Hathor's Return Read online

  The Coptic Museum is where I’m praying I can find more information on Jo’s mysterious pendant. We will finish our day in Old Cairo, where we will be able to shop at the traditional Egyptian Markets. To say I was excited was an understatement.

  Since Jo was passed out in the chair next to me, I figured this was my best shot. Pulling out my journal and books regarding Egypt, I got to work.

  “Kris! Look.”

  Dropping my books on the ground and holding back the yelp that threatened to escape my lips, I glared at Jo. “Seriously? You just had to do that, didn’t you?”

  “I told you this was a vacation. Not a place to visit to get work done. So put your books away and get your Lord of the Rings, Elven butt outside, before I have to drag you out myself.” Jo said with an evil look in her eye.

  Sighing loudly, I put my books back in my bag and followed her off the bus. No use arguing when she was bouncing up and down from excitement.

  I exited the air conditioned bus, and the humid air nearly knocked me on my butt. Back in the states, the temperature would be in the 70’s, but here the average low was 97 degrees. Looking down at my t-shirt, I realized I should have worn my spaghetti strap shirt instead of this.

  “Everyone gather around, please. We have a lot to show you today.” Dr. Tarek Hawass raised his clipboard above his head, bringing everyone to attention. He was an older man in his fifties or sixties. Grey hair, medium build, and not bad around the eyes. “Now, the Great Pyramid is the last remaining wonder of the ancient world-“

  “Actually it isn’t. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus is still standing, to this day. May only be in ruins, but it is still here. The other five are not.” My mouth opened before I had a chance to stop it.

  I did not just correct our tour guide.

  Everyone in our group turned to face me. The look on Dr. Hawass’s face could cut steal in half. He was the professional, and a girl, who looks like she doesn’t know a single thing about Egypt since she is wearing her favorite Lord of the Rings shirt, just schooled him at his own game.

  “Excuse me. And who are you?” He sneered.

  “Kristina Bulfer. Scholar and Librarian at Penn Museum. I’m in charge of deciphering the latest text we just received from Radi Waziri.” I replied, trying to keep from blushing. I love to study and know things, but to go up against one of the greats is not one of my specialties.

  “I think what she means to say is, ‘I just owned your ass and corrected you.’ Now you may proceed with the lecture about the Great Pyramids, but I may warn you. She is a firecracker just waiting to explode.” Jo added. Leave it to her to break the tension between the doctor and myself. Slapping me on the back, she gave me a thumbs up and focused on what the doctor had to say.

  Dr. Hawass went on about how the pyramids were made, who helped build them, how long they took, and so on. He gave me a pointed look, challenging me to say something, but I just kept my mouth shut. Way to go, Bulfer, not here 24 hours and you already made an enemy. Ignoring my internal babble, I stared at the pyramids and thought back to what I read on the way here.

  The eye of Horus is the ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power, and good health. But why would someone call you their eye, when its meaning is complete opposite of love and devotion. Protection I get, because Egypt is full of deadly creatures and the desert is a death trap. Royal power, I mean maybe they were rich and wanted to show it off. But that can’t be right. Good health could mean they wanted you to live a long life.

  I threw my hands up in the air; I was no closer to figuring out why the sky was blue than I was to figuring out what Jo’s dream could possibly mean. Jo was my best friend and the only family I had left. I felt this weird need to protect her and make sure she didn’t do anything stupid.

  “Ha. Like anyone can keep her out of trouble.” I muttered under my breath.

  Three hours passed, and Dr. Hawass called out for everyone to meet at the bus. The last three hours had flown by since we got here. I went over everything I knew about Horus in my head, but nothing added up.

  So I threw that theory aside and focused on the tour. The Great Pyramids were breathtakingly beautiful. Jo and I took a few selfies, snooped around the forbidden areas a few times until we were caught by the tour guide, and people watched. We laughed the entire time and seem to have forgot everything that had happened so far.

  Jo brought up the dream once, but since the pyramids and almost being arrested part, she seemed to be over what happened and decided to get revenge on the tour guide. She did everything she could to make his life a living hell. When he would tell us something, she would ask for information to back it up or why it was relevant. Dr. Hawass was shooting daggers at her after thirty minutes.

  The group seemed to love what Jo was up to, but ignored me like the plague.

  Looking at the pyramid in front of me, I placed my elbows on the wall and daydreamed what it would have been like to live here. Granted, living in 108 degree weather nearly year round was not my idea of heaven, but to see what they did back then. That would be heaven.

  Lost in my own world, I turned to see our group was way ahead of us. Poking Jo in the ribs, we packed up our stuff and followed suit. Walking and trying to put away your books, food, and water bottle was a skill I had yet to master. Dropping things left and right, I bent down on my knees to collect all my stuff. When everything seemed to be in order, I went to close up my pack when I noticed my journal was missing.

  “Jo, have you seen my journal?” I asked, feeling my heart race and breath quicken. Taking one last look around me, it was nowhere to be found. That journal was a gift from my mother and I would be devastated if I lost it.

  “Last I saw it, you were jotting notes in it back at the lookout point.” Jo said, pointing to where we last were.

  “I need to go back and get it. Can you run ahead and stall Dr. Hawass until I return?” I gave her my best puppy dog look, hoping she would do whatever she could to stall Dr. Hawass.

  Jo crossed her arms and tapped her chin, acting like she was thinking about whether or not to help me. “You know the man hates me as much as you. But since I love you, you owe me.”

  “You are the best!” Blowing her a kiss, I raced back to the lookout point, hoping my journal wasn’t lost forever. How the hell could I forget something like that? I have never in my life forgot my stuff. What is going on with you, Bulfer?

  Feeling the heat seep into my bones, my breathing started to become labored. Note to self, when it’s 108 degrees outside, do not run. Rounding the corner to the lookout point, I noticed not a single soul was in sight.

  That’s odd.

  The whole area was packed with people for miles, so why was this place deserted? Taking cautious steps towards the ledge, I noticed my journal was open to a blank page, facing the pyramid.

  When I reached my journal, my eyes focused on the strange hieroglyphics inscribed on a page. I knew for certain those were never there before. “What the hell?”

  Lifting my journal up, I flipped through all the pages and noticed everything was untouched, except this one page. Every page in this journal was filled with adventures and stories since I was a kid. How did a random page full of hieroglyphics appear out of nowhere?

  Shaking my head, trying to get my brain to not think the impossible, I turned to head back to the bus when a large hawk stood in my way.

  “GAH!” Nearly throwing my journal over the wall and falling over myself, I plastered myself to the brick and didn’t move.

  “Chwirk!” The hawk responded to my loud outburst. Tilting its head sideways, it waited.

  I made sure to keep as much distance between the both of us as possible. As I slowly inched away from it, it screamed at me. Not sure what to do, I froze.

  “Chwirk!”

  The hawk came closer to me and lowered its beak into my hand. Something small was inside its beak causing me to open my hand and let whatever it was fall onto my palm. The hawk looked me dead in the eye whe
n he discarded his gift. I swear this bird was silently communicating with me to open the blasted thing already and stop being a scaredy cat.

  But wouldn’t you be scared? This bird was almost eight feet tall and could kill me with one flap of its wings. Chill out Bulfer, you are not dead yet.

  I took one last look at the hawk, unsure of what to do. I waited until the hawk was a few feet away from me, before I took a look at what it gave me. Praying there wasn’t a dead carcass or whatever in my hand, I slowly brought it to my face.

  “Uh, thanks.” Way to go Bulfer, you are talking to a hawk. What’s next, he talks? Sighing loudly, I shook the mental image of the hawk talking.

  “Chwirk!” Extending his wings as far as they could go, the hawk pointed his beak towards whatever was in my hand.

  “Alright, alright. Calm your damn tail feathers. Sheesh.” Bringing its wings back to its side, it waited. I must be losing my mind. A giant freaking hawk was communicating with me and waiting for me to open its gifts. What the hell is going to happen next?

  Bringing whatever it was in my hand in front of me, I noticed it was a small piece of parchment crumpled into a small ball. I would say it was paper, but it felt heavy and thick.

  Unraveling the parchment, there was the symbol of an eye painted in the middle. Ra? Turning my attention back to the hawk, it was gone. Looking all around me, the hawk was nowhere to be seen.

  “KRISTINA BULFER! LAST CALL!” I heard Jo scream. Shaking my head from the events that took place, I put the parchment in my journal with the hieroglyphics and ran towards the bus.

  Jo asked me several times what was wrong, but until I figured out what the hell just happened, I was going to keep it to myself until we were alone. I wouldn’t want the group to think I am a complete nutcase, as well as a know it all.

  The rest of the day was a blur, we walked through the museums and looked at artifacts that were out of this world. Jo asked me a few times if the tour guide was right on what he told us, but to be honest, I never heard a word he said. Normally, I would be jumping up and down, correcting the tour guide or stopping Jo from getting into trouble. But I could not get the hawk, the journal, or the parchment out of my head.

  CHAPTER 4

  ~ Josephine ~

  Kris was acting weirder than usual. She was always a little off and awkward, but since she went back to get her journal, she was acting even stranger. I didn’t understand what was going on with her. She never acted like that. She never left her journal lying around, either. In all the years I’ve known her, she has never forgotten to take her journal with her.

  I studied her when she thought I wasn’t paying attention. She looked distracted and concerned. The frown on her face was starting to make me nervous. I didn’t understand it. I kept asking her questions about what the tour guide told us, but she didn’t seem to be listening to me. Something was definitely going on.

  We loaded back onto the bus to head to the hotel for the evening and I was relieved. The heat was killer, plus I was ready for a drink. And real food. And a massage. My legs were killing me from all the walking. I should have been keeping up with my exercising, but I had been slacking off.

  As soon as we were seated, Kris pulled out her journal and seemed to be studying something. I attempted to lean over her shoulder to look, but she snapped the journal closed.

  “Okay, what gives?” I asked, irritation slipping through.

  “What do you mean?” She answered, attempting to sound innocent.

  “What are you hiding in that journal you didn’t want me to see? And why have you been acting like a space cadet since we left the pyramids? You never act like this.”

  “You’re crazy. I’m not acting any different, so calm your tits.”

  “My tits have nothing to do with it, you’re acting like a nut job. The tour guide made three, count them three, mistakes during the tour and you didn’t make a peep. You’re going to tell me that’s normal behavior for you?”

  Kris sighed. “I don’t know, Jo. Must be the heat. Something feels off, and I can’t put my finger on it.”

  “I’m having dreams, you’re having weird feelings. Maybe we shouldn’t be drinking the water here.” I half joked.

  Honestly, I was feeling a little scared and didn’t know what to do. When we had been exploring the pyramid, I knew I had been there before. I knew what was in places that were forbidden for tourists, because they were deemed unsafe. I knew there was a secret passage to the left, when we were heading to the right. I didn’t get it. How would I know that? I ended up making a game out of it, so Kris wouldn’t suspect anything.

  The ride back to the hotel was uneventful and I dozed a little. I didn’t say anything when I heard Kris pick up her book. I knew there was no stopping her when she set her mind to something. That was one of the things I loved about her. She was so determined to do exactly what she set her mind to.

  We unloaded and went up to our rooms to shower and freshen up. I grinned at the slight reddening of my skin and I knew it would be a beautiful tan in the morning. Glancing at Kris, I saw that her cheeks were red and I wished she would have used sunblock. She wasn’t used to the heat, and her body wasn’t made for it. My mother was Egyptian, so I was born with her complexion.

  Once we were cleaned up, we went downstairs for dinner. While we were sitting there, I noticed two hot guys watching us from the bar. Deciding that we needed some adventure tonight, I smiled and waved at them to come over. They waved back and headed our way. I knew Kris was going to kill me when she realized I basically invited them over to our table.

  As they sauntered over, I decided to prepare Kris. “Don’t look now, but two extremely hot guys are heading this way.”

  Her eyes were the size of saucers and she turned to look. I had to suppress the giggle as I watched her go through the emotions of her panic mode. She glared at me, so I figured she saw the amusement on my face.

  When they approached the table, I smiled broadly at them. “Hello. I’m Jo; this is Kris.”

  The first guy took my hand and kissed it gently. “Marhabaan. Hello, I am Ari, and this is my friend, Malik.”

  “Nice to meet you, Ari and Malik.” I loved the way Ari talked. It was like the gentle purr of a cat. “Care to join us?”

  They glanced at each other and then sat at the table, in the empty chairs. The waitress promptly came over and took their orders, rushing them to the kitchen so our food would all come out at the same time.

  “What are you lovely ladies up to this fine evening?” Ari asked. He leaned forward, making me think he was truly interested in what we had to say.

  “We are just having some dinner before we retire for the evening, so we can continue our tour tomorrow.” I leaned forward, making direct eye contact with him. “We are only here for the next couple weeks and have planned to see everything.”

  “You do not look like a tourist,” he smiled.

  “My mother is Egyptian.” I shrugged a shoulder.

  “How about you?” Malik asked Kris.

  She jumped and flushed at the attention he was giving her. “Umm. I’m not Egyptian, just love the country. I have studied it my whole life.”

  Malik smiled at her. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, then kicked me under the table when the giggle slipped out.

  “She’s shy,” I interceded. I had tortured her enough.

  “That’s an interesting necklace,” Ari said, changing the subject.

  I instinctively put my hand over the eye. “It was a gift.”

  “From your boyfriend?” He smiled.

  “I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t know who it came from; it just came in the mail one day. I figured it was a gift from a family member and they just didn’t want to admit it. Or something like that.”

  The waitress interrupted the conversation by bringing our dinners out. I looked down at the ziti and smiled to myself. No, it wasn’t an Egyptian meal, but it looked damned good. I dug in, not worried about what the
guys would say about a girl who wasn’t afraid to eat in front of them.

  Conversation was light, I was surprised to see Kris was actually getting into it. I couldn’t hear what she was talking to Malik about, but I was glad to see them talking. It looked like she was having a good time for once.

  I turned my attention to Ari. He was very attractive, yet looked oddly familiar. I shook it off thinking maybe it was just in my head. A lot of things were going on in my head lately.

  Ari reached out and took my hand. “I would like to spend more time with you.”

  “You guys could come back up to the room with us. We are just planning on hanging out, watching some movies tonight, before we go to bed.”

  I saw Kris shake her head no with a look of panic in her eyes. I didn’t know why, but I trusted these guys, so I ignored her silent protests. Ari had readily agreed to my proposal, but Malik had some reservations about it.

  “I’m not sure that it is a good idea. You don’t really know us.” Malik reasoned. His eyes weren’t on me, though, they were on Kris.

  “It will be fine,” I insisted. “We are just going to watch a movie.”

  Everyone finally agreed, and after settling the check, which Ari generously paid for, we went up to our hotel room and turned on a movie. Kris sat on the couch, with Malik beside her.

  I was leaning against the headboard of the bed, with my legs stretched out. Ari was sitting next to me, his arm around my shoulders. We had clicked right away, and I was enjoying the attention of the sexy Egyptian. Snuggled into his side, I was close enough I could smell his cologne.