Free 2021 by Martin Wiseman

fire up the engine and then just nodded his head.
    ‘ Well, one headlight’s broken, but at least it still goes. Look, we’d better get out of here before anyone notices what we’ve done to their famous ancient monument. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t much fancy spending the rest of my life in an Egyptian jail’ he muttered.
    ‘No, m e neither’ uttered another, jumping straight back onto the buggy again.
    Then as the one headlight on the buggy shined onto the base of the pyramid, one of them noticed something.
    ‘HEY!’ grab the torch someone, I think som ething is down there’ he announced, as reluctantly they all bundled out of the buggy once again.
    ‘What it is?’ asked one of them curiously as the man nearest reached into a crevice they had opened up at the base of the Pyramid.
    ‘I thought I saw something metallic, but I can’t quite reach it. Who has the longest arm?’ he asked.
    ‘Han k!’ the others respond as they immediately all shoved the tall man forwards.
    ‘I’ve got the long est everything, hic !’ he smiled as the others all just laughed at him.
    ‘Yeah, you wish !’ one of them joked as he just shoved him again.
    Doing as he was told, Hank reached down into the crevice they had opened up.
    ‘Hey, h e’s right, there is something down here!’ he then commented excitedly.
    ‘What is it then?’ they all asked keenly.
    ‘It’s my mummy of course!’ laughed Hank.
    ‘Oh, just get on with it will you, you dope! We need to get out of here quickly before someone notices what we’ve done’ complained another of their friends and with that Hank reached down again and pulled out what appeared to be a large metallic cup of some sort.
    ‘Heck, maybe it’s the Holy Grail itself?’ puzzled the driver.
    ‘You’ve got rocks in your head, it’s far too big for that ’ commented another.
    ‘I don’t know you’d get a lot of wine in that, hic!’ joked another of their drunken gang.
    ‘Heck, Jesus would have had to be an alcoholic to drink out of something that big’ laughed another.
    ‘That t op part though, it looks like a lid, but it’s moving around?’ puzzled another.
    Hank just pu lled at it and eventually something moved.
    ‘ Hey! Look at this , it’s an ancient scroll!’ announced the driver, now sounding very excited as hank now removed it from inside the large metal cup .
    ‘OOO!’ laughed Hank, who happened to be the drunkest member of their group ‘let’s just see if it burns !’ he chuckled away, immediately lighting his cigarette lighter right underneath it.
    ‘PUT THAT DAMN THING OUT WILL YOU, HANK! WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY?’ shouted one of his friends as he snatched the scroll from his grasp ‘THIS THING COULD BE THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD FOR ALL WE KNOW’ he insisted as they all now gathered around to study it.
    ‘Do you think it could be worth something then?’ one of them asked curiously.
    ‘I dunno?’ commented another as they all now studied it.
    ‘We should get it valued and this metal cup thing, but before that, we need to get out of here before someone notices the damage we’ve done’ suggested the dune buggy’s driver as he pushed and shoved them all to get back into the buggy again, before they quickly race off again.
    ‘YEEEHAAA!’ they then all shouted ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!’

Chapter Seven
     

     
    1 st January 2021
    Cairo, Egypt.
     
    T he following day, still nursing some fairly sizable hangovers, the Americans all set off from their hotel as they headed for the Cairo bazaars.
    ‘Maybe we can find a buyer for the cup and scroll in here?’ suggested one as they came upon a sign partly written in English.
    ‘Yaseem Brushna – Buyer and Seller of Fine Egyptian Antiquities and Artefacts’ Hank read out the sign ‘yeah, that looks promising, let’s try in here’ he smiled.
    So they all just piled into this the narrowest of narrow shops within the bazaar.
    ‘Yes, Gentleman, how can I help you?’ a cheerful looking man at