Bastets Box Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"May I help you with the luggage?" Leonard asked and gave Penny a hand. She struggled to carry her big valise, not noticing that the seam of a belt slowly disentangled. The sand under their feet burned and the air was stuffy although it was still dark outside.
Not far from them they could hear calls of animals, five camels were waiting right behind Amy's flat. Two of them had a caramel coat, the other three a kind of cappuccino coat.
Sheldon examined their means of transport from all sides.
"Is there any problem?" Amy wondered as she remarked Sheldon's concerned look. He caressed the head of one of the camels and wanted to know its name.
"It's called Afaf, which means purity" she replied, while fetching her and the linguist's baggage. "I think I'm going to ride with this one, if you allow that" excited like a little child Sheldon jumped up and made a turban out of a piece of cloth.
"We don't want to get sunstroke, of course" he installed himself and clutched the straps with both hands.
Amy wanted him to be safe, so she checked his feet position, took a look at the equipment, if it was correctly stowed and handed him a pair of sunglasses.
"You will need them. I'm sure we will get in a sandstorm, which isn't a pleasure."

Penny befriended with Farah and squeaked happily when the camel tried to lick her. "Farah means joy, it fits you perfectly" Amy laughed and connected Penny's with Sheldon's straps. "Who's next? Dr. Hofstadter, would you like Hana or Izzah as your companion?"
"Hana! We need a lot of Hana to solve this mystery" both giggled.
"I will build the head of our group, which means you two have to share a camel. Are you alright or do you want us to rearrange the seating?" Amy asked. Howard turned to Raj. Both felt a bit unwell by the thought to sit on the same camel for a couple of hours, but they didn't dare to contradict.
"We can handle that" Howard said, while running his fingers through his hair. He didn't want to upset Amy once more, like they did yesterday evening. He had been so stupid by wanting to proof her intellect. What a fool he had been.
Raj built a leg-up so that Howard could sit on Izzah.

Before the six guys left, Amy's mother called her daughter back. She handed her over a longish object, wrapped in a fretted rag, tied up with two leather strings. "Mother, I hope you don't mean that seriously" the young woman spoke under breath. "You never know, my dear. Take care and use it with help of your understanding and with skill. Father has been a good teacher to you, do not disappoint him by risking their lives" Amy bowed and accepted the item, hiding it under her cape. Afterwards she gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and mounted Shukriyah.
"The sun will show you the way" the elderly lady shouted but the explorers were already out of earshot.

They had almost left the city when Sheldon made them stop. "Oh no, what's wrong Sheldon? Did you forget something?" Leonard grumbled. The linguist turned to their leader. "Miss Amy, did you consider the possibility of us getting kidnapped?"
"Again? Why is Dr. Cooper so obsessed by the idea of us getting in a tricky situation or murdered or even worse?" Penny shouted with arms flailing.
"Trust me, Dr. Cooper. We won't get in danger as long as we're preceding our journey without taking too long breaks and without talking to anybody. Out there might be potentially scary people, with whom it's best not to tangle but I'm prepared. We have enough water and dried fruit to offer them in return for our souls, don't worry. In six hours we will arrive in Saqqara, better we'd keep an eye on sudden weather changes, that's my biggest sorrow" Amy replied and commanded Shukriyah to walk a bit faster.

Penny was sweating and felt dizzy. She had trouble sitting upright on Farah, while it was swinging wildly back and forth. Leonard handed her a bottle of water, but she was too weak to take a sip. Grains of sand were twirling around their heads, the sunrays pinched their necks and the warmth became almost suffocating.
Howard opened some buttons of his chemise and tried to air a cool breeze onto his body. Raj felt quite comfortable, he was used to this heat, for he had lived many years in India, where they reach tropical temperature.

Suddenly the wind became stronger. Now the grains stabbed their faces, like little knifes. Sheldon covered his eyes with his arm, trying to not loose sight of Amy. She fought against the storm too and had to calm Shukriyah down, who started to buck.
"Miss Amy, do you know where we are?" the linguist asked, hoping that they might have arrived yet.
"We're very close to Saqqara. Do not be awed by the tiny tornado coming over the horizon."
"Which tiny tornado?" Penny gasped as she strained her eyes to see far vision.

A huge twist approached them, came closer and closer. Leonard jumped off his camel and dragged the journalist down. Amy kept track of Shukriyah and Howard as well as Raj clinched to each other, hiding their faces from the gusts of wind.
Sheldon was paralysed with terror, staring over the sand hills.
"Dr. Cooper! You have to get off Afaf, now" Amy shouted as the storm seemed to drown out everything.
When she realized that the linguist wasn't able to move she simply pulled at his sleeve and he tumbled down.

The tornado flashed by pulling the straps of the first camel in the row. Luckily Amy had connected them with each other, managing to resist the irrepressible power of the storm. Leonard protectively held his hands over Penny, who nearly smothered after having swallowed a mass of sand. She was coughing and gasping for air. It seemed to them as if the storm wouldn't come to an end but all of a sudden it was
deathly quiet.

"Did somebody get hurt?" Howard heard a voice in the distance. He tried to open his eyes but closed them immediately as the grains of sand irritated them. Raj was lying next to him with the back side up, stretched out. "Raj, are you okay?" his friend asked. The Indian shook his head and got back on his feet. Amy hurried to them. "I expected that" she said as if it was the most common thing in the world. She wasn't shocked at all but simply shook the excess sand off her dress.
"Shall we?"
Without any further explanation she ran past her group and jumped on Shukriyah. Leonard bore Penny up to Hana: "From now on you're riding with me on my camel." She clutched her hands around the lector's waist, falling right away asleep. Sheldon piped up: "May I use some water to wash my hands? I'm sure there were insects flying around our heads, carriers of severe diseases" he added. "I'm sorry, but we must make responsible and economical use of our inventories. You'll need to wait till we arrive in Saqqara" Amy replied, resuming their way to the necropolis on the left side of the Nile.

The rest of their journey passed off without any untoward incident. They reached Saqqara around midday, but unfortunately there was no time left to get any lunch. There was a strict plan to follow and the next step was to make a call on Mr. El-Kebir, who joyfully received them.

They were overwhelmed by the numerous impressions the lobby offered. Dozens of paintings extended along the wall, showing images of Pharaohs like Mentuhotep I. or Amenhotep IV. Achenaton and right above an arched passage flaunted an enormous portrait of Tutenchamun, mounted in a gold frame.

Penny encountred two life-sized imageries of the embalmer God Anubis. He was carrying a Was-Sceptre and an Anch in his hands. "This is a typical representation of Anubis" Sheldon informed her. "Yes, but normally he was portrayed as a lying, black jackal, as a connection to the western desert. In many mythologies the West seems to be the homeland of the deaths as well as the Canids, which were considered as spiritual directors", Amy added looking at the linguist with a more defiant view. Sheldon was uninhibited by Amy's explanation. "Fetch your notebook and a pen, Penny. This is going to be very interesting. I'm sure you'd like to hear something about Anubis' tasks. Well then, first of all he policed that the embalmment took place correctly."
"In the tomb he received the Mummy, implementing the ceremony of the mouth opening and deciding "the weight of truth" by weighing the Heart against Ma'at, who was often depicted as an ostrich feather" Amy completed.
"You're absolutely right" Sheldon lauded. "Thank you" Amy made a little curtsy towards the linguist.
"That is actually very cute. Finally you two have found a good relationship with one another" the journalist remarked, while jotting down some keywords.
She didn't expect an answer as it seemed that Amy and Sheldon were both quite inexperienced and more than reserved.

"Amy Farrah Fowler, you're a grown woman now" Mr. El-Kebir walked towards her. She nodded, kindly smiling. "I haven't seen you for years. How are you? How are your father and your mother doing? Could he save his business?" the savant begged the friends to sit down in front of a crackling fire.
"Wow, they know each other for so long time and everything he gets is a tired and almost forced grin?" Penny wondered. "Those are the rules" Sheldon retorted. "It shows respect, the people in Egypt follow different basic rules of decency as opposed to other countries. Two men may greet each other with a handshake or a kiss on the cheek, but greetings between a man and a woman are still scorned" he brought it to her.

"Mr. El-Kebir. These are four explorers and their journalist from the USA. They have come to solve the mystery of Bastets Box. I told them that you may give them important information about this artefact, revealing them its curse" Amy suggested.

The academic leaned back and crossed his legs. "Bastets Box. It is a very dangerous object if falling into the wrong hands. The legend exists since the 22nd dynasty, grave robbers have searched for it, but no one ever succeeded" he began.
"Is it true that the chief priests of Bastet may have hid it in the temple of Kom Ombo?" Leonard asked, hoping to get his thesis confirmed.
El-Kebir declined, a triumphant grin appeared on Raj's face.
"No, no. I know that Kom Ombo is mentioned in the inscription but it was to mislead the rubbernecks. There is evidence though that might indicate its hiding-place. Have you heard of Nofretari's temple in Abu Simbel?" he questioned.

The Indian whispered something into Howard's ear. "Sir, do you mean the temple where the word "Per-Ra-mesisu-meri-Amun" House of Ramses, who was loved by Amun has been engraved?"
"The other one next to it. The temple which has been built for his wife Nofretari. Don't make the same mistake as I did. I wasted so many of my precious years as an explorer by searching for Bastets Box in the wrong place. I got lost in the impenetrable labyrinth of Ramses' gravesite. I thought that I was close enough, that walled in a statue of a protecting God I would find this mythical item of desire. But I made a terrible mistake which cost the life of two close friends" visibly touched by the academics' story Leonard sighted.
Raj was right, no one would entrench a secret so longed for and feared at the same time in a temple accessible for everybody.

"Do you have a map of Nofretaris' temple? A map that shows us the fastest way to get there and a map disclosing every malices and traps of her resting place?" El-Kebir stood up and started to rummage around in a wooden secretaire. After pulling out several papyrus scrolls he finally handed Leonard an obsolete manuscript.
The other four seated around him.
"Thank you very much, Mr. El-Kebir" Amy addressed the tourists. "My duty is done and I didn't even make use of the knife my mother gave me. I hope you'll solve the mystery. It has been a pleasure to meet and to help you out" she wanted already to shake hands with the scientists when Sheldon interrupted her.
"Wait. Won't you accompany us? We could use a smart woman. We could achieve our aim together, I'm sure that afterwards there will be somewhere a small footnote referring to you."
"Anything to oblige!" the others rejoiced. "Welcome aboard our mission" Howard softly touched her shoulder which slightly annoyed Sheldon.

"What about you, Mister?" Mr. El-Kebir shook his head. "I'm too old; if I were a few years younger then it would have been an honor to travel with you to Abu Simbel. But I would be glad if you could keep me in the loop."

And so they left his house, intending to go back to work with renewed vigour. But what they didn't notice was that Mr. El-Kebir called for his servants.
A group of ten men, all dressed in black, covered in a long robe. "I want you to follow them. They are potential explorers who could eventually find Bastets Box. It would be a purchase of great value and the key to success. We could put our sinister plans into practice. But be warned, they're armed."