Chapter 12
Charlotte
After a closer look, this chamber seems to have modern amenities such as electricity and outlets. So, I take my chargers and plug in my very dead cell phone and computer.
While I wait, I continue to munch on some of the food that Horus brought. I’m starting to feel a lot better now that I’ve eaten, bathed, and gotten a reasonable explanation for the craziness that I have experienced over the past several days. While I am horrified that there is an organization intent on killing me, it’s also a relief to be getting help from actual gods who lived the history that I have been researching.
After hearing the beep from my phone to alert me that it is charged enough to turn on, I bring it over to assess the damage. My eyes go wide when I realize that I have 20 missed calls, over 50 unread emails, and a large string of text messages asking where I am.
The majority of the calls and messages are from Charlie. She knows that I tend not to answer when I am at the museum or deep in writing mode for my thesis, but to not answer for three days has probably sent her over the edge.
I take a deep breath and press the call button. “The trick is to tell the truth, but not the whole truth.” The last thing I want is to involve Charlie in this crazy adventure, but I do want her to know that I am okay.
She answers after two rings, “HOW DARE YOU SCARE ME LIKE THAT, CHARLOTTE FLETCHER! Cough once if you are kidnapped and being held against your will!”
“Bloody hell, Charlie! Calm down! I’m fine! I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to call. So, crazy story…”
“It better be crazy for you to drop off the face of the Earth like that and worry me to death!” she says clearly not appeased.
“Like I said, it’s a crazy story. A few nights ago, I discovered a secret message hidden in the compartment of the jewelry box I was looking into. It’s a coded message that involves me working with experts in Egypt. So, the museum sent me on the next flight out to Cairo and I’ve been in Egypt for the past couple of days working with experts on the translation! My phone died after I got here and I was just now able to get another charger. I’m so, so sorry for letting you worry!” I just hope my half truth will pacify my inquisitive friend. She knows full well that I am not a last-minute adventure-type, but since it involves my research she just might buy the story.
“I’m just glad you’re safe,” she says as she blows out a breath of relief. It looks like I’m off the hook for this lapse in judgment for the moment.
“Again, I’m super sorry. To make it up to you, we’ll go out to that Mama Mia dinner show when you’re back in London.”
“Really?!” she screams, “Nope, you already said it and I’m gonna make you stick to it! No take backs!”
I giggle and say, “Great, I look forward to it. Now, I need to go because one of my colleagues is here to take me to the Egyptian Museum. Love you, Charlie!”
“I love you too, Charlotte! Please just shoot me a text before you go galavanting to a different country, okay?”
“Of course. Talk to you soon!” I say before hanging up the phone. The good news is that she bought the story and is content for the time being. Looking at my phone, the only other missed calls and texts that I have are from Marium.
As her number is dialing, I start to look through the emails that she sent regarding the papyrus text. It seems that she was not able to fully translate the glyphs after a quick glance at her first email.
Finally on the last ring, “I figured you had dropped into a black hole since I never heard back from you. Everything okay, Charlotte?”
“I’m so sorry, Marium! Life got in the way but everything is fine now, I promise. Now distract me with what’s going on with this translation.”
Her pause on the end of the line tells me she wants more of an explanation, but as my colleague she doesn’t want to pry. Looks like propriety wins out when she replies, “This discovery has been driving me crazy! Some of these glyphs I have never seen before and there are a couple that seem to be used out of context. It’s vexing!”
“It’s hard to stump you. Were you able to get a partial translation?”
“Yes, I sent an email two days ago with what I could figure out. I know it’s not what you were hoping for, but it’s at least a start.”
“Yes, I see it here,” I reply as I find the one she mentioned in my backlog of missed emails. “I’ll keep looking into it and see if I can figure out anything we might have missed.”
“Of course, and please let me know if you find anything else in that translation. I’m dying to figure out what some of these glyphs mean.”
“I will. Thank you very much, Marium, and sorry for worrying you.”
“Always happy to help, and please stay safe!” she says as the line cuts out.
I see that I have a few missed emails from Dr. Peribsen asking about my whereabouts. That correspondence will have to wait, because I desperately want to take a deeper look into the partial translation that Marium sent. Unfortunately, it is very sparsely translated and it doesn’t seem to make sense to me.
Maybe it’s not supposed to make sense to me. Maybe this is meant for a god’s eyes. Since I am under the roof where several gods are residing, I’m sure I can find one to help make sense of this gibberish. After all, Anubis said he would be willing to help answer any of my questions and I definitely don’t want to just sit here waiting around for Horus to come back. I want to feel useful, and sitting here isn’t going to help. Time for a little adventure in the Temple of Isis.