O'Connell
looked about his surroundings in disgust. His dank prison
cell seemed
alive with the odors of it's previous tenants, the stone
floor squelched
beneath his feet and the rats were his omnipresent
cell mates.
It appears
that last nights bust up brought him to the attention of
the Legion's
Recruitment Officer who was more than pleased to at last
know the whereabouts
of the American since he 'vanished' at
Hamunaptra.
Rick guessed that there must have been some type of
payoff between
this Officer and the local authorities, otherwise, why
was he still
here?
He had no inkling
of what his future held, but he knew it had to be
bad.
Only a miracle would save him now.
*
Drake scratched
his stomach and leaned against the stone wall, eyes trained ahead into
the cell across the way. It had been vacant, something Drake had
come to appreciate, but now contained a single occupant. Drake wasn't
all too certain he cared for that idea, really.
Occasionally
the white man across the way would glance at him and frown, obviously frustrated
by being constantly watched, but Drake wasn't accustomed to caring a single
bit if he were offensive or not.
Still, the
other prisoners were familiar and boring. The routine was already
set between they and he. This new one could provide some interesting
entertainment. Drake wouldn't mind having a second hand man and this
stranger looked tough enough. On the other hand, Drake also wouldn't
mind taking his sweet time pounding his authority into the man's head if
he proved to be trouble.
The stranger
looked up again peevishly, eyeing Drake with wary and annoyed eyes.
Raising his hand, Drake gave a little wave and grinned, bothering the man
across the way even more. Yes, messing with this one could prove
interesting enough. It wasn't like Drake really had anywhere to go.
*
Jonathan gave
an undignified snort of laughter and promptly tried to
cover it by
pretending to have a fit of coughing.
"Oh, I say
Evy..." He gasped, shaking his head and wiping at his eyes.
"Not to worry,
old mum..." He placed a bracing arm about his sister's
shoulder and
continued heartily. "Old Bey'd never sack YOU, I mean
where else
would he find someone with your qualifications who was
willing to
work like a skivvie for practically no...um...er...I mean
to say..."
Jon's voice
trailed off into a sad little laugh, and Evy sighed
heavily. Brothers
could be SO trying, even if they meant well.
Casting about
desperately for a safe topic Jon thought suddenly of
the little
box.
Sidestepping
two young urchins who were tugging at a recalcitrant
donkey Jon
was gratified to see the little boys' eyes widen in
respectful
surprise when he yelled something to the donkey in
perfectly
accented back alley Arabic.
Ignoring Evy's
shocked giggle and 'Jo-on!" he grabbed her arm and
leaning in
whispered with the air of a stage villian.
"Fear not fair
maiden, the scholarly reputation of the Carnahans may
yet be redeemed!
Whilst you, baby sister, were busy vandalizing
libraries...for
shame...I've been hard at work under the broiling
Theban sun
and within my pocket I..."
Jon patted
his jacket pocket only to find it EMPTY!!! A look of
horror flitted
across his face before he remembered that he'd moved
the object
into another pocket.
"Ahhhh," he
sighed and gave his sister a conspiratorial wink before
he continued
in words that left Evy speechless with disbelief.
"Evy, I have
something in my trousers that could change both of our
lives forever!"
*
Evy rolled
her eyes at Jonathan's last statement. "Oh come on," she lamented.
"Surely you aren't considering *that* line of work again."
Jonathan smirked
at her, searching his pockets with an expression of half concentration
and half frustration. Suddenly his face became alight and he produced
something from the endless maze of his pockets. Evy's eyes sparkled
in curiosity. "What is that, Jonathan?"
*
The boredom
of his prison cell was unbearable and O'Connell paced the
confinement
of his six by eight foot enclosure and wondered if
Winston and
Izzy had escaped this fate. If so, he needed little
imagination
to guess how they'd be filling their time now, but he was
concerned
that Winston wouldn't be holding up well, if indeed he had
been arrested.
Winston dreamed of departing this world in a blaze of
glory, not
wasting away in a rat infested squalor.
The company
across the walkway was irritating him no end. The
constant stares,
the smirk, the smug sighs. It was a vein attempt by
the American
to ignore the man, he never could tolerate complacency.
Rick idly checked
the lock on his cell door on the off chance that
the odious
guard had forgotten to turn the key all the way. A
shame. It
was properly locked after all. His chance to leap across
the way, reach
through the cell bars of his counterpart and force his
sneering face
into the cold metal was never to be.
Rick stood
leaning against the bars, his arms folded above his head
while he maintained
eye contact with the inmate, each man gauging the
other. It
was obvious to Rick, or anyone for that matter, that this
man had been
in here for some time. Their silence was held for many
minutes, and
was broken by O'Connell.
"Whatever you
did couldn't 'ave been that bad, otherwise you'd be
dead by now!"
*
Evelyn Carnahan
was so completely fascinated by her brother's unusual
discovery
that the sudden interuption of Dr Bey's infuriated voice
made her drop
the curious device at Jonathan's feet as she spun
around to
face him.
"What in the
name of Allah has happened in there!" Dr.Bey's anger
hampered his
approach to the Carnahan's, he almost tripped twice as
he weaved
his way through the alley clutter, all the while pointing
behind him
in the direction of the library. "That library is, or
WAS, the life's
work of many fine scholars!" he spluttered his words
into Evelyn's
face. "You, my girl, had better have an extraordinary
explanation
for the disaster I've just witnessed!"
*
Drake smiled
cooly at the new prisoner. It seemed he was going to
fight cool
with cool. Shrugging at the hinted question, Drake leaned
back against
the wall. "I've done a few bad things in my day.
Nothing these
rats here at the prison're ready to hang me for." He
then laughed.
"Least nothing they can prove just yet. Maybe my
circles keep
me alive. Long as I'm okay the warden here gets to keep
his head,
if you take my meaning."
Drake grinned
when the man across from him nodded, his face
neutral. "Name's
Drake. They gonna hang you, you think? I like my
privacy, see."
He smirked at the stranger.
*
Evy swallowed
at being faced up with Bey so soon. Logical
explanation...logical
explanation. Her first impulse was to blame it
on her bumbling
brother, but she decided against it. He was having a
good day and
it would be far from her to go and put a dent in his
mood. "It's
really not that bad," she finally said, pouting slightly
for effect.
"I promise to clean it all up. Honest."
She glanced
at Jonathan, hoping he'd say something quickly to
distract Bey
from his anger.
*
And Jonathan
did!
"Er...excuse
me Dr. Bey but...I was wondering if...well, that is you
see, I have
something in my pants I'd like to show you if you'd care
to see it."
Dr. Bey was
too dignified to scream and flee although if the look on
his face was
any clue he must have wanted to.
Relentlessly
Jonathan continued...
"I wanted to
show it to Evy but then we bumped into you, fancy that,
Ha!Ha! Anyway,
you're just the sort of chap who'd LOVE this...I dare
say you've
seen others and can compare but..."
Jonathan's
face lit up with a happy idea.
"I say, why
don't we all find a nice congenial spot and I'll show you
both!"
*
Dr Bey wasn't
sure whether he should be embarrassed or perturbed by
Mr.Carnahan's
ridiculous performance. As far as he was concerned the
man was a
complete waste of space, at least his sister had some
talent about
her, even if it was periodically overshadowed by her
lack of dexterity.
The Doctor's
frustration grew with each fumbling movement the
Englishman
made. Finally he could contain himself no longer.
"For pity's
sake man! You'll have us each arrested if you don't
control yourself!"
Reaching out, he took Jonathan by the arm and
began to lead
him inside while smiling apologetically to the few
observers.
"I wanted to speak with you in any case, so why not step
into my office
where you can continue this charade in privacy." Dr
Bey looked
over at the still flustered Evelyn "...and you! Your
lunch hour
seems to have run overtime, but that mess inside should
curb that
problem for the next week or so."
