Page 12

Pyramids Prove to Be a Puzzle

“ P yramids were the burial places of the great pharaohs,” Salman stated, spreading his arms wide as they faced the structure.

“This, the largest of all the pyramids, was built for Khufu and his queen Henutsen. Khufu ruled for twenty-six years, and this pyramid took his entire life to be constructed.”

“When was this, sir?” Helen asked.

“Ah. In your calendar, two-thousand, five-hundred, eighty-nine BC.”

“But the kings of Egypt did not expect to remain in their tombs for long. When they died, their bodies were mummified—prepared for the afterlife—which they believed would allow them to live on as gods,” he explained.

“Mummified?” Barbara repeated, her eyes widening.

“Ah. You wonder how this was done?” Salman asked.

For a moment, she looked uncertain. Will cleared his throat. “If you do not elaborate, she will pester me for the details long after you’re gone,” he teased.

“Will,” Barbara scolded.

Salman grinned. “Our ancestors were the first to develop the process of embalming a body, first by removing their organs, then drying the body with salt, followed by wrapping it in strips of linen secured with perfumed oils and resins,” he explained.

“The entire process took seventy days.” He paused a moment.

“You will no doubt see some mummies whilst you are shopping,”

Murmurs of surprise sounded from the group before he continued.

“Then the processional would occur, when the mummy was placed in a sarcophagus—like a coffin, but highly decorated—and taken into the burial chamber, deep within the pyramid.” He waved to indicate the dark area on the face of the pyramid.

“Through that particular opening?” Tom asked, his gaze having taken in the entire side of the pyramid to determine there was only one small breach, about a third of the way up from the ground.

“Possibly,” Salman hedged. “That is where Giovanni Belzoni broke in about fifteen years ago,” he replied. “And your Colonel Vyse continued the exploration six years ago.”

“Did he find anything?” Randy asked, his eyes widening when he realized Diana was no longer by his side but had made her way to the end of the wall they faced.

“Nothing,” Salman stated. “The tomb had long ago been looted, even before the Ottoman Caliph al-Mamun forced his way inside from somewhere near the top, we are told,” he explained. “Like others, he sought treasure.”

“When did he break in?” Randy asked, his attention still on Diana.

She had begun climbing the pyramid, carefully picking her way up the blocks.

She carried the same satchel she had used in Athens when she was on her archaeological expeditions, the leather strap secured across her back and over one shoulder.

Occasionally she paused and seemed to study something before she moved laterally for a few feet. Once she found a negotiable path up, where the blocks were not so large, she would resume climbing but always stop as if she was examining the stone.

“It has been a thousand years and another score ago,” Salman said, his gaze following Randy’s.

“Eight-hundred twenty AD,” Tom said quietly. He knew Helen turned to stare at him, but he kept his attention on the guide.

“He was not the first, though, since we know the tomb was looted long ago.”

“What would they have found?” Helen asked.

Salman beamed at her, which had Tom bristling.

“There are accounts written by Arabs describing three mummies, a ruby the size of an egg, a sarcophagus filled with gold, and a corpse in golden armor holding a sword,” he explained, using his hands to help in his descriptions.

“They, of course, are lost to time, for we have not seen the likes of such since.”

His audience displayed expressions of disappointment, but Will leaned his head in Barbara’s direction and whispered, “Queen Victoria probably has it.”

“Will,” she scolded. “Her ruby isn’t that large,” she said.

“And what of the other pyramids here?” Harry asked, his expression suddenly awestruck when he realized how far up the side of the pyramid Diana had climbed.

Apparently noting the earl’s concern, Salman’s attention went to where Diana was hurrying along a row of blocks towards the opening. He smiled. “It seems she will soon reach the entrance,” he said. “But she will need a lantern if she is to see anything inside.”

“She has one,” Randy said. He had watched her pack her satchel that morning, not surprised she included a fanoos and the means to light it.

The small lantern was probably meant to be more decorative than utilitarian, but it lit their hotel room in a pleasing light.

“Is there anything she should know? Before she goes in?”

Salman lifted a shoulder. “There is a rope inside. She may need it to climb up to the chamber, for the passage is steep,” he explained.

“It will be hot in there, and the passage is not large.” He angled his head and arched a brow.

“But then, she is not large.” His attention was suddenly diverted, and he left Randy’s company to return to his horse.

“I’m going in,” David said to the dragoman, handing his binoculars over to Tom.

“Then you will take this with you,” Salman replied, handing him a lantern from his saddlebag. “And this.”

David glanced at the rolled document the guide had pulled out with the lantern, the crude drawing a map of the inside of the pyramid.

“You are going in the Robber’s Tunnel,” he stated.

“Which means you will turn sharply to the left to get to the ascending shaft. Do not continue down when you see this corridor,” Salman instructed, pointing to the intersection where a passage continued downward. “Only go up.”

“What if I miss the corridor?”

“You will not, but if you did, you would go down under the ground, into an unfinished chamber,” he explained, motioning to indicate the area beyond the footprint of the pyramid. “Nothing to see there. A wasted trip,” Salman said.

“Not even paintings or carvings?” David asked.

The dragoman shook his head. “This was built before they did such things in the tombs,” he replied. “You will see inscriptions—hieroglyphics—when you go to the newer tombs.”

“Understood.” With a canteen hanging from around his neck, David scrambled up the side of the pyramid, his route not nearly as intentional as Diana’s had been.

A moment later, he joined her at the chevron-topped entrance into the pyramid, the stones expertly joined to handle the stress and weight of the blocks atop them.

Randy moved closer to the base, directly below the opening. “Please don’t be long,” he called up.

Diana struck a Lucifer match on the rock and lit her fanoos . “Does Mr. Salman have any recommendations for me?” she countered, shaking the match until the flame blew out.

A grimace crossed his face. “Salman says it is hot and that the passage into the King’s Chamber is small,” he responded, obviously not sharing her enthusiasm for exploring.

“There is a rope for when you need it,” he added.

“You will go straight and then to the left, and then when you can, you must go up.”

“I have studied the drawings,” she reminded him. She pointed to a spot further up the north face. “I am glad I am not going in that way.”

“As am I,” he called up. The entrance above where she stood was for the descending passage and would have required her to travel downward at a fairly steep angle to reach the ascending passage.

Although Randy was fairly sure she could have negotiated the passage, she would also have had to climb up to get out.

Randy knew she had not only studied the drawings, but that she remembered every bit of their detail.

He thought of changing his mind and telling her she was forbidden from going into the pyramid, but he knew she would never forgive him if he did.

The opportunity to explore an ancient wonder wasn’t something that happened very often.

And this, the Great Pyramid, was the only remaining Ancient Wonder of the World.

“I love you, my sweet, so you had better come back to me,” he shouted.

“But if you’re not back in an hour, I am coming for you.

” He paused a moment, his attention on his cousin, who had joined Diana at the entrance.

A lantern dangled from one hand, but David set it down to remove his top coat and hat.

He left them draped on one of the blocks near the entrance before retrieving the lantern.

Diana blew Randy a kiss, her hands encased in leather gloves, one gripping her lantern. A moment later, she followed David and disappeared into the darkness.

He grinned. “Where did David get a lantern?” he asked in surprise, his query directed to their guide.

Salman allowed a guffaw, waving to the saddlebags on the back of his Arabian. “I always carry a lantern with me,” he claimed. “For those who insist they must go inside.”

“I’m not so sure this is such a good idea,” Barbara said, finally putting voice to a protest upon seeing her son disappear into the pyramid. “He’s the sole heir to the Devonville marquessate,” she added in a worried whisper.

“He will be fine,” Salman stated. “As will the girl. There is nothing to fear. Well, except for an occasional snake.”

Will gave the guide a quelling glance before he offered Barbara an arm.

Meanwhile, Harry made his way to stand next to Randy. “You let her go in there?” he asked in alarm.

Randy regarded the earl with an expression that suggested his query was mad. “Since I wish to remain her husband, then I must, my lord,” he said. “Besides, she knows I am not comfortable in tight spaces, and Penton has agreed to accompany her.”

“Are you just going to stand here and wait for her?”

Randy nodded in the direction of their guide. “I’m going to continue following him, my lord,” he replied. “If they have not come out in an hour, then I will go in.”