Missing in Egypt by Rita Lee Chapman Page A

believe.   That is why I have not come back here.   I have only those two items you have heard about, which my father took out and which came to me on his death.   In fact I had all but forgotten about the tomb.   These antiquities have been in my shop for years.   People comment on them and I say they are not for sale, they are just part of the shop”.   “That’s enough talk old man” said Mosi “just keep walking until you find this tomb”.  
    We walked to a ravine by a huge boulder, which looked for all the world like it was about to topple and roll down the valley.   “We are close now” said Yasmeen’s father.   We walked between the sides of the sharp ravine and beyond it the ground opened up again.   “Oh” said Yasmeen’s father, sucking in his breath “oh dear, what has happened here.”   Before us was a pile of rocks and shale in a huge mound.   “It was not like this” he explained “we covered the entrance to the tomb with rocks and stones so that it was hidden, but it was not buried under all these rocks.   Some heavy rains over the years must have caused a landslip.   The tomb’s entrance was way below ground level.”
    Rashidi cursed and Mosi s aid “Great, what do we do now?”   Rashidi kicked at the rubble and cursed some more.   “After all this” he said “we are no closer. What is
    Mohammed going to say?”
    At least we had the name of the top man.   Not that it would help us much as every second person in Egypt seemed to be called Mohammed.   We didn’t know any of their surnames and I was sure they would soon disappear once they had cleared out the treasures of the tomb.   But it was nice to have confirmation of our thought that Rashidi and Mosi were not smart enough to be acting alone.
    “This Mohammed” I asked.   “Where is he?   We have brought you to the tomb, now you should let us go”.   “Let you go?” said Rashidi. ‘How do we know there is any tomb here?   The old man could have brought us on a wild goosechase for all we know.   Now you will have to dig.”
    “Dig?” I repeated incredulously.   “Dig that huge pile of rocks?   We have an old man, a woman and me . We don’t even have any tools. How do you propose we are going to dig through that?”   “We will get tools” Rashidi answered “and you will all dig.   You are not going anywhere until we see the treasures in the tomb.   Now we know where the tomb is supposed to be we can drive to the road behind the hills and carry the tools across.   Mosi, you stay here with them and I will go and arrange everything”.   “You’d better bring some water and plenty of food.   We are weak from not eating” I retorted.
    We sat in the narrow ravine to avoid the direct blast of the sun.   Mosi positioned himself between us and the Valley of the Queens , his gun ready at his side.   I introduced myself to Yasmeen’s father.   “Please call me Masud” he said.   “I am pleased to meet you – my daughter told me all about you over the phone before we went away”.   At this Yasmeen kissed her father’s cheek.   “I am so sorry papa” she wept.   “Don’t be Yasmeen” he replied.   “It is me who is sorry that you are in this awful mess.”   “I never even knew about the tomb” she continued.   “No, my daughter.   Not even your brothers know about this.   I decided to let the secret die with me.   It has already cost two lives.   I am sure my father died when he removed just two pieces of treasure because of a curse put on the tomb.   That is why I have never sold them.   I hoped the curse would die with him”.
    “But you could have been rich if you had sold the treasures – even if you had turned it over to the authorities you would have received a very handsome share”.   “I know” he replied.   “In some ways I suppose I was silly.   But I made a promise to my father to keep it secret.   I have enough money for what we want, I do not