The Mummy

BEDOUIN TRADING POST, THE FOLLOWING MORNING.

Rick could count on only one hand the number of times he had been ill-at-ease. Now was one of those times. His surroundings were not the cause for his uneasiness, he was used to being in the desert, under the scorching sun. The cause for his uneasiness was the fact that Harry was gone. Rick had made a habit of never trusting anyone, much less merchants.

Rick didn't think that Harry was helpless and unable to defend himself but he would be much safer if he remained by Rick's side. And he had been unable to do that. Rick didn't even know why he worried. He shouldn't worry. Harry was an adult and if he wanted to risk his life by wandering around, then he was free to do so.

“I only want four!” He heard Jonathan protest loudly, forcing Rick away from his thoughts. “Four! I only want four, not a bloody herd!” Rick couldn't help the amused smile that made his way on his face. He had to admit that it was funny watching Jonathan getting angry while trying to make the camel trader understand him. “O'Connell! Can you believe the cheek?” He asked, turning around to face Rick.

“Will you just pay the man.” Rick replied calmly but sternly. The sooner Jonathan paid, the sooner they would be one their way to Hamunaptra. They were loosing precious minutes here.

“Oh, for heaven's sake.” Jonathan sighed as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket. “Can't believe the price of these fleabags.”

Rick smiled slightly and took a couple steps forward to take hold of the ropes attached to two of the four camels, leading them away from the merchants. “You probably could've got them for free, all you had to do was give him your brother.” Rick said matter-of-factly. He didn't know why he had said that, he had just said it without really thinking about what it would mean for Harry.

“Yes. Awfully tempting, wasn't it?” Jonathan joked.

Rick looked up from Jonathan's face, just in time to see Harry coming out of a tent. He felt like someone had just knocked the air out of his lungs. The boy was breath-taking. Rick knew where he had gone now, or rather where he had been taken. Some women had taken Harry to get dressed but they didn't seem to have noticed that he was in fact a man and not a woman. They had dressed him in a traditional Bedouin dress. The black outfit matched his hair perfectly and made his skin stand out. They had even added a thin black veil which covered his face from the top of his nose to his chin. It made his green eyes stand out beautifully. Rick had never noticed how green his eyes were before but now that he had, he was enthralled. They were haunting.

“Awfully.” He agreed with Jonathan even though he didn't mean it one bit.

He wouldn't want to share Harry with anyone. The boy was too beautiful to share, or to belong to anyone other than Rick himself. Harry couldn't be described as muscular or manly, he was petite and thin, almost feminine. His mesmerizing curves were strangely pronounced and extremely visible in the outfit and Rick's mouth became dry. He really needed to stop calling Harry 'boy' for he had just proved that he was not a boy but a man. A very beautiful man. Harry's green eyes met Rick's and Rick knew that he was lost.

Harry smiled shyly at him and Rick had to fight hard to keep a grin from forming on his lips. He looked away and looked at the camel at his side just in time to make it seem like he was smiling at the braying camel and not in response to Harry's own smile.

SAHARA DESERT SAND DUNES, AFTERNOON.

“Never did like camels.” Rick heard Jonathan complain from behind him. “Filthy buggers. They smell, they bite, they spit. Disguting.”

“I think they're adorable.” Harry said.

Rick couldn't resist and turn his head slightly so that he could see Harry from the corner of his eye. He had a giddy smile on his lips and happily petting his camel. Rick smiled despite himself. He was glad that no one was actually looking at him right now or else they would probably think he was a mad man, smiling only because he was looking at Harry.

They went through some minor hardships on their way through the desert. They had to bear the heat of the scorching sun, then they went through a sandstorm. It stopped not long before the sun set. Jonathan and the warden complained all the way. Harry didn't say a word though, he didn't complain once and Rick didn't understand why he felt pride bloom in his chest.

Night fell quickly and Rick smiled fondly as Harry's eyelids grew so heavy that he had to fight hard to kep himself from falling asleep. He eventually lost the fight and fell asleep on his camel. He managed to stay upright on his camel for some time and then his head fell on Rick's shoulder. Rick looked at him and he honestly didn't know what to do. He wanted to let Harry sleep on his shoulder, he really wanted to, but it probably wasn't a comfortable way to sleep. He pushed Harry away from his shoulder, making sure that he didn't fall on the other side. Harry's camel brayed and Rick shushed him quickly. There was no way he was letting a camel wake Harry up.

He heard a horse neigh. He looked to his left and the moon was bright enough for him to see riders standing at a distance. He recognized them. They were the ones he had seen back when he had been running away from Hamunaptra. The riders' presence could only mean two things. Either they would be allies or they were in trouble.

Rick looked away from them and focused his attention back onto Harry. The moon was shining on the side of the younger man's face, making him look ethereal, like an angel fell from heaven. He didn't know how much time he spent staring at him but when he looked up, the sun was rising. Rick wondered if he should wake Harry. The young man would probably like to see the sunrise.

He gently shook Harry's shoulder and the young man blinked his eyes open, revealing their intense green color. Rick didn't know what to say and so he merely nodded toward the sun, a little smirk on his face. A wide smile spread on Harry's face as he stared at the rising sun, his eyes were shining.

Rick quickly looked away from Harry's face as he turned toward him after a few seconds of staring at the sun. He probably wanted to talk or thank him for waking him up but Rick didn't want to be caught staring. He looked forward and saw horses come their way.

“Good morning, my friend.” Beni said once they were close enough to be heard. Rick didn't bother to reply and stopped his camel, facing the place where Hamunaptra would appear.

“What the hell we doing?” He heard one of the Americans ask.

“Patience, my good barat'm. Patience.” Beni told him.

“Remember our bet, O'Connell? First one to the city, five hundred cash bucks.” This made him scoff.

“A hundred of them bucks is yours if you help us win that bet.” Another American told Beni.

“Oh, my pleasure.” Beni replied which made him laugh. There was no way Beni would be able to help them reach the city. He was too much of a coward for that. “Hey, O'Connell. Nice camel.”

Rick didn't bother to reply. He merely patted his camel on the head. “Get ready for it.” He told Harry who was right beside him.

“For what?”

“We're about to be shown the way.” Rick replied and they all stared at the still rising sun until Hamunaptra began to appear.

“Will you look at that?” One of the Americans mumbled.

“Can you believe it?” Another asked to himself.

“Hamunaptra.” Another one mumbled under his breath.

“Here we go again.” Rick sighed. He didn't want to be back here but he couldn't really let Harry down now, could he?

He heard Beni yell at his camel and so Rick yelled at his as well, his camel running quickly toward the city. There was no way he would let Beni and the Americans win. He and Beni were neck-to-neck, their camels flying forward.

Rick groaned when Beni started hitting him with his camel whip, trying to knock him off his camel. He hit him a few times before Rick managed to take hold of Beni and made him stop. “So long, Beni.” Rick said before throwing him off his camel and to the ground.

“That serves you right.” He heard Harry tell Beni as he passed him by.

Rick couldn't help but smile. He looked back to see whether Harry was far behind him or not, but just as he turned his head, he saw Harry right beside him. He was swatting his camel every few seconds and urging him to run faster. He was grinning hard, his eyes shining with happiness. Rick smiled back and stared at him as he flew past him. He liked this man, he really liked this man.

“Go, Harry! Go!” He heard Jonathan yell from behind them.

HAMUNAPTRA, AN HOUR LATER.

Harry looked at the Americans who were standing over the entrance of a passage. They had hired diggers to do all the dirty work, that is to say hauling rocks and dirt out of the Temple doorway under the guidance of the Egyptologist.

Harry was pretty sure that it was the wrong way in the Temple. O'Connell had not protested when Beni had declared that they would enter that way and that Harry, O'Connell, Jonathan and the warden had to find their own way in. Despite everything, Harry trusted O'Connell and if he deemed the temple doorway not important and was sure that he could find a better way in, then Harry would follow him.

They were working next to a narrow crevice which weaved its way through the ruins. O'Connell was tying a rope around a large pillar, purposefully hitting the warden with the other end of it every time he tied a knot. Harry had to fight back a laugh at that.

Harry looked slightly up and his eyes fell on the statue of Anubis not far from them. He couldn't believe it was there. Well, of course he believed it, he had read it in books but he couldn't believe that he was actually seeing it with his own eyes.

“That's the statue of Anubis.” He said to either Jonathan or O'Connell, he didn't really know himself. “Its legs go deep underground. According to Bembridge scholars, that's where we'll find a scret compartment containing the golden book of Amun-Ra.” He looked toward the sun on his right. “Jonathan, you're meant to catch the sun with that.”

Rick walked up to him once he was done with his rope. “So, what are these old mirrors for?”

“Ancient mirrors.” Harry corrected him. “It's an ancient Egyptiant trick, you'll see.”

Rick nodded once and just stood there, awkwardly opening and closing his mouth a few times. “Uh, here, this is for, uh, you.” He said as he handed her a small tool pouch. “Go ahead. It's something I borrowed off our American brethren.” Harry took it and smiled at him gratefully. “I thought you might like it- might need it for when you're... Yeah.” He mumbled awkwardly as he began to walk away. “What are you looking at?” He asked the warden who was staring between Harry and O'Connell.

Harry didn't even know what to say, not that he had time. He opened it and grinned when he saw all of the tools inside. It had been sweet of O'Connell to give him the pouch. Harry was not a fool, he knew that O'Connell had actually stolen it from the American but he didn't mind. The only thing he cared about right now was that O'Connell had thought about him when he had stolen the pouch and he had gifted it to him.

“Hey, look for bugs. I hate bugs.” The warden said as O'Connell took hold of the rope and jumped down the crevice.

“Harry, you go before us.” Jonathan told him.

Harry nodded once and attached the pouch to his waist before he took hold of the rope after O'Connell. “You can come down.” O'Connell yelled.

Harry obliged. The rope burned his hands slightly as he went down but he ignored it. After what felt like forever, Harry felt O'Connell's hands on his waist as he helped him to the ground.

“Thank you.” Harry mumbled, blushing slightly. He looked around. He was pretty sure he was grinning like a mad man as he peered into the spooky darkness. “Do you realize we're standing inside a room no one has entered in over three thousand years?” He asked O'Connell.

“Wow. What is that god-awful stench?” He heard Jonathan complain once he had reached the ground. “Oh.”

Harry ignored him and went to the mirror closest to the opening. He brushed several cobwebs away from an ancient mirror and then repositioned it on its pedestal, aiming it at a ray of light shining in from the mirrors outside. The ray of light hit the mirror and quickly shot around the room from a mirror to another until the whole chamber is lit up.

“And then there was light.” Harry said, extremely proud of himself.

“Hey, that is a neat trick.” O'Connell said, smiling slightly at Harry.

“Oh my God. It's a sah-ne-er.” Harry gasped.

“What?” O'Connell asked.

“A preparation room.”

“Preparation for what?”

“For entering the afterlife.” Harry replied, a giddy smile on his face.

O'Connell pulled his gun out, clearly ill-at-ease now. “Mummies, my good son. This is where they made the mummies.” Jonathan tried to reassure him.

O'Connell merely glanced at Jonathan and stepped forward, taking the lead. He had a torch in one hand and his gun in the other. Harry was quite happy being behind him. He had to admit that he had no idea what they would find in here and so he was happy to be behind O'Connell who could protect him with his gun if need be.

Harry jumped when he heard strange noises. It sounded like mice or insects. He looked around and then realized that it was actually coming from the walls. It lasted for a few seconds and then it was gone.

“What was that?” Jonathan asked.

“Sounds like... bugs.” O'Connell replied, clearly trying to scare the warden.

“He said bugs.” Harry whispered, making sure that the warden had heard.

“What do you mean, bugs? I hate bugs.” The warden said loudly, looking around to make sure that the noise was gone.

They kept going through the passageways until they reached a statue Harry could recognize. “The legs of Anubis.” They had finally reached it. “The secret compartment should be hidden somewhere inside here.”

They heard a strange noise again. It was different from the noise from earlier, it was deeper now. They all looked around, realizing that it was coming from the other side of the statue. Then O'Connell handed his torch over to Harry before pulling him behind him. He reached for his second gun and pulled it out, ready to shoot anything he deemed a threat.

O'Connell leaped out of their hiding place, Harry, Jonathan and the warden right behind him, only to end up face to face with the Americans, their guns up, cocked and aimed, much like O'Connell's.

“You scared the bejesus out of us, O'Connell.” One of the Americans exclaimed. Harry couldn't for the life of him remember their names and it frustrated him.

“Likewise.” O'Connell replied before lowering his guns.

“Hey, that's my tool kit.” One of the Americans, the one wearing glasses, said as he took a step toward Harry.

“No, I don't think so.” O'Connell replied in Harry's stead as he pointed his guns back to the Americans.

“Okay. Perhaps I was mistaken.” The American conceded which made the others lower their guns again.

“Well, have a nice day, gentlemen. We have a lot of work to be getting along with.” Harry told them.

“Push off!” The Egyptologist exclaimed. “This is our dig site.”

“We got here first.” Harry challenged him, his eyes narrowed. The Americans raised their guns, O'Connell and Jonathan following suit to defend themselves.

“This here's out statue, friend.” An American said.

“I don't see your name written on it, pal.” O'Connell replied.

Harry looked down at the sandy ground, not really interested in their manly quarrell. It was then that he noticed a tiny crevice right beside him. He kicked a few rocks so that they fell in it and he realized that there was another floor beneath them.

“Yes, well, there's only four of you and fifteen of me. Your odds are not so great, O'Connell.” Beni told him.

“I've had worse.” O'Connell replied as he aimed one of his guns right at Beni's head.

“Yeah, me too.” Jonathan added which made both Harry and O'Connell frown at him.

“Oh, look, for goodness' sake, let's be nice, children.” Harry said as he took a step forward and pushed one of the American's gun down. “If we're going to play together, we must learn to share.”

“There are other places to dig.” He added, staring intently at O'Connell, putting his hand on O'Connell upper arm. O'Connell stared back at him for a second and then lowered his gun, nodding once and smiling tightly at Beni.