David was staring at the walls and ceiling, his downward steps careful lest his boots slide on the limestone rock floor.“Do you suppose there are any openings?”he asked.“For air?”
“I’m certain there were.During the construction,” she said.“They would have blocked them off when the final casing was installed, though.”
“But that casing is mostly gone now,” he reminded her.
“So air can get in,” she agreed.“Perhaps light as well.”She paused to allow him to go into the tunnel first.
“Are you sure?”he asked.
“Please.I shouldn’t want Randy to chide you for staring at my bum all the way through this tunnel,” she said with a smirk.
Even in the odd lighting, she could see David’s face redden with embarrassment.“Won’t he chide you about watchingmybum?”he countered.
She tittered but quickly sobered when the light from thefanooshad nearly vanished down the tunnel.“Go,” she ordered.
Crouching down to one side, David scrambled into the tunnel, Diana following close behind.They continued the trek down to the Robber’s Tunnel, although they never quite caught up to Ari.
That is, until David nearly ran into him where the tunnel exited and turned sharply to the left.His shout of alarm had Diana stopping in mid-step before she cleared the tight passage.
The shout was followed by a curse and what sounded like laughter.
“What’s happened?”she asked, finally emerging to stand upright.Before she quite knew what was happening, she was suddenly in her husband’s embrace while David was pummeling Tom with one fist, the lantern precariously swinging about.
Ari stood off to one side, obviously confused.
“You scared me nearly to death,” David accused.
“Fair’s fair,” Tom countered.
“What is he talking about?”Diana asked of Randy, when he finally let go of his hold on her.
“What happened in there?”he asked.“We heard a horrible yowling sound.”
Diana lifted a hand to cover her mouth, but a titter escaped.“Ari appeared out of the dark, so we had a bit of a fright is all,” she replied.“He’s been most helpful, though,” she added, ruffling the boy’s hair.“He’s a clever boy.If you have any coins on you, he deserves payment for his services.”
Randy fished some money from his waistcoat pocket and handed it to the boy.“Thank you for escorting her,” he said.
“She didn’t need any help,” Ari replied.“She is clever.”
“Yes, she is,” Randy agreed, offering his arm.
Diana lifted herself on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.“Come.Let’s get out of here.I’m hot, and I’m thirsty.”
The four hurried toward the faint light that indicated the entrance to the pyramid, all of them inhaling deeply of the fresh air when they made it outside.
The rest of their party, having completed their walk to the other pyramids, had returned and were about to mount their camels for the ride back.
Diana couldn’t help but notice how Tom watched as Salman assisted Helen onto her camel.She was fairly sure she even heard him growl.Turning her attention to Randy, she lifted a brow.
“I’m not exactly sure what’s going on with him,” he whispered.
“It would appear he’s been possessed by the Green Monster,” she said.Mounting her camel, she held on to the handles as the camel unfolded his back legs, forcing her to lie back, until his front legs straightened and she was suddenly higher than Randy.
“You do that entirely too easily,” he accused.
Tittering, she watched as the cameleer assisted her husband, and when their entire party was ready, she directed her camel to line up with the others for the trip back to theriad.
