Chapter 6

Rachael sent Johnny back to the start of the tunnels to grab the tools he used to burst through the outer room. When Johnny left, the women examined the painted wall for clues. As with all the walls in the cave a stucco like coating had been applied to the walls to make painting and relief carving easier. Unlike the rough stones of the outer room, the uniform coating made clues hard to find. But Mia found something after ten minutes of searching.

“Rachael, look at this,” she called.

Rachael left the section she was examining and a curious Hala followed her.

“Check this out,” Mia said pointing to a section of the wall.

On the wall was a small, finely detailed, painted scene of Sulihotep leading three women and a man into a temple. The women were obviously Ruth, Li Na and Kopi and the man was Alaric.

“I have a feeling this is the entrance to the room, but I don’t want to ruin any of this artwork,” Rachael said.

The result of that decision was another trip for Johnny to retrieve the gasoline powered masonry saw Mister Gamil rented.

Rachael drew another two foot by two foot square close to the floor and around a sloppily drawn set of glyphs about wine making.

The powerful saw made quick work of the clay and cement stucco and limestone blocks. Within twenty minutes Rachael was once again wriggling through a freshly cut access hole. The other women quickly followed, and Johnny brought up the rear. Mia grumbled about scratching up her knees and vowed to wear long pants like everyone else next time.

Once everyone was inside, they trained their flashlights in the direction Rachael pointed hers. The first thing they illuminated was a gleaming black granite sarcophagus. The four of them walked over to the black stone rectangle and Rachael examined the cartouche perfectly carved on the top. She gently ran her fingertips across the polished ebony stone.

“This is Sulihotep’s tomb,” she said reverently.

Sulihotep’s burial chamber was devoid of any objects other than the sarcophagus. However, the walls were beautifully decorated with paintings and hieroglyphics depicting scenes from his life. In short, the tomb was dignified and understated, just like the man buried there.

They all stared in silent awe and said a little prayer for the old priest in their own way.

“I think we should seal this room back up and leave him to rest in peace,” Johnny said.

Everyone agreed so they squeezed back out and replaced the section of wall Johnny cut out.

“Mister Gamil knows a restoration artist who can fix this damage,” Rachael said.

So Sulihotep was once again entombed in his sanctuary. It was strange for Johnny and the women to see evidence of the death of a man they just saw the night before.

“You know, eventually someone else is going to notice this anomaly and open the tomb,” Johnny said.

Rachael nodded and replied, “probably, but I hope not, and I know for sure it won’t be because any of us mentioned this place.”

Rachael received a chorus of amens to that.

They were nearing the exit to the tunnels when they ran into Mister Gamil. Gamil was looking for them because it was almost dark and he was worried about them. It was the type of kindness and concern that made Hany Gamil such an effective foreman on the dig. Another indication was the meals he had the cook prepare for them before she and her helper left for the day.

Hala declined supper with them and took off for home as soon as they were back at the compound. She had chores to do and she had only brought one change of clothes yesterday. The next day was Sunday so the dig would be shut down anyway. She promised to pack a few outfits for Monday so she could stay longer the next week. By now the four of them knew they were bound together through the experience they were sharing. Hala kissed everyone before she left. Rachael was unsure about the passionate kiss Hala laid on her and responded stiffly. Mia returned Hala’s kiss with the same passion as Johnny.

Rachael spent the night in Johnny’s trailer to continue her sexual education. This night’s lesson was about slow and gentle. It was another new experience for her. Rachael had several orgasms that would have thrilled her a week ago. Johnny was still hovering over her between her slightly bent and raised knees when she told him how she felt.

“That was nice Johnny and we can do that occasionally, but I like the other night much better,” she said.

Johnny grinned, flipped her over, yanked her up on her knees and buried himself in her with one plunge. She yelped in surprise then lowered her head on her crossed arms and sighed contentedly. In the light of day, Rachael was astounded and embarrassed that she would let, much less want, a man to have his way with her like this. But Johnny made it all right to relinquish control and just enjoy the moment.

Rachael knew she had control issues because of the high expectations she set for herself. She believed that she could best achieve the results she wanted by having complete control of her environment. Johnny Pulaski and the unexplainable influence of an ancient Egyptian Priest were slowly changing that belief.

There were no dreams that night so when everyone met up for breakfast the conversation was centered on how to proceed with the tunnel exploration. Mia unrolled a large sheet of paper three feet on a side and spread it open on the table. About half of the paper was covered with a to scale representation of the tunnels and rooms discovered so far.

Rachael tapped the drawing with her fingernail and said, “So far we have discovered a kilometer of tunnels and about thirty rooms. Mapping the complex is difficult because the tunnels and rooms are on different levels and the tunnels ramp up and down randomly. The tunnels and rooms were either cleaned out or thoroughly looted. The only artifact not on the walls was Sulihotep’s sarcophagus. Where could everything have gone? And on a related subject, when and why was the site abandoned in the first place?”

No one had an answer to her question, so she continued, “The next problem we have is figuring out how deep we are under ground. I consulted a mining engineer and he is sending us some sort of altimeter that works underground. I almost hired him to come help us, but it would add another person that knows about this place. We’ll try it on our own and hire him if we can’t figure things out ourselves.”

Rachael put the site off limits for the day so everyone could get caught up on their personal business. It was late evening and Johnny was putting the finishing touches on repacking his aid bag when his door flung open and Mia and Rachael waltzed into the trailer. Mia had her ubiquitous backpack on one shoulder and Rachael had a large Vera Bradley tote in her hand. The two women were talking as if Johnny wasn’t there.

“I don’t care if you are the boss, I’m sleeping with him tonight. He is a big boy and there is enough of him to go around so you can stay here with us or sleep somewhere else, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Johnny though that both staying was a swell idea, so he grabbed their hands and led them back to the bedroom. Once Johnny took her hand Rachael’s reluctance disappeared and she followed him. If Johnny thought this was a good idea, she would go along with it. She trusted him not to let anything happen she didn’t want.

Mia on the other hand was practically dragging Johnny behind her. At the same time, she was doing an admirable job of disrobing one handed.

“Come on Johnny, hurry up!” she whined.

By the time they reached the bedroom, Mia had kicked off her sneakers and unfastened her cargo shorts. She dropped Johnny’s hand and shimmied out of the rest of her clothes. Johnny appreciatively admired her lithe dancer’s body. Mia noticed him staring and did a pirouette.

“I was a cheerleader at Texas A&M,” she explained. Then she took a little jump and held her arms over her head. “GO AGGIES!” She yelled, then she did a back flop onto the bed.

Even reticent Rachael laughed at her antics. Rachael was torn between stripping and running.

Johnny noticed her hesitancy and pulled her into his arms.

“You don’t have to stay Sweetness, but I’ll make it worth your while if you do,” he whispered in her ear.

Rachael stayed and Johnny delivered on his promise. Rachael did not do anything sexual with Mia except incidental contact except for once when Rachael was riding his tongue while Mia rode his dick. They were both facing the headboard with Rachael about to climax when Mia reached forward and squeezed her puffy nipples ... hard. Rachael yelped in painful surprise, and then she came so hard she almost passed out. By the time they were all snuggled in bed, she on one side of Johnny, Mia on the other, Rachael was mostly over being body shy.

Johnny rolled the women out of bed for physical training at six the next morning. This morning Rachael reined herself in and ran with Johnny and Mia. Of course she ran backwards and circled around them all while urging them to go faster.

At breakfast Johnny reflected on the fact that he’d been there two weeks. He couldn’t believe the days had passed so swiftly. When he told the team that he got a chorus of ‘me toos’.

Hala joined the other three dreamers at the aid canopy by the stairs leading down into the tunnels. Once again she and Johnny set up shop while Mia and Rachael explored the tunnels. By ten in the morning the last of the locals had been seen and treated. So Hala and Johnny ventured down into the tunnel complex. They both were very interested in the medical section of the complex so that’s where they headed. The two students Rachael tasked with translating the hieroglyphics were sitting on the floor. One was busy looking up symbols on a laptop while the other wrote down the translation in a spiral notebook. They were working at a good pace because they memorized some of the glyphs just from repetition. Johnny asked what they were finding.