The Deadly Curse Read Online Free PDF Page A

think that we must be frank with Mr and Mrs Harker, given what has happened to poor Flinzer.’
    Sarah drew in her breath. ‘You are right, of course, Professor.’ She turned towards Mina and I. ‘I must offer you an apology. I thought that it might be possible to prevent the sale and dispersal of the contents of the tomb without revealing my late father’s concerns, but clearly that is not now possible. I also owe an apology to Professor Van Helsing; he promised to say nothing about my father’s discovery, but I should not have asked him to conceal anything from you both, who I know are his closest friends.’
    ‘You are not to blame yourself,’ Van Helsing said. ‘You were acting for the best. However, I now suggest that you tell Jonathan and Mina your father’s story. Inspector Delland is not due to join us for another thirty minutes.’
    Sarah nodded. ‘Very well. Professor, I believe that you still have Sir Edward’s journal?’
    Van Helsing left the room and returned a few moments later with a large leather-bound volume, the size of a ledger-book. Its cover was mottled and faded in patches, as if it had been exposed to extremes of weather.
    ‘I have read it, as you requested,’ he said to Sarah. ‘And I believe that you are right to be concerned.’
    She took the book from him, found the page she sought and laid it open upon a low table in front of Mina and I. ‘This is my father’s journal,’ she said. ‘In it he kept a private record of all his archaeological investigations. The relevant entry is here.’
     
    The confidential journal of Sir Edward Wilton FRS : 14th February 1886 , Valley of the Kings , Egypt .
     
    It is now two weeks since I and the other members of my expedition made our remarkable discovery of the Tomb of Karnos II . I have not revealed the ingenious method that I used to locate the entrance , although Dr Samos may suspect : he has questioned me closely about the dirigible flights I undertook last month . It will not surprise me if I learn that he , too , intends to take to the air on his next expedition .
    As the leader of our party and the most qualified to interpret the hieroglyphics of the New Kingdom period , it has fallen to me to decipher the stone tablet found between the two sarcophagi . For the last twelve hours it has lain here in my tent , whilst I have laboured with pen , ink and books of reference to assist in its interpretation .
    The troubling and unexpected nature of the inscription is not altogether a surprise to me . It is most unusual to find such tablets located next to the remains of the pharaoh and his queen , in a place normally reserved for the food and drink intended to sustain the royal couple on their journey into the afterlife . The tablet’s positioning in this way suggested some great importance is attached to it – as indeed has proved to be the case .
    The precise rendering of Ancient Egyptian writing into modern nineteenth century English is fraught with difficulties , and the transcription below should be seen as a mere approximation to the original hieroglyphics , which have a peculiarly sinister import impossible to describe .
     
    “ Let any mortal who has entered this holy place take heed : here lie the preserved bodies of the noble departed : the god Anubis , Lord of the Underworld and Protector of the Dead ; and the grave goods to sustain their journey . All that is within the sacred circle must remain together forever , and any who separate these relics will be destroyed utterly .”
     
    These words are followed by a succession of symbols that are not capable of being translated into words , but which are associated with the most powerful incantations used by the priesthood of Ancient Egypt , the potency of which I have myself experienced .
    Fortunately the reference to the “ sacred circle ” is very clear . When we opened the tomb , the centre of the burial chamber had been demarcated with a circle of powdered green quartz , and