Little Eddie In The Tomb Of The Pharaoh

Little Eddie In The Tomb Of The Pharaoh

by Geo. Stewart

Dedicated to my Mother

from whom I received my love of books

Chapter One

"When the Heat Lightning Ran"

Little Eddie was looking out his bedroom window at the night sky. He was supposed to have been asleep hours ago, but it was too hot for that and he was enthralled at watching the heat lightning. "It must be very late," he thought, resting his head sideways on the sill for a minute. Eddie stifled a yawn. He was standing on the corner of his bed to get himself up high enough to reach the window. And every time he shifted his weight, the mattress would kind of sag in a sort of sympathetic response, then unexpectedly spring back, invariably catching him unawares and almost pitching him to the bedroom floor. The muffled sounds of laughter that had been wafting up from the television in the living room had ceased long ago when Eddie's father had finally gone to bed. So Eddie stood sentry all alone now as his parent dozed, oblivious to the mysteries of the night. In his mind Eddie went over his itinerary for tomorrow. Up with the light and a quick breakfast. Then over to Tommy's house to rendezvous with him and several other friends who comprised his inner circle. Tomorrow they were going to put tar paper on the roof of the fort they had been working on since school had let out for the summer. It was located deep in the woods, out by the train trestle, hidden between two big rocks that acted as walls and supported the second floor. Just yesterday, Tom had found these big sheets of tar paper – ripped and torn, to be sure – dumped in a big pit near where that new development was being built. But with a little patching, and the use of several layers, it would keep the fort dry inside, solving a chronic problem. Hauling the stuff – and some scrap two‑by‑fours – had taken the better part of the afternoon, but it had been worth it. It's not every day people his age discover such a gold mine.

The big problem was always getting the tools. "Dad won't let me use his hammer anymore," Eddie reminded himself. "Not since he found it in the grass, kinda rusted." He would just have to sneak it out and then sneak it back before anyone noticed. It would be risky, he realized that. But it could be done. "I'll also need some long nails."

By now, even the crickets and katydids had stopped serenading one another, leaving the other noises of the night with no accompaniment. It didn't look like rain, it didn't feel like rain, but that's what it usually meant when the katydids quit. The heat lightning flashed along a distant corner of the horizon in its silent way, and Eddie tried to steal a glance into that nether world of shallow-grays and shadows. He wondered what it must be like to live in that universe locked within the silhouettes of houses and only freed for those short instances when the heat lightning ran. Far off into the black sky heavy sounds existed, sounds peculiar to the night. In the back of his eyes he saw that phantom steel mill thundering out its product to the demands of a demon foreman. The night-iron was then loaded onto ethereal flatcars pulled by a black locomotive driven by a ghost. Eddie could hear the cars resist and grumble as the engine dug in its wheels and started to pull.

Eddie looked skyward for the moon, but it had evidently set sometime earlier so he was left alone with only the stars. "How amazingly dark it can get," he thought. Eddie strained against the window screen trying to look straight up, but he couldn't do it. "I wonder just how many stars there are. Lots, that's for sure!" He absentmindedly touched his tongue to the window screen. "Ugh! Funny that taste!" he thought, making a face and then tasting the screen again just to be sure. It had an unpleasant bitterness that just wouldn't go away. But for some reason Eddie kind of liked it.

Lazily, his eyes drifted around the dark neighborhood. Eddie suddenly realized that he was beginning to feel kind of tired and that it might be a good idea for him to go lie on his bed, when something far way caught his eye. In an instant his mind was as clear as if invigorated by an eight‑hour slumber. He squinted through the thickening gloom, searching for a good view of what he had only half seen before. It had come from over there – by where the heat lightning had been – but now appeared to be drifting, scraping just along the top of the horizon. It was nothing more than a dim pink glow, and a dim pink glow would be nothing of interest except that it had no business being there. It appeared to be moving very deliberately, oscillating back and forth along the whole length of the neighborhood: left to right, then right to left, then back again, transversing less distance each time while growing increasingly brighter.

"I wonder what it could be," said Eddie softly. It couldn't be a plane, it moves so quietly and changes direction so quick. It couldn't be a bird. What bird is that big and glows in the dark? Perhaps it is a kite. "That's stupid," Eddie admonished himself. It obviously wasn't a kite or a bird. But what? Maybe it was a plane after all. This was getting interesting.

The light had stopped its weaving and now contently sat bobbing up and down above the railroad tracks some half mile away from his window. But even on tippy-toe, Eddie was having trouble seeing. Every time he would raise himself up, the bed would sag, leaving him no better off. It was clear that the only solution would be to get the desk chair and put it by the window, but he was afraid to leave off watching even for a minute. What if it was gone by the time he got back? Eddie pondered, watching closely for any kind of clue as to what it was going to do next. But it just sat there bobbing up and down and softly humming some kind of electro-mechanical tune. Eddie decided to seize the opportunity and made a mad dash for the chair. Rushing about in the darkness, he bashed his leg against the foot of the bed, wasting precious seconds as he hobbled around the room. The swivel chair was difficult to stand on, especially when one was as restless as he was. It kept twisting this way and that in response to his every move and fidget. Finally he grabbed hold of the sides of the window frame to steady himself and peered out into the nighttime, relieved to find that the light was still there. Eddie returned to thinking very seriously as to just what it might be.

Every possibility must be considered, regardless of how improbable it might be. Eddie's mind explored as he kept his eye on the bobbing light. Perhaps it was the beginnings of a forest fire in the woods behind the tracks. No, no, there was no smoke. And besides, he had seen it move across the horizon. He was sure of that. He was sure. What else could it be? Eddie pondered, not realizing that though his eyes were watching the light unceasingly, he wasn't really paying any attention to what he was seeing. Suddenly his vision kicked to the fore, screaming in sheer panic that that light was charging full steam towards his very own bed room window. If it were a plane or a train it was all over. But it wasn't a plane or a train. It must be an enemy satellite sent to spy on the neighborhood and Eddie had uncovered the plot! "My God! It's going to kill me!" he cried to himself. "It knows that I've seen it and it's going to kill me so I'll never tell!" Eddie tried to jump down from his chair and run, but it twisted inopportunely and sent him cascading towards the bed. A major scuffle ensued, leaving him drowning in his sheets, losing his pajama bottoms as he frantically tried to extricate himself and wade back to the window. This Gordian knot of terry cloth and flannel held firm as he fell to the floor. A moment of quiescence allowed him to make his escape, emerging unscathed save for a minor scratch inflicted by one of his plastic army men scattered around the floor. In a burst of irritation Eddie threw the olive drab statuette towards the toy box, knocking down two other soldiers who were bivouacked there.

Cautiously, he raised himself just high enough to peek over the sill, ready to drop down to the floor at the first sign of danger. He felt a mild warmth – like sunlight – on his forehead. Through a lemonade haze of pink and yellow, he could just make out what looked like a metallic surface, smooth and curved, like two dinner plates placed face to face. Where the plates met was a row of little windows each no bigger than a quarter, each no clearer than a green glass jar.

Eddie turned away and slowly sank to the floor. "Oh, jeeze." he said in comatose tones. "It's a flying saucer. I can just tell. It's a flying saucer." Thoughts of hideous monsters and scorching death rays, like he had seen on TV, ran through his head, fast and furious. "A flying saucer from outer space that's going to take over the world. And it's decided to start here!"

Colored lights from the attacking ship danced across the bedroom, making Eddie feel slightly woozy and sick. Suddenly their manic run stopped, leaving broad swatches of color panting rhythmically along the walls. Eddie watched silently, cowering in the corner of his room, as any wise child would do, wedged between his bedstead and the bookcase. Then, like a gentle slow breeze, a cool shadow drifted across the room, collapsing on the far wall. There, projected like a movie, stood two silhouettes, soft and smoky, indistinct and ominous.

"Hello, Eddie." a voice from behind him said. "We've come a long way to see you."

In the milliseconds it took Eddie to turn, fear multiplied within. There they were, the outer space invaders, sitting serene and pretty in the bedroom window, a blaze of golden light behind them. Both were short – under four feet – and bald and tinged a sickly green. On either side of their heads, replacing ears it seemed, were little stubby antlers like one finds on giraffes. Right away Eddie could discern that the antlers of the one who had addressed him were slightly shorter, and thicker. "Stubby" spoke again:

"We've come many miles to enlist your help in solving a very vexing problem . . . "

"Saving the world," the other interjected rather dryly.

"Your world and ours," said Stubby. "And only you can do it. And only you can do it tonight. So we best be off. Let's go. Get in the ship and we'll wrap this little problem up in no time."

Eddie wasn't thinking clearly, what with all the recent excitement. He got up and began heading for his window, ready for his journey when suddenly his thoughts settled and irritation mixed with fear set in.

"Wait a minute! I'm not going anywhere with you two," he barked. "Two spacemen invade my bedroom in the middle of the night and expect me to fly heaven knows where with them to save the world." The spacemen giggled and hopped down from the window. "How do I know that you're not trying to take over the world and use me as an unwitting pawn?"

Stubby smiled. "And just why, pray tell, would we want to take over your world when we've got quite a lovely one of our own?" This gave Eddie pause. "The problem is that the fates of our two worlds are intertwined. And both will be doomed forever if you do not act tonight."

"And just what is it that I'm suppose to do?" asked Eddie folding his arms and frowning.

"You are going to perform the `Rite Of Coming Forth Into Day' over the mummy of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Chephren."

"And just where is this mummy?"

"Why, in his pyramid, of course!"

"In his pyramid. Which is where? Egypt, I suppose!" Eddie was getting a little annoyed.

"But of course. It sits next to the Great Sphinx only a short distance from the wonderful river of the Nile."

"And we will go in your little flying saucer, right?"

"Precisely! But we really must hurry. You have to do this tonight!"

"You're nuts!" said Eddie dryly. With that the other one –who was either taciturn or unfriendly – interrupted his compatriot to suggest: "Perhaps you should start from the beginning." Then he turned to Eddie and threw him a smile that seemed terribly forced.

"Yes, yes," the little man readily agreed, rather flustered.

"But first introduce yourself so he'll stop calling you `Stubby'."

This startled Eddie who had thought he had kept his tongue in check. But the other one did not seem at all offended – indeed he did not seem to have noticed the remark at all – and began the introductions.

"My name is Soe," said the one whom Eddie had named "Stubby." "And this is my comrade, Loe. Loe, this is Eddie, astro-brother of the great Pharaoh Chephren, ruler of the Upper and Lower Nile."

"How do you do?" asked Loe with a courtly bow. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Grasping Eddie's limp right hand with both of his, he gave it a sharp but sincere shake then let it drop.

"The pleasure is all mine," replied Eddie, taking his cue from his companions. "Now just how is it that I might be of service to you?" Eddie picked his desk chair up off the floor and sat down.

"Well . . . " [Soe was having difficulty beginning]. "We need your help in removing a curse on the tomb of the mighty Pharaoh Chephren that prevents his spirit from returning to his mummified body. The curse was placed there by his evil twin brother Khafre who worshiped the evil god of the black arts, Seth. He has a plan by which he will enslave all the people of your world. And tonight he begins to implement that plan." Soe paused to let the gravity of his narrative sink in. But Loe, more interested in the logistics of the evening than in dramatic effect, continued the story.

"Not only would this not be very pleasant for your world, but ours as well, tying up routes of travel, as it were, between our two spheres of influence."

"I don't quite follow," said Eddie totally lost.

" –- As might be expected," added Loe empathizing. "But time is much too much of an essence right now to give you too detailed of an explanation. Basically it is this: there is a rare and wonderful celestial configuration happening tonight – indeed, in just a few hours. And this is the only time that Khafre can perform an evil rite so essential to his plan. Now if we don't manage to stop him before then, well . . . " The thought made Loe shudder.

"But why in heaven do you need me? Why only me?" asked Eddie in trepidation. "Why not Billy, my best friend. Or Rita. Or Bob, for that matter?" Eddie was not that eager to go.

Soe lowered head and in a solemn tone that reinforced the seriousness of his words said "It has to do with tonight's rare celestial configuration, so seldom seen in the zodiac. It has happened only twice before in our recorded history. Once was on the night that Khafre and his brother Chephren were born. The second was four millennia later: the night of your birth. You are the fulcrum in an unequal triangle that binds these two brothers. So, really, you are all astrological blood brothers, separated only by space and time –-"

" – Excuse the redundancy –" interjected Loe.

" – And since our science allows us some control over both, well, we can have you in the Pharaoh's tomb and back again before sun up."

Eddie's eyes lit up. "You mean you can have me back home before anyone will know that I am gone?" This put a different color on things.

"Oh, yes. We can guarantee that. Right, Loe?"

Loe nodded and smiled. "Yes that will be no problem. That is if we ever get going. It's the fate of the world we're talking about here, so there's a little bit of hurry up involved."

"O.K. I'll do it!" declared Eddie with boyish resolve. He quickly got into his blue jeans and shirt, hanging his pajamas crudely on the back of his chair. "But I still don't totally understand it."

"All will be made clear to you," said Loe raising his right hand like some midget boy scout. With that a blade of blue light cut through the haze and transported them into the belly of the ship.

Chapter Two

"On The Start Of The Long Twilight"

It was huge inside. The ship seemed to go on for miles in all directions, while the distance between the roof and the floor was less than six feet. "It's like being inside an Oreo Cookie," thought Eddie, looking all around. The ceiling seemed like it might be made of frosted glass, lit from behind, while the floor was hidden behind a thick, white carpet which rounded the corners and continued all the way up the walls. Eddie peered about discretely, hoping for some sight of the controls that ran the ship; but there weren't any. At least none that he could see.

"Well, here we are," said Soe. "How do you like it?"

"It's amazing," sputtered out Eddie. "It's so big!"

"Oh, it's large enough on the inside, alright," granted Loe. "But outside, it's only about five feet wide. Would you like to go look out a window?" Loe gestured down a wide corridor while Soe led the way. "Excuse me if I don't join you, but some things need attending to." Eddie looked back only to see Loe slowly fade down the hallway.

The walk to the window was a surprisingly long one, and Eddie found himself passing the time by running his hand along the nap of the wall. At last they came upon a huge concave portal whose diameter touched both the ceiling and the floor, intersected at its bottom third by a recessed window seat. The sight from the porthole left Eddie dumbfounded. Already they were high above his house, high above his neighborhood, high above the whole town, until the entire county was reduced to nothing more than a sea of tiny lights.

As the ship continued to rise ever upward, the tiny lights began to look more and more like stars until Eddie was no longer certain just where the horizon lay. Suddenly the lights stopped growing smaller and began to blur, the little dots becoming long sinewy lines. My word! thought Eddie. We must be going an incredible rate!

"Fast enough," said Soe. "We shall be in Egypt in less than two minutes. But to us it will seem to take just over three hours. Which is good, for there is much that I must tell you before our adventure begins." Soe opened an invisible compartment recessed in the wall behind him and removed a tray full of cookies and two glasses of ice cold milk. "Come child," he said handing Eddie one of the glasses. "You relax while I tell you of times past." "Strange," thought Eddie "being called ‘Child’ by someone even shorter than myself."

"Soe, how old are you?" Eddie surprised himself with his boldness. " – if you don't mind my asking."

"How old am I?" A smile drifted across his face like a summer cloud over a sunny field. "I'm not sure I can answer that. I am part of a whole that is very old, indeed." He took a bite out of a cookie and seemed very pleased with the poetry in his answer.

Eddie's gaze drifted out the window. They were over water now, riding low, just a few feet, it seemed, above the tips of the tallest waves. He could almost hear their lapping, feel the spray against his face.

"Eddie, I want to tell you now about a people who lived once a long, long, time ago – some four thousand years before today." Soe sipped at his milk and leaned back against the wall. "Egypt back then was a nation divided. There were the people of the Upper Nile and there were the people of the Lower Nile. And they were always fighting with one another. And because they were always fighting, they had no time to do much of anything else. Their fields went unplowed. Their houses unrepaired. Their arts and sciences unexplored. It wasn't until a noble king named Khufu came to the throne that the warring stopped and the land of Egypt was raised out of barbarity and into civilization. Khufu joined the peoples of Upper Nile and the Lower Nile into one nation; taught them to pool their talents for the common good. It was under his long and peaceful reign that the Egyptians became the masters of many arts and sciences.

"When Khufu was in his fifty-third year and still without an heir, his countrymen began to worry. True, the Pharaoh was in fine health and his many houses continued to prosper. But it was inevitable that someday not too many seasons hence a successor would be needed. And it would please the people if that successor could be a child of the noble king. So it was that the high priest Im-Hop-Tet was summonsed for his counsel. After a brief consultation with the Pharaoh, he retired to his laboratory carved deep within the living rock of a high cliff overlooking a valley. There he studied the heavens and unraveled many of its mysteries – some that even continue to puzzle the masters of your time.

“With his charts and compass he plotted the past, and the present, and where the two arcs crossed, the future. It was with good news that he returned to the royal court: not only a son, but twin sons, would be born to the Pharaoh within the following year. Both would be healthy; both would be strong. That night for the first night in many months, the Pharaoh stood out on his balcony and watched the stars reflected in the Nile and was at peace. As Im-Hop-Tet predicted, so events proved to be. In the dark of an evening one year later when the heavens were like they are tonight, the oracles saw providence in the blessings of the gods. Two healthy sons were born: Chephren, the elder by mere minutes, and Khafre, who came forth with a full head of hair, flaming red like the setting sun.

"The following score and one were peaceful years for everyone. Khufu remained in remarkable health, as vigorous and mentally alert as he was at the height of his powers, even though now he was in his mid- seventies. Khafre and Chephren spent their days studying under the greatest minds of all of Egypt, often augmented by the greatest of them all, the genius Im-Hop-Tet. The boys were diligent in their studies, ever mindful that all they learned would serve them well when it came their time to rule.

"It was a cold and moonless night a few months later when the Pharaoh was first felled as he stood out on his balcony surveying his lands. During the long weeks of convalescing, Khufu came to realize that it was now time for him to hand the reigns of power to one of his sons. But to which? Both were equally capable of rule. But a household can only function with one master; a ship can sail safely with only one captain at the helm. One of the sons would have to acquiesce to the other and serve as his most trusted of advisers.

"This was one choice the Pharaoh, so accustom to making decisions, found impossible to make. So, as he had often done when perplexed by an unsolvable problem, Khufu sent for Im-Hop-Tet.

"And it was Im-Hop-Tet who offered the most elegant of solutions. `Hold a competition,' he advised. `See which has the divinity of a true ruler.' Khufu rose on one arm from the couch and smiled. That was the only answer. Calling his two sons together, he bid them each to return in twenty-eight days – at the start of the long twilight – and perform a deed that would demonstrate what each had learned in their long years of instruction. With no more direction then that they went their separate ways to ponder this problem. It was the first time that they had ever competed against one another; before they had always been comrades in all things. Now, for the first time, one would be the victor – and one the looser.

"At the closing of the twenty-eighth day, Khafre and Chephren returned to their father. The throw of a die determined that it would be Khafre who would go first. Taking his father by the hand, he led his father out onto the balcony and directed him to watch the mighty Nile at a point just below a slight bend in the river. Khafre step forward, crossed his arms and closed his eyes, and began a low and melodious incantation of his own devising. As his voice rose in intensity and he spread his arms to the sky, a sudden zephyr chilled the desert air then quickly melted in the evening heat. With the welling up of a deep rumble that could be felt as well as heard, a small jet of water rose from the Nile into the night, higher, and higher, until it spanned several hundred feet. Soon it was joined by greater jets of water until it behaved like a mighty waterfall upended. The Pharaoh gave a short shiver from the mist it created and recognized within him a twinge of fear from what he saw. He wasn't quite certain why, but this display troubled him, impressive as it was. Khafre, visibly tiring, gave a mighty thrust downwards with his outstretched hands. The waters instantly responded, falling from the sky with a thunderous report, then returning to their gently meandering ways.

"In a silence fabricated from awe, the group returned to the Pharaoh's sitting room. Indeed, after several minutes the quiet had become so awkward that Chephren shook himself free from his amazement and went over to congratulate his brother. Khafre smiled, enjoying his brother's praise – as he had every right to do.

"It was now time for Chephren to make his presentation to the august gathering. `I'm afraid my demonstration will disappoint you, father,' he said rather sheepishly, suspecting he had misunderstood what had been expected. `Mine is such a simple thing, I hesitate to show it.' He led the group over to the reflecting pool that occupied the center of the courtyard. There on the edge of the pond was an engine of sorts, composed of a large barrel set at an angle, one end gently breaking the surface of the waters, the other end elevated just above the garden that circled the pool. The drum was mounted on a long metal pole ran length-wise through its center, angled at the top to form a large hand crank. Wrapped around the barrel were two lengths of pipe, intertwined like vines along the truck of a tree. Chephren began to slowly turn the handle, which turned the drum, which scooped water into the submerged ends of the tubing. After several revolutions the water began to pour from their other ends, spilling out among the grasses and large palms that lined the edge of the pool. The implications were clear. Vast acreage that now stood parched and barren could now be made fertile, freeing many from the tyranny of famine. Chephren had shown how to make the desert bloom!

"The Pharaoh was enchanted with this device and examined it at great length with the curiosity of a child just given a brand new toy. Its design was so simple – so obvious! – yet it would change the lives of all the people in Egypt. The pharaoh was proud and even amazed at the brilliance of his two sons, but especially so of the elder. For it was he who exhibited an awareness of the everyday problems faced by the populace. Im-Hop-Tet's test had selected the next Pharaoh. The aged emperor clasped his outstretched hands on Chephren's shoulders and looked him broad in the face with a contagious smile. `My son,' he said `You have taken the magic that Khafre has mastered and given it to the people. Such is the job of a pharaoh.' Turning next to Khafre, he beckoned him come closer, and placed his left arm around him. `Khafre, beloved son, you have learned your lessons well and have made my heart swell with pride. You will be a wise and indispensable consort to your brother, just as Im-Hop-Tet has been to me. Together you two are invincible, destined to lead the once warring lands of Egypt into a golden age. At the coming of the next full moon I will pass on the powers of the throne to you, my children. And I shall enjoy my remaining days in the comfort of knowing that Egypt is safe in my progenies' hands!'

"Later, after the others had retired, the Pharaoh sat out on his balcony and took pleasure in the cool, sanguine night. So tranquil was the sky that the silver stars didn't bother to twinkle until they were reflected in the fathomless blue of the quiet Nile. The pharaoh nibbled on a succulent date, as a zephyr from the dark refreshed his face. The trace of a smile touched his lips and he drifted off to sleep, content in the knowledge that his work had been well done.

"It was but a few short seasons after Chephren had ascended the throne that the aged ruler died. Together, his offspring decided to construct a monument to house the remains of the once mighty Khufu. Chephren looked to his brother to design the tomb, charging him to develop something noble, inspiring, something that would stand until the very end of time. Khafre turned to Im-hop-Tet for counsel in this most demanding of undertakings, traveling alone to the master's mountain retreat. For many weeks they looked for inspiration, night after night studying the historic texts and records in Im-hop-Tet's large library. Then one morning after an unusually fierce storm, Khafre stood out on the overhanging balcony watching the clearing skies. The sun was fighting to break through the exhausted clouds. Suddenly a golden ray cut through and struck the valley floor. Then another did the same. Khafre smiled. `A pyramid!' he said softly. `Like Re arising from the dead each morning, so shall my father be reborn in the hearts of his people each time they see his monument on the distant horizon.'

"Chephren immediately agreed to his brother's design and work on the pyramid was begun under the direction of Khafre. It was laborious work, requiring the efforts of nearly half the population at one time or another, hauling the huge marble blocks from the quarries many miles away, then carving them into shape. Some chiseled likenesses of the gods; others wrote on the walls of their praises. The high priests prepared powerful unguents to protect the body and sacred prayers to protect the pyramid's inner chambers. By planting time of the second year the pyramid was done and the ramp that wrapped itself around the monument was quickly dismantled exposing the pure white marble to the blaze of the desert sun.

"To this mighty fortress against the temporalness called `man' the mummified body of the Pharaoh was carried, accompanied by all manner of property that he had cherished in his life. The robes he wore, his favorite saddles, his toiletries, a beloved hunting bow, a chair: all were set by his side so that he would have them in the afterlife. In the corner of an adjoining room was the low wooden barge that would take him down the underground Nile to the underworld. Stationed around it were thirty‑seven ushabti, terra cotta statuary destined to serve the Pharaoh once they were made to come alive.

"When all within was ready the funeral party prepared to close the tomb. With a blow from a mighty hammer, Khafre himself knocked out a plug from the bottom of the wall, releasing a gentle trickle of sand. Its strength was dissipated as it spilled over the floor and soon it could no longer hold back the giant block of stone that set in the ceiling above the entrance. It was as fruitless an effort as an hourglass trying to hold back time. Slowly, inexorably, the stone began to lower as the funeral party hurried outside. A silent thud ran though the ground when the twenty tons of rock came to rest in that hallway. Now, forever, the pyramid was separated from the world.

"The great Pharaoh's tomb proved to be Imp-Hop-Tet's final work. As much from sorrow as from the strain, the great scholar lay down that night in his own bed in his cliff side fortress and entered a sleep from which he never woke. It became Khafre's duty to bury his mentor, a man who had in many ways molded him more than even his father. A small unmarked chamber deep within his mountain fortress became Imp-Hop-Tet's final resting place, as austere as the man was himself.

"The people of Egypt proclaimed Khafre Imp-Hop-Tet's worthy successor and honored him with tributes and many honors for the wondrous monument he had constructed for his father. But the love of the people was not enough to save his dying heart. Khafre could not forget the imagined slight that came about when his father chose Chephren to rule. Khafre retreated from any contact with his countrymen and refused the pleas of his brother for advice and service. Instead he returned to the cliff side fortress, immersing himself in the studies of the black sciences.

"Decades passed. Egypt prospered under the benign leadership of Chephren. The people lived in peace with full bellies and happy hearts. Poverty and war lived only in the memory of the very old or those from foreign climes. Egypt was a paradise as it had never been before or would ever be again. "Khafre had been so long out of the eye of his countrymen that to most Egyptians his name and achievements had been totally forgotten. Only Chephren thought of his brother. And it saddened him that his blood double had come to hate him so – and so unjustly. For it had been the will of fate that caused Chephren to rule, not any machination on his part. When Imp-Hop-Tet was still an advisor to the new pharaoh, Chephren would entreat him to take greetings back to his brother. But Khafre would only stare silently and then sulk about, ignoring everything and doing nothing. It saddened Imp-Hop-Tet to see the slow poison of envy take its toll on his prize pupil. For in Khafre he saw much that reminded him of his own self so many years before. In return, Khafre took Imp-Hop-Tet as a new father expunging from his heart Khufu and the imagined betrayal.

"But with Im-hop-Tet's moderating influence gone, Khafre became more and more consumed with a need for revenge. The studies of Im-Hop-Tet were rooted in the writings of the noble god Thoth whose science was dedicated to the taming of nature for the benefit of man. But Khafre would require a more insidious science to realize his mad dreams and for that he to turned to the black-god Seth. It was Seth who before the beginning of time had killed his own brother Osiris in an attempt to enslave the world, only to be struck down himself by Osiris' son, Horus. It was to this black-god that Khafre now swore his allegiance, his intellect, his blood. And so for the decades that followed, Khafre studied these black arts of the evil one's odious science.

"It was not until he had become the master of these two diametrically opposed paradigms that he knew that he was now capable to perform his most daunting enterprise. Khafre had succeeded in creating a synthesis between the disparate philosophies and in so doing gave birth to a new science stronger than either, totally devoid of any moral preconditions, completely in his control. Now he was ready to seek his revenge.

"Seating himself at the edge of his mediation pool, Khafre began the slow incantation that called forth the forces of Seth. As the waters of the pool darkened and churned, the air became so electric that the skin tingled, the neck stiffened, the hairs on one's head hurt. An acrid smell permeated every pore, filling the nose and mouth with a foul and putrid taste. Khafre lowered his clenched fist to the very surface of the black waters and with a twist and a thrust plunged his arm through. Down upon the valley began a raid of millions and millions of locusts, stripping bare the trees, the fields, the gardens, even stripping the very light from the sky. Men and women ran to their houses, covering their mouths and noses to keep out the insects, least they choke to death on them. Oxen stood dazed and helpless, strapped in their harnesses. Birds were crowded out of the sky.

"That was just the first curse Khafre brought down upon the people. A week later the sun did not set but continued to beat down upon the people long after the day was done. Without the relief of a night sky, the earth cracked and blistered; plants withered and died; people huddled in meager shadows and begged for rain.

"And come it did! Not a healing rain – but a torrent from the sky, turning the dust into potter's clay, stripping away the soil from the earth to reveal its very skeleton of stone. When the deluge finally stopped, a plague of rats arose from every puddle, every pool, spreading sickness like gossip through the villages and towns.

"Then as quickly as the horrors started, they ceased. A people beaten to the very edge of death were left broken and confused. But soon, by necessity and desire, they began to rebuild their lives and re-assert themselves over the land. It took the better part of two years for Egypt to remove the most visible scars of the devastation. It would take a generation to heal the deeper wounds.

"It was not some change of heart that caused Khafre to give the crippled nation a respite from his wrath. Quite the opposite was true. To create such evil sapped his energies to his very core, and he needed to marshal his strength for his cruelest act yet: he would now destroy his brother, body and soul. Not just in this life but in the after life as well. How a heart can harden in the furnace of hate, stoked by envy, jealousy, and rage! This enmity had become an addiction, and it could not be ignored.

"He began at the first new moon of Winter. Khafre sat at the edge of his conjuring pool and in its dim mercury-like waters, he caught a reflection of his face. How old he looked! His cheeks hollow, his eyes sunken, his skin finely lined and brittle. He paused and looked at his hand, turning it to examine both sides. His thin fingers seemed no more than just bones tightly wrapped in the sheerest silk. Every vein, every nerve, stood out in bold relief, blue and cold. Khafre took pause for a moment, but then the incantations began.

"The braziers burned with pungent resins clouding the room in a forbidding haze. Charts of his own invention lay unneeded at his feet, so thorough was Khafre's knowledge of all they contained. The hours passed. The night grew cold. Khafre toiled on. Finally, just before the sunrise, when the night was at its darkest, Khafre finished. His brother's reign would soon be over.

"The next morning Chephren found himself oddly unrested from the night's slumber. When breakfast was brought, he had no appetite. His mind was clouded and he could no longer concentrate on the matters of state. Names escaped him, even those of friends and councilors he had known since childhood. Each day he grew weaker, until he no longer even ventured from his bed. Soon he could take no food without debilitating pain. The juices of fruit were all that was left to sustain him, and in time even that became agony for him. The most learned physicians were at a loss as to what to do. And so, inevitably, the Pharaoh died. No moon rose that night; the Egyptian sky stayed black.

"When the Pharaoh had first taken ill, it had been decided among the council that another tomb should be built next to the one for Chephren's father in the Valley of the Kings. Out of respect it would not be bigger, but it was on higher ground. Together with their limestone sides they would look like dual rays of the sun warming the land both had loved and for which they had given so much. Through a mighty effort the second pyramid was completed only months after the Pharaoh died and his mummy prepared.

"Once again the secret burial ceremony was performed. Four Nubians carried the sarcophagus into its hidden chamber. With it were placed all he would need to make the journey down the Underground Nile once his spirit returned to his mummy. Masons began to move in the huge stones that would seal the chamber from desecrators' hands. It took many days to maneuver the stones up the winding ramp and into the pyramid, and it took many men. Finally the pyramid was ready to be sealed.

"But the next morning found Khafre at the doors of the Pharaoh's palace, there to claim his right to the throne. Ignoring tradition, he grabbed the headdress, the scepter, and ankh from the hands of the high priest, and crowned himself as the new ruler of the upper and lower Nile. All who were present looked away, unable to watch such a display of arrogance. But a greater affront was yet to come.

"As Khafre set himself upon the golden throne, he made his first decree: his brother would not be buried in that pyramid. It was to be Khafre's when it was his time to make the journey down the Underground Nile. Chephren was to be denied rebirth: his body would be cremated and the ashes scattered to the winds.

"The high priests were appalled. It was all that Khafre's guards could do to restrain them from killing this usurper on the spot. But the priests knew they could still have their revenge.

"That night they stole out to the pyramid and furtively performed the last rites of Coming Forth Into Day. The mummy was anointed with the holy unguents; the sacred scrolls read. As the last priest left the pyramid, he turned, took one last look at the magnificent sarcophagus, and cut a cord that hung from the side of the tunnel. Slowly the sands that held back its mighty gate of stone poured out of their channels, as the priests hurried down the ramp from the pyramid. With a deafening roar that shook houses and startled awake the villagers, the massive blocks rushed down the passageway, turning the tomb into a solid fortress of stone.

"When Khafre was informed of what the priests had done he was furious. Within an hour, they had all been executed, pulled apart by oxen, the pieces of their bodies buried in unmarked graves in the sand or left for the jackals to feast upon.

"The populace was enraged by this latest exhibition of cruelty and began to congregate at Chephren's pyramid. The talk was of revolt, of murdering the new pharaoh. Suddenly the palace guards – two hundred strong – marched through the mob, bifurcating it like a boat parting the waters. From the center of the soldiers emerged the new pharaoh himself, dressed in robes of black and red. The guards encircled the tomb as Khafre stood smirking at the crowd. They hissed and threatened and pushed against the guards, but he just stood there, his hands on his hips, an evil laugh on his lips. From out of one of the large sleeves of his vestments, Khafre pulled a small papyrus scroll and knelt upon the sand. The crowd became hushed, all eyes frightened, as this evil magus quietly read the incantation. When he had finished he stood, took a small concaved mirror from his robe, and reflected the harsh sunlight on the scroll lying in the sand. It began to smolder, then burst into a flame that consumed it in an instant. Khafre beckoned to two of his Nubian servants who were holding large canopic jars. They began to pour a brownish unguent that looked like tar, but smelled of the dead, as they walked in opposite directions around the tomb. When they returned to where they had started, Khafre ordered the jars to be smashed against the pyramid. Then he turned, and with an empty laugh, brazenly walked through the crowd, certain that their fear would protect him.

"No one knew where Khafre went after that invocation. He just entered the crowd and seemed to vanish within it. The guards stood there for many minutes waiting for orders, but none came. Finally they broke formation and began to talk among themselves. The crowd, too, formed little knots of people, trying to understand what they had just witnessed, and what it all meant. Even the Pharaoh's advisors and consorts were left perplexed and they babbled endlessly among themselves, until the heat of the day drove everybody back to their homes. That evening there was blood on the face of the moon; the night shadows ran red; and the people slept a troubled sleep.

"For many weeks the country drifted without any sort of direction. What had become of the ruler? In time it became clear to the high priests and the advisors that they would have to choose one among them to take over the reins of state. To the work-a-day men and women of Egypt everything seemed fine for the first time since the death of Chephren. But that was only how things seemed!

"A few of the high priests had an idea what Khafre had done out there on those sands that day. He had created the most powerful curse the world had ever felt and centered it on his brother's tomb. No spirits could travel down the Underground Nile any more; Chephren's spirit was unable to return to his mummy and journey to his afterlife. He was doomed to a living death.

"For decades the high priests tried to remove that curse. For decades they failed." Soe handed Eddie a small vellum bag and began to open it. "Tonight, with the help of this scroll, you will."

Eddie slowly focused his eyes on the little man next to him and then to that rolled sheet of papyrus that sat in his lap. He gently held it in his arms as carefully as if it were a brand new baby, then gingerly unrolled a bit of it and looked at the mysterious illustrations. Row after row of odd drawing covered it: eyes and falcons, fish and wheat, the sun, dogs, and beetles, and gently running waters, and other things that he couldn't recognize at all. He let the scroll wind itself back up and settle in his lap before he handed it to Soe. How he was going to be of any help was something Eddie just didn't understand.

Chapter Three

"A Long Climb into the Dark"

Eddie's eyes slowly drifted open. Such a strange dream he had been having! Eddie paused and tried to recall the details of it, but all that remained was a vague lingering impression like Dad's cigarette smoke after he had left the room. Eddie kicked at his bed covers, only to push away dead air. With a jolt Eddie shot bolt up-right as he suddenly realized that he wasn't in his room at all, but in the spaceship of the two little creatures! Where was Soe? Eddie looked around but saw only the long white hallways, empty and staring back. With a short shiver, he tried to raise himself completely from his dream of a long ago Egypt. It still felt cool to him, in the ship, so he rubbed his forearms with his hands as he turned to check out the view from the porthole.

He must have been dozing longer than he had imagined, for the view had completely changed. The jet black expanse of ocean had melted into a cobalt trickle of blue. Everywhere was sand, soft white sand, endlessly, gently rolling.

That ever present hum turned deeper as the ship gave a gentle shudder and dropped in altitude ever so slightly. It was obvious that they were moving more slowly now. Eddie spied Soe and Loe walking toward him down the far right hallway, both looking intensely at a sheet of clear plastic that Loe held in his hand.

"Well, you are awake now, I see," said Soe sitting down next to him. "I was just coming to get you up."

"I must have fallen asleep when you were telling me that story. It got all mixed up in my dreams."

"No, no. You got it right." Soe turned towards the large window and pointed into the blackness. "See that small dot on the horizon? That's our destination: the tomb of the great Pharaoh Chephren."

"You mean, we're in Egypt already?" Eddie searched the horizon for that small dot.

"But, of course!" said Soe ever ready to give a lesson. "That long river below us? That's the Nile, the life blood of this whole region. Not only does it supply water, but once a year it overflows its banks and leaves a rich deposit of silt for the farmers to plant in. Why, if it wasn't for the Nile this whole valley would be uninhabitable."

"When Chephren was alive, did this valley look very much like this?"

"Well, pretty much. There was always a lot of sand. But there use to be forest, too. And along the riverbank, it was verdant with the papyrus plants they used to make that scroll I showed you."

"Yes, it certainly has changed." Loe seldom spoke, so when he did it always grabbed one's attention. He leaned forward, still standing, supporting himself with one arm against the window. For short seconds he surveyed the view. "When we were here last, the pyramids still had their polished limestone outer casing which made them glisten in the light. My, it was beautiful!" Eddie was surprised by Loe's show of emotion. Then he asked, "What happened to it?"

"Why you stripped it all away, for your own personal use. Now look at it: the pyramids are bare; just piles of rocks."

Soe leaned towards Eddie and corrected softly: "He means the later generations of Egyptians, mostly – not you specifically. He tends to think of you-all collectively." To Eddie the pyramids still looked magnificent.

"Not like it was," said Loe as he walked coldly away, trying to use up some of his nervous energy. "And if your people can't be held responsible for this, well, then, they've certainly done something just as shameful!" Loe sat down and turned himself away.

Soe deflated his cheeks. "Don't get started. We've got too much to do." Eddie sat there silently, feeling thoroughly chastised.

"Most people think the pyramids are all empty now," said Soe incongruously upbeat. "They're not. All those archaeologists think they found everything there is to be found in them, but the only way they could do that would be to take them apart stone by stone."

"It looks like they've already started . . . , " said Loe still refusing to move away from the last topic. Soe ignored him and just continued on.

"No, all they ever found were decoy rooms, the rooms they were suppose find! – there to fool grave robbers, originally. In these rooms, the priest would put the mummy of a servant or a criminal, and some of the Pharaoh's lesser riches and furnishings. But where we're headed is the real burial vault, hidden deep within the pyramid, accessible through passageways that never come anywhere near the surface! There the real mummy of the Pharaoh is, waiting all these years. Yes, the architects of these monuments were wise ones, all right!"

"They survived the prying of your sciences for over three thousand years," said Loe as he got up again and walked away stopping, for no reason, a few feet down the hall.

"Secret passageways that nobody knows about?!" said Eddie. "Wow!"

"All through the pyramid," said Loe as off handedly as he could. "And underground."

Soe elaborated, tapping Eddie's knee for emphasis: "The pyramids are all connected by deep tunnels that lead to the Underground Nile." Eddie was incredulous and looked up in Loe's direction for conformation, but he had again disappeared down the hallway like a white rabbit down its hole.

"And here we are," said Soe turning himself from the window, placing both feet on the floor and straightening out his posture by leaning his back against the wall. "Get ready for a slight jolt, child, as we merge with the rock."

Eddie couldn't help but look out the window. The pyramid of Chephren's was just there on the horizon growing larger with the seconds! Merge with the rock!?! Eddie didn't like the sound of that. But he didn't have time for fear; now the pyramid dominated the window as the Pharaoh had once his people. He held tight to the edge of his seat with paralyzed hands and swallowed down a scream. "Pull up" he thought as he prepared to be smashed against the pyramid like a bug against the car window. "Please pull up!"

Suddenly Eddie felt a little less solid, a little less flesh and bone, more like a very dense fog. He realized as he stared at his feet that he could see the stones of the pyramid fly by through the floor of the spaceship – through his own legs – through everything! He looked forward and held his hand before his face. The stones rushed towards him and passed right through him. It was like smoke going through a screen door.

With a languid whine the ship slowed and hovered, regaining its density as it did so. Eddie could no longer see through his hands; in a way he was a little disappointed.

"Well, we made it," Said Soe so nonchalantly that it was obvious that he never doubted they would. He stood and stretched and let out an amazing yawn considering his size. Loe arrived laden with parcels and three electric lanterns.

"Come now, step lively," he said, coolly waiting for the hatch to open. A blast of warm dry air charged into the ship and clashed with the cool moist air of the interior. Eddie was watching the water condense on the portholes when Soe handed him one of the lanterns.

"Remember, child. This is a sacred place we are in, so we must be quiet and respectful."

Eddie nodded and followed them out, playing with the light switch on the lantern as he did so. It was significantly warmer in the pyramid, and dry, with a musty smell that reminded him of the attic on a hot summer's day. Their electric lanterns pranced around the walls, defining the parameters of the room while highlighting nothing in the way of interesting details. The room wasn't much larger than the ship itself, and totally empty except for a pair of large cedar doors on the far wall. Loe had already made his way over to them, and with a bit of a strain opened the lefthand half and went in. Soe and Eddie hustled a bit so as not to be left behind and soon had caught up with him, waiting in silent impatience.

This new passage was nothing more than another long hallway, terribly narrow, and not very high, covered on both sides with that strange Egyptian picture writing Eddie had first seen on the scroll. Eddie was trying to keep up with Loe while not treading on his heels, but Soe was leisurely treading behind, shining his lantern on whatever caught his fancy.

"Soe," whispered Eddie when the little man had caught up, "what're all these drawings for?"

"Ah, well, along these walls are recorded the deeds of the Pharaoh, so that they will not be forgotten in his new life." Soe paused and shined his light on one particular interesting corner of the wall. "Here is a record of how he served the god Osiris in his life time: the temples he built, the grain collected, and so on. That key-like sign? That is his wife Isis who brought him back to life after he was murdered by his brother Seth. And that falcon is their child Horus who avenged his death."

Loe paused again and waited for them to catch up. Eddie wasn't certain, but he thought that he must be walking up a slight incline. Either that or he wasn't in as good of shape as he use to be. Shortly thereafter the hallway came to a dead end.

"Well!" thought Eddie. "We must have made a wrong turn somewhere. But where? We haven't made a turn since we entered the hallway." Eddie turned to look back to make sure they hadn't missed something when Soe said, "No, this is right. Just hold up a moment."

Loe was studying a sheet of clear plastic that he held in his hand like a piece of paper, illuminating it from the side with his torch. Soe walked over and held the light for him and both stood there looking at the plastic and then the wall.

"Eddie" said Soe. "Will you shine your light up on the side wall for us, please. Just a little lower. Good."

"What are you looking for?" asked Eddie timidly. Soe walked over with the sheet and handed it to him.

"See that oblong circle with these drawings in it? That's called a cartouche and it contains the Pharaoh's name. The drawings are like words. Your scientist call them hieroglyphics, the long lost language of ancient Egypt. When we find that cartouche next to these three symbols, then we'll be all set."

"Steady with that light, please!" called out Loe who was over by the wall examining the hieroglyphics that were just above his head. Eddie repositioned the light. "And here it is!" said Loe with a touch of delight. He gently pushed the cartouche with the three fingers of his left hand, while pushing another hieroglyphic of an falcon with his other. A heavy rumbling, more felt that heard, welled up from behind the stone wall. Eddie could feel the floor vibrate. A fine light rain of plaster dust fell on their heads. Soe and Loe took a good step back and Eddie did the same.

"What's going on?" said Eddie. "Is the pyramid collapsing?"

"No, child, everything's fine," said Soe with bemusement. "Just keep your eyes on that far wall."

The rumbling grew louder and the rain of plaster dust turned into a brief down pour leaving little chunks sticking in Eddie's hair. At the far end of the hall a six‑foot block of stone was slowly pivoting into the darkness. Loe entered and disappeared into the gloom with Soe and Eddie right behind. There before them was a seemingly endless flight of stairs that got itself lost in the upper reaches of the blackness. Eddie paused to look at the life size statue of Osiris carved from limestone, with eyes inlaid with ivory and basalt, the face pink from a coating of wax. How long had that graven image sat there protecting this hidden corridor? he wondered as Soe smiled and walked around him. The long-still air was heavy with the odor of frankincense and of newly awakened dust. Eddie wiped his sweaty hands on either trouser leg and began the long climb into the dark towards the uncertain future.

Next time: Chapter Four "The Dancing of The Shadows"