“New rule,” said Rick. “No more restaurants in the winter. We’ll cook our own dinner.”
“I second that!” said Jonathon, hugging himself and doing a little jig for warmth. He practically danced over to the fireplace to light it.
“Brrr,” Evy said.
“I can keep you warm,” Rick said flirtingly, wrapping his arms around his wife.
She giggled and hugged him back. “I’ll go make some tea,” she said. “That’ll warm us up quick.”
Rick nodded and let go of her. He watched as she left the room, still wearing her coat. Thinking back to his life before he met her, he still found it hard to believe that he was married to a wonderful woman and living in a huge gorgeous house in England. He sighed contentedly.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Rick wondered who’d be out on a night like this as he opened it, and was not prepared for who walked —or, rather, stumbled— in.
“Ardeth!” Rick said, grabbing his arm.
Jonathon dropped the fireplace poker, and hurried over.
“Evy! Come in here!” Rick yelled, as he and Jonathon brought Ardeth over to a chair by the fire.
Evy ran in. “Oh my!” she said, surprised. “Rick, get—”
She didn’t have to finish her sentence, for Rick had already grabbed the blanket draped on the couch and threw it around the shivering Med-jai.
Evy put her gloves back on and grabbed Ardeth’s hands, rubbing them between hers one at a time.
“Jonathon! Go get that tea!”
He ran to do her bidding.
“Ardeth, what’re you doing all the way out here?” Rick asked.
“Not now, Rick,” said Evy. “He’s half frozen!”
Rick nodded, and ran off to find another blanket.
Jonathon came back a minute later with the tea, nearly tripping in his haste. He poured some and handed it to Evy, who placed the warm mug in Ardeth’s hands, and helped him bring it to his lips, for he was shivering so badly she was afraid he’d spill it.
Rick came back with more blankets, and he and Jonathon wrapped them around him as Evy poured more tea.
They stood there watching as Ardeth drank it, relieved when they saw some color come back into his face.
Ardeth finally tried to speak. “I did not realize…it was winter.”
“Bet you never experienced cold like this before, eh chum?” Jonathon said, relieved that he seemed to be all right.
Ardeth shook his head, tried to burrow deeper into the blankets, blinking his eyes sleepily.
“Jonathon, would you go light the fire in the guest bedroom? We should get him to bed.”
Jonathon nodded and ran off.
Ardeth made no protest as Evy and Rick pulled him out of the chair and brought him to the room. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and they removed his weapons, boots, and turban. Then the three of them just stood there, watching him, wondering what had brought him there.
“I hope it’s not another mummy,” Rick said, with a sigh.
“If it is, we’d better make sure we bring Cleo,” said Jonathon.
Evy shuddered at the memory. “Keep in mind what I said last time, Rick.”
“What’s that?”
“If I get turned into a mummy, you’re the first one I’m coming after.”
The next morning, Ardeth woke up feeling so comfortable that he didn’t want to move. He just laid there enjoying the softness under him, not realizing until a few minutes later that the reason for his comfort was because he wasn’t sleeping on hard sand. He remembered where he was and opened his eyes to see Evy sitting in a nearby chair and Rick talking quietly to her. Evy smiled and put up her hand to Rick to shush him.
“Ardeth! Sabah al-hayri!”
Ardeth couldn’t help but smile. “Sabah al-hayri.”
“If that means ‘good morning’, then ditto,” said Rick.
Ardeth nodded, and sat up. The bed was piled high with blankets, and he saw the raging fire in the fireplace. The sight brought back what had happened the previous night. Some of it, anyway.
“I am sorry to have barged into your home,” he said.
“’Barged’ in? Ardeth, you’re welcome here any time!” said Evy.
“This wasn’t a planned trip though, was it?” Rick said. “Seeing that you have nothing with you.”
Ardeth shook his head. “I arrived while you were out, and waited for you to return.”
Evy’s eyes grew wide. “You waited outside? For how long?” she asked, remembering that they’d lingered as long as possible in the restaurant to delay going back out into the cold.
Ardeth frowned, and shook his head, not remembering.
“You could’ve frozen to death! The temperature was unbearable last night, and you weren’t even dressed for the weather!”
“I did not realize it was winter,” Ardeth said.
“Yeah, you said that last night,” said Rick.
Ardeth frowned, not remembering that either. All he knew was that he’d never before known the feeling of utter numbness brought on by extreme cold, and it both surprised and amazed him.
“Why didn’t you break in?” Evy asked.
Ardeth looked at her like that was the craziest thing he’d ever heard. “I would never damage your home.”
“I would rather have a damaged home then a frozen friend!” she said. “Ardeth, you have my permission to break into this house whenever you need to!”
Rick nodded at Ardeth, agreeing, but trying not to laugh at Evy’s words.
Ardeth smiled at the silliness of the conversation. “Shukran, sadiqis. If I ever need to, I will try to do so without causing any damage.”
Evy smiled, and stood. “Wonderful! I’m glad that’s settled. Now, you must be starving! Come and we’ll have breakfast.”
After they ate, they settled in the living room before the fire.
“Okay,” said Evy. “Now you can tell us the problem.” She’d insisted at breakfast that they enjoy a nice tranquil meal before discussing the latest crisis. Ardeth had appreciated her attempt at trying to institute calm, before the storm erupted.
Ardeth sighed before he spoke. “The Euphrates Stone.”
Evy frowned, and she, Rick, and Jonathon —who’d actually dragged his lazy bones out of bed— exchanged glances.
“Do you need it?” Evy asked.
Ardeth sighed again. “It appears that I do.”
“What’s happened?” Rick asked seriously, concerned that Ardeth’s usually unflappable demeanor seemed…flapped.
“There is someone who wants it.”
Jonathon huffed. “Well tell ‘em he can bloody well go find another stone to play with.”
Ardeth looked at him, and Rick could see in his eyes the emotions the Med-jai was feeling. He knew that whatever had happened, it had been bad.
“They attacked us, and took the women,” Ardeth told them.
Evy gasped, and covered her mouth.
Ardeth went on. “The leader confronted me, knowing that we guarded the Stone. He told me that if I did not give it to him, he would kill them all.”
“Oh no!” Evy exclaimed. “Did you tell him that you don’t have it?”
Ardeth nodded.
“What did he say?” Rick asked.
“He said that I had better get it if I want them back.”
Rick could see that there was more. “And?”
Ardeth sighed yet again. “He said, ‘In that case, maybe I’ll find it before you, and kill them anyway’.”
Evy shook her head in shock.
“So you see, my friends, I had to get to you before they did.”
Rick nodded. “Of course, Ardeth, you can have the Stone.”
Ardeth looked indecisive.
“What is it?” Rick asked.
“I needed to get to you before they did to ensure your safety, not to merely get the Stone. I am not sure that we should give it to them.”
“What?” Jonathon blurted out, looking at Ardeth with a shocked expression.
“I think I see what Ardeth means,” said Evy.
“What?” Jonathon said again, looking at her now.
“What does he want it for? Who is ‘he’ anyway?” said Rick.
“Exactly, Rick! What does he want it for?” said Evy.
“His name is Hyksos Hut-waret and that is what I fear also, why he wants it.”
“Okay,” said Rick. “What’s the whole background behind this thing, don’t tell me it has anything to do with a mummy.”
Ardeth shook his head. “It was a jewel owned by Queen Hatshepshut, it is said that she found it in the Euphrates River. That is all that was ever said about it. It is naturally of great value because of its age and who it belonged to.”
“He must want it to sell! What a greedy scoundrel!” Evy said, then she laughed. “His name suits him!”
“Huh?” Rick said.
“’Hut-waret’ is Egyptian for ‘avarice’,” Ardeth told him. “Greed.”
“Ah. So what do we do now?”
Ardeth sighed. “You must come with me to Egypt, it is the only way you will be safe from them. If they find out you have it, and come here, they will kill you.”
“I knew you were gonna say that!” said Jonathon.
“Here it is.”
Evy opened a jewel case, and handed it to Ardeth. Jonathon couldn’t help but whistle, even though he’d seen it a million times. The stunning sky-blue jewel was absolutely exquisite.
Ardeth studied it, his expression unreadable. He sighed and closed the case, sticking it into an unseen pocket deep within his robes. “How quickly can you be ready?”
Evy blinked. “Uh, umm...” she looked around, then quickly ran towards the bedrooms.
Rick laughed. “That’s ‘girl’ for, ‘oh no, what should I bring?’ ”
Ardeth smiled slightly.
Jonathon came over to Ardeth. “Here, try this on.”
Ardeth looked at the coat Jonathon was holding out towards him.
“We don’t want you getting hypothermic again, old boy,” Jonathon said.
Ardeth tried it, but it didn’t quite close around his robes.
“Drat,” Jonathon muttered, and ran off again.
Rick shook his head. “I’ll go make sure Evy isn’t trying to bring her whole closet.”
Ardeth nodded, and walked over to the window. What he saw shocked him; everything was blanketed in white. Snow, Ardeth thought. While it had been bitterly cold last night, there had been none at the time. He was amazed by the brightness of it.
“Never seen snow, ehh?” Jonathon said, appearing again beside him.
Ardeth shook his head.
“Am I right in assuming that you don’t know what a snowball is then?”
Ardeth looked at him, confused.
Jonathon broke into a huge grin, saying nothing.
Rick and Evy appeared, Rick carrying way too many suitcases. Ardeth and Jonathon knew why.
“Okay,” Rick said, throwing a glance at Evy. “I think we’re ready.”
As they walked outside, Rick heard a string of Arabic come from behind him and turned to see Ardeth —bundled up in everything they could find that fit him— trying to keep his balance, finally grabbing at the side of the house.
Evy tried not to laugh as she went over and took his arm. “It’s ice, Ardeth, very slippery!”
Ardeth nodded, watching in amazement as his breath froze in the air. He allowed her to pull him away from the side of the house, and they slowly started to walk, when suddenly a snowball came out of nowhere, smacking Ardeth on the side of his head. He wasn’t ready for it, naturally, and slipped and fell in the snow, Evy going down with him.
Evy busted out laughing as they sat in the snow, and she grabbed some, rolled it up, and threw it back at Jonathon, who ducked in time.
Rick went over to them, laughing himself, never thinking he’d ever see a sight like that. Ardeth Bay, super-dignified leader of the Med-jai, conquered by frozen precipitation. He frowned at the wince on Ardeth’s face.
“You okay?” he asked.
Ardeth nodded, and tried to brush the snow off his shoulder. It was a waste of time, for another snowball came his way, smacking him where he’d just wiped it off.
Jonathon stood there laughing hysterically.
Ardeth picked up some snow, and rolled it up the way he’d seen Evy’d done. He threw it at Jonathon, who was laughing so hard he didn’t see it coming. It smacked him right in the face, and he gasped and started sputtering.
Ardeth started laughing, making Evy and Rick start up again. Rick pulled Evy up off the ground, and held his hand out again to Ardeth.
Ardeth took it and got up slowly, wincing again, and Rick figured out why. He sure knew what a bruised tailbone felt like, —having grown up in Chicago— and he almost laughed, but suddenly a missile-sized snowball smacked Ardeth in the chest, sending him back to the snowy ground with a grunt, definitely adding to the bruise.
Rick turned around. “Jonathon! Leave the guy alone, he’s not used to this! What’s the matter with you?”
Jonathon had a smirk on his face, but it quickly fled when he saw that he’d hurt his friend. He ran over.
“I say, I’m sorry old boy.” He grabbed Ardeth’s other arm and they pulled him up. Jonathon didn’t see the fistful of snow Ardeth held until it was too late.
As Jonathon brushed the snow off his chest, he said, “Well, at least you didn’t aim for my face that time.”
“Next time you may not be so fortunate,” Ardeth said, smiling. Suddenly his expression changed.
“What?” Jonathon looked around to see that snow was falling. He looked back at Ardeth to see what almost looked like awe on the Med-jai’s face as he watched the flakes fall.
Evy laughed, at Ardeth’s expression of wonder. He looked like a little child.
Rick smiled, shaking his head. “Ardeth, you definitely need to get out more.”
When they stepped off the boat in Cairo, Ardeth sighed in relief. The heat felt good compared to the biting cold in England. He couldn’t imagine why someone would willingly live in such a cold climate, but then again, the desert got so unbearably hot that his friends probably wondered how he could live there.
Rick, Evy, and Jonathon followed Ardeth through the crowds. Suddenly another Med-jai appeared before them, and Ardeth grasped his arm in greeting.
“I am relieved that you all arrived safely,” the Med-jai said.
“Safti!” said Evy.
The Med-jai pulled the shroud from his face, and Evy grabbed him in a hug.
“It’s good to see you, Safti!” she said, and stepped back. “How have you been?” She noticed that the smile on his face was forced.
“Oh no,” she said.
Safti nodded. “My wife was one of those taken.”
Rick shook Safti’s hand, with a sympathetic look. “We brought the Stone. If Ardeth has to give it to the jerk to get them all back, it’s a small price to pay.”
Safti tried to smile again. “Shukran. I just hope…” he stopped, with a sigh.
Ardeth put a hand on his shoulder. “We will get them back, sadiqi. All of them.”
Safti nodded, and they continued on their way.
“Do you think it’ll work?” Rick asked Ardeth, who’d just shared an idea with them.
Ardeth sighed. “It is possible. Hut-waret does not know exactly what the Stone looks like, he would not find out he has a fake until it is too late.”
“But then what’ll you do when he does find out, and comes back for revenge?” Jonathon asked.
“We can not let them live!” Safti nearly shouted.
Ardeth put a calming hand on his friend’s arm. “He will not simply take the jewel and leave. There will be a battle and we will win it. But we must not give him the real Stone, or it may become lost.”
“Or snatched by someone who gets away,” said Rick.
Ardeth nodded as they stopped in front of a small store.
“Are you sure you can trust this man?” Evy whispered to him.
Ardeth smiled inwardly. His foreign friends were the only ones who ever questioned him. He understood why: no one is perfect, and he didn’t think himself as such.
Ardeth nodded at her. “He has been of great service to us many times in the past.”
Evy nodded, with a still-unsure look on her face as Ardeth went in, followed by Rick.
“Stay with Safti,” her husband told her.
Evy made a face at him and took a step closer to the Med-jai lookout, watching as they went inside.
Jonathon stuck his hand out to the Med-jai Evy had told him so much about. “I say, my name is Jonathon, I’m Evy’s brother.”
Safti shook it. “I am Safti, Ardeth’s second-in-command.”
“Softy?” Jonathon said.
Evy gasped and covered her mouth, giggling. Talk about deja-vu!*
That brought a real smile to Safti’s face, albeit a small one.
Ardeth and Rick went over to the counter, where a man stood. He was short, gray haired, looked to be around 50.
Ardeth took the case out of his pocket. “I need a copy made of this,” he said, speaking English for Rick's benefit.
The man’s eyes bugged out of his head when he saw the Stone. He took it from Ardeth, looking it over.
“Yes,” he said, finding his voice. “I can do that. Color will be slightly off, though.”
Ardeth nodded. “That will be fine. I need it as soon as possible.”
The man nodded, and closed the case.
Ardeth started to walk back towards the door, and Rick looked to the man, and back to Ardeth again in surprise, then he hurried after his friend.
“You’re just gonna leave it with him?!”
Ardeth nodded as they stepped out. “He should have it ready for us in an hour.”
“But what if he gives it to the Hut-whatever guy?” Rick asked, as they walked to where Safti, Evy, and Jonathon were getting food from a vendor.
“He is trustworthy, Rick. Besides, he is being watched.”
That made Rick feel better. “Oh, good.”
“I say, Evy, this would look good on you!”
Jonathon held up a necklace from one of the vendor stands, and Evy went over to see it.
“Beautiful!” she said. It was gold, with a ruby red heart-shaped stone.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes!”
“Here you are, my good man,” said Jonathon, handing money to the smiling vendor. “And here you are, sis!”
Evy smiled, “Why, thank you, Jonathon!” she kissed him on the cheek. “How sweet of you!”
A few yards away, Ardeth, Safti, Rick, and one of the Med-jai that had been watching the jeweler stood talking.
“Do you think it’s ready yet?”
Ardeth nodded. “After I get them I will ride back out to the encampment to let my people know that I and the Stone are here, and that this ordeal will soon be over.”
Safti perked up at that. “I will accompany you,” he said, obviously wanting to find out if there was any word on his wife, which they all knew to be unlikely.
“Will you be coming also?” Ardeth asked Rick.
He nodded. “Absolutely. There’s power in numbers, you know,” he said, not having to voice the possibility that they could walk into a trap along the way.
Ardeth smiled at him, and then looked to the other Med-jai.
“Adranji, you will remain here with Evy and Jonathon,” he said, gesturing to the two enthusiastic shoppers.
The young warrior nodded. “Yes, my Chief.”
“Keep a close eye on them, huh?” Rick told him.
Adranji nodded, with a slightly puzzled look, probably wondering what difficulty he could possibly have in watching them.
Ardeth and Rick walked back into the jeweler’s shop, to see the owner standing in much the same spot he’d been in earlier, as if he hadn’t even moved. The case was sitting on the counter, and Ardeth picked it up.
He opened it to see two nearly identical stones. He took out the slightly lighter one, which he knew to be the fake, and studied it closely. He put the case down and took out the real Stone. Their heaviness was almost the same, Ardeth saw. He put the stones back in the case and stuck it back into his pocket, said something to the man in Arabic, and they left.
“He did a good job,” Rick said. “I noticed you didn’t pay him anything though?”
“He knows he will be paid,” was all Ardeth said.
Rick shrugged. “Okay.”
They found the horses Adranji had brought for them, and they mounted.
“Hey Ardeth.”
Ardeth looked at his friend. “Yes?”
“How’d you know I wanted Evy and Jonathon to stay here?”
Ardeth smiled. “I know you, my friend, and I know them. They will not only be safer here, but they will also get into less trouble.”
Rick stood off to the side, watching as Ardeth conversed with his men at the camp. Though the mood was quite somber, they seemed very relived to know that Ardeth —with the Stone— had things under control.
“Hut-waret has sent word,” said Ardeth, walking back over to Rick. “He is waiting for me.”
“Really? Where?”
“The message merely said to head south.”
“Could be a trap.”
Ardeth nodded. “It could, but we have no choice.”
Rick nodded. “Boy, is Evy gonna be mad when she realizes that we left without her.”
Ardeth smiled, imagining her reaction.
Safti came running over. “Are we leaving now, Ardeth?”
Ardeth nodded. “Yes, we ride now.”
“I wonder where they are,” said Evy, looking up and down the streets.
“I don’t see them either. They’re probably devising up a plan,” said Jonathon.
Evy looked at her watch. “Oh my! It’s afternoon already! They must’ve gotten the fake stone hours ago.” She looked at Adranji, who seemed to be ignoring their conversation.
“Okay,” she said to him, crossing her arms. “Spill it.”
The warrior looked at her, confused. “’Spill it’?”
“Yes! Tell me where they went!”
“Ah,” said Adranji. “They went back to the campsite.”
“Without us?!”
“Ardeth merely wanted to let the people know he had returned, with the Stone.”
“And Rick and Safti had to go with him,” said Evy, not buying it.
Adranji nodded, more then slightly intimidated by the surprisingly bold Englishwoman.
Evy tapped her foot. “I knew it!”
“What?” Jonathon asked.
“They went to do it without us!”
Jonathon’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding? Thank God!”
Evy sighed. “Coward. Let’s go, I want to find out what happens as soon as possible!”
As they walked by the jeweler’s shop, they heard a strangled cry come from inside.
“Evy! Did you hear that?” said Jonathon.
She nodded and started to run in, but Adranji pulled out his scimitar and went in first.
They heard it again, a weak cry for help. They ran around the counter to see the jeweler lying in a pool of blood on the floor.
“Oh my!” Evy cried out, kneeling next to the man.
“Thank God!” the jeweler said. “Take this…hurry…tell him…sorry…”
Evy looked at what he’d given her. It was a small vial.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Ant…id…” the man gasped out, before suddenly going limp.
“What’d he say?” Jonathon asked. Adranji shook his head, the dying man’s voice having been to soft for him to hear.
“’Ant-id…’,” Evy repeated. Her eyes opened wide, and she nearly dropped the vial in shock. “Antidote!!”
Adranji snatched the vial, seeing the clear liquid inside. “Come! We must hurry!”