Page 82 of The Stolen Queen

Charlotte didn’t answer, didn’t even acknowledge Annie’s question, as Omar and two members of the technical staff rushed into the room with the scanner. Luckily, all was in order. The mummies weresafe; the equipment was intact. “Probably an electrical surge,” Omar said.

Next to her, Charlotte shook her head slowly, as if she was still in shock.

“Are you okay?” asked Annie.

“I think I’m better than okay,” she answered finally, a peculiar look on her face. “I think I’m going to be just fine.”

The group in the CT scanning room finally dispersed after much backslapping and congratulations. Omar had a smile so wide Annie thought his face might break, and she understood why. They’d accomplished an enormous feat by identifying Hathorkare. Annie caught one last look at the queen as she was being lifted off the CT scan machine and placed back inside the packing crate. To think this was the woman who walked the earth thousands of years ago, ordering temples to be built and ruling all of Egypt. Her bent limb was like an act of defiance, as if she’d raised her arm to fight off the high priests who had wrapped her in linen before burying her in a gloomy tomb.

“You did it!” she said to Charlotte.

Charlotte shook her head as if to pull herself out of a trance. “Wow. Yes. Funny how you can stumble on to something that suddenly changes everything. Or should I say,youstumbled upon it.”

“Tripping over mummified geese will do that. Will you write an article about this?”

“Omar and I already have discussed possibly coauthoring it. Now if only I could convince people that she was a real leader, not a ‘usurper,’ as you put it. I want to tell the whole story.” She glanced over at the CT scanning machine again, as if looking for something. “Without that, she’s still a woman who didn’t know her place.”

“Well, I hope she somehow knows that you’ve been fighting for her. Anyway, congrats. You deserve it.”

“Thanks. You hungry?”

“Starving.”

They found a small restaurant a few blocks away from the hospital, and Charlotte ordered for them both.

“We’ll have the tahini, an order of the warak enab, and the baba ghanoush. With mangoes for dessert, please.” Charlotte handed the waiter their menus and turned to Annie. “This is the end of the mango season in Egypt, you don’t want to miss it.”

Before they’d left, Annie had been worried that she wouldn’t like Egyptian food, but she found the different tastes and textures delicious. Today’s meal turned out to be a dip made of sesame paste that came with toasted bread chips, balls of rice that had been rolled up in grape leaves glistening with olive oil, and mashed eggplant seasoned with garlic and spices. Nothing like she’d ever tried before, but full of flavor. The fashion in Cairo surprised her as well. Many Egyptians wore Western clothes—the men in wide-collared shirts and women wearing skirts that hit right above the knee. Flared jeans were everywhere, just like back home.

Charlotte barely picked at her food, as if something was weighing on her.

“Is everything all right?” asked Annie. Living with Joyce had made her especially alert to the emotional temperatures of those around her.

“When that burst of light occurred in the CT scanning room, did you see anything?” Charlotte asked.

“No,” said Annie. “Why, did you?”

Charlotte didn’t meet her eyes.

“What? What did you see?”

“You’re going to think I’m losing my marbles.”

“Never.”

Charlotte spoke slowly, softly, as if she didn’t trust what she was saying. “After that bright flash, I saw a woman sort of hovering in the air, just above the scanning bed. She wore a nemes headdress with a golden cobra rising out from her forehead—the adornment of a male pharaoh—but she was unmistakably female: dressed in linen, her fingers ringed with golden scarabs, and the broad collar around her neck.”

“It was Hathorkare,” Annie said, leaning forward. “I’m sure of it. What happened then?”

“We stared at each other through the glass for what seemed like minutes. I felt like I was stuck in place, entranced by this spirit but terrified at what might come next. I didn’t know why she was there. Was she angry at having been disturbed? Or was she finally free? Then the figure bowed its head slightly and disappeared. When the lights came back on, I looked around, expecting everyone else to be as shocked as I was. But no one else appeared to have even noticed. I realized I was alone in having the vision, but instead of being freaked out, a strange sense of calm came over me.”

“It was definitely Hathorkare. That means the curse was lifted. You’ve been forgiven.”

Charlotte gave a slight shiver. “You don’t think I’m crazy, do you?”

“Not at all. You’re free. And so is she.”

As the waiter cleared their plates, Charlotte threw Annie a small smile. “Maybe you’re right. I like the idea that she’s finally at peace. That makes one of us.”

---