The Adventurer & The Librarian

Chapter 3: Bargaining

"Bookworm?" William answered in annoyance.

"Well, I-I'm just a local sort of missionary chap," Jonathan said, leading his brother forward with him.  "Spreading the good word and all that."  Jonathan yanked the younger Carnahan forward.  "But this is by brother Will."

"How do you do?" William said politely, still gawking at the woman like a scared child.

Now he understood why Jonathan was so terrified.  It was unheard of for women to act and dress like men or even carry guns on their persons.  Also, the way the woman was looking at him made him feel like he was on display for a feast.

The brunette woman merely raised a bro at him as if she knew what he was thinking.  "Yeah, well, I guess he's not a total loss," she said.

William's eyes went wide before he looked at her defiantly, taking a step forward.  "I beg your pardon?"

People started shouting in Arabic, getting the warden's attention to also yell.  "I'll be back in a moment," he mumbled before walking where the shouting was coming from.

"Ask her about the box," Jonathan urged his brother quietly.

William glanced at his sibling with a discouraged frown, then looked back at the prisoner.  "We have found..." he began, seeing that her attention was now elsewhere.  That was rude.  "Hello, excuse me?" he barked.  The woman glared up at the librarian, making him gulp.   "We both found your...your puzzle box and we've come to ask you about it."

The woman shook her head.  "No."

"No?" William asked, his hope on this being easy deflating by the second.

"No," the woman repeated, looking bored now.  "You came to ask me about Hamunaptra."

Jonathan urged the woman to keep her voice down but William's interest suddenly peaked.  "How do you know that the box pertains to Hamunaptra?" the librarian asked with a surprised smirk.

The prisoner rolled her eyes.  "Because that's where I was when I found it.  I was there," she replied.

Jonathan leaned down as William blinked a few times, trying to process what the woman just said.  "But how do we know that's not a load of pig's swallow?" the sneaky man asked.

The female brunette leaned back a little, a look of suspicion on her face as she pointed at Jonathan.  "You know, do I know you?"

"No, no, no, no," Jonathan laughed nervously.  "I've just got one of those faces."

A look of recognition appeared on the woman's face and in a flash, Jonathan was punched.  "Casbah!" she shouted as Jonathan hit the ground.  William gulped as the guards hit her, making her hiss and cringe in pain.  "Bastards," she growled.

William stared down at his brother who was trying to crawl the pain away.  The librarian honestly couldn't feel much pity for his brother and shook his head as he stepped over Jonathan and got closer to the woman.

"You were actually at Hamunaptra?" William asked with refound enthusiasm.

The woman smiled up at him brightly.  "Yeah, I was there."

"You swear?"

"Every damn day."

"No, I didn't mean that-"

"I know what you meant.  I was there.  Seti's place.  City of the Dead," she emphasized with a waving of her chained hands.

"Could you tell me how to get there?" William asked excitedly.  The woman raised her eyebrows at him, as if questioning what he was asking.  Will leaned closer as more yelling ensure behind him.  "I mean, the exact location."