Chapter 4: The Site

      We had set out early that morning; the sun was not at its full heat across the desert so we were all right.
      I drove the jeep with the caravan in tow over the bumpy sand dunes.
      I was behind all of the caravans so I decided to give a little radio call to Mr Tracy.
      I switched on the radio and tuned it in so that I was on a private frequency and I grabbed the microphone from an inner compartment.
      "This is Tintin calling Tracy Island, I repeat Tintin calling Tracy Island, can you hear me over?"
      "This is Jeff Tracy to Tintin, what's happening with you?"
      Luck, I got through.
      "I'm on my way to the site at map reference 'A17GS9'"
      I looked across my map again to make sure I was right; yes, I was spot on.
      "Thank you Tintin, hope you find something..."
      "So do I Mr Tracy, so do I... over and out"
      The desert never seemed to stop, not even the horizon showed signs of anything else.
      Then, we finally saw the Nile, in the distance ahead of us.
      I kept my foot hard on the accelerator, wasting little time to get there.
      We soon stopped.
      We were setting up camp not far from the dig site; I had to keep my composure because if I didn't, I probably would be jumping around like a schoolgirl.
      After we had set up, I meet with Ali who was sorting out the equipment.
      "So, are we heading straight to the site" I asked leaning against his truck.
      "Of course, that's what we came for" Ali said to me as he unloaded the shovels.
      I smiled at him and watched his other companions drifting about, taking measurements and other technical and mathematical things.
      I waited for Ali before I headed to the digging area; he was the only one I was a friend with at the moment so I just stuck by him.
      We both went over to the area, which was surrounded by a large rope in a square formation.
      There were some small dug up holes in the square, showing that this was the spot where the treasures could be found.
      Ali threw down the shovels and trowels.
      "Here is the equipment, everyone take an area and dig"
      Ali laid it down simple as that so everyone was just going to did until they found anything.
      I shrugged and grabbed a shovel and trowel and headed over to a spot in the middle of the square.
      I sighed and began digging; it would be a long day until we found something.
      A few hours went by and still there was nothing, I had stopped digging for a while to see if I could help anyone else.
      Nobody found anything, no jewellery or pottery, no nothing!
      "We have a few hours left" Ali called out to his friends.
      They looked at him and nodded before carrying on digging.
      I myself decided to get back to digging the dirt, I was determined to find something to make vacation worth while.
      I grabbed my shovel and dug it into the dry soil, which cracks under every dig.
      Suddenly, like an earth tremor, the ground shook.
      I screamed as the ground beneath me cracked and began to split.
      Ali was shouting at me to get out of there.
      Everyone was escaping the square, but as I turned to run, the ground beneath me caved in and I fell through the dusty soil and sand.
      It was as if the ground had swallowed me whole.
      I don't know how long I fell for but I remembered the pain of smacking into a hard sandy surface under me.
      I lay there for a few minutes just filled with complete shock and horror before I screamed at the top of my lungs.
      I cried out, looking up to the light that was far above me, I could barely see the people looking down through the top of the hole at me.
      "TINTIN!"
      It was Ali's voice.
      "TINTIN, SPEAK TO ME!"
      "Ali... Ali, what happened?"
      There was a long silence, and then he spoke.
      "The ground must have been unstable, all the digging must of caused the ground to cave in"
      I lay there whimpering and looking around the dark surroundings of the underground cave.
      I looked up at the light again and I tried to move.
      The pain that persuaded after that was indescribable; something was defiantly broken, yes, my legs.
      "ALI, HELP!" I cried out.
      "Don't worry, Tintin, we will think of some way to get you out"
      His voice trailed off, then I heard somebody say something that made me shudder.
      "Mina was right, the sand is alive and it is a hells mouth"
      I lay there crying; the pain was unbearable, I did seem true what Mina had said!
      I could hear the voices above me then I could hear another noise water!
      There was water seeping into the hole I was in; if I stayed there too long, I would drown.
      "Ali, I can hear water! I can't move and if I stay her I'll drown for sure!" I called up to him.
      There was another long silence.
      The water was getting louder and closer to me; I was getting nervous.
      "ALI!" I screamed.
      "Hold on Tintin" Ali said trying to keep me calm.
      There was some swift talking going on above me, were they contemplating my future?
      The pain was throbbing across my entire body; I was doing my best to hold back the tears.
      I heard one voice loud over the rest.
      "It would take eighteen hours to get major equipment here from Cairo, they normally don't have to handle these type of incidents and believe me, she doesn't have eighteen hours! She's as good as dead!"
      Great, that's all I wanted to hear I was going to die! That really brightened my day.
      "Wait, I have an idea!" I heard Ali say.
      YES! Ali had an idea; I wanted to find out!
      "ALI, what's happening, how are you going to get me out?"
      I was in anticipation.
      "Tintin, you'll be alright, we are going to call International Rescue!"

On to Chapter 5: Calling International Rescue!.