“I hope we don’t have to come back this way,” Abigail said.

  Charles stepped forward. “I suggest we’re more cautious from here on. The booby-traps seem to be stepping up a level.”

  “What else are we likely to encounter?” Myles asked him.

  Charles raised one eyebrow at Abigail. “I’ve never heard of these swinging disks before, have you?”

  Abigail shook her head. “Certainly, the pits are to be expected, but I’ve not heard of these.”

  “Like I said, they must be protecting something good,” Charles said, raising his voice with excitement. “Maybe there’s some gold through here.” He stepped through the corbeled archway before anyone could stop him.

  Abigail heard a loud shriek.

  25

  DAHSHUR

  “Crocodiles!” he yelled.

  The others hurried through to Charles. His flashlight was moving over a body of inky black water. Myles cracked a chem light and threw it to the back of the chamber, revealing a canal of sorts. “That canal must go all the way to the Nile,” Charles said. “I wonder how many crocodiles are in there?”

  “One is more than enough,” Abigail said with a shudder. “Is that the only way across?” She looked at the rope bridge hanging precariously above the water.

  “I don’t know if that will hold anyone’s weight,” Charles said. “Still, this rope obviously hasn’t been here for thousands of years, so someone has replaced it. Someone has gone to great lengths to protect something. And it wasn’t the people of the Twenty Second Dynasty.”

  Abigail readily agreed. “Yes, someone far more recent, maybe more modern tomb robbers. Maybe they needed to remove the gold little by little, and so they had this built to deter others.”

  “I hope there’s still some gold left,” Charles said.

  “We’re here for Goliath’s spear,” Abigail reminded him.

  “Of course. That’s what I meant, Goliath’s spear.” Charles’s voice was unnaturally high pitched.

  “Well, Charles, you said you’d go first over the next booby-trap,” Myles reminded him.

  “This isn’t a booby-trap,” Charles said. “It’s only enough to deter any sane person.”

  Myles shrugged. “Your choice. Would you rather go across this first or navigate an actual booby-trap first?”

  Charles shrugged. “You’re right.”

  Riley placed a hand on the small of Abigail’s back, and she shivered at the pleasantness of its weight. “Focus,” she hissed at herself as Charles stepped onto the rope bridge. As soon as Charles’s weight hit the rope bridge, it trembled.

  The bridge continued to shake precariously as Charles inched toward the other side.

  Abigail began to doubt it would take his weight. She studied the bridge more closely. Small wooden planks were tied with rope. The planks were not close together, and worse still, the rope bridge didn’t look too far above the crocodiles. She wondered how far crocodiles could jump. She didn’t know much about crocodiles, but somewhere in the dim recesses of her memory, she could recall seeing a documentary where crocodiles in captivity jumped high. The keeper held out food on a pole at quite a height to crocodiles that would jump for it.

  Abigail gasped as Charles slipped. He managed to hang onto the rope, but his wallet flew out of his pocket and landed in the water below. For a moment, nothing happened, and then a crocodile sprung from the water and snatched the wallet.

  Riley pressed his hand harder into Abigail’s back as they watched about two dozen crocodiles squirming in the water below.

  Charles made it to the other side without further incident, much to Abigail’s surprise. She considered his light weight would have helped, but Riley and Myles were far heavier. She didn’t want to think about Riley crossing the rope bridge. The excitement of being under the Black Pyramid complex was now replaced with cold, bone-shattering fear.

  “You go next, Abigail,” Riley said. “It should take your weight.” Abigail stepped from the safety of stone under her feet onto the beginning of the rope bridge. She held onto the sides, but as she tried to balance herself, the bridge swayed. A moment of fear overtook her. “I don’t think I can do it,” she said.

  “Then wait there for us to come back,” Charles called out.

  “No, I’ll be all right.” Abigail had a sudden change of heart. She had made it through the swinging disks—what could be worse than that? Charles had made it across, so there was no reason she shouldn’t.

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and then took another deep breath. She edged forward until she was one step over the crocodile–filled pit. A pair of eyes slipped out of the murky depths and watched her. No doubt, the creature was hoping she would fall. She shuddered at the sight, and the involuntary movement made the bridge sway.

  “It’s best to keep going,” Riley said, “no matter what happens.”

  Abigail wanted to take one hand off the rope and wipe it on her jeans, but she couldn’t afford to do so. Her palms grew sweatier by the moment. Beads of sweat dripped into her eyes. She wished she could wipe her eyes, but that too was not possible.

  Abigail edged across, taking tentative steps, despite Riley’s urgings to move faster. She alternated between looking at her next foothold and at the other side of the bridge. When she was halfway across, her foot slipped and her leg went right through between the slats.

  She gasped as the bridge swung with some momentum.

  It took all her strength to pull herself up, a movement which made her shoulders and biceps burn furiously.

  “Abigail, can you make it to the other side?” Riley called out to her. “I can come and help you, but I think it would be too risky to have both of us on the bridge at once.”

  Abigail fought for control to be able to speak. “I can make it,” she said, more to convince herself than anyone else. After grappling around furiously, she managed to stand upright on the bridge once more. She had no idea if the crocodile had leaped at her foot, but she hadn’t heard any jaws crunch together.

  She walked more carefully this time, one foot after the other. “It’s easier if you move faster,” Riley said for the umpteenth time. When she finally approached the other side, Charles leaned across and pulled her over.

  Abigail sat on the floor and burst into tears. “I’m all right, I’m all right,” she said again and again.

  “I’m on my way,” Riley called out to her.

  Abigail opened one eye to watch Riley crossing the bridge. Surely, it wouldn’t take his weight. It had swung violently with her weight. Much to her amazement, the bridge did not swing so much with Riley, and she realized his technique was practiced. Surely, RHTF agents didn’t have to train over suspension bridges? She shook her head and rubbed her forehead with one hand.

  When Riley was almost across, Abigail stood up to help Charles reach for Riley.

  Riley was only a few paces from the end of the bridge when Abigail heard a cracking sound.

  The bridge snapped in half, and Riley disappeared from sight.

  26

  SUBTERRANEAN LABYRINTH

  “Help him!” Abigail yelled at Charles.

  She looked over the edge to see Riley hanging onto the rope. His feet were above the water, but a crocodile was slowly but surely making its way over. She had no doubt the crocodile would seize his feet if it jumped. Riley was hanging onto the side of the rope bridge and pushing himself up with his feet.

  “There’s a crocodile swimming over to you,” Abigail called out in a panic. She didn’t know if it was the right thing to say. She didn’t want to distract him.

  Riley did not respond but continued to shimmy up the rope.

  “Help him, Charles,” Abigail urged him.

  Charles leaned over the edge. “I can’t grab him without losing my balance,” he said.

  Abigail doubted that was right. She herself could have reached for Riley, but she knew she didn’t have the strength to help him.

  It wasn’t until Riley’s arms appeared over the edge that Charles grabbed one arm and pulled, albeit not very strongly by Abigail’s estimation. She seized Riley’s other arm and pulled with all her might.

  Riley kicked his legs and hauled himself up over the edge.

  Abigail only just resisted the urge to burst into tears.

  Riley stood up and pulled Abigail into a firm hug. She clung to him. She felt her skin burning as Charles looked at them quizzically, one eyebrow raised. Abigail considered detaching from Riley, but she was so flustered from the feel of his touch, the warmth of his skin, and his woodsy scent that she stayed in his arms for a beat too long.

  “Where’s my hug?” Charles said finally, which caused both Abigail and Riley to chuckle. Charles, on the other hand, looked somewhat disappointed.

  “I’ll have to find another way around,” Myles called across the pit.

  “You’ll have to meet us back at the professor’s house,” Riley said. “Myles, don’t take any chances since you’re by yourself. Go back the way you came, and don’t get inventive. Understood?”

  “You got it,” Myles said. He disappeared from view.

  “Let’s push on,” Charles said. “Gold, um, I mean, Goliath’s spear is calling to me.”

  “Give Abigail a moment to catch her breath,” Riley said.

  Abigail exhaled slowly. “I’m okay, but Riley, what if there isn’t another way out of here? What if going across the crocodiles is the only way back?”

  “Myles will figure that out. Don’t worry,” Riley said.

  Abigail could not help but worry.

  “We’ll need to proceed carefully,” Riley said.

  “You’re stating the obvious,” Charles said with a chuckle. He shone his flashlight into the next room. “Oh no, the labyrinth begins.”

  Abigail shone her flashlight around the room. Ahead was a passageway leading to the left, a passageway to the right, and the passageway ahead branched out into two other passageways.

  “Which way should we go?” she said, perplexed.

  Just then, gunshots rang out.

  27

  DAHSHUR

  With no time for caution, Riley took Abigail’s arm and pulled her into the first passageway and then to the left, out of the way of any bullets.

  “Vortex agents!” Abigail said. “How did they find us? Will Myles be okay?”

  “We don’t have time to speculate,” Riley said. “And Myles can look after himself.”

  Abigail’s stomach constricted. What if Myles was already dead? And as sorry as that thought made her, he was their possible only means of escape unless there was another way out.

  “At least they can’t get across the crocodiles,” Charles said. “They won’t be prepared for that. Now, all we can do now is look for this spear. Which way should we go?”

  “The pyramid itself was built on an east-west orientation,” Abigail said, rubbing her chin. “One entrance is on the south western corner and the other entrance is on the south-eastern corner.”

  Charles snorted rudely. “That’s of no help to us because we know there are no accessible entrances. If they were, we would have taken those rather than climb through Dr. Addington’s house,” Charles said. “We’ll have to push on and see if we can find another way out.”

  Abigail ducked instinctively as more shots rang out.

  “That means Myles is still alive,” Riley told her.

  Abigail breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Now watch your footing for more pits,” Riley said.

  They walked on for what Abigail estimated to be a further fifteen minutes and encountered no more booby-traps.

  “Stop,” she said suddenly.

  “Another booby-trap?” Charles asked her.

  “No, we’re going in circles.” She pointed to a relief on the walls. “We passed these earlier.”

  “I’m sure there are similar inscriptions around many of the walls,” Charles said.

  Abigail shook her head. “No. I particularly noticed this one, and some of it had deteriorated. This has deteriorated in exactly the same place. Besides, Strabo said that the labyrinth was cleverly designed to make people go around in circles.”

  “Then what do we do?” Riley said.

  “I have an idea.” Charles took off, and the others followed him. “I remembered we turned right here before, because of this large cartouche on the wall.” He shone his flashlight over it. “Let’s try going left.”

  They continued left for some time. “Just how large is this complex?” Riley muttered.

  They came to a set of stairs. “This is a good sign,” Abigail said.

  Riley leaned close to her. “How so?” he said in her ear.

  “We are going up,” she said. “The pyramid itself had a complex set of structures under it. Maybe Goliath’s spear was under the pyramid itself and not somewhere in the middle of the labyrinth, close by at any rate. Going up could be an indication that we are closer to an exit. We know there were two exits in the pyramid itself, as people have excavated here.”

  The passageway became a five-foot square shaft, and the angle grew steeper with every step.

  Abigail found the going hard. The particulate matter was unpleasant, as was the bat manure and the stale air. She bent down at times looking for a handhold, and Riley helped her along.

  All Abigail wanted to do was to get out into the fresh air. With every moment that passed, she was beginning to lose interest in finding Goliath’s spear. Deadly Vortex agents were somewhere behind her. Still, she doubted she would ever find her way back across the crocodile pit, even if Myles had somehow escaped the agents and put a makeshift bridge across it to rescue them.

  Finally, the merciless shaft ended, and they found themselves standing in a room. There was plenty of head height, although Abigail was concerned to see the cedar beams holding the ceiling in place were next to several collapsed sections of ceiling.

  “It looks as though we’re directly under the Black Pyramid itself now,” Charles said, pointing to the rubble. “Archeologists have said that the King’s burial chamber wasn’t in the center of the pyramid and so they thought the builders had miscalculated, but maybe the treasure storeroom was in the center of the pyramid.”

  “You know, you could be right,” Abigail said.

  They crept on and soon came to a wall with only a small opening. Riley shone his torch in. “We have to crawl,” he said. “You go in first, Charles.”

  “No way,” Charles said. “What if I get stuck?”

  “If it gets too narrow, just say the word and we will all back out,” Riley said. “Off you go.” His tone was firm.

  Charles held up his hands in a gesture of surrender before crawling into the tunnel. Riley turned to Abigail. “Now remember, if you get scared, back out. Simply tell me and back out.”

  Abigail nodded slowly. She hoped the tunnel wasn’t long. It was bad enough being in subterranean passages without having to crawl along a tunnel.

  Riley gave her a reassuring smile and disappeared into the tunnel after Charles. Abigail crawled in after them. She could see Charles’s flashlight ahead, but she couldn’t see past Riley to see anything at all.

  It was a relief when she heard Charles say, “I’m in an anteroom of some kind.”

  The next thing she knew, Riley’s hand was on her arm, helping her out of the tunnel. She stood up and stretched. This room was narrow, but when Riley cracked a chem light, she saw a vast vaulted ceiling. She wondered why Charles gasped, and hoped it wasn’t at a scorpion or a cobra. She moved around past Riley and looked. There, in front of her, was an alabaster jar encircled with gold bands alongside a small pile of golden jewelry, necklaces, bangles, and scarabs.

  “This is the treasure,” Charles said with excitement. “Tomb robbers must have taken Goliath’s spear and the rest of the treasure. A shame there isn’t much left, but this stuff would be worth a fortune.”

  “What makes you think Goliath’s spear was kept in here?” Riley asked him.

  Charles walked over to the wall. “See these two stone plinths?” He paced out the distance between them. “They’re the length of Goliath’s spear. I’d say the spear was resting on the plinths and somebody stole it. And see those baskets there?” He pointed to a pile of baskets to the side of the chamber. “They’re typically the baskets that tomb robbers used to take out the gold. One obviously got the spear.”

  He walked over and picked up one of the baskets. “I’d estimate this to be one hundred or maybe two hundred years old. It seems somebody has already made off with Goliath’s spear and the rest of the treasure. Obviously, something happened and they couldn’t get the last of the treasure.” He scooped up the gold jewelry and dropped it into the alabaster vase.

  “So, you’re saying Goliath’s spear has already been robbed?” Riley asked him.

  “I’d say so. What do you think, Abigail?”

  Abigail looked at the stone plinths. “It does make sense that the two ends of the spear rested on these plinths. And this is clearly a treasure room.” She pointed to the reliefs on the wall.

  Charles looked at the inscriptions. “Yes. It’s a shame about the spear, but this gold would be worth a fortune.” He lifted the alabaster jar and chuckled. “A good thing gold isn’t heavy.”

  Abigail’s spirits fell. “I was so excited at the thought of seeing Goliath’s spear,” she lamented.

  “At least it looks as though there’s a way out,” Riley said. He pointed above them.

  At first, Abigail thought there were sparkling jewels somehow encrusted on the vaulted ceiling. Then she realized what it was. “The night sky! Stars!”

  Riley nodded. “It’s a long way above us, but it seems we could get out that way.”

  “There’s another shaft here,” Charles said. “I’ll climb up it to see if it goes anywhere.” With that, he grabbed the alabaster jar by the handle and swung himself up by the handholds on the wall, far more agile than Abigail had seen him to date.