Canyon of the Sphinx (19 page)

Kathlyn sensed something in his
tone but wouldn't give in to it. "You don't get rid of me that easily once
I'm on the scent of something. Besides," she jerked her head towards the
trail that descended into the excavation area, "I brought help."

Christopher looked in the
direction she was indicating and the smile faded from his face. Marcus Burton,
as big as life, stood at the base of the trail, his cobalt blue eyes surveying
everything like lord and master of the domain. The man positively oozed with
strength and arrogance and command. Christopher did the only thing he could do;
he walked right for him.

"Dr. Burton," he said
with more friendliness than he felt. "What an honor to have you here. I
was just telling your wife what a surprise it was to see her. But to have you
here is... well, it's really a surprise."

This time, Marcus shook Murphy's
outstretched hand.  Kathlyn had warned him against being unpleasant to the man.
But he squeezed a bit too hard, Christopher squeezed a bit too hard, and they
ended up cracking each other's knuckles.

"Kathlyn has told me about
your theory," he said, trying to be discreet about circulating some of the
blood back into his squashed hand. "Since she's determined to finish what
she started here, I thought I would tag along and see if I could help."

There wasn't anyone in the
archaeological community that didn't know what had happened in Egypt; Kathlyn
Trent was under investigation for Fraud in relation to her husband's dig,
Marcus had been accused of Sexual Harassment, and the entire Trent-Burton team
had been kicked off of the site as a result. They had already had two
well-publicized preliminary hearings that had been something of a media circus.

  Although he didn't know Kathlyn
or Marcus that well, Christopher really didn't believe any of the allegations
for a second. They just didn't strike him as the type. Here he stood, looking
at two of the most public figures in the world, and he was a bit overwhelmed.
He wondered if they were here simply seeking refuge from the spotlight.

  "Your help would be more
than I could hope for on this," Christopher finally said to Marcus.
"What is it they call you? The God of Egyptology?"

It was an attempt at humor,
Christopher's usual style, and was met with a crooked smile. It was a way of
easing any tension in the air; Christopher couldn't stand tension. He wasn't
good at confrontations. But if push came to shove, he could shove with the best
of them. Only he wasn't so sure he wanted to shove Burton, even though he
guessed at the man's reasons for wanting to shove him back. A beautiful blond
reason.

Marcus snorted. "I don't
know who came up with that stupid nickname."

"I did," Kathlyn said
helpfully.

Marcus cocked an eyebrow at her.
"That figures." He looked back at Murphy. "If you have some time
to brief me on what you've got, I can get started."

Christopher was, in truth,
thrilled to have him on a professional level.  He dropped what he was doing.
"Better than that, I'll take you to Site B myself. That's where we found
what looks like a sphinx."

"Kathlyn told me. I can tell
you in thirty seconds if it's Egyptian or not."

It was an incredible thought.
Christopher could only nod his head. Adam and Kimberly, having seen Kathlyn,
were already standing next to her, chatting amiably. Christopher called over to
them.

"Let's take Dr. Burton over
to Site B," he said. "Maybe we can get this mystery solved once and
for all."

Adam was all for it. He began
shouting to some of the workers, getting them moving back towards the
encampment so they could get some expeditionary packs set up. Christopher
preceded them back up the trail that led to camp and Kathlyn pointed out to
Marcus the exact spot where she was bit by the snake. He didn't like that at
all and picked her up, carrying her the entire way back to camp. She giggled,
protested, and finally went limp in his arms like a dead body so he would be
forced to put her down. Walking down the trail, it looked like he was carrying
a corpse the way her arms and head was swinging about. He didn't release her
until they reached the relative safety of the encampment.

 "Is she always like
that?" Christopher asked as Marcus set her down.

Marcus grunted as she stepped on
his foot and then smacked his bottom in punishment for him carrying her.
"Always," he said.

"I guessed as much. You're a
brave man, Dr. Burton."

"There's a fine line between
bravery and stupidity."

"I heard that."

Kathlyn was several feet away
with Mark and Otis, checking her pack. She glared at her husband. Her entire
team was there except for Juliana; she and Lynn had stayed in California to
spend some time with Lynn's ailing mother after the dig shut down. Dennis, not
having any family, had tagged along with Marcus.

It had been hard to split up the
team, but for the time being, it was necessary. The only thing making the
separation easier was the knowledge that the charges would be cleared up and
they would all be back together some day, on the most important find of the century.

  It was mind-boggling to
Christopher that he had the majority of the most famous archaeological team in
history at his disposal. He was going to take advantage of it.

"Site B is about ten miles
to the south," he said. "We can go there, set up camp for the night,
and have the morning to explore it."

"We won't need the
morning," Marcus said. "I can guarantee it won't take me long to
figure out what you've got."

The man was certainly confident.
Someone helped Christopher on with his own pack. "I hope so. I've got a
theory I'm attempting to prove."

"Or disprove, so my wife
tells me."

Christopher smiled. He was
feeling more at ease with Burton now that the initial animosity seemed to be
fading. "So maybe you'll tell me what your thoughts are on the Egyptians
populating the Americas."

"I think it's a load of
crap."

Christopher somehow felt
vindicated with Marcus' support. "The great Dr. Burton has spoken. Let's
see if we can prove it."

***

The trail was heavy with
overgrowth, steamy with moisture. It smelled fresh and moldy at the same time.
Kathlyn loved every moment of it, deep in the bush, exploring where she
belonged. It made all of the hell of the past two months seem like a distant
nightmare. There were so many things she was trying to forget but couldn't seem
to.

Marcus, however, was a little out
of his element. He was fine in the desert, but the jungle had him spooked. He
didn't like things he couldn't see, like snakes and creatures and maybe even a
bad guy or two. He walked behind his wife, who was following Christopher,
alternately watching her shapely bottom and the landscape.

 Murphy had explained most of the
situation. Adam, behind Marcus, summoned his courage and began to tell him more
about the circumstances under which they found the sphinx. Marcus still
intimidated him. But while Marcus was occupied with Adam and Dennis,
Christopher came to a halt up ahead and motioned Kathlyn forward. Debra Jo,
somewhere back in the pack, took the opportunity to move up as well.

They walked up beside him, looking
at what he was pointing to.  Spider monkeys were playing overhead in the
branches. "You know that they are considered a delicacy," Christopher
said.

Kathlyn gave him a long look.
"No, thank you."

"They cook the meat and eat
the brains."

She put out her hand. "Stop
right there. I don't want to hear it."

“I hear they make great pets,
too,” Debra Jo said, wanting to be in the conversation.

 Christopher shook his head.
“Only on the Black Market. Those bastards come around every once in a while,
thrash them around in the process of capturing them, and haul them away.”

He didn’t sound pleased. Debra Jo
thought she might have blown a rare opportunity to have a real conversation
with him. “Most of the Black Market contact we had in Egypt dealt with
antiquities, not animals. I don’t know which is worse.”

Murphy shrugged. “A life can
never be replaced.”

“Neither can a four thousand year
old artifact.”

“True enough.”

“So it’s okay to eat them but not
to catch them for pets?” Kathlyn interjected. “How ridiculous is that? Eat them
or beat them, choose your poison.”

Murphy grinned at her and moved
on. Out of the corner of his eye, Marcus saw the exchange and Murphy's smile,
and he could feel his jealousy rise again.  Debra Jo, too, was feeling a
certain amount of jealousy that Christopher smiled at Kathlyn and not her.
Ridiculous, but those were her feelings nonetheless. Further on, the trail
became denser as they progressed and Christopher and the guides took to hacking
away at the growth with their machetes. It was hard work and it wasn't long
before they were all sweating rivers.

"We were in jungle like this
once before," Debra Jo commented. "In Thailand. We were looking for
evidence of a thousand year old Caucasian settlement and it was way back in the
jungle, completely creepy and nasty."

"Did you find
anything?" Christopher asked.

"No," Debra Jo shook
her head. "It was just rumor. Too bad, too. Kathlyn thought we were really
on to something."

"That would have been
interesting," he looked back at Kathlyn, behind Debra Jo. "I saw that
program you did on the Caucasian mummies of Takla Maklan a few years back.
Fascinating stuff."

"It really was,” Kathlyn
agreed. “The program didn't do the mummies themselves justice; it was like they
had all just fallen asleep, they were so beautifully preserved."

"So when can we expect the
next Kathlyn Trent World of Exploration special?"

Kathlyn didn't want to talk about
that right now. "I'm not sure. I've already recorded three of them that
haven't been aired yet."

"Why not?"

Christopher was sorry the moment
he asked. He knew why. He turned around to look at her. "I'm sorry. I
didn't mean...."

She put up her hand and smiled
ironically. "Don't worry about it. Politics is a funny thing. The World of
Exploration Channel hasn't dropped me yet, but everything I've done recently is
on the backburner until they see how this fraud stuff turns out. They have to
be careful, and I understand that."

“How is the university treating
you?”

“Fine. I’ve been with them a long
time and they know this is all a bunch of garbage.” She shrugged. “Why do you
think they sent me back down here? They want me out of the limelight until the
trial starts. My brother convinced the judge that we weren’t a permanent flight
risk given our international status, so off we went.”

Murphy wasn't quite sure what to
say. "For what it's worth," he chopped at a huge vine, "I think
it's all a load of shit. You can tell them I said that."

Marcus heard their conversation
and, wanting to remind Christopher that he was still there, he walked up next
to his wife. Kathlyn looked at him, smiling just because she was glad to see
him and he reached out to touch her hair, affectionately. It was sort of the
equivalent of peeing on her to mark his territory with Murphy around.  Debra Jo
was secretly glad he had made himself known.

"You know what's funny?”
Kathlyn said as they walked. "With all of the criticism I've had
throughout my professional career, the same people who have criticized me are
now volunteering to step forward to vouch for my character. Crazy."

Christopher glanced at Marcus.
"And Dr. Burton's the big gun, of course."

Kathlyn looked at Marcus, too.
"I don't know what I would do without him."

Her statement was a shot to
Murphy. He could see right there that their relationship had strengthened
during all this madness. Not that he had honestly hoped things were going sour
with them; it was more that he wished, had Life just been a little kinder to
him, that she would have said the same thing about him.

"Well," Murphy chopped
at some more growth," I'm sure this stuff will all be worked out."

"It will. Someone is always
trying to ruin me, one way or the other. I'm used to it. Jealousy is a strange
thing."

Christopher stopped chopping and
looked at both of them. "All I know is that I've spent most of my
professional career down here in the jungles digging up potsherds and a few
bits of stone here and there.  But what you two have achieved is every
archaeologist's dream.  For people to try to ruin that... well, all I can say
is that you're a lot calmer than I would be about it."

Kathlyn knew Christopher a little
bit; the man was so laid back he almost ran in reverse. She couldn't imagine
him getting upset over anything. "It'll work out. I'm not concerned."

Christopher didn't say anything
more. He was afraid it would sound as if he was ready to do battle for her and
her alone, and that wasn't a good thing in front of Burton, who had his own
troubles with all this. What the man lost was staggering.  Christopher turned
back to chopping.