�J-Josie,� he faltered, trying to get up.
Evy stopped him, �Hush, try not to move. It�ll only make the bleeding worse.�
He looked down and saw the blood.
�Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God,� his breathing quickened.
�Shh-shh.� She moved the curls off his forehead, in a way she would have done with Alex and tried to comfort him. He closed his eyes, obviously in pain.
�Hurts��
She took his hand in her free one and looked over to where Rick and Jonathan were standing.
Jonathan was very agitated; �We have to go after them!�
�Wait, don�t go rushing off.�
�Wait! You want me to wait! That�s the woman I love out there, with that thing and you want me to wait! We need to do something now! He could be doing Lord knows what to her. My God, Rick, I�m going to lose her.�
�Jonathan, just calm down. Ardeth will be here soon, he usually appears pretty damn quick. He probably knows more than we do and will have a plan. Then we can go after her, with clear heads and��
�No,� Jonathan interrupted, �No. You stay here and wait for Ardeth if you want. I�m going after her, I�m not leaving her at the mercy of that monster.� He started to walk away, in the direction that Imhotep and the rest had gone.
�Jonathan!� Evy shouted. He turned around, �No, Evy, I�ve got to do this, I can�t just wait.� He carried on walking.
�W-Where�s he going?� a weak voice said. Evy looked down at Charlie.
�He�s gone after Josie.�
�W-Who was the man? Imhotep?� he asked.
�He�s a 3,000 year old Egyptian priest, well mummy really. It�s a long story.�
�Oh. God. T-This can�t be real. I�m lying here b-bleeding to death, my sister�s been kidnapped by someone who�s been dead for 3,000 years. G-Got to be a nightmare,� he was struggling to speak, he had started shaking. Rick moved over to them.
�How is he?� he asked.
�He�s bleeding quite a bit, I think he�s going into shock. He�s drifting in and out of consciousness. Oh God, Rick, I�ve done it again, put everyone in danger.�
�It�s not your fault, Evy. Let me have a look, I�ve seen plenty of bullet wounds in my time.� He knelt and looked at the wound, �Don�t think it�s gone into the lung. Bullet�s still in there, though�
�Can you remove it?�
�Wouldn�t dare. I�ll only make things worse.�
�Oh, Rick. What are we going to do? He needs medical attention quick.�
They heard hoof-beats and they looked up to see a familiar in black approach them, behind him were several of his warriors.
�Thank God� breathed Evy
�Ardeth,� Rick said as he stood up, Ardeth got of his horse. �Why do we only meet when there is danger?�
�O�Connell. Somehow I thought it would be you.� He noticed the figure on the ground, �Jonathan? Is he alright?� he asked.
�Jonathan! What�s happened to him? You�ve seen him? Where?� Evy questioned.
�I don�t know. I thought�Oh, it is not Jonathan. Sorry I immediately assumed.�
Evy looked down at Charlie. �Oh, I see. Charlie. He�s a friend of the family.�
Rick looked at Ardeth; �Jonathan�s gone after Imhotep.�
�Jonathan? I didn�t think he was the type.�
�More specifically he�s gone after Josie.�
�Josie? O�Connell I think you had better start from the beginning.�
�OK. We, that is Evy, Jonathan and I, Alex is staying with Evy�s aunt, went on an expedition with the youngest children, that�s Josie and Charlie, of some friends of Evy�s parents. It was supposedly a tomb but turned out to be a temple. Evy and Charlie found something, a sheet of gold with hieroglyphics on. Naturally being Evy she started reading aloud and needless to say it ended with Imhotep appearing. He addressed Evy as Nefertiri, wanted Josie as his bride, she refused, he got mad, then grabbed Josie, Charlie tried to stop him. He was then shot by Lock-Nah and Imhotep and his supporters took off in a sandstorm along with the temple. Jonathan�s gone off after them as he�s in love with Josie.�
�Lock-Nah you say.�
�Yeah. There�s a lot of bad blood between you guys. What happened?�
�Old rivalries. It is a long story and we have little time. Let me look at your friend.�
They went over to Evy and Charlie and Ardeth knelt beside Charlie. He opened his eyes wide in fear when he saw Ardeth; the only thing stopping him moving away was the pain from the wound that flared up with every movement. Evy held his hand tighter in comfort.
�Ssh, it�s alright. Ardeth�s a friend, he�s going to help us get your sister back.�
Ardeth moved Charlie�s shirt away from the wound so he could get a better look at it, Charlie hissed in pain.
�It is alright, young one, I will not take long.�
�Well?� Rick asked.
�It is not too bad. Once the bleeding has stopped and the bullet removed he should be better once he has rested. I suggest you come with me to my village, the medicine woman can treat him and we can make plans.�
�Have you seen Imhotep?�
�We know where he is, yes. We have not see Jonathan though�
�OK, we�ll do that.�
They started to make preparations to leave.
~**~
Jonathan moved towards the temple, he could see that Lock-Nah�s men were guarding it and tried to remain undetected. He got as close to the entrance as he could, he noticed that the entrance was just a gap, there was no door. Presently the guards were distracted by something and he swiftly and stealthily slid into the entrance. He stopped once he had got around a corner, hardly believing he had got in without being noticed. He then set about looking for Josie. Further down the corridor he heard Imhotep�s voice, he watched as he left a room which was locked behind him by one of his supporters. He waited for him to go and went to the room. Within it he could see Josie.