“Which could explain why the areas are in close parallel rows. What’s your second thought?”
“A prison ordungeon. And those small areas were holding cells. Look, I want to further point out something.” He enlarged one of the photos and indicated a dark smudge in one of the end rooms. “Look here. There’s something inside this room. Don’t know what it could be, but I think we should refocus our efforts and excavate there.”
Kellingsighed. “Interesting suggestions, and I agree with you.We won’t be able to ascertain if either of them are correct until we can get down there and investigate.” He started to say more when he heard someone yelling for him. His first thought was that there’d been another cave-in. Alarmed, he hurried out of the tent to seeTakeshrunning toward him.
“TabibKelling! Come! Come!” The excited man waved for him to follow, then took off backin the direction of the excavation.Kellingtook off after him. There was no sense asking the man what was wrong or why he’d been summoned. He’d find out soon enough.
When he arrived,Irminewas standing inside a small, shallow indentation. Hearing the professor approaching, the man gave him a huge grin. “We got lucky,” the man announced. “The cave-in affected less than half of thearea, but it also opened up a large pit directly over that part of our site where I’d said we should concentrate our efforts.”
“It did?”Kellingstopped next to him and stared out over the sectioned off expanse where they’d been digging for the past six weeks.
Irmineswept an arm, indicating a large, rectangular pit. “That’s where one of the larger holes was located.”
“Anything ping off the metal detectors?”
The man’s smile drooped. “Very little, if anything. At least, nothing that would indicate there’s an abundance of gold down there. But that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be things like canopic jars, or other non-metallic items.”
“True, true. Here, let me go grab a brush and I’ll join you.”Kellingleft to retrievea few tools. By the time he returned,Irmineand two others had managed to clear away enough sand to reveal what appeared to be the top of the hole. He remained standing behind the barrier while they continued to remove the dirt, until an opening appeared.Irminebent over it and scooped out more by hand, enlarging the depression until it was large enough for a body to slip through.
“Hand me a light.” The man reached up, snagging the flashlight from the worker to shine it inside. He kept one hand on the top of the opening and precariously balanced himself on his knees as he stuck his head inside the hole.
Kellingwatched in silent anticipation until the man reared back on his heels, that big grin still on his face. “It looks like there’s some kind of idolin there.”
“An idol? Can you identify it?”
Irmineshook his head. “Nope. It’s at the very back of the room. I’ll have to go inside.”
“Be careful.”
Irminenodded. Then, getting onto his back, he scooted feet-first into the hole. The wait wasn’t long before the man’s head popped into view. “Yougottacome see this!”
Kellingclimbedover the barrier and carefully inched his way toward the depression. When he reached the entrance, he took the flashlight another worker was waiting to hand him, and entered the chamber in the same feet-first manner.
It was a short fall. He landed on his feet almost immediately. Glancing up,Kellingobserved that the crescent-shaped opening was just above his head, which meant theceiling couldn’t be more than two meters high. Being over six feet himself, he was forced to hunch over to keep from hitting it.
“Over here.”
Sunlight barely penetrated the interior. Like other tombs he’d visited or unearthed, the place had a dusty smell that always reminded him of his grandmother’s attic.
Irminewas standing at the far end of the room.Kellingstrode over to examine what the man had discovered.
His breath caught in his throat. For a long minute he stared at the object, then reached over to tentatively touch it. It was clearly made of stone, perhapsTuffaciouslimestone that was commonly used to erect the pyramids. But in no way did it depict any of the old Egyptian gods he was familiar with. In fact, he’d swearthat it looked like…
“My god. Is that a…a gargoyle?”
“That’s exactly what I thought,”Irmineremarked.
Shining his light around the interior,Kellingnoted a couple of things. “This sure isn’t a temple.”
“Doesn’t appear to be. But, yougottacheck this out. Look at its ankles.”
The man directed his flashlight at the base ofthe idol.Kellingsquatted to peer at what the man was indicating. Before he could comment, the associate crouched down next to him.
“Do those look like chains to you?”
Kellingran his fingertips over the metal. Like other metals they had found sealed beneath the sands, it hadn’t had the chance to corrode. But now that this place had been opened to the elements, itwas imperative they preserve their findings as quickly as possible.
He bent his face closer to the object. “Someone tried to put cuffs on this thing.”
