| STORY 2 Page 18 |
| "You really wanna know? You wanna know about my Mom? My Dad? Papere? The bastard that killed them all? Fine. I'll tell ya, but you gotta do something first for me, O�Connell. I want you to try this. Go up on deck. Take, oh say, fifty to sixty paces backwards. Run forward at full speed doing a triple somersault through the air, and disappear up your own ass!" "DAMMIT! YOU JUST DON'T GET IT DO YOU? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? DID THEY SHOOT YOU THROUGH THE STUPID FOREST AND YOU HIT YOUR HEAD ON EVERY GODDAMN TREE ON YOUR WAY OUT?" "Do you eat with that mouth?" Two heads turned to look at Evie standing in the doorway. Good. Now Kit was gonna get it. His pretty little wife had "The Look" all over her face. Evie was gonna skin him alive and he'd wind up being the ugliest throw rug in Egypt. Yes sir! Busted now Buddy! "Kit, I suggest if you want to enjoy the same privileges as the rest of us while you're on board, you watch your tongue, young man." "Yes Ma�am", he answered quietly. What the hell? That was it? He turned to Evie who had turned "The Look" in his direction. Oh Hell. "Mr. O�Connell? We can hear you clear up in the wheel house. There's no reason to scream at the boy like that. He's really not the enemy here. I�m sure if you ask him with a modicum of civility, he'll answer your questions." "Won't you Kit?" Yeah, right, Rick thought looking at the sullen face, sitting on the pallet. And pigs will sprout wings and fly to the moon. Evie's eyebrow danced to attention. "KIT?" The teenager sighed. Evie knew then one of the battles had been won, but the war was another thing. It would take a lot for Kit to trust anyone. And the only way that could even start was for it to begin here, in this hold, right now. "Would you mind if I stayed?" "Kay", Kit answered flatly, shrugging his shoulder. "It's your boat. I�m just the prisoner here." "You wouldn't be, if you talk to Rick, you know. He just wants to know about Carrie Anne. That's all. See, they told him when he was in the orphanage that she died from pneumonia. I guess they didn�t think your grandparents would adopt a second child, even if it was her brother. I imagine they didn't know about Rick. Your Grandfather seemed like a nice man. He didn't seem like someone to purposefully separate a brother and his sister." "When my Mom told them she had a brother," Kit started quietly, "they asked about him. The orphanage said he was dead." Evie nodded. "I thought as much." She walked over to him and smiled. "Can I sit down? Will that be alright?" "I guess so." Can I ask you some things about your mom? I d like to know about her. She was Alex's aunt too." Evie said softly. Kit sighed deeply. He didn�t want to remember. It hurt too much to think about Mom and Pop. It hurt too much to think about Papere. He fought for a little over a year, to put the sight of his mother and father's body on the living room floor out of his mind. Now these people wanted him to sit there and ... He shoved a hand through his hair, pushing it back out of his eyes. It was a sign of frustration, Evie had witnessed a thousand times, from her husband. "Yeah, well, she's nobody's aunt or mother or sister now, since that bastard cut her throat!" Evie gasped and Rick sat up straight in the chair. "Who did it, Kit? Tell me? I'll make sure the sonuvabitch pays!" "Well you best not think on that, too long, O�Connell. I'm gonna kill Alan Skarzinski, myself!" Calla Lancaster ([email protected]) January 14, 2003 The man walked through the streets of Cairo, not knowing where he was going. He knew only that those damned O'Connells were coming after him. His British informant, Nac-et-bieh, had written him that the Carnahan�s son and daughter, as well as her husband, had left for Egypt, and had acquired two small boys on the way. According to the informant, one was their own, stowed away on-board. But the other, also stowed away, the grandson of his now deceased enemy, could tell everything about the man to the O'Connells. Everything. As the sun set, the man walked down to the river. There he spotted a caravan, surrounded by men in long black robes, with black tattoos on their foreheads and cheeks and decided to find out where they were going. After all, he was a wanted man. "Hamunaptra. The city of riches," was the reply that he got. Hamunaptra. The City of the Dead. Who would think to look for him there? What was his name? The men asked. "Habi-tu-maruk." This was the name he had been given at his birth. The name he had been given at his reincarnation was Alan Skarzinski, but he had committed many a crime under that alias. The men were talking again. Why was he going? They asked. �To escape the truth.� That answer seemed to sit well with the men, and the man was given a camel and supplies and told to meet at this very spot, at sunup. Sheri Lobue ([email protected]) January 14, 2003 Jonathan was sitting with Alex in his cabin next to the hold where Kit was being held. Jonathan held a glass to the wall and pressed his ear to the glass. Occasionally his expression would change and he would whisper something to Alex. Alex was tucked back in bed orders of his uncle Jon. In return, Jonathan promised a play by play of the action in the next room. Jonathan laughed at something filthy Kit had said to Rick. �Uncle Jooon! What are they saying?� �Oh, Kit is being very nice to your father, very polite, actually�, Jonathan lied. �Yeah? and you can eat my shorts! I�m not a KID, Uncle Jon.� Alex said with a sigh. �Yes, you most certainly are a KID, now hush so I can listen!� �Then whose the one holding the glass to the wall, huh?� �Alex! Shush!� �But who�s winning the fight?� Suddenly, Jonathan spun around on his heels and glared at Alex. �They most certainly are NOT fighting.� He tried to look stern, but it just wasn�t possible. Not after what he had heard going on next door, that was for certain! Suddenly Jonathan looked as if he would cry, but then the corners of his mouth turned upwards and he grinned. Then he laughed and looked at Alex. �Well, actually, they ARE fighting and Kit is holding his own!� Alex and Jon then started laughing and giggling, enjoying each other�s company and having fun eavesdropping to boot. Jonathan waved Alex over to the wall and picked up another glass off the cabinet. �Your mum will skin me alive if she catches you, but go on and place the glass here, like this. Now press your ear to the glass and you can hear EVERYTHING!� Alex was impressed at how clearly he could hear what was being said next door. He felt sorry for Kit, and he wanted to tell him so next chance he had to� �Uncle Jon? What are you doing?� |