Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (16 page)

"Can you show us inside?" Abigail asked.
 
She was eager to get going on the search for her parents, although she'd already been told numerous times that she, Michael and Liam would by no means be accompanying the search party.

"I'm afraid not, my dear," frowned Sallah.
 
"No one is allowed down in the tomb without having permission from the Minister of State for Antiquities, and I doubt he'll be allowing any children inside."

"No fair," Abigail whined at him.

"Abigail," Elizabeth warned her, "we talked about this.
 
You'd better behave yourself."

"Well, who can blame the girl," said Sallah with a wink.
 
"Going down into such a remarkable place is quite an adventure.
 
I would think it would be the dream of any child."
 
He patted her on the head.

The sun was just beginning to disappear behind the desert sands when Michael and Liam went to pay Aiden Osiris a visit.
 
When they arrived at his tent, it was clear that he already had visitors, so they decided to leave and come back a little later.
 
But just as they turned to leave, Mr. Osiris took notice and called them over.

"Boys, good evening.
 
There is someone here I would like you to meet.
 
This is Hasani Khalil, the Minister of State for Antiquities."

The Minister stood and held out his hand.

Michael gave him a firm handshake.
 
"A pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Liam told him.

"Good to meet you as well, good to meet you both.
 
How are you holding up?" he asked.
 
He spoke rather quickly, as if impatient to get his words out.

"Fine, sir," said Michael shortly.
 
He wasn't feeling particularly friendly toward either of these men at the moment.
 
He held them both at least partially responsible for his parents' disappearance.
 
Aiden Osiris had been in charge of re-opening the excavation site, and Khalil had authorized it despite what had happened to the previous archeological team.

Both men seemed to read the boy's expression, and looked at each other uncomfortably.

The minister took a deep breath.
 
"I want you boys to know that we're doing everything we can to figure out what happened.
 
We've closed off the site once again to everyone who is not taking part in this investigation, and are working around the clock looking for answers."

Both boys nodded, but neither spoke.

The minister stared at them intently for a moment before raising his hands and clapping them together.
 
"Well, I'm very sorry that you boys won't be able to go down into the necropolis, but it's just not a good idea until we get some questions answered.
 
However," he said, pulling something from a pack that lay on a table nearby, "you may find this interesting."
 
He handed a small leather-bound journal to Liam.

"What's this?"

"A diary," he responded.
 
"Kept by your uncle as he worked on the excavation of the necropolis.
 
Your father brought it along with him, and it was found after his disappearance."

"What?" Mr. Osiris frowned.
 
"Why is this the first I've heard of it?"

Mr. Khalil raised an eyebrow at him, apparently surprised by his reaction.
 
"Not to worry, Aiden," he said.
 
"I've examined the diary thoroughly.
 
It contains no information that we don't already have.
 
There are pictures and maps, and personal thoughts and notes about McGinty's experiences.
 
Quite a lot of superstitious nonsense and fragmented observations as well."
 
Then turning to Liam he added kindly, "Your great uncle was a talented cartographer, but he had some very peculiar beliefs."

Liam nodded.
 
"Believe me, I've heard about it."

He opened up his great uncle's diary.
 
Michael stood looking over his shoulder.
 
On the first page were the words
Memoirs and Sketches Concerning the Necropolis of Anubis
.
 

Beneath this was his signature,
Shamus McGinty
, in large script.
 
And below that was written a short prayer.

From goulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties

And things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!

The boys looked at each other bemusedly.
 
"I've seen that somewhere before," Liam told Michael.
 
"It's an old Scottish prayer."

"Did Declan MacDonald add any notes to that diary?" Osiris demanded, furrowing his brow at the minister.

"No, Aiden.
 
As I said, I've examined it thoroughly.
 
There's nothing in there that can help us in any way."

Mr. Osiris nodded, but he wore an irritated expression, which stayed on his face until Michael and Liam left a few minutes later.

"Well that was a bit odd," said Michael as the two were walking back to their tents.
 
"I wonder why Osiris was so mad about Mr. Khalil giving you that diary."

"Maybe it has something to do with this," said Liam, his face buried in the book as they walked through the sand.
 
He handed the open diary to Michael.

The page that Liam had found showed a sketch of an Egyptian petroglyph portraying three men.
 
Michael recognized them at once as Anubis, Horus, and their father Osiris.
 
Beneath the drawing were the words "Osiris could not be trusted."

"But this is Osiris here in the picture," Michael told him.

"I know, but what if it's referring to
Aiden
Osiris?" Liam retorted.

"Why would it be?" Michael asked him.
 
"That seems like a bit of a stretch considering it's underneath a picture of the ancient Egyptian god Osiris."

"Maybe," Liam conceded.
 
"But then why was Mr. Osiris so irritated about Khalil giving me the diary.
 
Besides, I could tell from the way he's acting that he isn't pleased with our being here.
 
On top of that, what about you running in to him in the castle, staring at the wall where the night corridor appears?
 
You said he was acting suspiciously.
 
I think there's something he's not telling us.
 
I'm not sure we can trust him."

"I don't know," said Michael.
 
"You could be right, but what are we supposed to do about it?
 
I guess we could tell my uncle, but he doesn't know anything about the night corridor.
 
Besides, we don't have much to go on right now, but I think we should keep our eyes on Osiris to make sure he doesn't do anything else suspicious."

"I guess that's all we can do for now," agreed Liam.
 
He sounded frustrated.
 
"But I sure would like to get in that necropolis and have a look around."

"Yeah, I would too, but do you know how dangerous that would be?
 
Besides, what could we possibly do that hasn't already been done by the search team?"

"I don't know," said Liam dejectedly.
 
"I just feel like we aught to be doing…something, ANYTHING.
 
I feel really useless right now."

"I know what you mean," Michael said empathetically.

They had just gotten back to their tent, and it was getting dark.
 
"Let's have a good look at that diary.
 
Maybe there's something in there that can help us after all."

Two weeks slowly passed by, and Michael's uncle had been working with the investigation team each day.
 
Every night he briefed Elizabeth and the children on their progress, and as it turned out, they weren't really finding much of anything.

Link had just come in and flung himself down in a chair, a cloud of dust rising up all around him.
 
Elizabeth, who was not enjoying the sandy living arrangements, looked at him in disgust.

"Did you guys find anything today, Uncle Link?" Abigail asked in an excited, squeaky voice.

He met her eyes and let out a long sigh.

"I'm afraid not, sweetheart," he told her.

"Are the people here really doing as much as they can to help out?" Liam asked.

"Dr. Khalil and his people are being very cooperative and patient with us," Link told them.
 
"He really is doing his best to figure out what happened.
 
This is one of the most bizarre cases I've ever seen.
 
What happened seems to be…well…it just seems to be impossible."

"What do you mean?" Michael pressed him.

"Well, Mark, Rachel, and Declan just don't seem to be down there.
 
We can't find any sort of evidence that indicates they were hurt, and although the place is enormous, it's actually been mapped out pretty thoroughly.
 
There is no way they could have been taken from this site without just about everyone here being in on it.
 
I really doubt that's the case.
 
These people seem authentic, and there's just no motive that could be shared by the dozens of people working here.
 
I've interviewed every one of them."

He ran his hands through his hair and wiped at his eyes in frustration.
 
Michael had never seen his uncle in such a state of anxiety.
 
He looked confused and scared, and this was so unlike the Uncle Link that he was used to it made him sick to his stomach.
 
He suddenly had a sinking feeling, as though he might drop through the ground at any moment.

Even Elizabeth, who was usually defensive and hostile to his uncle, looked at him in sympathy.
 
She began to cry, though she was doing her best to hide it.
 
She sat down beside Link and gently placed her hand upon his, which surprised Michael.
 
Link hesitantly placed an arm around her.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything else to tell you right now, but just like I promised you guys, we are not going to stop looking until we have this all figured out.
 
If it's the last thing I do, no matter how long it takes, I'm going to find my baby sister and your fathers.
 
I owe it to her, and I owe it to you."

"Why don't the three of you go and wash up for dinner," Elizabeth told them softly, but none of them moved.
 
"Go on now," she said a little more firmly. "Your uncle will be fine, he just needs some time to think things over for a while."

The three of them got up and filed out of the tent.
 
As Michael was leaving, he turned back to see Elizabeth embrace his uncle, who in turn lowered his head down upon her shoulder.

A crescent moon hung in the night sky, decorated by the shimmering stars nearby.
 
The air was warm and dry as Michael, Liam and Abigail sat listening to some of the laborers singing and playing their instruments.
 
One man was picking at an oud, a stringed instrument resembling a lute, and another had some drums.
 
This was the usual late night entertainment enjoyed by the workers after a hard day of labor and a good dinner.

"We've got to get into that tomb," Michael said with his eyes fixed on the sky.
 
He wondered if his mother and father were able to see the moon and stars, or if they were buried away someplace deep in the earth, unable to escape.

"I've been thinking about that," Liam whispered.
 
"Maybe if we were able to get down there, Uncle Shamus's maps would help us find something that nobody else has been able to discover.
 
I mean, I know that Khalil has already examined them, but you never know."

Michael nodded his head, and Abigail got a determined, mischievous look in her eyes.

"You don't think that
you're
going do you?" Michael asked her.

"You try to stop me," she said a little too loudly.
 
"I'll tell Elizabeth about it if you don't let me go."

Michael would have tried to talk to Liam about it alone, but they hadn't been able to shake the girl lately, and he was eager to go explore the tomb.

"All right," he hissed through his teeth at her.
 
"Just shut your little yapper before somebody hears us, alright?"

She folded her arms and scowled.

"Look," he said to Liam, "we need to get this done tonight, now's as good a time as any.
 
We'll wait for Elizabeth to go to sleep, and then we'll sneak over to the entrance."

"What about the guard?" Liam asked.

"Owlface is on duty tonight," Michael told him.
 

Owlface was one of the workers who took regular turns guarding the entrance to the necropolis.
 
Liam had given him the nickname because he looked so much like a barn owl, and seemed to spend half the day sleeping.
 
Unlike most owls however, he didn't appear to be any more energetic at night than he was during the day.

Michael smiled.
 
"We'll wait for him to go to sleep, that is, if he's not already asleep when we get there, and then sneak past him."

"Alright," Liam agreed.
 
"Let's go get our things together so we'll be all ready to leave."

A few hours passed before everyone went to bed, and after he thought it was safe to do so, Michael checked to make sure Elizabeth was sleeping.
 
He'd hoped that Abigail had fallen asleep as well, but as he was walking away from their tent, she crept out and followed him.
 
Just as she was about to say something, he held his finger to his lips to tell her to keep quiet.
 
A light was still shining from inside Link's tent, and he knew his uncle would be on a constant lookout for trouble.