Chapter 3: Olia in England

 

For the O’Connells, life had never been more blissful.  Alex was doing better everyday that passed, and his dreams of what had taken place in Ahm-Shere had all but gone away.  Jonathan had his own Casino, which Rick helped manage financially, and Evelyn was as busy as she ever was at the museum.  Life was good, and quiet, and for Rick that was just fine.  The family had just finished dinner, and now he, and Evie sat by the fire, talking about the recent artifacts sent from North America.

 

“I think I will take Alex tomorrow, he would be fascinated by the Dinosaurs, maybe it will help take his mind off of Egypt,”  she said.  Before Rick could add a word in otherwise, they heard the door being knocked on.

 

“Stay here,”  he said kissing her lips, then got up, and went to see who would be paying them a visit at such an odd hour.  He had half expected it to be the Constable with Jonathan drunk, but when he opened the door the person he met was none other than Ardeth Bey, and with him a small child.

 

“O’Connell,”  he said.  Somehow Rick knew he wasn’t going to like what the man had to say, but due to the child in his arms, refrained from any harsh words, and led him into the parlor.  Knowing that Ardeth needed privacy to tell Rick why he was there, Evelyn spoke in Egyptian, and coaxed the girl to go with her to have some cookies.  Once she was out of earshot, Ardeth spoke.

 

“My daughter is in danger, and I know I have no right to ask your help, but I have no other choice,”  he said as he turned away from his friend.  Remembering how he had helped when Alex had been taken, Rick’s displeasure at seeing him quickly left.

 

“So you need her to stay with us?”  he asked.  Ardeth turned and nodded.

 

“Yes, but by keeping her with you, I place you in danger.  She has dreams, and I fear that somehow the creature is going to use her to make his return.  Imhotep has followers, that are as ancient as my tribe, and if they find her, I’m not sure what they would do to her,”  he said sitting down, and taking the glass of water Rick had poured for him.

 

“We’ve faced worse,”  Rick said trying to lighten his friends mood.

 

“Does she understand why she is here?”  he asked.  Ardeth shook his head.

 

“Does she speak any English?”  he asked.

 

“Only Egyptian,”  he said.  Rick nodded, about to say more when Olia ran to her father hugging him tight.  He spoke to her in their tongue, and she began to cry, clinging to him.

 

“I know this is difficult my Femi, but they are friends, and I need you to be brave,”  he said, kissing the top of her head.

 

“Will you come back for me?”  she finally asked, looking at him with her brown eyes.  Ardeth kissed the top of her head.

 

“Yes,”  he said.  After a few minutes more, it was time for him to leave again, to get the next ship out of England.  Rick gave him money for passage, and offered to drive him to port, an offer Ardeth accepted.  He and Olia wore cloths that concealed their identity, cloths that everyday people wore, though his tattoos had not been concealed, and he still got funny looks.  Once the two of them had left, Evelyn led Olia upstairs to the guest room, and while she got the bed ready for her, Alex walked in.

 

“Mum?”  he asked, causing Evie to look up.

 

“Alex, this is Olia Bey.  She is going to stay with us for a while,”  Evelyn said, though she didn’t know why, and hoped Rick would tell her once he returned.

 

“Hi Olia, I’m Alex,”  he said. As he approached her, she ran behind a chair and hid.

 

“She speaks Egyptian baby, and for a while, she will need time to adjust, so no friends over please,”  Evelyn said as she finished.  Though Alex hated that, the fact that she was the daughter of their friend, was something he thought was cool.  Once she had the bed made, Evelyn coaxed Olia out from behind the chair explaining to her that Alex was her baby, which made her smile.

 

“What did you say to her?”  Alex asked, as Evie got her ready for bed.

 

“I told her you were my baby,”  Evie said.

 

“Mum,”  Alex said, then left embarrassed.

 

“Why did he leave?”  she asked yawning.

 

“He thinks he is two grown up to be my baby,”  Evelyn replied as she started to help Olia on the bed.

 

“No, don’t leave,”  she said hugging tight around Evie’s neck.  Evelyn carried her over to the rocking chair and sat down.  For a few minutes, Olia was quiet then lifted her head to look at Evelyn.

 

“You made the Scorpion King come,”  she said.  Like with Eshe, that name brought Evelyn unease, but she hid it from the small girl in her arms.

 

“Yes, but your father, and the tribe helped us to stop him,”  Evelyn said stroking her hand through the young girls hair.  Soon Olia slept, and after getting her settled in bed, Evelyn made sure the windows in her room were locked tight.  Across the hall in his room, Alex was working a puzzle, ready for bed.  It was a new puzzle Uncle John had gotten for him, one that had a picture of the Great Pyramids of Egypt on it.  As he was about to get up, Evelyn opened the door.

 

“Alex, will you keep an ear out for Olia, I need to wait for your father to see why she is staying here,”  Evelyn informed.

 

“Sure Max and I can handle it,”  Alex said.  Upon hearing his name, Max, Alex’s German Shepherd, looked up from his bed, then went back to sleep.  He was a year and a half old, and worn out after chasing horses all day.  Once his mum had gone, Alex gave up on his puzzle and went to check on the little girl.  It was quiet when he went in, and when his eyes adjusted, he realized she was not in her bed.  After looking around, and not being able to find her, he ran downstairs finding his parents talking.

 

“Mum Olia’s not in her bed, nor in her room,”  Alex said.  Both Rick and Evelyn jumped up, following their son to her room.  He was right, the little girl was not in her bed, and they split up looking around for her.  Just when everyone was about to panic, Max grabbed Alex’s leg and pulled on him, and Alex followed Max to her bed.  Max sniffed under her bed, and when Alex lifted the dust ruffle he found her sound asleep on the hard floor.  Evelyn managed to get her out from under the bed and had the boys take the blankets off of the bed, and make her a pallet, then laid her there, and ushered them out.

 

“So she sleeps on the ground?”  Alex asked as both parents escorted him back into his room.

 

“I’m not sure, darling,”  Evie said as he climbed into bed.  Once he was tucked in, they left him, going to their own room.  Evie got ready for bed, while Rick went into his closet and got out a few guns, which got a frown from his wife.

 

“Rick is that really nessasary”  she asked.

 

“If someone comes for her, or any of us, then yes,”  he said loading two revolvers.  It had been a long time since Rick had worried about weapons, and Evie worried about that, but let it go, if it made him feel better to have guns ready, then she wasn’t going to try and talk him out of that.  Once she was ready for bed, she lay, waiting for Rick to make his nightly rounds, to check the doors in the house.  Once he had returned they snuggled together and went to sleep.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Having Olia away from Egypt made it impossible for Imhotep to get into her dreams.  His powers were limited to holy ground, and that holy ground for him was Hamunaptra.  Not wasting any time the priest entered the dream world of one of his followers, a man named Ini-Herit, and instructed him to find the child and take her to Hamunaptra, then wait for further instructions.  Morning came, and Ini-Herit awoke remembering his visioned dream, and gathered his men.  Where Havez and his followers had failed, Ini, knew that the time had come for Imhoteps return, and unlike them he didn’t have any hidden agenda’s.  All day his tribe prepared, and by night they road in the darkness heading for the village of the Med-jai of Hamunaptra.

 

~*~*~*~

 

A few days had passed, and Olia was sad.  She had never been away from her home, and try as she might, there was only so much she could do to be brave.  Today Evelyn was needed at the museum, and she left a reluctant Rick to look after her.  Now the little girl knelt on the couch looking out the window at the rain, while Rick sat at his desk watching her.  He wished he knew Egyptian, well enought to speak to her, but he didn’t and most of the time it took Evelyn to translate to her what he was trying to say.  Finally not able to stand seeing her so sad he went over.

 

“Olia,”  he said.  She turned and looked at him.

 

“Do you want to go in the car?”  he asked.  When she tilted her head he sighed, and opened his arms hoping she would trust him enough to let him show her what he meant.  Relief came when she did let him hold her, and after he carried her to the front of the house, getting on both his rain slicker and one Evelyn had bought for her, he carried her out to the car and drove her into town to the a toy store.  Not long after they left a group of black robed men drove up to the house.  They broke in with ease and looked around, and were still looking when Alex arrived home from School.  As soon as he walked in the door he was grabbed, and tried to scream but one of them put a gag over his mouth.

 

“The people who live here will give her to us, for their boy,”  The leader said in Arabic.  They left as quickly as they had come, leaving a note where one of them could find it.

 

~*~*~*~

 

In town Rick took Olia to a toy store, and watched her look at the different toys.  Her eye caught on a rocking horse and she pet it, so Rick got that for her, then they left to go pay a visit to Evelyn at the museum.  When they arrived, Evie was at her desk writing something, and upon seeing her Olia ran to her speaking so fast that even Evelyn, who was fluent in both modern and Ancient Egyptian, had difficulty understanding her.

 

“Slow Olia,” Evelyn said holding her.

 

“I got a rocky horse, just like at my home,”  she said.

 

“You did, well thats wonderful,”  Evelyn said kissing her black hair.

 

“You must come home with us,”  she said, liking it better when Evelyn was there.  As much as Evelyn wished she could, she had a man coming to the museum to donate some treasures he had found while in Africa.  As Evie was about to tell her that, the phone rang, and when she picked it up, Alex’s frightened voice alarmed her.

 

“Mum, these guys want Olia,  I got out of where they had me, but I don’t know where I am they left this note and I don’t want to go back to Egypt,”  Alex whispered.

 

“Okay baby stay calm,”  she said signaling for Rick to take Olia, which he did.

 

“Are you in London?”  she asked trying not to panic.

 

“Yeah, I think near the port, I keep hearing that whistle, the one that sounds when a ship is coming in,”  he said, then he heard someone coming and hung up, hiding in some crates.

 

“You find that boy, and when you do cut off his feet,”  Kontar said.  When Alex heard retreating foot steps, he waited, knowing that likely they were waiting for him to come out.  He waited for almost an hour, and heard someone leave cursing, and took his chance.  The room he was in was very dark, and he felt the walls for any sort of window, and finally struck home.  As hard as he could, he tried opening it up, and finally got it up just enough to slip out.  When he got out, he found he was at the port, and ran as fast as he could until he found a guard.

 

“Please help me,”  he said.

 

“What is it son,”  the man said turning, and Alex screamed and ran.  The guard was one of the men who had taken him, and Alex ran dodging men left and right making quick tracks away from the guys who wanted him.  Finally safe in the woods he rested, keeping quiet for a while, then found the main road and walked that for some time, until he found a cabby who took him the rest of the way to the museum.  When he arrived there, and walked in, he found his father holding Olia, and his mother sitting on one of the benches talking to an officer.

 

“Mum,”  he yelled running to her.  Evelyn stood up, and grabbed her son holding him tight.

 

“Mum they want her, we have to hide,”  he said terrified.  Both Rick, and Evie dismissed the officers, and instead of heading home, they left for the air strip deciding that they needed to go to Egypt and tell Ardeth if he didn’t already know that Olia was being searched for, and to plan what to do to stop Imhoteps followers.