The House of Life

Chapter 7

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It was the day before Ardeth and I set off to find the House of Life. After discovering it's whereabouts, it was all that I could think of. A temple with vast amount of information on anything and anyone. Our only obstacle was time. I was already in a tight pinch for time, with only three weeks to complete Meela's task. This was my only hope in finding any information on this mystery woman that Meela and her cult has taken interest in. 

Ardeth was particularly distracted by Medjai tasks, probably to ensure that we did not run into any danger trying to find the House of Life. Which left me to deal with collecting all of the supplies and rations to last us three weeks. Qasim and Jonathan wanted to tag along with me to the market. How could I refuse, after all the more hands I have, the more I can carry.  We spent the majority of our morning and afternoon in the Market. I made an extensive list of everything that I had bought, so that we would ration our food and supplies wisely. I kept tally's of everything that we bought in a little brown notebook. Towards the end of our shopping we came across a small wagon, that looked like it could be rigged for a horse to pull. The man who was selling the wagon was trying to up sale, but luckily Jonathan talked him down from 150 pounds to 90 pounds. I guess it was a good thing he did come after all. After purchasing the wagon, I wanted to thank Jonathan and Qasim for coming with me to help. So before we headed back to Evelyn's home, I wanted to get items to make dinner, to which I allowed Jonathan to purchase one alcoholic bottle to share. Jonathan was ecstatic, as he knew exactly what he wanted. He grabbed a black bottle and handed it to me. "Glenlivet?" I announced, "I never had this before." 

"Oh you'll love it. It's the same drink that the warden had when we were in Ham..." Jonathan paused before finishing his sentence as he realized that the mention of Hamunaptra was still a sensitive subject for me. "You know, I'll just grab another bottle." He tried to take the bottle from me, but I refused to give it to him. He was shocked of what I had done as I continued, "It's alright Jonathan. If it's as good as you say, then we'll celebrate tonight. Sounds good." Jonathan smiled as he said, "If you say so. So how drunk are you going to be tonight?"

"Oh no. I'm just drinking to relax, I'm not waking up tomorrow with a headache. But if you say this liqueur is good, then we must cook something to go with it right." Jonathan laughed as if he has never seen this side of me before. Which was true, I was so focused on Meela, that I had not once managed to relax. I mean, how could I. Maybe tonight I just might show them how fun I can really be. Before leaving, we had bought a freshly butchered chicken, a loaf of bread, some olive oil and garlic to make a feast. 

On our walk back, I wanted to ask Jonathan for a favor. It was pertaining to Qasim. I was unsure of how this venture would go, and I knew I did not want Qasim to come with Ardeth and I. My first option was to leave Qasim with Rick and Evelyn, but they were reluctant to take up the job as they had made plans prior to visit an excavation site. I didn't want them to change their plans, especially when Evelyn had helped me so much already. When we arrived back to Evelyn's house, I pulled Jonathan to the kitchen and asked, "Jonathan, I wanted to ask you for a favor." He didn't seem to mind and said, "Alright, shoot." I was hesitant at first, as Jonathan did tell me in confidence that he never stepped up to the plate to take care of Evelyn when they were younger. Maybe this will be his opportunity to prove that he can do this. I continued, "Would you be willing to take care of Qasim while I'm gone? I don't want to take him, especially when we don't know what's out there. I had hoped being with you would be safer then taking him with us. Can you do this for me?"

Jonathan's eyes widened, probably because he didn't expect me to ask him this. He probably thought he was the last person that I would ask. "Are you sure, Anna?" he replied. I grabbed Jonathan's hands as I confidently said, "I know you think that you failed in raising  Evelyn when your parents died, but believe me when I say this. I've never seen anyone who supports and cares for their little sister than you." I paused for a beat before saying, "You're a good older brother Jonathan, you just had a few bumps along the way. But don't let that define how much you care for Evelyn." Jonathan seemed like he was about to cry as he used his arm to cover his eyes. "Jonathan are you okay?" He then hugged me and said, "I'll do it." I was dumbfounded, I was confident that he would refuse, "You will?" I had to reassure his answer. He hugged me tighter as he continued, "Yes I'm sure! You won't regret it Anna." Jonathan pulled me from the hug as he had the biggest smile on his face. I believe my words of affirmation must had pulled a heart string on him. Even though Jonathan makes himself to be as a stand offish fellow, he had a heart of gold. I thanked Jonathan for helping me as I promised I would make him and Qasim a great feast before I left the next morning. I started making dinner, preparing a well seasoned chicken with garlic bread on the side. Everything was falling into place when suddenly I heard a knock on the door.