Rakitaki: A Jonas Quartermain Adventure Read online

  He thought of his aunts and uncles, who never seemed to travel either. He then realized that he was stumped at what someone in their sixties would want from a far-off land like Egypt. The papyrus hocked at the stands looked like paper that had been wet and mashed together before being dried and aged in tea. The pottery looked like it had been made that week. He thought it over and decided something as fragile as a pot would be impossible to bring back intact.

  “What would make a good gift?” He asked himself. There were hidden electronics stores around, but Jonas didn’t have enough pocket change to afford one of the fancy Walkman players or their more Egyptian counterfeits. He kept walking. He passed a section of the market that was all about food, though none of it prepared. The stench of fish was present, though overwhelmed by spices overflowing bins. He looked at the spices in astonishment. His parents had rarely done more to food than roast or boil it and throw salt, pepper, and ketchup on top. The variety of what was available was a window into a whole new world for him.

  He wasn’t sure Holcomb would like seasonings from Egypt either. He continued his aimless explorations. Without realizing it, he left the market behind. A large square with performers lay before him. He looked back at the market thronging with people.

  A gout of fire went into the air, so close he could feel the heat from it. He spun around, seeing a man on stilts blowing fire over the crowd. He joined the audience and watched the performer juggle and breathe fire. He clapped along with the others. When that man finished his routine, he walked to a man playing a strange stringed instrument. The music was moving, and Jonas felt himself swaying with the crowd. He couldn’t understand a single word, yet he loved the song all the same.

  So it went, with him wandering from audience to crowd to small show. He was shocked by the sheer number of people, and how vastly different each was from the next. He grew shy when he saw a troupe of women dancing in opaque veils, their flat stomachs visible. They were shaking their hips and clapping cymbals as they danced, all behind a trio of stern looking men. Each had large hairy arms, a turban, and a sword on their hip. Jonas wondered if they would use the blade, or if it was just for show.

  At some point during his wandering, he grew hungry. He found a street vendor selling what the man called ‘shawarma’. It was meat served on rice with veggies, and just the smell of it had his mouth watering. He handed over a dollar bill for the meal and the vendor smiled wide. Jonas had a suspicion he had overpaid, then shrugged and walked off with the paper box overflowing with food.

  He found an empty stretch of sidewalk and sat to enjoy the food. The meat was so tender it practically melted in his mouth. It contrasted in that detail from his mother’s shoe-like leathery ‘steaks’. It tasted totally unlike beef, with a sweet grass-like undercurrent. He had heard of lamb but had never tasted it before. It was seasoned in a way that made his mouth explode with flavor with every bite. He could taste fresh spices, like they had been picked that morning. The crunch of peppers of different kinds sent heat washing over his tongue. He was nearly overwhelmed by the food, and he loved every second of it. When he was done eating, his stomach sticking out over his jeans, he burped loudly and patted his belly. Then he stood and started wandering anew.

  He saw donkeys in paddocks, camels laden with wares, and some of the largest horses he had ever been around. He knew he had to be gawking at everything, but he was far from the only one doing so. Strangers bumped into him constantly, most without ever glancing at him or saying anything. He stopped noticing after fifteen minutes. The variety of languages being spoken had his head spinning. The smells of the street fair tempted and tantalized with each step.

  He tried a local treat that he saw kids asking for. It was a sweet cinnamon flavored piece of bread on a stick. All over again he felt his mouth explode with the new experience.

  He wandered the fair for two hours, completely forgetting his despondency. As he found the far end, he walked back into the relatively quiet streets of the city. The only other people around were in cars. He made his way back to the hotel, happy to have experienced something so vastly and profoundly different from life in America.

  Back at the hotel, he made up his mind to do more touristy stuff. He asked at the reception desk what was good to do around the city. The man behind the counter pulled out a map already pre-circled with destinations for tourists. He gave a brief rundown of the options, and Jonas gratefully took the map. He handed over a dollar as a tip and the man thanked him.

  Jonas wandered back into the city, map in hand. He was going to make the best of the trip, others be damned.

  15

  Two days passed, with all the students acclimating to living at night. After dealing with the intense daytime heat, they came to understand the cultural decision to operate during the cooler hours between sunset and sunrise. Jonas found that what he had thought was a window in his room was actually a balcony. He started going out there when he had time to watch the city. It truly never slept. Even during the hottest hours of the day, the streets were clogged with cars. The sounds of horns and sirens filtered up to his high vantage point. Akron had been nothing like this.

  Professor Calhoun called him in his room and told him to meet with everybody in the restaurant. When he arrived, he found Calhoun surrounded by piles of paperwork. His jacket hung off a chair next to him. He had a pair of glasses on. The other students arrived at the same time. None of them had ever seen him wear glasses before. Once they were seated, he told them the paperwork had all been finalized, and they could begin.

  Jonas was assigned as lead for the pyramid dig. He had Jodie Miller to help him. Sidney Cooper was the lead for the Village dig site, and Simon and Dylan to assist her. Calhoun would be spending nearly equal time between the two sites as an administrator. When he broke it down for his students, it amounted to him looking over their shoulders to ensure they were doing the work correctly.

  “So, you're not doing any of the work?” Jonas asked as he looked at the listing.

  “No. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn exactly what is required of an archeologist in the field, Mister Quartermain. Think of it as job experience.” Calhoun said without inflection.

  “Being lazy then,” Jonas said in a quiet snipe.

  “The attitude is not necessary. I will be getting credit on this find. Above your names, in fact. I put twenty years into fieldwork and another ten in teaching. This is the largest find I have been part of in all that time.” Calhoun looked up from the pile he was working through. “I am doing some of the paperwork in advance, whatever can be done beforehand. Believe me, if you think this is a lot, you’re in for a surprise. I would ordinarily leave this to my interns, but you do not have enough experience with this paperwork yet. I will work with you one-on-one during the dig to go over the paperwork and make sure it is properly completed.”

  Jonas shut his mouth before he said anything else to annoy his professor.

  “When do we leave?” Asked Jodie.

  “Just after sunset. That gives you…” Calhoun paused to check his watch. “An hour. You’ll want sturdy boots, light colored clothes that are flowy and allow for airflow for the daytime. For night time, especially when you're not actively moving around, you will want to bundle up. I understand the heat out there is new to you, but the cold shouldn’t be. And it will be cold at night. Don’t forget hygiene products. If you don’t have all of that, stay after the meeting and we will arrange something. Pack for four days, and make sure you have extras. You will want them.”

  Jonas hurried back to his room from the hotel restaurant, making a mental checklist as he went. He was walking with his head down, counting on his hands, so occupied with making a mental checklist that he failed to notice a young woman step out of her room. A flash of brunette hair was all the warning he had as his head bumped into hers. He stumbled and fell backwards to the floor. She yelped, dropped her bundle of papers to clutch her head and bounced into the doorframe. She sank to her knees w
hile making little pain sounds.

  “Oh man, I am so sorry,” Jonas said. He scrambled to his feet. He held a hand out to help her up. She looked familiar. Then her face, the face that had been in the back of his mind for days, came to him.

  “Lily?” He looked into her brilliant green eyes framed by her brunette hair. She rubbed her head with her right hand, looking at him with watery eyes.

  “Ow. Hey Jonas. I guess you have issues on the ground, too.” She reached up and took his hand. He gently helped her to her feet.

  He looked her over. “Is your head okay?”

  She nodded, then leaned down to begin gathering her previous armful. He knelt and helped her gather the papers up. He found a textbook at the bottom of the pile that read ‘Physics and Computers’.

  He laughed and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He handed over the textbook. “How's school going?”

  “Just started. Class is held at night; can you believe that?”

  “Most things are done at night here, it's too hot during the day for most anything,” he replied.

  “I guess that's true. I've been trying to get the sights and smells of Cairo in while I have time.” She looked at the far end of the hallway, where a window had an excellent view of the city below.

  He nodded in response. “Yeah, me too. I found a street fair recently, that was pretty exciting. Say, what are you doing in the hotel?”

  “I’m staying in the hotel temporarily, the family I’m supposed to stay with wasn't ready for me yet. I need to stay here for a week. It’s really nice here, the cost of this place by the night must be insane.”

  He gathered the final few papers and handed them over. “Tell me about it. I’m glad the Department of Acquisitions is footing the bill. I definitely couldn’t afford a single night, never mind the few months I’m supposed to be here for the... oh crap, I just realized.”

  “What?” She asked with sudden concern.

  He pointed down the hall to his room. “I have to go finish getting ready. We're headed to our dig.”

  “Oh, sounds exciting. Good luck!” She gave a small wave with a hand under the load of papers and books.

  He thanked her then jogged the rest of the way to his room. He packed a duffel bag with clothes and hygiene necessities. Just as he thought he was finished; a flash of brown paper caught his eye. He suddenly remembered the gift Mister Holcomb had given him before he left for Egypt. He plucked it from the suitcase open on the couch.

  “I guess now is as good a time as any,” Jonas muttered to himself. He tore the paper off the small box and opened it. Inside lay a beautiful zippo lighter cast in bronze. It had the Eye of Horus on it, also known as a wadjet. It was a symbol of protection in Ancient Egypt. On the other side was a shen ring, a closed circle with a line along the bottom. Another symbol of protection. Jonas admired it for a moment before tucking it into his shirt pocket. He looked at himself in the mirror. He wore a light-colored button up with white undershirt, khaki pants with pockets, and a wide-brimmed fedora. He looked just like Indiana Jones. He smiled, feeling like something incredible was on the horizon. He grabbed the duffel bag and hurried to the lobby.

  “Mister Quartermain, what took you so long?” Asked Calhoun.

  Jonas shrugged the bag higher on his shoulder before replying. “I took like twenty minutes! And, I ran into a friend... literally.”

  “It was closer to fifty minutes, according to my watch. The rest of the students have been here for fifteen. I already called for the van. Collisions seem to be your forte, Quartermain. I hope you kept the damage minimal,” Calhoun said as he turned away. “Come on.”

  “No limo this time?” Asked Sidney.

  “Not a good choice for where we're going,” Calhoun replied over his shoulder.

  “What, a limo can't handle sand and dirt roads for hundreds of miles,” Jonas asked with more than a hint of snark.

  “We’re in Egypt, Mister Quartermain. Use kilometers, and no, Mister Quartermain. Let's go.” Calhoun hadn’t even bothered to turn around for Jonas’ remark.

  “Wait, if it is hundreds of miles- I mean, kilometers, why are we staying here?”

  Calhoun stopped and turned. All five students looked at him expectantly. It was a good question none of them had even thought to ask up until that point.

  “It’s about a two hour drive each way. I don’t control where we get lodgings in the city. For all I know, the Department has a contract with this hotel. Now, can we go?” Calhoun turned as he spoke the rhetorical question, leading the way out.

  The doors to the hotel swung open, and Jonas was greeted with a pleasantly cool breeze. The wind carried the scents of a restaurant down the block, as well as the hydrocarbon stink of cars idling. The sun had just set, relieving the heat of the day. The temperature would fall soon, but not yet. He could hear the noise of a jackhammer somewhere nearby, coupled with power tools. Construction happening within a few blocks.

  A windowless white work van sat idling at the curb. The paint had been scoured down to the primer in several spots. Every visible surface had at least a few dents and scratches. An alarming number of bags were tied to the roof with hemp rope. Several green cans- the kind he had heard called ‘Jerry cans’, were tied onto the roof, the sides, and even the back of the van.

  “Are there even seats in the back?” Asked Dylan. “My dad’s work vans don’t have seats in the back. Just shelves for equipment and toolboxes for, well, tools.”

  “Yes, Mister Sharp. There are seats. Get in the van please,” Calhoun said.

  Dylan and Simon got in first, tossing their bags onto shelves mounted to the walls. They occupied one small bench. The other bench was filled by Sidney and Jodie. Their bags were also tossed onto the shelves. By the time Jonas got into the van, there was nowhere for him to sit.

  “Uh, can I squeeze in with you guys?” He asked Dylan.

  Simon interrupted. “Where, nerd? There’s no room.” It was true, Simon and poor Dylan smashed against the back of the van with his own side pressed into the shelves.

  He turned to the girls. They sat side-by-side with barely more room than Dylan. They mutely shook their heads. Jonas sighed and tossed his duffel bag to the floor, then sat on it.

  “Seatbelts,” Calhoun said from the passenger seat.

  “Seatbelts are so uncomfortable,” whined Dylan.

  “If you get launched through the windshield because you didn't wear your seatbelt, that's on you,” Calhoun said tiredly.

  “That's a myth,” Dylan said matter-of-factly.

  “It is not a myth, and you will put your damn seatbelt on because I said so.” Calhoun very clearly was in no mood to brook an argument. Each of the students reached up to a poorly mounted seatbelt and strapped themselves in. Simon had the most trouble with fitting his bulk into the restrictive belt.

  “Professor, what about me?” Jonas looked around the compartment for a fifth belt.

  “Quartermain, you will have to brace. You can either sit against the back doors or against the seats at the front. Do not kick my seat.”

  Jonas looked at the seats and decided to stay where he was. He tested the rear doors, then rested his back against them.

  “All good back there? Good,” Calhoun said without waiting for a response. He said something in Arabic and the van lurched into motion. Honking filled the air as the driver shoved his way into traffic. They were off on their first trip to the dig sites. Jonas felt excitement well deep inside. He was finally going to be a heroic archeologist like Indiana Jones.

  His excitement quickly waned as the van did its absolute best to destroy his tailbone on the rocky excuse of a road. Even through his duffel bag, he felt every jolt and bump. He did his best to nap through the trip, though the more severe knocks would wake him with a smack to the back of his head. Ninety minutes of bumpy hell followed.

  At the end of the trip, he was the first to spill out of the van and stretch. The others had talked quietly among themselves.
He looked around, finding sand, sandstone, and more sand. To his left were dozens of tents anchored deep in the sand. On his right, the village had been partially uncovered by time, wind, and explosions. Remarkably, the buildings were not only in recognizable shape, but were in decent condition. Such a find was exceedingly rare, especially with the scouring properties of sand in the wind. It was almost like it had been placed in a time bubble, preserved for millennia.

  The van had stopped at the edge of the market. Dozens of men either worked on excavating buildings or moved to different parts of the site ferrying goods or tools. Everybody looked busy.

  Calhoun called the students to him. “Miss Cooper, this is your dig this week. Mister Sharp and Mister Fleming will be your seconds. Remember to delegate work. You do not need to tackle everything yourself. I will be back in a few hours once Mister Quartermain and Miss Miller are situated.”

  Sidney nodded and took a clipboard from the professor, then walked down into the dig site to introduce herself and the other two to the site lead. Calhoun watched to ensure everything went smoothly. Jonas and Jodie idled nearby, stretching out and waiting for their turn. He looked upward, and the sight awed him. He had grown up near enough to Akron that the city’s light polluted the sky. Even on really clear nights, the sky had only seemed mostly full of stars. Out in the desert of Egypt, the sky was breathtaking. Millions of glittering lights flickered and winked above.

  “Let’s go,” Calhoun said. Jonas collected himself and all three got back into the van.

  Jonas thankfully sat on the bench Simon and Dylan had occupied on the trip out. While it wasn’t as comfortable as it looked, the thin padding was gentler to his rear than the floor had been. He tried to strike up a conversation with Jodie, but she looked uninterested. When the van slid to a stop on loose sand, he felt a surge of excitement. Just outside the van was the new life he had been waiting for. He stepped out of the van, and into his role as the new site lead. He was thrilled to finally start working as a real archeologist. Calhoun pulled him to the side.