Free Mr Impossible by Loretta Chase Page B

knew little more
of ancientEgyptthan what he recalled from the works of Greeks and
Romans. There was the ancient Greek traveler Herodotus, for instance,
whose Histories comprised a hodgepodge of facts, figures, and
myths.

    “ This tomb
may keep its secrets for all eternity,” she said. “No
hieroglyphs. Do you see why Miles’s reasons for coming are so
puzzling? Besides, the papyrus allegedly came fromThebes—hundreds
of miles away in more mountainous terrain.”

    Rupert studied the
gap between the granite stones surrounding the sarcophagus. What went
there? he wondered. An effigy? Treasure chest? Or simply another
stone?

    “ Allegedly,”
he repeated. “Is there anything about the papyrus we can be
sure of?”

    “ It’s
truly old,” she said. “It took several days to unroll.
You can’t be impatient with such things or you end up with a
lot of charred crumbs—and sick from the fumes of the chlorine
gas.”

    She spoke quickly,
her voice a note or two above the usual pitch.

    But she’d
talked that way since they entered the pyramid, Rupert realized.
She’d been exceedingly talkative.

    He looked up from
the puzzling sarcophagus. She seemed to be looking down into it. He
couldn’t be sure. It was hard to read her expression in the
dim, wavering light.

    “ Are you all
right?” he said.

    “ Yes, of
course,” she said.

    “ Not everyone
would be,” he said. “Some people have a morbid aversion
to closed spaces.”

    “ It is an
irrational reaction one must overcome if one hopes to learn
anything,” she said. “We shall be exploring tombs
inThebes. They do have writing inside. That was the main point of
coming toEgypt: to study the hieroglyphs in the temples and royal
tombs. To compare names. We know what hieroglyphs form the name
Cleopatra. We’ve deduced some other royal names. With enough
pharaohs to compare, we should be able to deduce the alphabet.”

    We. Rupert noted
the choice of pronoun. Not he or Miles .

    “ Meanwhile,
you’d rather not be here,” he said.

    “ I wouldn’t
mind so much, but we’ve wasted our time,” she said.
“There’s nothing. This was a stupid mistake. I should
have listened to Lord Noxley. I could have been questioning others
inCairo. What did I think I’d learn from a heap of stones?”

    The edgy tone of
her voice had softened into despair.

    Rupert rose and
started toward her, while trying to think of some stupid thing to say
to irritate her and rouse her spirits.

    From somewhere in
the bowels of the pyramid came a bone-chilling scream.

    “ NO!”
Rupert roared, turning toward the door.

    Too late.

    He had one last,
faint glimpse of swiftly retreating light as the guides fled. Then
there was nothing. The darkness swallowed them utterly.

     

Chapter 5

     

    “ DON’T
FAINT,” RUPERT SAID IN AN UNDERTONE. “I can’t see
you to catch you, and a concussion would be a problem.”

    “ Don’t
be absurd,” she said. “I never faint.”

    If her voice hadn’t
risen a notch above her normal pitch, he might have believed she was
perfectly composed. But he was learning the changes in her voice, and
he’d noticed her propensity for hiding things. Her body, for
instance. That wasn’t all.

    He’d work on
the other secrets once they got out of the present difficulty.

    “ Stay put and
keep talking, but softly,” he said. He was listening. The
guides’ footsteps had faded. Outside the chamber silence
reigned. He didn’t trust it. Someone was there, he was certain.

    Meanwhile he needed
to get his bearings. The dark was prodigious. He’d never
experienced anything quite like it.

    “ I shall not
faint,” she said. “I freely admit, however, that our
present situation is not conducive to an easy frame of mind.”

    Cautiously Rupert
inched toward her. He did not want to stumble over one of the stones
ancient tomb robbers had pried loose from the floor, or into any of
the holes where the stones had been. Broken limbs or a cracked skull
would