The Eye of Ra

See information about Fleet Carnival and other events held during carnival week

This website strives to keep to W3C standards

Charlotte was eager to get to work at the museum. Today's exhibition was to receive a visit from the Major, with several prominent dignitaries from the town council. The museum was in serious need of funds which it hoped to attain by local endorsements. She aimed to go to the museum well before the rest of the staff as she was responsible for the security of a particular shipment.

The strangeness of this exhibition struck her once more. Why was a skeleton from Cairo being shipped to a small town in France? She had been informed that John Hunter the curator of the Cairo museum was escorting the coffin along with armed guards. Charlotte thought this to be excessive behaviour.

She looked into the hall mirror as she reached for her coat. She was attractive in a classical sense. She had long black curly hair. The face staring back at her was round and petite, with a pale complexion. Her long eyelashes covered large green eyes. She was slight of frame and tall, measuring six feet in stocking feet.

Relations had told her how much she looked like her mother. Charlotte had been shown photographs of her, and there was certainly a marked resemblance. Unfortunately, she never quite knew her parents; they were killed in a car accident some twenty years before when she was still an infant.

As she drove to work she found herself thinking about her parents' accident, and wondering not for the first time what had caused the car to crash. Why had there so much secrecy surrounding their deaths? The Egyptian police had given no satisfactory explanation.

When their car was examined no fault could be found. Seemingly, their car had veered off the road and crashed into a tree without another vehicle in sight. The police had raised suspicions as to it being alcohol related accident, but both her parents were known to be teetotal. The police had given no further explanations about the accident and the case was closed.

As she let herself into the museum, a large armed guard barred her entrance and startled her so much she let out a scream. A man's voice coming from the office spoke to the guard in a foreign language, and the guard stepped aside to allow her through, She found herself shaking hands with a handsome looking man in his mid thirties; he had fair hair with a tanned complexion. John was over six feet tall and stockily built. Surprisingly he spoke with a strong Scottish accent. After they had finished introducing themselves, the pair made for the museums exhibit hall. In the centre of the room on a plinth stood the coffin surrounded by armed guards. He lifted the lid to the coffin revealing the skeleton.
They sat at a desk in the office sipping their mugs of coffee. John told the story of how ten years before he had received a grant from Cambridge for his thesis on Egyptian Archaeology. When his funds run out he wanted to continue his research, so he got a job working for the Cairo museum. The curator had disappeared some weeks ago, and John had found himself temporarily in charge of the museum.

He went onto explain some of the history of Adios, and other dignitaries. How when the pyramids of Egypt where being built, the people of the local villages would bury their important family elders in caves. Their bodies were placed in a sarcophagus, along with their most precious possessions. This practice went on for generations. When the caves became full they were sealed, and new caves where cut out of the hillsides.

A year ago archaeologists discovered a new colony of caves, and started excavations. The sarcophagus's they found had the names of the deceased engraved on them, making identification easy for the archaeologists. Adios was the penultimate coffin taken from one of the caves, the latter being that of his wife 'Isis' whose coffin had laid beside his.

The following day had been set aside for the opening of Isis's sarcophagus. However, the Egyptian government heard of the archaeologist's plans, and appeared at the excavation site. Without explanation they removed her sarcophagus placing it in a tomb in a cave. They surrounded the tomb with a four-foot thick wall, and then sealed the cave by dynamiting the entrance. Armed guards now patrol the surrounding area day and night.

He passed her a tumbler of water which had been brought through by a guard. She took a few sips.
The guard who was still in the room, was staring at Charlotte intently.
Looking at his bowed head she realized that he was deadly earnest. John crossed the room and picked up his rucksack. Opening it he carefully lifted out a bronze casket. He handed her the casket. Charlotte could not believe what was happening to her. It was too much to take in. She could not prevent the feeling of nausea rising from her throat. She got up and ran from the room dropping the casket.

Several minutes later she returned finding John and Abdul-Hadi talking heatedly. She could see that John was holding the casket in his hands. On closer inspection she could see that the clasp had been broken in the fall. She stood with her hand on the lid of the casket. Her hand started to tremble, and John put a reassuring hand over hers. As they opened the lid a puff of pungent smoke invaded the air. Inside the casket was a perfectly preserved finger, on the finger was a ring in the shape of an eye. A lock of hair on a bone clasp, and a very ornate amulet. Charlotte reached into the casket and lifted the amulet, which was heavily encrusted with gems. Underneath these artifacts there was a scrap of parchment. She took the parchment out and carefully opened it up. It had a series of hieroglyphics on it. At that moment Abdul-Hadi started shouting and screaming in Arabic and ran out of the room. Charlotte waited anxiously as it seemed to take forever for John to interpret the words, and transfer them onto paper. Finally, when he had finished the translation he handed her the original parchment which she returned to the casket. He then turned over the paper containing his translation and covered it with his hand. He placed his other hand on hers and looked intently into her eyes.

John folded the piece of paper containing the translation, placing it in his pocket he left the room. Charlotte's mind was in turmoil, so much had happened inside a short time. The museum was due to open in ten minutes. What was she to do? Should she accept life for what it was now? Dull but secure. Then, there was the fear she may only have months left to live? Should she take the risk of a different life?

John had said that she could only speak about this to someone she truly loved. If not there was no future for her. She absently trailed her hand in the casket touching the ring as she did so. She was immediately thrown off the chair by some unseen force. She squirmed on the floor in agony. It felt as if her finger was being cut off. When she looked at her hand, the ring was firmly in position on her finger and was blinking at her! John came running into the room and picked her up off the floor.

She held up her hand and showing him the ring on her finger. Gone was the pale face she had seen that morning in the mirror. She now had a tanned healthy looking skin, with a slightly fuller face. Her black hair was a mass of tight glossy curls. However, the principal change to her was her physique. She looked fitter her body felt like it belonged to a finely tuned athlete.
The museum clock struck the hour. He took the folded paper from his pocket and passed it to her. Then, he closed the casket and tucked it firmly under his arm. She held out her hand and clasped his. Charlotte looked into his eyes, Charlotte could hear the curator whistling as he came up the museum steps. She started to read aloud from the translated parchment. When the last word was spoken once again she was thrown to the floor. This time it was with John. They found themselves in a cave. Light was shining through a small hole in the roof, and they could see a tomb in the middle of the cave with a body slumped over it. John recognized it right away it was the missing curator of the Cairo museum.

She looked down at her hand. The ring was glowing as if it was on fire. In her head Charlotte could hear her name being called in Arabic. She was not in the least surprised that she was suddenly able to interpret the language. Far above them they could hear voices...