Free Private North by Tess Oliver Page A

a headache. I remembered I’d left a bottle of aspirin in my coat pocket and as I went to retrieve it, the arm band fell to the floor. It was the first time I’d truly seen it in the light, and an unexplained chill went through me as I stared down at it. I picked it up and carried it over to the lamp over the table to study it.” He opened the lid of the box. I held my breath as he lifted out a thin gold arm band that would have been worn high up on the arm. It glistened as he held it up to the office light. “That was when I noticed a small row of hieroglyphics carved on the inside of the band.” He handed me the treasure and my fingers trembled slightly as I took hold of it. He pulled a magnifying glass from his desk drawer. “See if you recognize the symbols.”
    I squinted through the magnifying glass. The etchings were worn and faint, as if the gold band had been worn a great deal and the skin of the owner had rubbed them off. “I see a lion and a lasso, two vultures and—” I stopped and stared wide-eyed at Professor North. His grin widened and he nodded almost imperceptibly.  
    I turned the band around on my fingers. It nearly pulsed with life, the life of a long lost pharaoh. “But it can’t be. Cleopatra is still such a mystery.”
    “Of course, that is what I told myself over and over again. The next day I raced back to the market place to look for the man, but he had vanished. I had a thousand questions for him, but no one in the market place knew of him. I took the arm band back to the states and sent it to a laboratory for tests. The results were quite conclusive and equally stunning. It had been crafted around 40 B.C. placing it in existence during Cleopatra’s reign.”
    “I can hardly believe I’m holding it. Will you loan it to a museum?” I pulled my gaze reluctantly from the band of gold on my palm.
    Professor North’s expression darkened. “Unfortunately, it is not that easy. The university insisted that since the piece was discovered during a university funded expedition that it belongs to the school. They did, however, offer to pay back the hundred dollars,” he said cynically. “I hired lawyers and the entire case went to court. As you can imagine, it has been quite difficult keeping the entire affair secret.” He leaned back and disappointment rolled off of him in waves. “I lost. The university was backed by some of the best lawyers in the country. I must turn it over to them the first of the new year.”
    “But you purchased it on your own. Does the university then have claim to every souvenir, post card and morsel of food you paid for on the trip?”
    His cheek creased. “I suppose they do. However, they are only interested in this arm band.”
    I was reluctant to part with it, but I placed it back inside the box. “I’m truly sorry, Thomas. It must be very hard on you. But at least they can give you the credit of finding it.”
    My attempt at pointing out the positive did little to lighten his mood. “I really didn’t discover it. I’m afraid my end of the story is all rather unromantic and hardly worthy of praise from my peers.”
    I reached over and took hold of his hand. “You sat in that hotel room with a group of grad students knowledgeable in the world of antiquities and yet none of them saw its worth. You’re the one who realized there was something special about it. Anyone else might have sold it in an online auction for a few hundred dollars and never given it another thought. It’s quite obvious the street vendor had no idea what he had. If not for your expertise, this priceless piece of history would likely have been lost forever.”
    He smiled weakly and squeezed my hand. “Thank you, August.” He fell silent and an emotion I could not decipher fell across his face, almost as if some sudden thought had upset him even more than the notion of giving up his treasure. Then, he seemingly shook it off. “Well, I’m quite tired. I think I’ll turn in.”