Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (29 page)

He told Link his story as they walked through the garden, starting from the beginning when he'd discovered the night corridor.
 
He even told him about the werewolves, and carefully watched his face the whole time, but didn't see his uncle react suspiciously.
 
He told him about the Fianna Barrows and his exploration of the necropolis, and he told him about everything he'd been shown from the statue of Anubis.
 
Finally, he told him all about Zuriel and how they had given him the staff.

Link stopped walking and looked at his nephew square in the eyes.
 
He didn't seem angry.
 
"Look, Michael, you shouldn't be too hard on yourself about this.
 
Some of the decisions you made were the right ones, and some of them were definitely not.
 
I really wish you would have trusted me with this sooner.
 
At any rate, I understand that everything you did, you did because you wanted to help your mom and dad."
 
Link put his hand on the boy's shoulder.
 
"Mike, what we need to do now is get back to the tomb and continue the search.
 
I'm assuming you can identify this Zuriel character if you see him again?"

Michael nodded enthusiastically.
 
Was his uncle really going to let him help out on the search?

"The way I see it is, you, Abby and Liam have gotten pretty darn good at getting into all kinds of trouble.
 
Not even Elizabeth, one of the biggest pains in the butt I've ever met in my life, seems to be able to keep you out of it, so from now on you're sticking with me."

Michael smiled.

Link shook his hand.
 
"Welcome to the team."

When they got back to the waiting room, Elizabeth was very unhappy to learn that Link wanted to take the children along while continuing the investigation.

"Do you honestly think Mr. Khalil is going to allow children down in those catacombs?
 
Especially now with what's happened to Declan?"

"I'm not concerned about Khalil.
 
I've got no doubt I can bring him around."

"Don't you think it'd be better if we stayed here in Cairo, or even if we stayed in Edfu?" she kept on angrily.

"Look, I know your only concern is the children's safety, but there are a lot of things that are going on here that you don't know about."

"Then why don't you explain them to me?
 
Why are you always trying to keep me on the outside?
 
You need to stop being so arrogant and think about what's best for these children."

"Elizabeth, those kids aren't getting out of my sight until we get all of this worked out.
 
You're welcome to join us, as long as you're willing to keep your mouth shut, and your powder dry."

Elizabeth had been angry before, but now she was livid.
 
Her face grew red and she glared at Link as though she might try to rip his head off.
 
With curled fists, she stormed off down the hall.

Abigail, who was always prepared to embrace the dramatic, curled her own hands into fists and followed.
 
In actuality, Michael knew that his sister was happy about going back to the necropolis.

Liam came walking down the hall.
 
He looked sad, but hopeful.

Michael jumped to his feet.
 
"How's your dad doing?"

"Well, the doctors don't really know what's going on with him.
 
He's in a coma, but they can't figure out what caused it.
 
They say they can't find any signs of trauma."

"I'm sorry about your father, Liam, but don't give up hope."
 
Link squeezed his shoulder.
 
"I personally have a feeling that he's going to pull through.
 
Actually, I think he's a pretty lucky man to be alive right now."

"What makes you say that?" Liam asked him.

"I checked Declan's eyes before they had him brought up to the hospital.
 
If I'm not mistaken, they used to be blue, correct?"

"You're saying his eyes turned green like Dr. Farley's, and the other men who were killed all those years ago?"

Link nodded.
 
"It's starting to wear off though.
 
They aren't nearly as bright today as they were yesterday.
 
I'd say all things considered he looks better, too.
 
I'm glad you didn't see him right after he came wandering out of that tomb, probably would have scared your accent away."

Liam frowned.
 
"Well, I'm glad you think he's getting better.
 
Actually, for some reason, I'm not that worried.
 
I don't know why, I just have a feeling that he's going to be okay."

Link nodded and smiled.
 
"The rest of us are heading back down to the excavation site.
 
You need to decide if you want to come with us, or stay here with your father.
 
He could wake up soon; on the other hand, he might not.
 
If you want to stay here, Sallah will be around to keep you company.
 
Turns out he really admired your dad, and has agreed to stay here and keep an eye on him."

"Not a chance.
 
If there's something I can do to help, then I'd like to go.
 
That's what Da would want.
 
Besides, sitting around here in this hospital won't do either of us any good."

"Alright then."
 
Link twirled his hat on his finger and tossed it up on his head.
 
"Gentlemen, we have work to do.
 
Let's kick this pig."

Hasani Khalil looked browbeaten as Elizabeth wagged her finger in his face.
 
Michael couldn't tell what she was saying, but he had a pretty good guess.
 
She could have at least let the man finish his waffle before reading him the riot act like that.

"Don't worry about Khalil," Link told him, taking a swig of his hot, black coffee.
 
"I convinced him that you kids would be safe with me."

"You make it sound like it was easy," Michael said to him.

"Me and Khalil go way back."

Just at that moment his cell phone rang.

As his Uncle spoke, Michael's eyes turned back to Elizabeth and Khalil.
 
Their discussion was getting a little more heated, and he watched as she threw her hands up in exasperation and stormed away toward the tents.

"That was Bill.
 
He and Jesse just got pulled over by some cops a few miles out of camp.
 
Apparently he forgot to take his international concealed weapons permit and they're hassling him about his guns.
 
I better get down there and help 'em take care of it before we have a bloodbath on our hands.
 
Make sure you stay put until I get back."

He jumped up from the table, threw on his duster, and climbed into a nearby Jeep.
 
Michael watched a trail of dust fly up from behind as he sped down the road.

Liam and Abigail walked up and sat down at the table with breakfast in hand.

"Where's your uncle?
 
Wasn't he here just a minute ago?" Liam asked him.
 
Michael told them about the problem with Jesse and Bill.

"Nutters," Liam said with a shake of his head.
 
"Total nutters."

Michael picked up his backpack to double check his supplies.
 
They would be heading down into the tomb as soon as Link got back.
 
"I knew I'd forgotten something.
 
I didn't bring any extra batteries for my flashlight."

"I've got plenty," Liam told him.
 
"But I don't think we'll be needing them anyway, now that we've got these faery lanterns.
 
They should come in handy down in those ruddy tunnels."

"That's probably so, but you can never be sure.
 
Better safe than sorry."

Liam shoved a biscuit into his mouth.
 
"Dats bery true."

Abigail brushed her long blonde hair out of her face, and put it behind her head in a hair tie.
 
"Hey, look over there," she pointed.
 
"Near the entrance to the tomb."

The boys turned to take a look over their shoulders.

"I don't see anything," Michael told her.

"There was a man covered up with a robe.
 
He ran over the back of that hill and went down toward the entrance to the tomb."

"So what?" Liam said dismissively.
 
"Just about everyone here runs around covered up in robes."

"I Knoooowww that DUM-DUM, but this one looked like he was holding a staff."

Michael and Liam locked eyes and scowled.
 
For a moment they just sat there, but then jumped up and sprinted off toward the necropolis.

"Hey, get BACK here," Abigail called after them, struggling to grab all the gear.

"Sorry about that, Abby," Michael said, running to grab his backpack and bow.
 
"Here, give that to me."
 
He flung her pack over his shoulder as well, and they ran as fast as they could to the tomb's opening.

The guard lay unconscious, spread out across the ground, as if he were about to make a snow angel.
 
Michael ran right past him with Liam and Abigail right on his heels.

"Mikey, shouldn't we tell somebody where we're going?"

"Yes," said Michael, "we should, but there ISN'T any time."

They skidded to a halt just before entering the tunnel. None of them were stupid enough to run into the pitch black underground while chasing an enemy they couldn't see.
 
Michael and Liam dug out their faery lanterns.
 
Abigail eyed them over jealously while pulling out her flashlight.

They entered the tomb, moving slowly and allowing their eyes to adjust to the light.
 
Liam took out Shamus's diary, placed it in his pocket, and zipped his pack back up.
 
He put his arms through the straps and pulled it up onto his back.
 
"Well, our best bet is probably where we met him before, at the warrior's burial chamber, don't you think?"

Michael nodded.
 
"Can't think of anywhere better, unless we find something along the way.
 
He shouldn't have too much of a head start on us."

It took them awhile to get where they were going.
 
Michael knew that an attack could come from any direction, and from any dark corner.
 
They moved along slowly, speaking in whispers and only when it was necessary, looking for any signs of Zuriel.
 
They were nearly to the warrior's burial chamber, the place where they'd originally met him.
 
Michael held out his hand to stop them.
 
"Okay, the doorway to the chamber is just around the corner.
 
How do we want to go about this?
 
I mean, shouldn't we have some sort of plan?"

"Can't think of one," Liam said dumbly, "other than to go look through the door and see if he's in there."

Michael looked down at Abigail.
 
She shrugged.
 
"Don't ask me, I'm just a trophy sister."

He rolled his eyes.
 
"Come on, then."

They crept to the edge of the doorway and cautiously looked inside, aligning their heads from top to bottom like a frightened little totem pole.
 
The chamber was empty.

Liam breathed a sigh of relief, and they walked inside, allowing their lanterns to illuminate the room.

"Well, it's a bit of a relief that he isn't in here," Michael said, "but the bad thing is…he isn't in here.
 
So where do we go now?"

Liam took out the diary and opened it up to the map.
 
Michael and Abigail stood behind and looked over his shoulder.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin," Liam told them.
 
There are so many caverns and passageways down here, and I don't know what a lot of these symbols mean."

Abigail raised her hand and pointed to a far corner of the room.
 
"Hey, wait a minute, what's
that
over there?"

Michael stared for a moment. "Oh, I see it too, it's like a faint green mist."

"This kid has a pretty good eye," Liam said, "Abby, you sure can be a handy girl to have around."

Abigail beamed at him.

Raising his lantern, Liam began to walk toward the mist.
 
Michael and Abigail followed him to where a small tunnel had been opened up in the wall.

A voice rang out from behind them.
 
"I wouldn't go through that if I were you, not unless you want to end up like your father."
 
Looking back to the chamber's entrance, they saw Zuriel leaning with one arm against the wall.

"YOU!" Michael shouted.
 
"You LIED to us."

"Did I, now?" he said innocently.

"You only wanted the staff for yourself.
 
You never intended to help our parents, did you?"

"Help your parents?
 
No, not really.
 
I'm the one that took them in the first place."

"
You
took them?
 
What did you do to them?
 
Where are they?
 
You didn't…you didn't put them through that nexus did you?"

"The nexus?
 
Heavens no.
 
They're actually in a holding chamber, an ancient prison, I guess you could call it.
 
It's located right underneath us, actually.
 
You're welcome to try and rescue them if you'd like, but I have to warn you, it would be a suicide mission.
 
It's a difficult place to get to, and there are some very clever booby-traps along the way."