Sunset on the Nile

About eighteen inches of the stone was now exposed along the edge. Ian worked his way along with a stiff brush, cleaning any remaining sand from the stone. Halfway along, Ian stopped. His heart pounded and his hand began to shake. His brush had revealed some carving on the face of the stone.

Ian leapt to his feet and yelled, "Dr. Somerset!"

"Yes?" He looked up from the plot table.

"I've found something! It looks like an inscription." Ian's heart was still pounding.

He hopped back down and looked at a faint relief carved into the rock. Ian took a soft brush and continued to try to clean every grain of sand out of the rock.

By the time Somerset and Halliday had worked their way down into the trench the other archaeologists were at Ian's side. They were each trying to make out what was chiseled into the stone.

Dr. Somerset pulled his spectacles from his shirt pocket and looked at what Ian had discovered. "Right, Mr. Groves. What say we take a look at what you have found?"

After studying the inscription for a few minutes, Dr. Somerset looked up at Nigel. "Pepper, be a good fellow and hand me your canteen bottle."

Nigel removed the bottle from his belt and handed it down to the doctor. Dr. Somerset nodded his thanks and removed the cap from the bottle. After dipping the tip of his handkerchief into the water bottle, he began to dab water into the relief. The image was clearer once he had traced the lines with water. It was of a man with the head of a scarab.

"By Jove!" Halliday exclaimed. "It's our old friend."

Dr. Somerset had his hands on his hips and he nodded in agreement. "Yes, David, I do believe that it our old friend, Khepri."

Ian felt a jolt. That was the same name of the girl that he had dreamed about. That memory of her was clear in his mind. He could still hear her voice telling him her name. Her eyes, he shivered slightly when he thought of her eyes. He yearned to see those eyes again. The dreams he had of her were unlike any dreams he had before. They were so vivid and they didn't fade into the mists of his memory minutes or hours after waking. Every detail of the dreams was sharp and clear in his mind.

"Well, Mr. Groves, it would appear that you have uncovered either a shrine or possibly a small temple to Khepri," Dr. Somerset remarked.

Nigel looked across the river at the setting sun. "Blood hell! It looks like we start losing our light in a few minutes."

Halliday nodded as he glanced at the western horizon. "Yes, you're right. Okay, lads, let's get our equipment packed up. Things seem to have a tendency to disappear if we leave it out, only to re-appear at the bazaar in town. I, for one, am getting tired of having to go to the bazaar to haggle for the repurchase our equipment every few days."

Ian looked to the place he had seen the girl on the past two occasions. He wasn't sure if it was a trick of his imagination or not. He could have sworn that for a moment he saw those eyes staring at him before his vision was blinded by the setting sun.

---

Bertie unlocked the liquor cabinet and called over to the others who were seated at the table. "Gentleman! Your orders if you please."

Looking every bit the bartender, Bertie poured the drinks into glasses, and setting the glasses on a silver tray and carrying them over to the table.

"Dr. Somerset," Ian began. "Have you encountered Khepri before?"

"Yes," Dr. Somerset replied. "Three years ago, Halliday and I were on a dig where we came across some references to Khepri. We had hoped that we had come across a temple dedicated to Khepri, but it turned out to be a temple dedicated to Ma'at."

"What do you think we have found here, could it be a shrine or temple to Khepri?" Ian asked.

Dr. Somerset took a couple of puffs from his pipe and then nodded. "I think it is very likely." He paused for a moment. "Rather, I should say that I am hopeful."

Nigel piped up, "Okay lads, what's the wager on supper tonight? Who says lamb and rice, and who says kabobs again?"

Halliday shook his head. "This is bloody awful. I thought we had hired a cook."

"Samuels, would you be so good as to go bring Baruti here to me." Dr. Somerset sat his pipe in the ashtray. "I like lamb and mutton as much as the next man. I think if I eat much more of it, I shall be growing my own wool jumper."

A few minutes later, Samuels returned with Baruti, the cook, in tow. Baruti was a short, squat man who looked perpetually unshaven. His mustache gave him a sinister look, but that was about all that was sinister about Baruti.

Dr. Somerset eyed Baruti up and down. "Baruti, what is with all the blasted lamb and rice and kabobs? What about a good roast of beef or something different? I am beginning to wonder if you can cook."

Baruti shrugged his shoulders. "Well, when the doctor asked Baruti if he could cook, he didn't ask Baruti what he could cook. I can cook lamb and rice and kabobs."

Shaking his head, Dr. Somerset sighed. "This will not do, Baruti." A thought flashed into Dr. Somerset's head. "Baruti, do you have a wife?"

Baruti didn't quite understand but he answered, anyway. "Yes, Baruti has a wife." He paused for a moment. "A wife and seven children."

"You are to be congratulated on the size of your family. Your wife, is she a good cook?"

"Oh yes, Doctor, Baruti's wife is an excellent cook." Baruti beamed at the compliment about his family.

Dr. Somerset raised an eyebrow. "Does your wife work?"

"Oh, no, Doctor, she stays home with the family." Baruti's smile hadn't subsided yet.

"Capital!" Dr. Somerset's hand came down on the table. "Tomorrow, Baruti, you shall remain with your family, and you will send your wife to cook for us in your place."

Baruti was about to object when Dr. Somerset interjected. "If your wife proves to be the cook you think she is, I will double what I am paying you."

"Oh, yes, doctor, Baruti will remain at home with the children and his wife will come to cook for you." The doctor had hit Baruti's soft spot—money.

After Baruti had gone back to his cooking, Nigel stood up and raised his glass. "A toast for the good Doctor for his swift action."

The others in the group laughed and raised their glasses.

---

Ian looked around, his surroundings unfamiliar. Long curtains, made of a white shimmering material, danced as a gentle breeze flowed through an open window. Several pottery lamps, shaped like leopards, burned and cast a soft yellow light in the room.

"You called me again." Khepri smiled at Ian.

"Yes, I did call you. I had to see you again." Ian drank her beauty in through his eyes.

Tonight, she was naked from the waist up. Ian stared at her perfect breasts. He yearned to touch them, to fondle them. Her skin seemed to shimmer and it reminded him of the morning sun.

"Why do wish to see me?" There was the barest hint of teasing in her voice. "Is it pleasure from me that you seek?"

"I don't know what I want. I can't seem to get you out of my mind." Ian felt a little confused.

When she reached down and briefly touched his erect member, Ian realized that he was standing naked before her. He didn't feel self conscious like he had the last time. On the contrary, he was glad she could see his swollen member.

Khepri's expression turned seductive. "Well, usually when a man comes to woman naked with his manhood pointing skywards, it means he wants pleasuring."

Ian felt the heat of lust fill his body. She was right—he did want her. At this moment he wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything before in his life. His heart pounded so hard he could hear it in his ears.

She took his hand and led him to a bed at the far end of the room. "Lay down." Her voice was just above a whisper. As he lay down, she straddled him at the waist.

Ian seemed unable to resist as she took his wrists and tied them to the corners of the bed with a strip of silky material. Then she did the same with his ankles. "Relax." She smiled as she whispered.

His eyes watched her as she raised up on her knees and removed what little clothing she had on. Ian's eyes stared between her legs—there was no hair there at all. He could see all of her sex and the sight only furthered the ache in his swollen manhood.

Khepri picked up another strip of the same material she had bound Ian to the bed with. She ran the material slowly over his chest. It felt cool and he felt his nipples harden underneath the material.

He licked his lips as she slowly moved down his body to his stomach. She would let go of one end at times and drag the silky strip up and down his body. He ached as he felt the strip just graze past the tip of his engorged member. Ian saw her smile at his reaction. It was obvious that she was enjoying her teasing of him.

She turned around so that she was facing his feet. He could feel the warmth of her womanhood on his chest. As she bent forward to drag the strip up his legs, he could see her swollen lips and the slight gap between them.

He wished he could get his lips and tongue between her legs. He wanted to taste her. Ian wondered what she would taste like.

Over and over she dragged the material up his legs to the inside of his thighs. He was near crazy with lust by now. Ian pulled on his restraints and was surprised to find that he wasn't able to release himself.

Khepri smiled at his attempts to free himself. She slipped off of him and then touched his cheek with her hand. "Be still and enjoy."

She picked up a small stone vial and removed the stopper. The fragrance of sandalwood and other ancient spices filled the room. With a steady hand, she drizzled the aromatic oil from the tip of his stiff manhood to the base. When she was satisfied, she placed the stopper back in the vial and set it back on the small table beside the bed.

Ian moaned with pleasure, the oil having a warming effect on his stiff shaft. The swollen purple head seemed to expand even more with the oil's effect. Ian couldn't remember feeling the ache in his groin so acutely as he did at this moment. If he could have gotten a hand free, he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from taking his hand and using it to satisfy the carnal fire that had been lit inside of him.

"I've never felt anything like that before." Ian scarcely recognized his own voice.

Khepri smiled as she picked up the silky strip once again. "I am happy that you find it pleasurable."

She wrapped a portion of the material completely around his aching member and then began to pull on the material in a back and forth motion. The oil made the material slide in a smooth motion around the girth of his cock.

Ian was almost insane with lust now and there was no stopping his hips as they began to pump up and down in time with Khepri's back and forth motion with the strip of material. The sensation was one that Ian had never experienced before. It seemed like each time she reversed direction, she put a little more tension on the material. Ian needed to climax—he wanted to feel his seed spurt from the tip of his plum-sized cock-head. It wouldn't be long in coming now.

"That is incredible." His words were slurred with lust. "I don't think I shall last much longer."

Khepri smiled at him. Her voice changed and she sounded more like Nigel. Her lips moved but in Nigel's voice. "Come on, old boy, time to wake up."

Her face faded as his eyes opened. Ian groaned at the site of Nigel standing over him. "Bloody hell, Nigel! You could have least given me five more minutes."

Nigel grinned. "Was she pretty?"

Ian tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. "God! Pretty doesn't even begin to cover it."

Nigel wore a look of mock sympathy. "I truly am sorry, old man. The good doctor sent me to rouse you from your nocturnal slumber."

Ian sat up in his bed and stretched. "Okay I'm awake, go tell the doctor that I shall be there presently."

After Nigel left, Ian sat quietly thinking. He had been so close to climaxing. The stiffness between his legs had not subsided one iota from the dream. He reached down to touch himself and was shocked to find his member slick with oil. He put his fingers to his nose and recognized the scent from his dream. A shiver went through his body as his mind tried to make sense of what had happened.

---

As soon as the laborers had finished their morning prayers to Allah, they trekked from the village out to the site of the dig. They had showed a great deal of interest in what the Englishman had uncovered while they spent the day in prayer and devotion at the local mosque.

The overseers listened intently to Dr. Somerset and then passed his orders down to the crews. It wasn't long before the excavation of the site was in high gear. Close attention was paid to the screens of the shakers. Sharp-eyed workers watched for any signs of

man-made objects in the excavated sand.

It hadn't taken long before another stone had been uncovered about fifty feet to the east of where Ian had made the initial discovery. This one was different from the one that Ian had discovered. It had been discovered about six feet deeper than the elevation of Ian's find. The edges of the new stone were rounded and show signs of wear.

"Looks like it could be a step," Dr. Somerset mused.

Bertie nodded in agreement. "It looks like there is more wear in the center, and tapers off towards the edges."

Ian commented, "It looks like it's the same material, though."

Nigel was kneeling on the stone and took a trowel and began to dig down. In a matter of minutes, he heard the telltale thud sound of the trowel making contact with something solid. He looked up at Dr. Somerset. "I think there is another step here."

Ian felt a surge of excitement through his body. This is what archaeology in the field was supposed to be like. They were on to something now! They were uncovering something that hadn't seen the light of day in a thousand years or more.

"Pepper!" Dr Somerset stood stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Move out another eighteen inches or so and dig down with your trowel and see if you come up with another step."

Nigel nodded at the doctor and began to dig in the sand once more.

Dr. Somerset turned to Ian. "What we will do if there is another step is get the rate of fall. It will tell us as the steps continue how far down we need to go to find each next step. Once we have that plotted, we can get the laborers in here and begin removing the sand to a level of just above the steps."

Bertie had the transit set up and adjusted. "Okay, Ian, I'm ready to go."

Ian picked up the surveyors rod and the end of the long measuring tape and set up on the first step that had been uncovered. After the measurements had been taken Ian and Bertie joined Nigel and began to remove the final inches of sand and dirt from the steps.

Last night's dream replayed in Ian's mind over and over as he worked. Her eyes haunted his thoughts. The sound of her voice echoed in his mind. His dreams of her seemed so real. Constantly, as the day wore on, his thoughts would return to her. In his mind, he asked the same questions. Who was she? Where was she from?

By the end of the day, they had uncovered six steps leading down. Five feet of sand had been removed from the area. So far there was no evidence of an opening in the solid stone face that extended downwards from the smooth stones that Ian had discovered on the previous day.

After dinner, they sat around the table with drinks and cigars and reflected on the past couple of days. There was a palpable sense of excitement in the group. They had a feeling that they had made a significant discovery.

Nigel took a sip of his after-dinner drink. "Well, that was a most satisfying meal."

Bertie raised his glass. "Well said. Baruti needs to be complimented on his choice of a wife."

Halliday looked at Nigel. "I say, Pepper. I had a resident of the town here today. A man of some power. A man with a daughter. He had a complaint about a man trying to seduce his daughter. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?"

Nigel had a mock look of shock on his face. "Mr. Halliday, are you trying to infer that I may be responsible for trying to seduce some local man's daughter?"

Halliday looked over top of his glasses at Nigel. "I hope for you sake, Mr. Pepper, that no father catches you in their daughter's boudoir."

Bertie snickered. "Oh, Nigel, no one would infer that you may be responsible of trying to seduce a young woman. We may, however, infer that you have been seen leaping from several second story windows with your trousers in your hand."

"Oh, Bertie, that cuts to the quick." Nigel replied. "I have only been seen leaping from one second story window."

Ian added, "Yes, and with an angry father and several angry brothers, and no to mention an upset fiancé in hot pursuit."

Dr. Somerset looked up from his book. "Well, I don't think any of us will have much time to carouse with the locals now that we are on to something." There was something in his voice that put an end to the subject.

Ian was consumed with his thoughts of the girl. He hoped that she would come to him in his dreams again. He still didn't understand the presence of the fragrant oil on his erection this morning. He certainly didn't own anything that even came close to the aroma of the oil.

---

It was almost a nightly ritual now. He would slip into his bed and begin to think of Khepri while his hand slowly stroked the distended appendage between his legs. At the moment of his climax, he would whisper her name and hope she would hear him.

"I am glad you have called for me." Khepri wore a shy smile as she looked at Ian.

Ian reached for her hand. "I am glad that you have once again answered my call." She looked even more beautiful than before. Her eyes were lined with dark makeup, making her eyes more seem bluer than ever.

"Come," she whispered. "Let me show you some of my world."

Ian immediately recognized the great pyramid of Khufu in the background. It looked different though, covered in white plaster and gleaming in the desert sun. There was a second pyramid under construction. Ian was in awe at the sight of the pyramids.

The clothing of the people was different from what he was used to seeing the locals dressed in. Most of the men were clean shaven, even their scalps, and most had no clothing covering their chest, just a simple garment covering them from the waist to the mid thigh area. The women wore a simple skirt that appeared to wrap around at the waist with a piece of cloth that went up over one shoulder that covered their breasts. Some of the women walked around bare-breasted while others had elaborate necklaces covering their chest.

When Ian commented on the shaved heads of the men, Khepri whispered, "Many of the women shave their heads, too, and wear wigs when they go out in public."

"Is your head shaved?" Ian looked at Khepri.

"No." Khepri shook her head. "I would sooner have my own hair."

She led Ian through the town, past stalls of craftsmen selling items made of stone, pottery, and various metals. In one large stall, two men played a game of Senet while others looked on. Ian thought it must be the Egyptian equivalent of the local pub. Almost every man had a cup of wine. A scantily dressed young woman hurried about, filling the men's cups from a large pitcher.

"Oh, if I could take some of these items back..." Ian started to say.

"No, and you mustn't ever try," Khepri interrupted. "What you see is real, but you are not real to this time, and as such, you do not exist here."

"Is that why I can never touch you when I see you?" Ian asked.

"Yes." Khepri nodded. She swept her hand around. "This is my time, and my world. In your world I am not real, and I cannot exist."

They stopped in front of the stall of a man selling flat loaves of bread. Khepri handed him a coin and took one of the round loaves. She broke it as they walked and handed Ian a piece. "You can taste the bread of the my time, but you cannot take it back with you."