The Call

Etienne had just turned off the shower and was about to step out when he heard the phone ringing from the bedroom. "Merde! Qui appelle a ce moment de la matinee?" he said aloud.

He grabbed the nearest towel to him off the rack and hastily dried the soles of his feet. He then wrapped the towel around his waist and hurried off to the bedroom.

"Je viens! Je viens!" he yelled as if the caller could hear him.

The phone was still ringing when lifted the receiver.

"Bonjour," he said.

"Bonjour," replied the voice at the other end. "C'est moi, Haroun."

Étienne, not expecting Haroun to be calling him at that hour, hesitated, and then realizing it was indeed his old friend and colleague, said, "Haroun! How are you?" He paused and then asked, "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, yes, I'm well, thank you," Haroun replied. "I know it's early, and I do apologize for any inconvenience I've caused you. If I disturbed you from sleep, please forgive me."

"No! No!" replied Étienne. "You didn't wake me. I was just about to step out of the shower when you called. Give it no thought. You don't ever have to make an apology, Haroun."

"I know, I know, but I wanted to catch you before you left for work. I have something very important to ask of you."

Étienne laughed. "If you had called twenty minutes earlier, you would have caught me still in bed, so you did well."

"Good! I know we haven't talked for a while, but that's not why I'm calling. Let me get to the point."

"Could you hold on for a moment?" asked Étienne. "I haven't completely dried myself off. I'm still dripping wet, and I don't want to drip water all over the bedroom rug, so give me a moment to dry off."

"Oui, oui, mon ami, by all means do."

"It will take a second," said Etienne, placing the receiver down on the nightstand and hurrying back to the bathroom. He soon returned, sat down on the edge of the bed, and picked up the phone. "There," he said.

"I feel much better now. It's so good to hear your voice, Haroun, and yes, it's been too damn long. Now what is it you wish to ask me?"

"Well, first," said Haroun, pausing, "I don't know how or where to begin."

"Usually, one begins at the beginning," replied Étienne, laughing.

"Very funny, mon ami, yes, very funny indeed," said Haroun, not laughing. "I don't know if you've heard or not about the incident that happened here a couple of months ago."

"No, what incident?"

"I didn't think you did," replied Haroun. "Well, it's not important. What's important is we have the two scrolls here at our museum—"

"Scrolls?" asked Étienne, interrupting, and then said, "To answer your first question, Haroun, no. As for your second, what two scrolls?"

"Ah, that's what I figured, but that's not important, not right now. What is ..." Haroun paused and then asked, "Have you any free time, if not, can you make some?"

"For what?" asked Étienne.

Ignoring Étienne's question, Haroun said, "Don't say anything until you hear me out. Hear what I'm going to ask, okay?"

Étienne could almost hear in Haroun's voice a pleading and answered, "Yes, Haroun, I promise."

"Good! I would like very much for you to come to Egypt. What I'm about to tell you has already been in all the papers here." Haroun then paused and, after clearing his throat, said, "It was a couple of months ago that the antiquity service in Luxor got a tip that a sale was pending ... I won't go into details right now, but they intercepted the sale, arrested the individual, and confiscated two papyri scrolls, which are currently here at the museum. They interrogated the person, and he confessed that it was his sons—actually it was their dog—that discovered the grave."

"Wait a second!" said Étienne, interrupting. "Did I just hear you just say a dog?"

"Ah, oui, mon ami, a dog! It seems that his two sons, along with their dog, were searching for carnelian in and around the foothills near the Valley of the Queens. It was their dog that discovered the grave."

Again, Étienne interrupted, "What grave?"

"Please, I'm getting to it. Just give me a moment, okay? Let me see, ah yes, the brothers found their dog digging in the sand below a dead acacia tree, and when they went to investigate, they found that the dog had uncovered an ancient grave site and a mummy."

"A mummy?" asked Étienne now totally confused.

"Yes, yes, a mummy," replied Haroun.

"Are you now saying, besides the two scrolls, you have a mummy?"

"Yes, yes, that is correct. But it's not the mummy we are interested in, it's one of the scrolls. We have already conserved the scroll in question ..."

There was another pause on Haroun's part, which Étienne noticed and asked, "Is there something wrong? Are you all right?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Haroun replied; however, his voice now took on a serious tone. "It's the larger scroll," he went on to say. "For when the scrolls were confiscated by the antiquity service, they found that they had been badly mishandled and were damaged. From the many fragments, there was one that indicated who we believe was its writer. We now have that fragment here in the lab under lock and key. We are beside ourselves over the discovery. That's why I'm asking if you can come to Egypt as soon as possible."

Étienne had never heard, let alone seen, Haroun in such a state as he was in now. Why Haroun was so adamant in having him drop everything and come to Egypt had him perplexed. He asked, "Why right away?"

"Listen, mon ami, it's important to me that you become involved in this discovery, and that's why I've called you. I know we have able-bodied linguist here in Egypt who could do the deciphering, but I don't want them. I want you and you alone. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, I understand what you are saying and want. You want me to drop everything and come to Egypt," replied Étienne. He then paused and asked, "Before I commit myself, Haroun, I need to know more and why. What's so important about this scroll?"

Haroun, at first, didn't answer Étienne's question or concern but said almost whispering, "I've told you what you need to know. I don't want to discuss the scroll over the phone," he said, then added, "Sometimes phones have big ears ... if you get my drift." Haroun went silent, and after a second or two, he said, whispering, "There are forces here in Egypt, Étienne, that would go to any means—and I mean any means— to prevent what little we know from surfacing ... from being made known by others"

"Forces? What forces? And who are the others?" inquired Étienne, now totally baffled.

"They have already made themselves known. I don't want to go into it now, not until I see you in person and not until then." Again, there was silence as if the phone went dead.

Étienne was unable to grasp or understand what Haroun was trying to convey to him, and now this silence caused Étienne to ask, "Haroun, are you there? Is there something wrong?"

"Yes, I'm still here. I was trying to gather my thoughts together on how I was going to say it. You must promise me that you won't mention what I am going to tell you." Again, there was a short pause, and then Haroun asked, "You must promise me that you will keep this information to yourself and to you alone. Do you promise?"

"Yes, of course," answered Étienne, annoyed by his manner of asking. "You know I will."

"Good! As I said earlier, we have proof that one of the scrolls, if not both, was written by the hand of ..." Haroun had whispered the name so low that Étienne could not hear it.

"I'm sorry, Haroun," he said. "I didn't get the name because you whispered it so that I couldn't catch it. What did you say?"

"Moses!" said Haroun, this time a bit louder. "Did you hear me now?"

This time, Étienne heard. His eyes widened as he became speechless.

"Hello, hello, Étienne?"

Étienne had heard but could not answer. After a moment to recover, Étienne said, "Yes, Haroun, I'm here. Did I heard you right? You said Mos—"

"Ssssh, mon ami, please, please don't say or repeat the name. Promise me."

"Yes, yes, I promise, but I—"

"Please, Étienne," said Haroun, cutting him off. "I've said too much already. I will tell and show you what we have, all of it, when you get here. When will that be?"

"Get there? I don't know. I don't know when I'm able to be free, Haroun. I teach, I have a job, I can't just get up and go."

"Well, can you? That's why I'm calling ..."

Merde! He's always been there for me whenever I've asked, and now he's ... Merde! "I ... I don't know," said Étienne after thinking about it. Oh, what the hell. "Yes! I can come, but the earliest would have to be after Wednesday of next week. I just had a book published by Oxford Press, and that's when they are planning its release. I need to be here. It's important, not only for me, but also for the university. You do understand that, don't you?"

"I understand fully! By all means, you must," replied Haroun. "It's your research paper, is it not?"

"Yes, it is. It started out as a paper but ended up as a book, The Religion of Ancient Egypt, Its Impact on Early Christianity."

"Oh yes! You did tell me about it, but that was a while ago. You must bring a copy when you come. I'm looking forward to—"

"Whoa!" said Étienne, interrupting him. "Hold on, Haroun! Hold on for a second, not so fast. I didn't say I was coming. I said the earliest would be after next Wednesday. I must check first with the university. I have obligations. I just can't drop them and come—"

Hearing "after next Wednesday," Haroun heard nothing else. He was too excited over the chance of seeing his old friend whom he hadn't seen in almost eight years and to have him be part of the team that he heard nothing after that. Haroun knew that once Étienne saw the scrolls, the mummy, and the other artifacts, but most of all, the proof that Moses did exist and was indeed the writer of the scroll, he would want to be involved.

"Here, let me give you my number," said Haroun. "By the way, I have a new office and title. I'm now Egypt's chief of antiquities as well as the director of the Cairo Museum, but that's not important. Have you a pen and paper handy?"

"Haroun, Haroun, I said I'll ... oh, never mind! One moment," said Étienne, who had never seen such tenacity in a person as he had in Haroun. "I'm in the bedroom. I have to go to the den ... just a moment." Étienne placed the receiver down on the bed, stood, and went into the den. He pulled the chair out from beneath the desk and sat down. Having found a pen and using the back of an envelope, he lifted the receiver and said, "I have a pen and something to write on. What's the number?"

"It's 20-2-578066," said Haroun. "If there is no answer, here's the main number to the museum—20-2-578044. Have them page me. Do you want me to repeat the numbers?"

"No, that won't be necessary. I'll be in touch with you with the date and information about my arrival. As I said, Haroun, it will be sometime after next Wednesday. It's always good to hear from you. I'll call you either by the end of this week or by the beginning of next week. Is that okay?"

"Yes, yes, by all means. It's always my pleasure, and I look forward in hearing back from you."

"A bientot," said Étienne.

"Au revoir, mon bon ami, au revoir," replied Haroun.

In the buff and with the receiver still in his hand, Étienne sat at the desk for a moment, contemplating what had just transpired between himself and his friend and colleague. It wasn't until he heard the beeping sound from the phone did he realize he was still holding onto the receiver. He then placed it down on its cradle.

Still sitting, Étienne kept thinking to himself, He did say Moses, did he not? Mon dieu, Moise! They have proof of it? But what's this about outside forces? It doesn't make any sense at all, but if this is true, then it might be dangerous. Mon dieu, what am I getting myself in to? But I did say I would, didn't I?

He sat there thinking it over.

"I do need a vacation," he said aloud. He thought a little more and said, "Ah, what the hell, why not! That settles it."

With that said, Étienne stood and pushed the chair back under the desk, turned, and headed to the bedroom. There, after placing the phone down, he got dressed, put on his sport coat, picked up the loose change from off the dresser, and closed the door to the apartment. After locking the door, he exited the building. There on the stoop outside, Étienne looked up into the sky at the sun and smiled.

"Oui," he said to himself, "^a va etre une belle journée."