AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Beauchamp didn’t leave in the direction of the area where newly arrived antiquities are stored.” Raven pointed to the arched doorway in the center of the wall. “The loading area is through there. We can still search, but we’ll have to be careful.”
“How do you know where to search?” she asked.
“I studied the architectural plans for the building last night.”
Raven kept a watch for guards as he guided her down a corridor toward the courtyard where packages were received.
The heavy metal door swung open with a loud groaning sound. There were guards on the outside, patrolling the courtyard, but the large storage room was unoccupied.
When his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he saw that there were several large crates, one of which was sitting on rollers so as to be easier to pull up the ramp. Sarcophagi and crates were piled everywhere.
“Everything’s in the process of being classified,” Indy whispered.
A guard passed in front of one of the outside windows.
“We must hurry,” whispered Raven.
“There.” Indy pointed to the large wooden crate near the outer door. They moved soundlessly, stepping in tandem to the unopened crate.
The problem would be prying it open without making too much noise.
Raven searched the room and found a metal pry bar. Indy wrapped her shawl around the metal edge to muffle the sound. He wedged the bar under the lid and pushed with all his might.
The creaking sound of the wood pulling away from the nails seemed deafening, but Raven knew the guards outside couldn’t possibly hear the noise unless they opened the door.
The lid came free and Indy helped him lift it off and set it to the side.
The crate was filled with shavings of wood. He brushed them away, digging downward. “I feel something solid.”
She thrust her arm into the shavings and found his hand. He guided her hand to the edge he’d found. “Rough,” she said. “Not smooth like a sculpture.” She continued her exploration.
“Raven.” Her eyes caught his in the dim light, gleaming like a twilight sky. “There’s an inscription carved into the surface. I think this could be the stone!”
Chapter 14
Indy traced the jagged edge, her breath catching. What a triumph it would be to find the stone so swiftly.
Raven dug deeper into the wood shavings, piling them to one side of the crate.
Her heart raced. A black edge emerged. Black basalt.
She brushed wood shavings away and leaned over the edge of the crate, sticking her nose close to the stone so that she could read the inscription.
“Well?” Raven asked. “Is it the stone? Don’t keep me in suspense. We must hurry—there are guards outside and they could decide to patrol the room at any moment.”
She traced the hieroglyphic for Ptolemy. “I think it’s the stone,” she said.
“Really?” he asked incredulously.
“Could it really be this easy?”
“Obviously we make a good investigative team. Me and you. Not you and Beauchamp.”
She smiled. “I’m getting the feeling that you really don’t like Monsieur Beauchamp.”
“He stole the stone.”
“We don’t know that for certain yet.” She brushed away the shavings to reveal more of the inscription. “It could have been sent to him without his knowledge.”
