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Chapter 9

Author's Notes:  Special thanks to Leeanne [Beeswax] for assisting with the boomerang scenes, as well as thanks to Amy [Lilybird] and Dawn for being my betas on this chapter.

~*~

Powerful hooves thundered on the sand, quickly approaching the Medjai camp at a hectic pace.

Without any hesitation, the warriors on guard waved the familiar figure past the gates and into the camp.

In rolled-up shirtsleeves, tan pants and well-worn riding boots, the tawny-haired man drove his horse deep into the Medjai camp, his pale blue eyes wild as his head turned this way and that, looking frantically for the Chieftain.

Rick O’Connell rode in like a potent thunderstorm running across the sky, calling out “Ardeth!  Ardeth!  Ardeth!”

Ardeth turned abruptly away from the papers laid out in front of him.  Bethany, who stood next to him, also twisted quickly around to see who was crying out Ardeth’s name in such anguish.  They had been studying Bethany's notes before Rick's heartfelt cries pierced the relative quiet of the encampment.

Rick pulled on the reins of his mount, hardly waiting for the horse to stop before he jumped out of the saddle.  A young Medjai quickly approached and lead the sweaty horse away to the stables for some desperately needed water.

Ardeth jogged towards Rick and grabbed Rick by the shoulders.  “What is it, ya ukh?  What brings you here in such a state?”

“Evie’s gone!”

“Gone where?”

“To Hamunaptra!”

Ardeth removed his hands from the other man’s shoulders.  “But surely this is the planned trip with the Berlin scholars, no?”

Rick looked surprised at Ardeth’s knowledge.  “How did you know about that?”

Ardeth shrugged his shoulders.  “She asked that some of my men meet her and Sahar there.  But I sent them to Cairo to escort them the entire way.  She wasn’t anticipating any problems, however, she appreciates the concerns…”

Ardeth looked over at Bethany before continuing his thought,

“… that a visit to the City of the Dead raises, no pun intended.  She assured me they would not be removing anything, that the Berlin Museum only wanted to take a series of photographs to create miniature models for their Egyptian wing.”

Rick nodded as he absentmindedly ran his hands through his already tousled hair.  “Well, anyway… it’s just like you said.  She's been expecting a group of scholars and archaeologists from the Berlin Museum.  She was going to show them around a bit for some photo opportunities and so on.”

Ardeth understood Rick's concerns.  Considering the last couple of times that things involved Hamunaptra, it was certainly understandable.  However, this current behavior of Rick's seemed extreme.

“So, O’Connell… ajab, tell me how is it that you are so certain that her disappearance is a bad thing?  She’s either already at or on her way to Hamunaptra.”

Rick O'Connell's frantic look returned as he exclaimed, “But with the wrong people, Ardeth!”

Ardeth’s own face quickly shifted from complacent to shock at this bit of news.  “What?!”

Rick took a deep breath.  “The Cairo Museum received a cable today from the curator of the Berlin Museum apologizing for having to cancel the trip on such short notice.  Something about the current atmosphere regarding things that are happening in Europe, specifically Germany.  Traveling abroad is getting complicated and so the curator wrote that they'd reschedule a new trip in the future.  But Evie had already left with…”

Ardeth’s voice deepened with concern.  “So you mean…”

“Yeah… that's what I mean!  The people that showed up for a personal tour of Hamunaptra are not scholars and they have my wife!”

Ardeth shook his head softly as he rubbed his beard thoughtfully with one hand.  “This could be no coincidence.  Of all the nationalities…”

Rick was confused and flustered.  “What?  What are you muttering about, Ardeth?  Nationalities?!”

Ardeth raised a hand towards Bethany.  “A new friend of the Medjai has just made us aware of the occult interests of one Mr. Adolf Hitler, the German Chancellor.  This does not bode well for Evie.”

Rick blurted out, “Gee, Ardeth, ya think?!”

Ardeth made a ‘calm-down’ gesture towards Rick.  “Easy, O’Connell.  When you hear what Bethany has to say, much will fall into place. And then we will need you to help us with Imhotep.”

Rick could not contain himself.  “What does that guy that invaded Poland have to do with anything?  Wait a minute… wait… a… minute!  Did you just say ‘help us with Imhotep?’"

“I did at that, zameel.”

But we didn’t wake him up!  Whoa, don't tell me he's escaped ag-”

Ardeth cut him off.  “No… but this Hitler may be trying to get his hands on him regardless.”

Rick pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes, not believing the words that his good friend had just uttered.  “Oh, great!  I hate mummies!”

“As do I, zameel… as do I.  Come.  Come and listen to Bethany's tale.”  Ardeth began to turn away to lead Bethany and O'Connell back to the papers.

“Wait, Ardeth.  Where’s… uhm… Joshua?”

Ardeth stopped in his tracks and turned back towards Rick.  “He should be around here somewhere, most likely working with old Fazeem.  Are you hurt?  Why do you wa-” 

Rick saw a muscle twitch in the Chieftain’s jaw as Ardeth began turning away from him once more.  “La, forget that I asked.  I do not wish to hear this.”

“But Ardeth, I have to tell him that-”

“LA!”  Ardeth stopped Rick’s words from progressing any further.  “Aiwa, Rick… you will be the one to tell him what I suspect.  I shall not be the one to wrench out my own brother’s heart and tell him his betrothed has been abducted along with your wife.”

Rick held out his hands in a pleading manner.  “But Ardeth, you know Evie will do all she can to protect Sahar… you know Evie can fight and she-”

Ardeth cut his hand through the air in a gesture that shut the other man up once and for all.

“Enough, Rick!  I know all this.  And I know this as well.  Sahar is Medjai.  She can fight well.  Quite well for a woman not of the warrior sect, as a matter of fact.  We can thank Allah for her natural ability and Fahd for having enhanced her skills through training.  But you and I both know that the greater concern for a mara is not if she can fight off an attacker, but rather how long she can fight him off.”

Rick could see the control it took Ardeth to speak these painful words… words that touched on something that Ardeth knew far too well.

Bethany watched as Ardeth walked away, trying to compose himself.  He reached the table and gripped its edge; his eyes clenched shut as he forced himself to breath deeply and calmly.

Bethany switched her gaze to this Rick O'Connell character.  As tall as he was, over six feet, he had the look of a lost boy.  She held out her hand, “Sometimes it seems like there's never a right time for introductions.  I'm Bethany Kreiger.”

At the sound of her voice, Rick's eyes registered surprised.  "Is that an American accent you’ve got there?"

She smiled.  He wasn't remotely fazed by her white hair, her dark skin or her pale eyes.  In spite the unpleasantness that surrounded his arrival at the camp, Bethany got a good feeling about this O'Connell.

“Guilty as charged.  Born and bred in the good ol' US of A.”

She tugged on his shirtsleeve.  “Let's go over to Ardeth.  He's been telling me about how he wants you involved in our plans.  But I'm sure it can wait until we get your wife and his brother's fiancée safely back.”

Rick slowly walked along with Bethany, rubbing the back of his neck as he muttered, “It would serve me right if Ardeth decided not to help me.”

Bethany bit her lip at the tone in his voice.  The man truly sounded at a loss.

~* ~

Ardeth had rounded up Fahd to help him and Rick rescue Evie and Sahar.  Bethany volunteered to help, thinking her German could come in handy as well as some of her other skills. 

The Chieftain had insisted that they keep the rescue party small; to enhance their speed in the hopes of arriving before anything unpleasant happened to the women.  The plan was stealth, stealth and more stealth… sneak into the camp, save the women and try to decipher the true intentions of these 'museum employees.'

But each of them was thoroughly armed to the teeth with rifles, pistols and more… plus the two Medjai had their trusty yet deadly scimitars as well.

Quickly congregating at the camp gates, they made ready to head out.  Bethany approached, leading her Platiado along.  Rick followed her with a fresh horse, as his own was still somewhat fatigued.

Bethany still wore her cowboy boots and spurs.  However, she had forgone the chaps and buckskin shirt for jeans and a short denim jacket over a white button-down shirt, topping it all off with a rust colored cowboy hat.

As she walked her horse past Ardeth and Fahd who were giving final orders to the remaining warriors, Fahd called out to her, “What in Pharaoh's name is that piece of wood doing sticking out of your pants?”

Bethany reached behind her and pulled at it, adjusting it.  “It’s called a boomerang.

“A booma-what?”

“A boomerang.  I got it when I was in Australia.”

“And what does it do?”

“You’ll see.”

Fahd harrumphed under his breath as he pulled himself into the saddle of his horse.

~*~

Over the next rise, the small group led by Ardeth spotted the camp of the Germans.   There were several tents, some horses as well as two camels.  A variety of trunks and crates littered the spaces between the tents.  And every trunk or crate was painted with a sizable swastika on each side.

Apparently Evie and Sahar had smartly not let on that Imhotep was no longer buried at Hamunaptra – Ardeth and Rick agreed that that was indeed a good thing.  For had the women spoken the truth, the campsite would not be in this location of the desert.  And Ardeth knew that the idea of returning to Ahm Shere was less than appealing to Rick. 

While Ardeth had lost his beloved Horus, Rick had very nearly lost his darling wife.  Thankfully, Alex, Rick and Evie’s son, was nearly as obsessed with all things Egyptian as his dear ol’ mum… and from the mouth of a babe came her salvation.

The three men agreed that it was a good thing that they would only have to contend with living Germans and not undead Egyptians.

Undead Egyptians?  Bethany just shook her head, still missing pieces of the puzzle.

Fine, gossip amongst yourselves, she thought, I’m sure I’ll get an earful soon enough.

Bethany pulled out a small pair of opera glasses and scanned the camp.  She passed the glasses to Ardeth as she spoke.  “I count ten horses.  Assuming they allowed the women to ride separately so as not to make them suspect anything, that means eight men.”

Ardeth replied as he gazed at the camp, “Yes, and the camels are surely their pack animals.  Now then… if we can ascertain how many of the four additional guards that we sent to Cairo with Sahar are within the German camp, we may have more allies.”

Fahd's deep voice raised an unsettling thought.  “That's if Adham and the other three warriors that we sent have not been finished off.  None of those horses have Medjai brands on them.  That does not bode well for us.”

Ardeth looked sharply at his brother and saw his brother's nearly ancient telescope raised to one eye.  Raising Bethany's opera glasses to his eyes again, he grunted his affirmative.  “You're right.  None of them wear our mark.”

A voice rose up towards the dune.

”Ja, ja, fein. Ich finde ihn.“ [Yes, yes, fine.  I shall find it.]

Ardeth hissed as he dropped his head behind the dune, “Everyone down!  Someone's leaving one of the tents!”

Rick and Fahd followed his lead.

But Bethany did not.

Fahd watched as she whipped off her cowboy hat with one hand, dropping it to the floor as she tugged at her boomerang with the other.  He practically growled at her.

“Woman, get down before I knock you down!  You will surrender our position standing up like that!”

Bethany smirked as she whispered, “Hush now, I can't concentrate with you making so much noise.”

That being said, she flung the boomerang away from her, towards the stocky Aryan who was heading over to a supply chest. With a firm but simple flick of the wrist over her shoulder, she'd just turned a piece of wood into a potential killing tool.

Each revolution of the boomerang sliced the air with a sound resembling a frantic bee, buzzing for all it was worth.

THWACK!

The stocky Aryan was now face-down in the ground.

She turned to the men as she snatched up her cowboy hat and started down the dune.  Turning around to see three shocked male faces, she said, “I'd appreciate a little help from any one of you with this next part.”

Fahd raised an eyebrow to Ardeth.  And Ardeth waved him on.  Fahd quickly followed Bethany.

“Fahd, I need you to grab him and bring him up to the dune.”

They stepped quickly into the camp and the powerfully built Medjai easily lifted the unconscious man onto his shoulder.

Bethany trailed after Fahd, walking backwards and using the brim of her hat to erase their footprints from the camp to the dune.

When the trio returned to Ardeth and Rick, Bethany smiled.  “Well, that's one down.  We’ve just improved our odds and they still don't know we're here.”