Desert Adventure

813 words

I coughed at the dust rising, as I sifted the flour into the bowl. Oh, the smell of fresh yeast. Sugar, salt, and now the warm water sploshed into the mix. Everything combined, now was the time to knead. "Touille! I need your help."

With a scuttering of claws, my companion appeared. Tiny paws jumped onto the dough and started pounding and stretching. Ratatouille looked up at me and squeaked. "The dough's ready." In his own language of course. I put it in a warm place to rise. With an hour to kill, we could work on our adventure.

"What do you think, Touille? You up to a trip to Egypt?" The little chap scuttled across the map and snuffled at the Valley of the Kings. "Yes, that's the bit we want."

Tap, tap, tap. Tiny claws ran over the keyboard. An image of the pyramids flashed onto the screen. Goggle eyes scanned, then a tiny wet nose moved to a corner and snuffled. "There's nothing there, Touille." Or was there? "Let's get that bread made. It's nearly time for tea."

-*-

"Passport? Yes. Tickets? Yes. Egyptian Pounds? Yes. Mask? Yes. Okay, Touille, it's time." I held open the hidden door in my carry-on. "Sorry, mate." Reluctantly, Touille crept inside, head down. I shut the hatch and we headed to the airport.

"Put that on there." The x-ray only showed maps, markers and a compass. The lead lining did its job. Touille was consigned to the over head locker. As I tucked into a sandwich of brie and grapes, scraps of my meal disappeared into my pocket. The little guy would be hungry when we landed.

-*-

It was steaming and teeming in the Valley of the Kings. I peeped into my pocket. Hair plastered against his skin, my pal twitched his nose. "Okay, mate, not long now." I headed off in the direction Touille had suggested. A flat rock made a suitable seat, with room to lay out the map. Looking around, we were alone. "Okay, mate, the coast's clear.

Touille hopped out, onto the map. He shook to fluff his fur. On the map, his snuffling told me where to head. Not far off was a pile of stones. "Is that it?" He squeaked. It was further than it looked, or maybe it was the heat that slowed our progress. I had to remember that Touille was a good old English rat, not a desert gerbil.

It was shady at the base of the heap. I retrieved my water bottle from my backpack and poured a drop into the lid. "Here you go, mate." I plopped down and leaned back against a large stone. "Aaaaaahhhh!" The stone fell backwards and I went tumbling down a flight of steps. As I landed in a heap, a pair of worried eyes came scampering after.

Thousands of years worth of smells combined with my own body odours. Luckily my bag was still in my hand. I rummaged for my torch. Rats see well in the dark. Touille had already found what he was looking for. "What is it, mate?"

The arc of the torchlight shone on a wall of hieroglyphs. "Here lies Omnitek." Moving the light downwards showed a sarcophagus. "Hello, Omnitek. Never heard of you, but ..." More words were written around the edge of the tomb. "In the year 2020 there will come a great plague." I looked at Touille; he was staring at a further section of writing.

"To end the plague,
You first must find
An ancient beetle,
Then it's body grind.

Mix with blood
From yonder Fat One,
Fire it from
His ancient blowgun."

Touille was already chasing the beetles emerging from the tomb. I grabbed my sandwich box. "Got one. That's it, mate, drive 'em this way."

I needed a rest after all that beetle herding. Touille was curled up and snoring already. "I guess we're here for the night."

As the light from the entrance faded to black, I turned off the torch and settled for sleep. I was woken by a scraping noise. With it came an appalling stench.

"Stranger, leave my resting place,
You shall not have my blood.
If you try to take it
I will bring a flood."

"Ooh, I'm so scared. Do your worst, Fat One." Water started gushing down the far wall, but, because of the intense heat, it was barely a trickle by the time it reached me. Touille was not pleased being woken and ran at the Mummy, sinking his teeth in. As the blood flowed, I captured it in my mug.

Omnitek lifted his blowgun to his lips. As he blew, Touille attacked again. Instead of blowing the contents at me, he blew the entire blowgun. I caught it easily.

"Now what are you gonna do?"

Omnitek merely shrugged.

Now, I'm not sure about this cure but anything's worth a try.