Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (4 page)

The team reported strange sounds and the glow of a dim green light emanating from the opening.
 
Dr. Farley, the senior archeologist, wrote a short description of the events in his journal before he died.
 
From his handwriting, you can tell that he was shaken by the experience.
 
He doesn't mention his own fear, but records that the workers were scared nearly witless and refused to enter the passageway.

Dr. Farley sent one of the diggers to the surface to bring back some additional equipment and fetch his two assistants so that they could begin to explore the passageway, but when they returned, the Doctor and five workers were dead.
 
They all had terrified looks frozen on their faces, and rumor has it that their eyes had all turned green.
 
No other marks were found upon the bodies."

"Sir, when you say that their eyes had turned green, what exactly do you mean?" asked Michael.

"The color of their eyes had changed to green.
 
A brilliant green.
 
All of the men previously had brown eyes, except for Dr. Farley, whose eyes had been blue."

Mr. Osiris stroked his beard for a moment, and then said, "But again, this is only a rumor.
 
The details of the deaths and the state of the site have been kept very quiet, until now."

"Aiden, do you think the mysterious deaths could have anything to do with the Tomb of Anubis?" asked Mrs. Belmont.

Suddenly Michael remembered that this was the name of the jackal headed Egyptian god.
 
The wolfish man he'd seen in the painting was holding a staff that reminded him of Anubis.

"Come on, Rachel," said Mr. Belmont. "The Tomb of Anubis is nothing more than a legend."

"Don't be so sure," she told him pointedly.
 
"You know that references to the tomb have appeared in several of the ancient manuscripts we've come across lately."

Her husband rolled his eyes.

"I tend to agree with your husband, Rachel," said Mr. Osiris.
 
"The legend of the Tomb of Anubis is an interesting one, but some of the aspects of the story are very far fetched, and I'm afraid there's no real evidence for any of it."

"What aspects are far fetched?" Michael asked him.
 
"I mean, what exactly is the Tomb of Anubis anyway?"

His father cut in.
 
"Michael, the tomb of Anubis is supposedly the very place where the god Anubis would escort the dead through the veil to the afterlife.
 
We know that it's only a myth because the ancient Egyptian gods aren't real, are they sweetheart?"
 
This last part he said while giving his wife a patronizing grin.

She stuck out her tongue at him.

"At any rate," said Mr. Osiris, ignoring them, "as you may or may not know Declan, your uncle Shamus was infuriated when the site was closed.
 
He demanded that a more thorough investigation be conducted after the deaths of his companions, and he even volunteered to lead it himself.
 
He also believed that the excavation should continue despite the unfortunate events.
 
His requests fell upon deaf ears however, and the site remained closed."

"Yes," said Declan nodding his head, "I did know.
 
In fact I spoke to him after the dig was closed, and to say that he was infuriated about it hits the nail right on the head.
 
It wasn't long after that when he seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth."

He got a very serious look on his face.
 
"I've never told this to anyone before, but I think he may have re-entered the tomb to investigate on his own, and if he did, it appears he never came out again."

Osiris nodded.
 
"You are not the first to suggest such a thing, but I can tell you that the main entrance to the tomb remained under guard and appears not to have been disturbed, so if that was the case he must have found another way into the necropolis that nobody else has yet discovered."

Mr. MacDonald stared into the distance, a contemplative look on his face.

"Is there a chance that Uncle Shamus is still alive?" piped in Liam.

"No," his father told him, "he was nearly eighty years old when he disappeared, and that was about seventeen years ago.
 
Also, he wasn't the kind of person who would just disappear quietly without contacting anyone.
 
He was too much of a people person, to put it mildly."

There was silence for a few moments.

"It's a strange story," said Mr. Belmont.
 
"Aiden, do you have any idea why the government is now willing to reopen the dig?"

"Well, said Osiris, "Egypt has recently appointed a new man as the Minister of State for Antiquities.
 
He is called Hasani Khalil.
 
He is a very serious fellow and has never bought into the superstitious aspects of the story.
 
Soon after he took office, an investigation was ordered to look into the prior events at the site.
 
After much deliberation, the location was determined to be perfectly safe.
 
As it turns out, the mysterious passageway discovered by Dr. Farley could not even be located."

"That sounds suspicious," said Mr. MacDonald.
 
"How could the passage have just up and disappeared?
 
Do you feel that an adequate investigation was done?"

"I should certainly hope so," said Mr. Osiris with a grin. "You see, I was a member of the investigation team."

"You know we respect your opinion, Aiden," Mrs. Belmont told him.
 
"So if you're confident that the dig is safe we have no reason to believe it's not."

"Thank you Rachel."

"If it's a safe place mommy, then why can't we go with you this time?" said Abigail with a pursed lip.
 
It sounded more like a statement than a question.

"We've already discussed this, young lady.
 
Your father and I are going to be extremely busy for the next few weeks, and the necropolis is no place for children."
 
Then her voice softened a bit.
 
"Mr. Finnegan will look after you for the next few days until Elizabeth gets here, and then in a few weeks you'll be able to join us in Egypt.
 
If you're lucky, you may even get to go down and see parts of the necropolis."
 
Abigail hugged her tightly, but retained her pouty expression and red face.

Liam leaned over to Michael. "Who is this Elizabeth woman again?" he whispered.

"Her name is Elizabeth Harrison.
 
She's my mother's best friend, they've known each other since high school."

"Is she pretty?" Liam asked with a smile.

"Well, I've always kind of thought of her as an aunt, but yes, she's actually very beautiful."

Liam nodded at him approvingly.

Breakfast was finally ready, and everyone ate and continued to chat about the days ahead.
 
Michael thought about how happy he was to be gathered here with his family and friends, and how lucky they all were to have each other.

The air smelled fresh from the light rain that had fallen throughout the night, and the sun kept peaking out from the overcast skies above as Liam escorted Michael and Abigail through the garden behind the castle.
 
It was a very beautiful and impressive place, and Abigail always looked forward to spending time here during her visits with the MacDonalds.

Colorful flowers and mature trees made the garden a fascinating place to visit, but Michael's favorite part was the hedge maze.

"The gardener does an amazing job," observed Michael.
 
"I wish I had a place like this in my backyard at home."

"There are really cool places near your home too.
 
Remember last year when we visited your uncle and went to Oak Creek Canyon and Slide Rock Park?" said Liam.

"Sure I do, but those places are miles away from my house.
 
You get to just walk outside and come out here," retorted Michael.

"That's true," said Liam.
 
"I guess I am pretty lucky."

"You're very lucky," broke in Abigail.
 
"Any kid would kill to live in an ancient castle and have a garden like this."

After walking and talking for a while, they came to a part of the maze that Michael couldn't remember ever having gone down before.
 
He had been in the maze many times, and thought he knew it fairly well.

"Hey, what's down this way?" Michael asked his friend.

"Uh, um, well, I don't really ever go down there," stuttered Liam.
 
He looked rather nervous.

"Why not?" asked Abigail.

He scratched his face.
 
"Well, uh, I'm not sure I want to…uh, you wouldn't believe me anyway," he told them quickly.

"What is it?" Abigail persisted with a giggle.
 
She began walking down the path backwards, happy to tease Liam.

"Don't go DOWN there," he snapped at her.

This only made the girl turn around and break into a run.
 
Michael and Liam both followed her.
 
They ran down the path a short distance until it finally came to an end, opening up into a small green valley.

Abigail came to a stop, taking a look around her, and so did both of the boys.
 
A bright blue pond could be seen off to their left, and a dense forest stood in the distance.
 
A few dozen grass covered mounds protruded in the valley below them.

"What is this place?" asked Abigail.

"The Fianna Barrows," said Liam in a cold voice.
 
"It's the site of an ancient battle."

Abigail no more than took a step forward before Liam grabbed ahold of her arm.
 
"HEY, THAT HURTS," she shouted at him.

"You DON'T want to go down there, it's NOT a safe place," Liam yelled back at her, letting go.
 
His face was bright red.

"Liam, what's wrong," asked Michael.
 
"What's got you so freaked out?"

"This is an evil place," he said.
 
"We don't belong here."

"What's so evil about it," asked Abigail.
 
"I think it's beautiful."

"Just because something's beautiful doesn't mean it's good," the boy retorted.
 
"This place is cursed."

"Cursed?" asked Michael doubtfully.
 
"What's cursed about it?"

Liam just shook his head.
 
He obviously didn't want to talk about it.

"If you don't tell us, then I'm going to go down there," said Abigail in an irritated voice.
 
She was angry with Liam for grabbing her, and wasn't about to show him any mercy.

"Look," he told them, now speaking a little more calmly "that's the last place my mother went before she died.
 
It's the reason why she got sick."

"Liam," said Michael sympathetically, "why would this place have anything to do with your mother getting sick?
 
That just doesn't make any sense."

"Believe what you WANT," Liam snapped and turned around to walk back into the hedge maze.
 
"You can't say I didn't warn you."

Michael looked his sister.
 
She had a guilty, but unyielding look on her face.
 
"Come on," he told her harshly and set off to follow Liam.
 
"You need to work on your attitude."

"Who do you think you are, Dad?" she hissed, but followed sheepishly along behind him.

When their walk through the garden was over, Liam took Michael and Abigail for a bike ride along the shore of Loch Lomond.
 
The sun was now shining brightly overhead, but the air was refreshing and cool.

They all rode along the stony path as it ascended and descended over the small green hills.
 
Michael enjoyed the sound of the bikes fat tires digging into the small rocks and gravel beneath him.
 
It felt good to get out in the open air and exercise after having traveled all the way from Arizona the previous day.

After going a few miles, Liam noticed that Abigail appeared to be falling behind a bit, so he pulled over to a small, quiet picnic area down by the lake.
 
The three sat under an oak tree and gazed out across the water.
 
They rested in silence for a few minutes, taking in the peaceful scenery around them.

"Now what's all this piping business you were going on about?" asked Liam as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Weren't you playing some sort of joke with that bagpipe music?
 
It woke me up in the middle of the night, and I tried to figure out where it was coming from, but before I could, it stopped.
 
It had to have been you, Abby was sleeping and I don't know of anyone else who would be playing a stunt like that in the middle of the night."

"It wasn't me.
 
Sorry to disappoint you but not all Scots play the blooming bagpipes," he said sarcastically.

Abigail picked up a flat, round stone and sent it skipping across the water.

"Well, what do you suppose I heard then?" asked Michael

"The way I see it," said Liam, "there are two possibilities.
 
Either you have finally cracked for good, and one of those voices in your head has taken up music lessons…"

Michael narrowed his eyes in a look of disapproval.

"Or…you've heard the piper ghost of Argyll," he continued with a wry smile.

"Who's the piper ghost of Argyll?" asked Abigail.

"He was a very unlucky bloke who had his hands cut off for playing the bagpipes.
 
I can't remember why, maybe he wasn't very good at it.
 
He is supposed to haunt Duntrune Castle, off to the north of Loch Crinan in Argyll.
 
Don't know why you'd of heard him in McGinty Castle though.
 
That doesn't make much sense."