1.04 A Honeymoon to Remember

Previously...

A misunderstanding makes Amelia think that Mort is using her, so she avoids him. Eventually they are both on the same page and back together - they even decide to move in together, and Amelia finds herself certain that Mort is about to propose! Just as expected Mort pops the question and Amelia says yes. The wedding, although small is very much appreciated and is a success overall, with just a little distraction from Amelia's inebriated mother Olivia. After the party, the newlyweds and Mort's daughter Tilly are all off for the honeymoon...

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Amelia looked around in amazement. Egypt! She had imagined what it would be like but not her wildest dreams could have produced the vibrant colors and sweet but utterly foreign smells that she now experienced. Golden sand stretched as far as the eye could see. She thought it was fantastic.

Mort and Tilly, on the other hand, were more familiar with the place and to them stepping off of the plane felt almost like coming home. Mort had always loved traveling, something that had turned out to be a big advantage in his line of work. Before his daughter had started school she had followed him everywhere on his business trips and gotten accustomed to most climates, be it pressing heat or chilling cold. She was happy to be back and hoped that being here as an adult would offer new perspectives on things. In her younger years, before she had known what she wanted to do with her life, Tilly had gone around and told everyone that “Egypt has such scope for imagination!”, copying the words of her favorite book heroine. At that time she didn't exactly know what she meant, but that had changed. Now her hope was that she would be able to do some research for a book idea that she had.

She wanted to become a professional author. In a way it felt like it was all coming full circle for her.

Mort was in Egypt for two reasons; he wanted to spend time with his lovely new wife, and he wanted to do some exploring. He was the adventurous type who preferred trying to find out the truth behind old legends rather than tanning on the beach, and this was the first non-business trip he had made to Egypt, ever. Exactly how to combine these two objectives was unclear in his mind, but for the second one he had an ulterior motive. Mort knew that there were many unclaimed treasures to be found still in the ruins and pyramids around the little town where they stayed. If you only had the guts and the perseverance, you could make some money, and he desperately needed it.

Everyone around him seemed to assume that he was loaded, and he had never seen a reason to contradict them. He was happy and certainly had sufficient funds and a nice home - but without actually having much money to spare each month, once the bills were paid. How did this come about, when he was the head of such a successful business? Unlike most CEOs, Mort had decided from day one that he would let the majority of the company's profits stay in the company. Giving his employees decent salaries, keeping the quality high and funding research projects was the highest priorities on the list. To put it simply – Mort was a genuinely good guy, but as often happens to good people, he had somewhat neglected himself. His quite recent realization was that he had bought a fairly expensive piece of land and promised his wife and daughter a beautiful house, without actually having the money to go through with it. His bank accounts were almost empty and on his cell phone the continual updates from the contractor plainly said that the material just wasn't enough. The house wouldn't be done by the time they got back to Riverblossom Falls.

“What are you thinking about?” Amelia asked her husband as they sat down to eat at a small table in camp. She had noticed ever since they got on the plane that something occupied Mort's thoughts and she wanted badly to know what it was. Had she done something wrong? Was she not wife material after all?

“Oh... Just. I was thinking of going to the old pyramids across the river. You wouldn't mind, would you? Maybe you and Tilly can go shopping or something?”

She detected something odd in his tone of voice, but couldn't think why, the request was a natural one. Personally she didn't feel compelled to see some old, crumbling tomb, but if he wanted to, sure. She shrugged carelessly.

“Sure, why not? We have plenty of time to be together later. The clothes I brought are too hot anyway,” she said with a laugh at her own silliness, “I'll ask Tilly to show me the best clothing boutiques.” Mort couldn't help but chuckle.

“Oh, hon, you won't find any boutiques here.” Amelia blushed a little and looked around at the primitive camp.

“Yeah, I guess. But a girl can try.” With that she went to go find Tilly, and Mort let out a sigh of relief. Get permission from wife, check.

Tilly and Amelia spent the entire day at the local market. Just as Mort had predicted, it didn't have any fancy boutiques or even a proper clothing store. But there was one place that had a little bit of everything – proper Egypt clothes being one of them.

“I guess I'm not the first traveler to arrive in unsuitable clothes?” She asked the clerk rhetorically. She merely laughed in response and gladly took Amelia's money – much more than the clothes were actually worth of course.

“Let's go sit down for a bit, it's so hot.” Tilly begged as Amelia got out of the bathroom wearing her new dress.

Even in this flowy, thin fabric she definitely agreed with Tilly. They sat down at a chess table and decided to play for a bit.

Meanwhile, at a large pyramid, Mort was looking for clues. “There's gotta be some treasures here” he thought “I can feel it.” Just as he was about to sit down and take a rest, something caught his eye. A gleaming in a crevice in the wall on the other side of the room. According to his calculations he was nowhere near the outside walls of the pyramid, so this couldn't be a trick of the sun. He moved closer slowly, squinting his eyes. There was definitely something there.

He moved his fingers to cover the gleam, and the moment they touched the wall, it started moving! Mort backed up with amazement in his eyes. He had found it! A hidden entrance! And just as he had anticipated, there was treasure to be found beneath. But at what cost..?

Amelia woke up with a groan and slipped out of the tent. Oh Maker, what had she gotten herself into? This was the most uncomfortable place she had ever slept in.

It was hot, humid and the ground was uneven. How on earth could they be paying to stay here? It certainly wasn't the clean, air-conditioned hotel she had imagined, but by this, the third night, she had started to get used to it. Looking around, she saw Tilly standing next to her tent with her hand to her mouth. Apparently Amelia wasn't the only one who was tired.

“Hey, Till!” She called. “What are you up to today?” Tilly walked over, blinking her eyes in an exaggerated way to wake them up.

“Oh, nothing special. I found an interesting book at the market, I was thinking of staying in my tent and have a read.”

“Silly, you can't stay inside on a day like this.” Tilly looked up at the sky. True, the sun was shining like there was no tomorrow, but all days were like this here.

“What do you have in mind then?” Amelia gave her a mischievous glance.

“Well, Mort went back to that old pyramid again. He said it was fascinating and he wanted to know more. I was thinking we could join him, like a surprise? Knowing your father he will be there still, feeling the walls for hidden messages and secret passages.” The two young women laughed mockingly, what strange and fantastic ideas their beloved Mort had.

No wonder, when his favorite books were The Da Vinci Code and The Jewel of Seven Stars. But Tilly liked the idea and the two of them decided to go right away, bringing some hastily prepared sandwiches with them. If they had known what Mort was up to, they wouldn't have laughed, nor taken time to stop at the store for soda...

“Hey, are there no tour guides here?” Amelia asked, looking around for one, without any luck.

Tilly shook her head and swallowed her last piece of bread.

“Nah, after the traveling got so cheap pretty much everyone saw the sights in just a few years. Then suddenly no one came. They just can't afford having guides here when there's no one to show around.”

“Bummer. But maybe Mort can tell us some of the place's history. Where is he anyway?” They started looking around. The high ceilings and old statues were imposing enough to keep them from calling out for him.

As they reached the last room and peered inside, Tilly gasped.

“He found a hidden door!” She exclaimed and pointed. Beyond the opening there were no lights and the walls looked like they were going to crumble down any minute. There could be no doubt that this was not a place meant for visitors.

With careful steps they moved into the dark corridor. Soon they reached a room that was lit by a torch.

“Dad.” Tilly said and Amelia nodded. For a long time they followed in his steps. Ancient, but newly lit, torches led their way. Traces of disabled traps scared them to bits.

“How much longer can it be?” Amelia asked with some hopelessness in her voice.

“Not much longer. This torch was lit just over an hour ago I think.” Tilly answered just after she had examined the torch on the wall. Amelia stared at her in amazement. She had never known that she was so observant and clever. Tilly was right, for as they passed around the next corner, they were met by the horrifying sight of Mort's lifeless body on the floor, and they thought that they'd seen something behind him moving, just for an instant.

Tilly stood frozen, as if glued to the ground. Her father was dead! But this time Amelia was the more observant one. She flew to her husband's side and lifted his head up onto her lap.

“Mort, honey, please wake up.” Tilly looked on as if it was all a dream that she couldn't affect. Amelia slapped Mort's cheek angrily.

“Mort! Come back! Mort!” Suddenly his eyelids went up, revealing two gray eyes staring up at her in bewilderment.

“A-Amelia?”

After helping Mort to his feet, it had turned out that he wasn't hurt.

The three of them had gone back to the camp as fast as they could, though Mort only followed rather reluctantly. Back in safety, all hell broke loose.

“How dare you scare us like that!?” Amelia lectured. Mort was stunned. He had never seen her so angry. “You could have died if we hadn't followed you!”

“I know, I'm sorry...” He didn't have anything to say in his defense. And as Amelia saw the honesty in her husbands eyes, the anger subsided. It was really only a symptom of the fear she had felt.

“We're going home.” She said, and no negotiations followed.

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Finally, a new chapter is up! I've been writing on it every day but I just couldn't find any inspiration, until today. Yay! In the next chapter you will get to see the new house... It's very cute (I usually don't build my own houses, but this turned out pretty good)! Also, I have a question for you guys. What do you think of the recap-thingy I do at the beginning of the post? Helpful or annoying?

/Alexandra

Amelia looking weirdo.

While Tilly reviews the Egypt entertainment.

A cute picture of Mort and Amelia actually being a couple on honeymoon. Couldn't manage to get this into the storyline, though.

"Helloooo! We're huuungryyyy!" Yeah, yeah, whatever, now pose as if you're having a laugh at something.

Two manly men having a very manly fight.

Duel! Duel! Duel! Duel!