Shadows on the Aegean by Suzanne Frank Read Free Book Online

to the afterworld … which meant
     the chamber …
    It was a tomb!
    “Jon,” she said calmly, calling the head archaeologist.
    A tomb? Hatshepsut’s cartouche above? Was it possible that this was Hatshepsut’s tomb? The tomb prepared for her in the Valley
     of the Kings had never been inhabited. Would Pharaoh have built a tomb on the east bank of the Nile? In the middle of the
     desert? It was unheard of, but so was a female pharaoh.
    “Jon,” she said a little louder.
    Above them she heard muffled screams, which she ignored. Hatshepsut’s tomb? The idea was too fantastic!
    “What the—!” said Brian, the Aussie.
    Tearing her gaze away from the ladder drawing that stretched up the wall, Cammy looked over her shoulder.
    A golden roaring blur soared in from the opening in the roof. Camille heard her screams mingled with the others. A giant cat!
     A lion? The rushing of blood in her ears was so loud that she couldn’t hear. The lion advanced on her, his massive chest spattered
     with blood, tufts of fur missing from all over his body. Cammy’s mind dashed from utter darkness to fears of rabies, attacks
     … He advanced and she stepped backward, crashing into the seven-foot wooden ladder that leaned against the wall.
    Ironic that it leaned in parallel to her new discovery, Cammy thought fleetingly. She couldn’t look away from the lion. Clumsily
     she backed her way up one step and then another and another, hoping the angle of the ladder would support her.
    The lion growled low in his throat and swiped at her with a massive paw. Cammy shrieked and clambered up another step, her
     trembling arms reaching toward the ceiling for balance. He sat down, his shaggy head and huge mouth just inches from her sandaled
     feet.
    With a whimper, Cammy scooted onto the highest step, her shoulder blades against the ceiling, her legs tucked close to her.
     The lion roared and Cammy cringed, backing against the ceiling. She felt her hands, already near the meeting point of wall
     and roof, go up …
    And inside the rock.
    “Camille! I’ve got him in my sights! Duck!” Jon’s voice filled the chamber a moment before the lion leaped.
    An explosion rocked the room and Cammy grabbed the rocky ledge above her, struggling to hang on and pull herself up to safety
     as the lion collapsed against the ladder, sending it crashing onto the dirt-packed floor.
    Cammy glanced up and into a hallway, lit with the dull gleam of gold. This
was
it!
    Then the ceiling gave way.

    Gold. Dust. Darkness
.
    Camille opened her eyes. The shock of waking up in a hospital had diminished only slightly in the past two weeks. Impressions
     she still didn’t fully understand clung to her. She rubbed her face with her shoulder. At least she felt fairly safe here.
     Gold, dust, darkness … what were these images from? Her gaze drifted over the baskets and bouquets of flowers assembled for
     Camille Kingsley, Ph.D. Egyptology. She felt more like a child than a professional woman.
    She didn’t remember anything about the dig, the fall … trained her entire life for archaeology and she couldn’t recall anything.
     Gold, dust, and darkness. She wished she could reach into her mind and see what she had seen. If she had seen anything.
    What a miserable way to spend the winter season.
    It still hurt to breathe, but not as badly as before, so she knew her ribs were mending. Her nurse, Fatima, smiled as she
     uncovered Cammy’s breakfast. Hospital food was hospital food, even in Egypt. She looked at the window toward the modern town
     of Hurghada on the Red Sea. If she had to stay in this nouveau tourist trap, then she’d much rather be on the beach!
    Patiently she opened her mouth, hating that she had to be spoonfed, but with her left arm broken and her right wrist tendon
     torn, she literally couldn’t get her hand to her mouth. Fatima told her she had visitors waiting. Cammy let Fatima brush and
     twist her long brown hair away.
    After an assisted trip to the