Page 70 of The Stolen Queen

As Charlotte took more photos, Annie looked around, amazed and slightly claustrophobic. Over by the far wall was a sarcophagus, and beside that some kind of bundle. Annie let out a loud squeal as a beam from the flashlight passed over it.

“Is that a mummy?”

The wrappings had partially come undone, so Annie could see the head—with actual hairs on it—as well as a thumb poking out of a skinny arm that lay across its chest. She backed away, one hand covering her mouth.

Charlotte, ignoring Annie’s reaction, moved closer and knelt down beside it. She stayed there a moment, unmoving, like she was offering some kind of prayer.

Eventually, she looked up at Jabari. “I always believed this was Hathorkare.”

“It’s hard to say,” answered Jabari. “They moved the mummiesaround all the time, trying to keep two steps ahead of the plunderers. You can’t be sure, there’s simply no way to prove it.”

Annie’s curiosity got the better of her. “Why is the mummy outside the sarcophagus?” she asked quietly.

“There’s another one already inside,” said Charlotte. “The markings on the exterior of the sarcophagus indicate that it contains Hathorkare’s wet nurse. The pharaohs and their wet nurses were often buried together, as wet nurses were held in high regard. It was an honor.”

“So they were killed and buried with their charge? Some honor.”

“They were already dead at that point. And yes, it was an honor. This one’s sarcophagus was probably stolen, the mummy inside unceremoniously dumped on the floor.”

“The queen Hathorkare was the one who usurped her stepson, right?” Annie said brightly, proud that she’d remembered what she’d read in the guidebook, as well as the fact that she’d used “usurped” in a sentence for the first time in her life.

“Enough chatter. This is a place of respect.”

Embarrassed, Annie swallowed hard and stepped backward, toward the exit. She didn’t want to be in this room full of death and decay anymore.

Her foot landed on something soft and crunchy. Looking down, she recognized it as some kind of animal, maybe a bird, with a long neck. She fell sideways, sticking out her hand to catch herself but still landing hard on her bottom. Jabari was there in a flash, but she waved him away, embarrassed and slightly sick, as a sprinkling of dust fell down from the ceiling. She coughed.

Charlotte pulled a tissue from her bag and handed it to Annie. “That’s a mummified goose you stepped on. We prefer it if the objects in the tomb remain intact, going forward. You need to be more careful.”

Charlotte’s reprimand was the last straw, and Annie didn’t havethe strength to fight the wave of self-pity that washed over her. She was a tired, confused, and unemployable nineteen-year-old, without a home or a job, who had just fallen over a mummified dead goose in a scary hole in the ground. She’d been an idiot to follow Charlotte to Egypt, as she was completely out of her element, just like at the Met. Wherever she went, she left a trail of damage and destruction.

“Fine, I’ll leave you to it,” said Annie, wiping her face and shaking the dust out of her hair as she rose to her feet.

“Hold on a second.” Jabari pointed to the place on the wall where Annie had made contact as she fell. “What’s that?” A square stone had come loose.

Charlotte dropped to her knees and began gently pulling the stone out. “The other object we found in here was in a hidden niche. This might be another, it’s definitely loose. I thought we checked every inch of the walls back then, but over the years this one must’ve eroded.”

“Maybe we should get someone to come and look at this?” Jabari suggested. “Someone with the proper tools?”

“No, I’ve got it,” said Charlotte.

Jabari crouched beside Charlotte and shone the light as she worked. Behind the rock was an opening about the size of a milk crate. Inside, Annie spied several pieces of broken pottery and a dilapidated wooden box about twenty inches tall that appeared to be intact.

“A canopic box,” said Charlotte.

“What’s that?” asked Annie.

“Canopic boxes and jars were where the organs of the mummies were stored. They were entombed with the mummy.” She gasped as the flashlight picked up a row of symbols roughly carved into the wood. “This is Hathorkare’s cartouche. Her name is on it, clear as day. Which means…”

“That this might actually be her,” finished Annie, looking back at the mummy lying on the floor.

Jabari spoke up. “Nothing else must be touched or moved, not until we’ve alerted the Egyptian authorities.”

Just then, more dust began to fall from the ceiling. Jabari rose to his feet, looking up, his eyebrows knit together. “We should probably get out of here.”

“But the niche,” said Charlotte. “There might be more inside.”

“We don’t have time for that. Let’s go.” He began herding Annie and Charlotte out. Annie was just about to step into the long hallway that led to the exit when she heard a rumble, not in the tomb itself, but on the other side of the wall, right above where the niche was located. Something had come loose, was about to collapse. She noticed Charlotte glance back at the box sitting in the niche, tears in her eyes. Without thinking, Annie darted back, reached inside the niche, and grabbed the box with both hands as Charlotte cried out for her to stop.

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