do that,” she countered. “Your
job at the Bolton is much more important and prestigious than mine is with the
Pasadena Police. I’ll quit my job and we’ll live in England.”
He stopped
looking at his maps and pulled off his glasses. He turned to her, the black
eyes glittering. “Are you sure about that?” he asked. “It will be a major
change for you and I don’t want you resenting me at some point for taking you
away from your family and friends.”
“The same can be
said for you.”
“I know myself
well enough to know I’d never resent you. It’s my choice and I’ve made it.”
“Well,
un
-make
it because I think we should live in England,” she said, sitting on the bed and
facing him. “I’ll do some research into police departments in the Manchester
area and see if any are hiring. Anyway, I think it makes more sense for me to
move to England than for you to move to Los Angeles. You even said yourself
that at this point in your life, your career is very important to you.”
He nodded. “It
is,” he replied softly. “But you’re more important even than that.”
She smiled
faintly, the dimples deep. “I’ve been thinking something else,” she ventured.
“Do you own your home or do you lease?”
“I own it,” he
replied.
“Would you have
a problem selling it or at least leasing it out?”
He shook his
head. “No,” he cocked his head. “Why?”
She flipped over
so that she was stretched out on her belly, chin resting on her hands. The
clear brown eyes glimmered with ideas.
“Because,” she
began. “I’ve been thinking that maybe we should live at Heaven’s Gate. But I
have a plan; I’ve been thinking that we could use the house as a Bed and
Breakfast and also open it up to tours and weddings; you know, like an event
venue. Many stately homes and castles all over the world rent out their grounds
or have tours to help with the upkeep. Heaven’s Gate is such a unique property
and with all of those artifacts my great-grandparents collected, it would be a
really cool place to tour. All I’m saying is that maybe we should open up the
house and make it pay for itself.”
He pondered that
a moment, a light of warmth coming to his eyes. “I’d love to live at Heaven’s
Gate,” he said. “But Fanny is alive and the place belongs to her. Maybe she has
other ideas.”
Morgan cocked an
eyebrow. “The place doesn’t belong to her because she and my great-grandfather
divorced,” she shrugged. “Even if that weren’t the case, she’s one hundred and
five years old. I doubt she cares about it. Her life has been in Egypt for the
past ninety years. England’s just a memory; you heard what she said. She knows
she’s never going home again so I would think that as long as Heaven’s Gate
thrives, she should be in full support.”
He thought about
it, shrugged, and then nodded. “True,” he replied. “But back to the bed and
breakfast idea, I’ll live anywhere you want, to be truthful. If you wanted to
live in a cardboard box in an alley, I’d live there with you. It really doesn’t
matter where, so long as you’re there.”
She smiled.
“You’re so sweet,” she murmured. “But do you think it’s a good idea?”
He nodded. “I
think it’s a brilliant idea.”
“You wouldn’t
have a problem opening our home to tours and strangers?”
He shook his
head. “No,” he assured her. “In fact, I’ll even give the tours.”
She laughed in
delight. “That’s great,” she exclaimed softly, sitting up again and returning
to her clothes. “My tall, gorgeous husband giving tours. Well, at least I know
we’d draw every woman in Britain to the place at some point.”
He laughed
softly. “And that’s another thing.”
“What is?”
His humor
sobered. “You mentioned your husband,” he said, his voice softening to a warm
rumble. He stood up and moved towards her. “I’d like to set a date before we
leave Egypt. I don’t want to return home with an open-ended agreement. I just
don’t think I could take it.”
She watched him
approach, caving in to the enormous arms that embraced her. He was warm,
powerful and comforting, and Morgan knew she felt the very same way as he did.
She couldn’t take an open-ended arrangement, either. She never wanted to be
without the man, not even for a day, ever again. The more time she spent with
him, the more attached she became. She held him close, running her fingers up
the back of his dark head.
“Then why not
get married before we return?” she suggested.
His eyes widened
and he suddenly held her out at arm’s length, looking her in the eye. “Are you
serious?”
“Of course,” she
replied. “I don’t need a big wedding. I just need you. Why can’t we just get
married here? I’m sure the hotel is set up for weddings.”
“Seriously? Get
married at the hotel?”
“Yes. Tomorrow
before we leave for Upper Egypt.”
He just stared
at her as if trying to determine just how serious she was. Then, the black
eyes began to dance with excitement.
“That’s the best
idea I’ve ever heard,” he told her with genuine sincerity. “But are you sure
your parents won’t mind? I’m going to have to do some serious explaining to my
mum so she doesn’t get offended. The woman had five boys and you’ll be her
first daughter. She’s dying to meet you.”
“I’m dying to
meet her, too,” she replied, then shrugged. “If you think it’s a problem, we
can set a proper date so everyone can attend.”
“No, no,” he
said quickly. “We can get married tomorrow and then maybe have another ceremony
when we get home so the families can attend. That way, everyone will be happy.
Especially me.”
As Morgan gazed
up at him, it suddenly dawned on her that he was agreeing with her. They were
getting married right away. She started to giggle and he joined in her
laughter, picking her up and swinging her around joyfully until she squealed to
be put down. Even then, he stopped spinning but continued to hold her, kissing
her sweetly.
“I’m going to
get married tomorrow,” he whispered against her mouth.
Morgan continued
to giggle with him, so incredibly happy. She never knew she could be so happy.
“Me, too,” she murmured. “I need to contact the hotel’s event coordinator. We
should probably let them in on this, too, since we want to use their hotel.”