Chapter 4
Request
“How’s my favorite assistant museum curator?” the familiar voice on the other end of the phone asked.
“Hey there, Uncle Chet. It’s dead around here. How’s the dig going? Where are you exactly?”
“Slowly and painfully, but what else is new?” The man chuckled at his joke. “We’re approximately three kilometers northeast of theValley of the Kings, at a new site.”
Brielle glanced around her office. “Listen, I have a few minutes before my next meeting. Can we take this to video?”
“Most certainly,” her uncle remarked. “I’ll call you back.” The call was discontinued, but a few seconds later her cell rang again, and she smiled at the man’s haggard but beloved face.
“Good lord, youlook terrible,” she laughed. “How are thingsreallygoing? Please tell me you’ve had some success to make up for it.”
“Actually, I’m not calling just to chat and to bring you up to date on my latest dig. There is another purpose for this call,” the older man remarked.
“Oh?” She sat up straighter in her chair. Whenever her favorite uncle told her there was a “purpose”,it was always followed by a request. And ninety-nine percent of the time, it was one that always got her as excited as a youngster being taken to a fair.
Kellingheld up an object to the phone. Judging its size from his fingers holding it, it couldn’t be more than five inches tall and perhaps a couple of inches wide. She peered more closely at it.
“What’s your firstimpression?”
“It looks like an idol of some sort. Maybe a representation of some minor deity because of its size. And because of the lack of facial features. But it’s definitely a figurine. Where’d you find it?”
“At this site we’ve been digging at for the past few weeks. But that’s not the biggest find. Just wait until you get a gander of the statue that was holdingit.”
Excitement sparked her curiosity even further. “A statue?”
Her uncle turned the phone around to where she could see the carving in question. It was difficult to make out the fine details, even with the lanterns and flashlights illuminating it. But her first response was one of incredulity.
“Wait a minute! Are you telling me that’sEgyptian?”
“I’m not telling you anything of the sort,” her uncle replied off-camera. “I’m just giving you the facts. We found it here, buried inside some very unusual ruins. Arnie is emailing you the GPR photos so you can see their construction. I’ll be sending you the snapshots we’ve taken so far. Brie, we think we may have found an artifact that predates the First Dynasty.”
Shecaught her breath. “Are you certain?”
“We don’t know. That’s why I’m needing your help. That little idol I just showed you? I’m sending it to you to evaluate once we get our release forms approved. It’s going to take us a couple more weeks to get this big boy shipped. We’re being plagued by cave-ins and sand storms.” The man chuckled. “Sometimes it feels as if the old gods don’twant this place exhumed.”
“When do you anticipate shipping the little idol?”
Her uncle scratched the back of his head. She smiled as a cloud of dust arose from the action. “Hopefully by the end of the week. Will that work for you?”
The end of the week. She and Tanner had been planning for a month to go up to Swanson’s Creek for a long girls’ weekend awayand to celebrate her sister’s birthday on Tuesday. She’d already asked for vacation leave and had it approved. But, then again, her uncle never brought her in on his digs unless he felt it was necessary.
If the deportation was approved, and it didn’t get hung up in customs, the earliest the figurine would arrive would be either be the following Thursday or Friday. Plenty of timeto enjoy their long-awaited time off before tackling this new project.
“Sounds like a plan,” she acknowledged. “I’ll let the director know we have incoming. Congratulations again on the find, uncle.”
“Thanks. If we’re lucky, this won’t be the last of it.”
She sawIrminerushing into the tent where her uncle was sitting. The man came up behind him beforehe spotted her on the cell phone.
“Hey, Brielle! How’s it cooking?” He gave a wave, which she returned.
“One day at a time,Irmine. It’s good to see you again!”
Irmineturned his attention to her uncle. “Hate to break this up, but we’ve had another setback.”
