Katrin's Egypt Story

Peeking around the corner of the royal palace, Eboni watched the men yanking huge blocks of sand-colored stone and yelling. It looked like utter chaos. Construction was going at a slower pace than usual, and as she watched, a young boy fell over from his post at tugging the rope. He looked like he was 14, around Eboni’s age. He lay still on the ground, probably suffering from slight heat stroke. She grinned. He would probably be taken to the hospital, but at least he provided a distraction. The palace guards ran over to him, and called out for a stretcher. While they were doing this, Eboni darted to the entrance, as quickly and slyly as she could manage. If not the guards, the working men could see her and tell. As she sprinted, she looked to make sure nobody saw her. No one did.

 

Once inside, she breathed a sigh of relief. She poked her head outside the wide and fancy door. The boy was being carried away by the guards. Secretly happy that he was being taken care of, she silently sneaked through corridors, she tried to remember the way around. It was a big and complicated palace. Eboni remembered the time she had to stalk what seemed to be a staff member through the halls because she was so lost and confused. She continued walking, and finally reached her destination: the royal kitchen. Cooks and servants ran around here, a little like the chaos of the construction outside. Due to this, nabbing some dinner and a ration for the next few days was made easy. Slipping through the crowds, she grabbed whatever she pleased: flat, round barley cakes; sweet and crunchy figs; some tender roasted duck; the biggest, juiciest gazelle leg she could find; seedy red pomegranates; and even a jug of very clear beer. All of this she stuffed into her much worn sack, and got out before anyone noticed her. Nearing the door, Eboni looked around. All of the servants seemed to be preoccupied. As she turned the corner, a fast moving something slammed into her and knocked her onto the floor. It was a young boy. So much for quietly, thought Eboni as she checked her bag, which had landed on her stomach. The food was fine, as was the clay jug with the beer in it. Now for the thing that had crashed into her. As she lifted her head to give it a withering stare, she found the sheepish-looking boy gazing at her. He looked to be around seven. Eboni gave up her stare and started to get up, exasperated. The boy started asking the head cook about getting some water for the other boy, the one who had suffered from the heat stroke. The head cook started fussing about and calling for jugs of water. The collapsed boy’s symptoms sounded bad, and so as Eboni walked out into the hall, she hid in the shadows.

 

While she was waiting for the younger boy, Eboni took the time to count her food and do something about the braids that had fallen in her face after the fall. They were being very uncooperative, and her tan arms soon got tired and flopped down at her sides. She counted her food again, and took inventory of the rest of her bag. She had her linen towel, her small knife, and many leafy plants. Oh, and a ribbon. She used this to tie back the peevish braids. She waited, and eventually, the little boy escaped from the head cook and sprinted back down the hall. Eboni followed him silently, and they soon made their way to open skies. The boy was obviously more at comfort, but Eboni did not have the advantage of shadowy corners, which made her a little nervous. They made their way to a small tent, the boy obviously proud of himself, Eboni creeping silently behind. As they entered, Eboni started breathing through her mouth. She knew that it always smelled like sweat in these tents, but the little boy obviously had forgotten or was not paying attention. He sneezed and turned paler. Eboni fought back a laugh. She soon spotted the other boy. He looked a little white, but he was recovering. She focused her gaze on him and decided what to do. All of the medics were busy with other patients, so she approached the little boy. “If you pour water and crush a little bit of this on a towel,” she whispered, handing him a few leaves, “he will feel better.” The little boy nodded, making sure to not breathe in through his nose, and Eboni turned to leave.

 

As she approached the exit, she heard a shout. “Eh! Girl! What are you doing here?! Get out of this tent!” Eboni didn’t turn to see who had yelled, but instead started running.

 

A medic was close at her heels. Eboni kept running, although she was almost out of breath. Turning a corner, she thought she was done for. She couldn’t run another the step. As she heard the medic coming up behind her, she saw a group of shady-looking people in an alley. They were all men, and each was holding at least one bottle of wine or beer. They were muttering amongst themselves, and eyeing the disturbance. Eboni saw one draw out a sharp and curved knife. She ran straight towards them, knowing it was this or the medic. Either way, she was just about dead. The medic stopped in his tracks, turned around, and ran in the other direction. He didn’t want to make trouble with these people. They had already begun muttering and shuffling towards her. Eboni slowed down and gripped the handle of her knife. Much good it will do for me, she thought bitterly. The small cluster approached her slowly, obviously drunk.

 

“Hello, sweetheart”, said one, getting closer to her.

 

“Why is your hair a mess?” asked another.

 

Ai, those braids.

 

A third came over laughing with two cases of wine. The rest were looking their way.

 

The men offered her one, but Eboni politely refused it, edging backwards.

 

“Say, what are you doing around here this late, little girl?” asked the first one, shuffling closer to her.

 

“I was just about to go home”, Eboni said loudly, making it clear that she was. “I was just catching my breath.”

 

This time the third spoke. He stopped laughing and his face took on a look that made him look like a hippo. He also started walking towards her. “Are you lost?”

 

“No, I am not”, Eboni practically shouted. She started walking backwards.

 

“Oh, so you are a tomb robber, are you? Is that what you have in your bag?” asked one, coming up from behind and almost snatching her precious food. They were trying to surround her.

 

Eboni ran before she could answer. The men looked on the brink of chasing after her, but just stood there looking like fools.

 

               Eboni ran until the outskirts of the city, where she went into her alley. It could sometimes be dangerous at night, but Eboni had found a peaceful area. She settled onto her small mat, opening her bag as she went. She pulled out the duck and bit into it. Even cold it was delicious. “Amasis, get your lousy, flea ridden behind here this instant!” Eboni called out. Almost immediately, a large white cat appeared from behind some camel dung. He trotted over to Eboni, and rubbed his head against her hand. She stroked him, and with her other hand she gave him a chunk of the gazelle and poured some beer on the uneven ground. He drank and ate, and soon staggered onto Eboni’s lap, drunk. She laughed, and her thoughts went to the men she had just escaped from. They had thought she was a tomb robber. Did she look like one? No, she would be rich if she was. She would be rich. With money. She was so poor, she lived off of stolen food and in an alley. She could hardly support herself, and she had also taken Amasis in. If she robbed the pyramid she could have a proper home, eat proper meals, have proper hair (those braids!); she would live well; and it couldn’t be hard to just stroll into a tomb and take a few jewels. After that, it would be easy; she would go to the nearest black market, sell her things, and get out of the place. Then she could live the comfortable life that the rich did. She would probably help the homeless, too. If she was to go and rob a tomb, even though she wasn’t a real tomb robber, the time was now. She was going to do it. With that, she stood up and Amasis tumbled out of her lap with an indignant yowl. Eboni took some bites of the gazelle, ate a barley cake, and emptied her dirty knapsack. She strutted off, leaving her cat and her home behind, if only for the time being.

              Reaching the pyramid took no time at all. She was there before she knew it, and had hardly broken a sweat. As she edged closer, she realized that although it had been easy to find, it would be hard to enter. It had no entrance, at least as far as she could see. It could take her awhile, and-

“What are you doing?!”

 

Eboni whirled around, socking the boy as she did. He recoiled, clutching his cheek. She could tell his eyes were watering.

 

“Who are you?” she asked, very confused at why he was there in the first place. Before he could answer, she realized who he was. “You’re the boy who passed out earlier today, aren’t you.”

 

“Yes”, he said flushing, “and you’re girl whose hair is a mess.”

 

Eboni resisted the urge to punch him again.

 

“So, what do you want?”

 

“You shouldn’t go into that pyramid, you’ll probably die.”

 

“What makes you think I’m going to die?” asked Eboni. “And besides, how did you happen to be here?”

”I was going home from the medic’s, and I stumbled across you being foolish.”

 

“Too bad, I’m going anyway.” With that, she turned and ran towards the pyramid. She was almost there when she was tackled to the ground. The boy was on top of her, trying to stop her from entering.

 

“Stop that! You’re being a– a fool!” With that, she socked him in the face again.

 

“Ouch! Stop punching me!” He easily was stronger than her, so Eboni went limp. The boy kept talking to her. “You really shouldn’t-

 

“Shut up!” He stopped talking, and Eboni strained her ears. She could hear people approaching. The boy now heard them too, and both of them ran behind a block of stone. “Who are-?

 

Eboni punched him in the arm, which made him shut up again.

 

The group of people walked past them, but one stopped.

 

“You sure there aren’t guards? We… should split up and check.”

 

The rest nodded in agreement, and so two men were walking towards Eboni and the boy. Eboni gripped her knife, and the boy made fists. They waited for the right time to ambush, but the boy ran around the corner and punched the two men. They yelled, and Eboni could see the palace guards sleepily coming from their posts. The boy ran away from Eboni, and the guards were getting closer, but not fast enough. They boy was being overwhelmed.

 

“Boy! Catch this!” yelled Eboni, throwing her knife in its sheath to him. He caught it and wielded the blade to the men. With this, the palace guards arrived and started taking care of everything. While this was happening, Eboni sneaked behind the pyramid and found what she was looking for; the entrance. It was elevated, but she could make it, and the riches would be hers.

 

               “Argh”, muttered Eboni. The tunnel to the main chamber or what she thought was. It was so low that she had to stoop a little bit. At least I am not a tall man, she thought to herself bitterly. She made her way through the rough stone passages with a small torch that she had nabbed from the entrance. She walked for a while, and was soon at a taller tunnel. She could see the burial chamber from the faint light the flame was giving off. As she walked, she found that she couldn’t remember which tunnel she had come from, or which way she had gone. She was now approaching the ornate wall, but still had the feeling that she was very lost. She looked up at the fancy carvings of hieroglyphics. They read out a curse, but Eboni had already made it this far, so she continued. As she stepped over the threshold, she saw the riches inside the tomb. Jewelry, money, masks and thrones. It was overwhelming how poor she was and how rich this person had been. She looked at coins, masks, necklaces, and kept stuffing things into her bag. It was filling up fast, and finally it was almost too full and heavy for her to carry. Because she could only use one hand, she had to let a few things stay. After that she slowly walked out of the room, and soon found a tunnel. As she limped along, she heard cursing and a thump from farther down the tunnel. One of the men from before had probably snuck in like her, and was finding his way towards the room. Eboni tried to jump behind something, but found thin air. She reached for her knife, but she had given it to that boy. All she had was a bag of treasures and a torch. As the man got close enough to see the faint glow given off by the flame, he took a knife from his belt. With that, Eboni ran towards him, loot clinking and torch wielded. Once she was close enough, she pulled back her torch and hit him in the face with it. He screamed, and jumped at her, knocking the only weapon she had from her hand. It rolled away, and only hot embers were left to give light. As he got closer, she could see a red mark across his right cheek. He looked livid. She went to punch him in the nose, but he met her wrist with the blade of his knife. This time, Eboni screamed. She stumbled, and the man lunged and stuck his knife through her chest. Eboni gasped, strangely not feeling any pain. The man grinned, grabbed her knapsack, and turned to leave. Eboni was shocked. She looked at the wound in her chest, and knew that she would die here. It couldn’t be. She lay her head down on the floor and looked at the wall. Her vision was blurring. She grabbed the torch from where it lay, and scraping the charcoal against the wall, she started to write. An arm, a foot, wind, water, a feather; Eboni wrote until her arm fell to her side, which made her wince. She gazed over to her sloppy letters and smiled weakly. She now could see very little, and her vision was still dimming. Shadows grew longer, and she could see what looked like Amasis strutting towards her. She giggled and went to stroke him, but her hand passed through his belly. Soon she could not see him anymore, and the tunnel started spinning. Her vision dimmed more. Then, it went completely black.

              “I think I found something!” exclaimed Christopher Henderson, the new intern for a group of archeologists. He had started studying in 1987, and was now already here, in just four years. The archeologists had been uncovering a pyramid, and Christopher had found a skeleton. She was almost complete, and by her were some hieroglyphics that didn’t match the decorations carved on doors and things. They were very sloppy and looked like they were drawn by the charcoal from a torch nearby. “Get me the book!” shouted the intern, and soon had the book of translations from hieroglyphics. He studied the journal and letters carefully and soon deciphered the message. “You guys, look, this says ‘Eboni, the tomb robber’.”