Page 16

A Frightful Face

M eanwhile, inside the burial chamber

Although a wide-eyed face lit by her fanoos was enough to have Diana’s heart rate racing in surprise, it was David’s reaction that truly scared her.

Never in her life had she heard such a frightening sound as what had come out of his throat. On top of that, the yowling scream’s echo continued to reverberate through the burial chamber long after it had first sounded.

“David!” she admonished. “You’ll wake the dead.”

Behind her, the eventual heir to the Devonville marquessate stood wide-eyed with fright. “Isn’t he already?”

She gave him a quelling glance. “It’s just a boy,” she said, lowering the lantern so the youngster didn’t appear as a disembodied head. Bronze-skinned and thin, he was familiar and displaying an expression of amusement. “You were tending to the camels,” she said, not making it a question.

The boy nodded. “Ari,” he said, pointing to his chest.

“Diana,” she said, placing a hand on her chest. She moved it to David’s shoulder. “Lord Penton.” She noticed how at the mention of “Lord”, the young boy’s eyes widened, as if he recognized the English title to be one of importance. He immediately sobered and bowed low.

Diana gave a start when she realized the boy didn’t have a source of light. “Where is your lantern? Uh… fanoos ?” she clarified, lifting hers slightly.

Ari shrugged. “No light, but I carry for you,” he offered. “Escort you out.”

Diana exchanged a quick glance with David, realizing the boy had negotiated the passages in the pitch black. He had probably done so since he could walk. “Don’t we go out the same way we came in?”

He nodded. “Salman sent me. In case you are lost.”

Bristling at the comment, Diana was about to put voice to a protest but instead said, “I wish to see the relieving chambers,” she said, pointing up. “The ones that were discovered a few years ago. With the red-painted walls?” she added, hoping the boy understood.

Ari shook his head.

“What are the relieving chambers?” David asked, keeping his query low given how every sound echoed so loudly in the chamber. He had unrolled the map Salman had given him and was holding it in the light of his lantern.

“Above the burial chamber,” she said, pointing to the crude rectangles in the drawing. “Apparently meant to safeguard the king’s chamber should the roof collapse.

“That could happen?” David asked in surprise.

“The fact that they planned for the possibility is rather telling,” she replied. “But then this was one of the early straight-sided pyramids, so they were probably still learning how to build them.”

“What do you know of the relieving chambers?”

“Nathaniel Davison discovered the lowest one eighty years ago, and Howard Vyse found the others when he was last here in thirty-seven,” she replied.

“He, uh, used gunpowder to open up some passageways that lead up to the other four chambers,” she added, grimacing at the thought of the interior masonry being disturbed.

“He wrote that the walls of the upper chambers are covered in graffiti painted with red ochre,” she explained.

“Possibly with the names of the workers who built the pyramid, because they were painted prior to being put into place.”

“How would he know that?” David asked, his gaze darting to see that Ari was listening intently to her words.

“Some of the inscriptions are upside down or sideways, and some are partially obstructed by other blocks,” she explained.

David turned to the boy. “How do we get up there?” he asked, lifting his lantern in an attempt to illuminate any openings.

“The tunnel is high,” Ari replied, pointing back toward the grand gallery. “No ladder. Not allowed.”

“Can you show me where it is?” Diana asked. “The tunnel?”

“Diana,” David said in a whisper. “We don’t have the means to climb,” he argued.

“I just wish to see how Davison got in,” she replied.

“Lead the way, Ari,” David said.

The boy turned and scampered through the short horizontal antechamber and into the gallery, turning and pointing up to the top of the east wall.

Bending down, David and Diana followed him.

When they emerged into the high-ceiled gallery, David lifted his lantern as high as he could.

He strained his eyes in an attempt to see evidence of a tunnel opening.

Once Diana had added the light from her fanoos , the opening near the roof became evident.

“There it is,” she breathed.

“Did you really wish to go through that?” David asked, studying her expression of awe.

“Not particularly,” she replied, wiping perspiration from her brow. “But I do wish someone had published a drawing or?—”

“Like this?” David asked, turning over the map Salman had given him. On the back side were a series of marks made in four rows.

“I make those,” Ari stated, one hand on his chest as he pointed to the papyrus.

“You did?” Diana asked. “You were in there? In the upper chambers?” She pointed up to the tunnel. “When?”

He shrugged. “With that man Vyse. I carried his fanoos and tools,” he added proudly.

“And he had you document... write what you saw on the walls?”

His face screwing into confusion, Ari shook his head. “Salman did.”

“Salman was his guide,” David guessed. “He was there in the chambers? With you?”

Ari nodded. “He gave me charcoal and the map and told me to draw while we waited for the Englishman.”

Diana and David exchanged knowing looks. A young boy—Ari would have been four or five at the time—would have grown bored waiting for the explorer to complete his work. Giving him a task to transcribe what he saw on the walls would keep him busy for a time.

“So.... which chamber is this?” Diana asked, pointing to the top series of hieroglyphics.

Ari held up two fingers. “Wellington’s chamber,” he said, obviously struggling to remember the pronunciation of the name. “Many cracks in the stones.”

The comment didn’t surprise Diana. The relieving chambers were meant to protect the king’s chamber, but it also meant they would have to withstand pressure from the weight of stones directly above. “And this one?” She pointed to the next set of hieroglyphics down on the page.

He held up three fingers.

“Nelson’s chamber,” she said in a whisper. She pointed to the next set.

He held up four fingers.

“Lady Arbuthnot’s chamber, which means this one is Campbell’s chamber,” she said, pointing to the last as Ari held up five fingers.

“The top one.”

David took a long draught from his canteen before wiping the back of his hand across his brow. “It’s terribly warm in here, and I think we best be going.” He glanced over at Diana, wincing as if he thought she might argue.

“I’m ready to go, too,” she said, rolling up the map before stuffing it into her satchel. She gave her fanoos to the boy. “Lead the way, Ari.”

David nudged her elbow and asked in a whisper, “Are you sure?” Despite his quiet query, his voice still echoed.

She nodded. “He may show us things we missed,” she said hopefully. “And it’s downhill most of the way.”

With Ari holding the fanoos ahead of her and David’s lantern behind, her hands would be free.

Placing a palm against the smooth polished limestone of the grand gallery walls, she carefully followed the boy by staying on a sort of curb that hugged the wall.

A matching curb ran alongside the opposite wall, and in the middle, the sloping path was a few inches lower.

“This is how they would have transported the blocks,” David said in awe. “I don’t know how I didn’t notice it before,” he commented.

“We were climbing up that ramp,” she reminded him, realizing now it was a way to keep traction as the side curbs were a smoother stone.

When they had almost reached the part of the tunnel that connected the grand gallery to the ascending passage, Diana remembered her husband’s comment about following David. She turned her head, glancing over her shoulder to see where her cousin’s attentions were directed.

David was staring at the walls and ceiling, his downward steps careful lest his boots slide on the limestone rock floor. “Do you suppose there are any openings?” he asked. “For air?”

“I’m certain there were. During the construction,” she said. “They would have blocked them off when the final casing was installed, though.”

“But that casing is mostly gone now,” he reminded her.

“So air can get in,” she agreed. “Perhaps light as well.” She paused to allow him to go into the tunnel first.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Please. I shouldn’t want Randy to chide you for staring at my bum all the way through this tunnel,” she said with a smirk.

Even in the odd lighting, she could see David’s face redden with embarrassment. “Won’t he chide you about watching my bum?” he countered.

She tittered but quickly sobered when the light from the fanoos had nearly vanished down the tunnel. “Go,” she ordered.

Crouching down to one side, David scrambled into the tunnel, Diana following close behind. They continued the trek down to the Robber’s Tunnel, although they never quite caught up to Ari.

That is, until David nearly ran into him where the tunnel exited and turned sharply to the left. His shout of alarm had Diana stopping in mid-step before she cleared the tight passage.

The shout was followed by a curse and what sounded like laughter.

“What’s happened?” she asked, finally emerging to stand upright. Before she quite knew what was happening, she was suddenly in her husband’s embrace while David was pummeling Tom with one fist, the lantern precariously swinging about.

Ari stood off to one side, obviously confused.

“You scared me nearly to death,” David accused.

“Fair’s fair,” Tom countered.

“What is he talking about?” Diana asked of Randy, when he finally let go of his hold on her.

“What happened in there?” he asked. “We heard a horrible yowling sound.”

Diana lifted a hand to cover her mouth, but a titter escaped.

“Ari appeared out of the dark, so we had a bit of a fright is all,” she replied.

“He’s been most helpful, though,” she added, ruffling the boy’s hair.

“He’s a clever boy. If you have any coins on you, he deserves payment for his services. ”

Randy fished some money from his waistcoat pocket and handed it to the boy. “Thank you for escorting her,” he said.

“She didn’t need any help,” Ari replied. “She is clever.”

“Yes, she is,” Randy agreed, offering his arm.

Diana lifted herself on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Come. Let’s get out of here. I’m hot, and I’m thirsty.”

The four hurried toward the faint light that indicated the entrance to the pyramid, all of them inhaling deeply of the fresh air when they made it outside.

The rest of their party, having completed their walk to the other pyramids, had returned and were about to mount their camels for the ride back.

Diana couldn’t help but notice how Tom watched as Salman assisted Helen onto her camel. She was fairly sure she even heard him growl. Turning her attention to Randy, she lifted a brow.

“I’m not exactly sure what’s going on with him,” he whispered.

“It would appear he’s been possessed by the Green Monster,” she said. Mounting her camel, she held on to the handles as the camel unfolded his back legs, forcing her to lie back, until his front legs straightened and she was suddenly higher than Randy.

“You do that entirely too easily,” he accused.

Tittering, she watched as the cameleer assisted her husband, and when their entire party was ready, she directed her camel to line up with the others for the trip back to the riad .