The Lost Tomb of Cleopatra (Brook Burlington Book 1) by JT Osbourne

Author:JT Osbourne [Osbourne, JT]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Omnia Press
Published: 2018-03-26T04:00:00+00:00

38

Morgantown, WV

From Professor Green hurried into his office to pick up the ringing phone. "Yes?" he gasped.

"It's Lucia," was the answer.

"Lucia," Green answered, sitting down, stalling. He needed to catch his breath.

"I've got some information for you."

"Good, good," Green managed.

"Are you okay, Stuart?"

"I'm fine."

"You're not getting old, are you?" Lucia teased.

"Not a bit," Green declared. He felt ancient. "What is the news? The stone-mason?"

"That's right. There's a fragment of something in storage here at one of the National Museum buildings. It's only a fragment, but the name Neferu is there on the bottom.”

"That's incredible," Professor Green said.

"That's exactly what I said. But don't get your hopes up—it's just a chunk of stone at this point, I'm afraid. The soldiers used it for target practice, I think. The museum is sending me pictures. You want me to go look at it?"

"I don't think that's necessary..."

"Here's the good part. The thing was tagged with the coordinates of where it was found. Both longitude and latitude."

"Oh, that's good!" Professor Green beamed, grabbing a pen and quickly finding paper. "Can you give them to me?"

"Here goes," Lucia answered.

***

It was amazing how similar the Roman battle graveyard was to the one from World War II just a hundred yards away. In just one morning, Brook had found a broken sword, a javelin head, and a dagger. A shield wouldn't be too far away, she was certain. A coat of mail might also have survived, as well as a bow and several arrows. Excited by the discovery, and aware that this find might take her just that much closer to Cleopatra, Brook dug frantically, piling the loot next to her in the tunnel.

Tom tugged twice on the rope at the other end of the trench. It was the signal for "come in."

Brook sighed and packed up her tools. There was no option—she'd have to crawl back, but she’d be cursing the whole time. They should have come up with something more sophisticated than the rope. There was no way to ask, "why?"

On a hunch, Brook pulled on the rope two quick ones, two long pulls, two quick ones—Morse code for a question mark. The rope reply came back quickly; "lunch." Of course Tom knew Morse code—he probably had the merit badge to prove it. Could Heimlich you, too, no doubt, after giving you brain surgery.

"Lunch!" she heard Tom yell down the shaft, which made Brook laugh.

"I heard you the first time!" she shouted back. Her lamp was going low anyway. "Be right there."

***

As Green looked up the coordinates, it occurred to him to call Emily in the art department, but he decided against it. She would call as soon as she knew anything, he figured. He wondered about all the women in his life. He had no male friends; he'd never had any male friends. Was that strange? He’d stopped wondering "What's wrong with me?" a long time before, but now all that doubt was coming back. Sometimes he felt like a gawky seventh-grader again.

Green found the coordinates on a map.

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