"This whole change
thing helps when there are a lot of nosey people
including the press attempting to
take away my privacy," he explained. "I
do not take kindly to that. It protects
me and the ones I love."
"How interesting,"
I said. Now I was beginning to understand about his
special powers.
"It worked very well
last night," he smiled. "So what do you want to
do today? I actually have a day
free."
"Oh, great!" I said.
"Is there anything in particular you'd like to do?
Houston is a fun place."
"I was thinking about
maybe staying in and watching some tv. Going out
for lunch and a drive after. Sound
good?" he asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Of course. I should have known you would have wanted
to lay low today."
"Lay low?" he
laughed, grabbed me, and playfully threw me down on the
couch.
"That's not what I
meant," I laughed.
"Ahhhhh, too bad,"
he laughed. "Maybe later?"
"Certainly," I smiled
and kissed him. He got up and pulled me up as well.
"Have to have some fun,"
he said."Laughter is very important."
"I agree completely,"
I smiled.
"A good work out is,
also, important," he smiled and kissed me.
"Okay," I said. "That's
enough." I waved him off playfully. He answered
the door and someone brought in
our breakfast. His favorite....eggs, bacon,
milk, and toast. He handed me a
cup of tea.
"Have to have my tea
in the morning," I said. "Not much of a coffee drinker."
"Me, either," he said.
"I had my first cup
of tea at nine. My surrogate grandmother was the
first one to offer it. She inspired
me a lot. She even introduced me to
Shakespere."
"Quite a lady," he
said. "I'm sure we would have gotten on well together."
"She would have loved
you," I smiled.
He actually let me
have the remote and I put the television on "EastEnders",
my favorite British soap.
He thought it was hilarious that I was really
enjoying it.
"I love the British,"
I said.
"How about Hong Kong?"
he asked.
"Never been there,
yet, but I'm sure I'll love it," I replied. "Especially
since it's your home."
"I bet you would feel
right at home. I could do my best British accent,"
he smiled.
"Oh, please," I laughed.
Just then a woman knocked
on the door. She was from housekeeping.
"Can't you come back
later?" he asked. "We're having breakfast."
"Of course," she said.
"Any particular time better for you?"
"Lunch time would be
perfect," he said. "Thanks."
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" I said.
"Look! My favorite cartoon!"
He smiled and said,"Looks
just like me, doesn't it?"
"Yes," I said. "I think
so. Even the muscles." I gave one of his arms
a little squeeze and we both laughed.
"Let's finish watching
it," he said sitting right beside me.
"Almost over," I said.
"My favorite part when they show the real you
and you answer the qustions from
the kids."
"The real me," he said,
"is right here."
"The real you on video
then," I said. He put his arm around me and we
watched the last portion.
"I usually don't like
watching myself like this, but it's not so bad
with you here." He smiled.
style house. We waited at
the front door.
"Kim!" My cousin gave
me a big hug. I introduced them.
"So nice to meet you,
Excellency," he bowed and shook my cousin's hand.
"A pleasure to you as
well," my cousin said. "Please come in. It seems
that we're getting prepared for
Halloween these days. If you hear or see
something unusal, don't be surprised.
It's been happening for a while."
"Have you not had a
priest by?" I asked. "Farouk, it's just like you
to find yourself in a haunted house."
I laughed.
"I thought that was
more along your tastes," Farouk said.
"Not anymore," I said.
"Now that I have someone to readily and successfully
to protect me that has all changed.
I must have been playing with fire back
then."
"That I agree with,"
said Farouk. "I sometimes wonder about some of the
books my kids have been reading."
"What kind of books?"
he said. "If you don't mind me asking."
"Of course, not," said
my cousin. "One of the boys was reading 'The Egyptian
Book Of The Dead'. One of the latest
copies, I think."
"That's not good,"
he said. "I have studies this kind of thing for years.
What my cousin didn't know was that
we both had past lives in Ancient Egypt
and he had been a very celebrated
and wise Pharoah. He was very knowledgeable
on the subject.
"Do you know where
the book is so I can have a look at it?" he asked.
"It's right here in
my study," Farouk said. "I had no idea that you knew
so much about this. Please sit down.
Can I get you some tea?" I nodded.
"I'll be right back. Please make
yourselves at home."
"This looks quite dangerous,"
he said. "I cannot say for sure that this
is the cause for the problems, but
it could be." I skimmed through it and
agreed.
"Well?" Farouk asked
as he returned and one of his daughters brought
the tea on a tray.
"Thank you, Lara,"
I said and hugged her. "It's so good to see you. It's
been quite a while. You're quite
a young woman." I introduced her to my
companion.
"Is there any other
book of this sort in the house that you know of?"
I asked.
"I don't believe so,"
Farouk answered. "Is this the source of the problem?"
"Maybe," he said. "If
there's another it could be possible that they
both could be. It's quite complicated."
"Let's see," Farouk
got up and looked through the books in his study.
"I may have one or two here. I don't
know if it's still here. Ah! Yes! Found
it!" He placed a book about demonolgy
down on the table and we began to
examine it. I was looking over his
shoulder.
"Anything else?" I
asked. "I know how book and knowledge oriented our
family is."
"I'm looking," Farouk
replied. "I had an old classic here and I put it
somewhere safe. I hope I can find
it."
"Isn't that always
the way?" I smiled. "What classic?"
"Some Islamic book,"
he said. "Handed down in the family for centuries."
"Oh," I said. "Islamic?"
"It was before the
family converted," Farouk said. "We still have cousins
over there who are Muslims."
"I know," I said. "Why
don't they have it?"
"It's supposed to have some
kind of supernatural power," Farouk said. "Uh-oh.
Now I have to find it right
away, don't I?"
"Very important," he
said. "Can you translate?"
"I can," he said. "Princess
should be able to as well."
"Princess?" he asked.
"Not really. Our part
of the family was disinherited when they converted
to Christianity," I said.
"Who would have thought
that I'd be here with a princess?" he smiled
and took my hand.
"Do you have any Ancient
Egyptian symbols in the house?" he asked. "Anything
that could be in any way considered
talismans?"
"I'll go ask Iman,"
he said. "Maybe she'll know where I put the other
book."
"Princess Kim?" he
smiled.
"No, that's my English
name. My Arabic name is Assada after my father.
I was the first born so I was named
after him."
"Assada. I like that.
It fits you," he said admiringly.
"Thank you," I said
as Farouk walked in with his wife, Iman. After we
had a mini reunion, Farouk said
that there were a few items that had, also,
been handed down in the family.
Iman found the book.
"Yes," he said. "This
is similar to the other book but it does show talismans.
We will have to see them to
find which one it could be."
"How in the world did
you get into such distinguished company?" Iman
asked me. "The boys are big fans
of his."
"I didn't know they
were admirers as well," I said. "They'll have a chance
to meet him, though. I'm glad. Oh,
us being together. That's a long story."
She and I went together to gather
the items that he had asked to examine.
We were up in the master bedroom
getting a scarab necklace where there appeared
a shadowy figure.
"Farouk says that may
be your great grandfather," I man said. "I don't
pay much attention to it."
"What other things
have been happening?" I asked.
"We have heard some
moans. Usual ghosts type of things," she said.
"How could you live
like this?" I asked. "Did you not consider having
a priest come by?"
"I considered it, but
Farouk wasn't in favor of it," she said. "I cannot
believe who you brought here and
that he may be able to help us."
"He's very knowledgeable,"
I answered. "This is quite interesting. Don't
know exactly what can be done, but
if he can help at all I know he will.
He's a very good man."
"I've always thought
so," she said. "The boys will be so thrilled to
have their hero here..I've always
encouraged them to watch his films, because
he is such a responsible person.
We have enjoyed them very much as well.
It's so nice to have something the
whole family can watch together."
"It does make a difference,
doesn't it?" I smiled.
"What else?" Iman asked.
"The Eye Of Horus, the cartouche.....and I can't
remember."
"The bracelet, I think,"
I said.
"Yes, that's it," she
said. "The other things are in the living room
if he has any interest in them."
We brought the items to the study where
he examined each thoroughly.
"This is not the original,"
he said holding the cartouche. "I don't mean
the original but one that has a
small remnant of the original attached or
enclosed in some way."
"Oh,," Iman said. "This
is supposed to be that one." She looked at her
husband suspiciously.
"No, dear," Farouk
said. "This is a copy, a reproduction. I'm not sure
if that original that he's speaking
of is here."
"It must be," he said.
"I sense that is what is causing your recent problems.
It is very important that
it is found."
"We shall do that,"
Farouk said. "If it is here we will find it." We
all looked to no avail, so Farouk
said that he would mention it to their
children in the evening because
we all know how young people can sometimes
know where things are better than
their parents.
"We'll come back tomorrow
if it can be found," he said. "It is very unneccessary
that you should be having to deal
with this."
We enjoyed a lovely
late lunch and the boys didn't get home in time to
join us. There would still be tomorrow.
As he drove us back
to the hotel he said, "I'm happy to be able to help
your cousin. I just hope the cartouche
can be found."
:They are very impressed
to have such a wise and knowledgeable person
attend to the problem," I said.
"Plus it's you. What could be better than
that?"
"There are many things
about me that most people don't know," he said.
"You know because I want you to
and we share so much in our past. Now I
hope we will in our present life
as well."
We watched some news
and a movie upon our return to the hotel. The we
ate a light dinner.
We returned to the
land of our dreams. This night we found ourselves
in Ancient Egypt. he was the wise
and handsome Pharoah. I was his Queen.We
dined and enjoyed the royal entertainment
that was presented. When we were
in private he presented me the original
cartouche. He loved endowing me
with beautiful and meaningful jewelry.
He had made sure that a curse was
attached to it for anyone who would
ever steal it from me in life or death.
Then I followed him
as he searched for something. I wasn't sure what
we were looking for. We were going
through a pyramid, in and out of secret
rooms, until we found a beautiful
golden box. In the box we found the cartouche
he had given me earlier in the dream.
When we awoke the next
morning he kissed me and said," I think I know
where it is. Call Farouk and tell
him we'll be there around nine. Is that
okay?"
"Absolutely," I replied.
This was getting so fascinating. Of course,
the best part was this extra time
with him. I called my cousin and told
him we would be arriving at his
house in a couple of hours.
Part Two
Farouk's oldest
son, Abdul, answered the door. He stood there in a awe
for a few moments before inviting
us in.
"Sorry," he apologized.
"i can't believe that the Master is actually
here at our house! Anwar!"
He called to his brother who came
running out into the foyer.
"Oh, my God!" Anwar
said. "It is such an honor to meet you, Sir! We are
big fans!" He came over to shake
his hand and hug me.
"I see you've met my
sons," Farouk said walking out into the foyer with
a mug of coffee in hand. "Sit down
in the living room, please. Can I get
you some coffee or something?"
"No, thanks," he said.
"We're tea people,"
I said.
"Wow! An Arab not drinking
coffee?" Farouk smiled. "I should have known
the Princess would prefer tea. I'm
kidding. If you change your mind just
say the word. I assure you that
we are well stocked. Lara has nearly every
kind of tea there is."
"Have you find anything?"
I asked.
"No," Farouk replied.
"Not what we were looking for. I don't understand
it."
"I think I may know,"
he said. "Do you have a basement?"
"No, not here," Farouk
said.
"It might still be
here," he said. We'll have to do some more searching.
I was given a clue in a dream last
night."
"Were you having the
same dream as me?" I asked.
"The Egyptian dream,"
he said. "I'm pretty sure. We often have shared
dreams." He felt the need to explain.
"I didn't see any clues,"
I said.
"The reason was that
you weren't specifically looking for any," he said.
"I try to resolve things, even as
simple as find a piece of jewelry. It is all
in what you wish to accomplish."
"Very interesting,"
I replied.
"You have a lot to
learn still," he smiled. "Let me ask if you don't
have a basement here, do you have
one in another home?"
"Yes," Farouk said. "In Jordan."
"Okay," he said. "Do me a
favor and call there. Have a search performed
there in the basement. That way
we'll cover all the possibilities."
"Excuse me for a few
minutes. I will do that now before it's too late
in the evening there. Make yourselves
at home," Farouk said and went into
his study.
"So, cousin, please
tell me how The Master came to be here and involved
in this situation," Anwar inquired.
"He came with me for
lunch yesterday and when we were told about this
he was fascinated," I said.
"Very interesting to
me," he said. "I've always felt a bond with Ancient
Egypt and so have studied for many
years about it. If there was even a small
chance that I could be of assistance
I was more than happy to help." Anwar
and Abdul sat there smiling.
"No other huge international
star would do this, but you," Abdul said.
"We've heard and read about your
charitable and humanitarian efforts. You
insspire us all very much."
"Thank you," he said.
"That's a great honor."
"Okay," Farouk said
returning. "I called my brother and he will begin
a search right away. It's possible
that the cartouche can be many miles
away on the other side of the world
and can cause these problems here?"
"Yes," he said. "Possibly
until it is returned into the right hands where
it truly belongs."
"Where could that be?"
Farouk asked.
"I believe you're sitting
with her," he said. "It was obvious in my dream
that it truly belongs to the princess
here." He smiled.
"Oh, stop it," I said.
"I know you guys think it's fun to tease me, but
please."
"Sorry," he said.
"How could the cartouche
have not been in the right hands?" Farouk asked.
"It's possible that
someone might have thought it was fine as long as
it stayed in the family," he said."For
some reason, the spirits are trying
to tell you that something is not
right. That's what I think. Plus someone
could have been causing the spirits
to come forth from reciting from the book
of the dead."
"I have another question,"
Farouk said. "How does our family stretch
back to Ancient Egypt?"
"Maybe not directly
for some of you, but it must be for her," he took
my hand.
"Interesting. How so?"
Anwar asked.
"The dream last night,"
he said. "I gave it to her and we were in Ancient
Egypt."
"Hmmmmm," Farouk wondered.
"Was it only a dream?"
"No," he said. "We
were in Ancient Egypt together in a past life. She
was my beloved Queen."
"Wow!" Abdul said.
"How cool is that? How do you feel about all this?"
"Wonderful," I replied
squeezing his hand as he was still holding mine.
"It's great to finally know and
have no doubts anymore. It has made all
the difference."
"I bet," Iman said
coming out of the kitchen. "I had a feeling that something
special was going on
between you."
"Let's go look outside
and see if we can find anything," he said.
"Sounds like a winner,"
Farouk said. "Where would you like to start?"
"Around the base of
the house. If we don't find anything, the garden
in the back," he was concentrating.
They had been outside for about an hour
when the phone rang.
"They found it," Iman
said. "Let me go give the phone to Farouk."
The men came back in
the house and he hugged me.
"I knew I was right
about a basement," he said.
"I don't know how you
got a basement out of that dream," I said.
"Our dreams have their
own symbols and languages," he said. "We each
need to learn to interpet them for
ourselves.I'll teach you."
"Yes, Master," I said
smiling.
"Oh, don't get that
started again," he said.
"I was just teasing,"
I said. "You have been my teacher. What should
I call you then?"
"Call me by my name,"
he said.
"What about my Dragon?"
I asked.
"Yes, I like that very
much," he said and put his arm around my shoulder.
"What now?" Iman asked.
"I've instructed Farouk
the proper way to handle the transfer. Now we
have to find out who was reciting
from the book and make sure that they
won't continue. You don't want any
more problems to pop up."
"Absolutely not,"
Iman said. "I've spoken to everyone in the house, including
the kids, and I think it could be
our housewoman. She has connections with
a rather strange religious group."
"Have you spoken to
her about this?" I asked.
"No, but I will
today," Iman said. "Why don't we talk to her together?
I think it might be a bit scary
for her if we had a man present."
"I'm scary?" he asked
smiling.
"No, but the women
usually handle the household matters," I said. "It's
a cultural thing. Certainly nothing
personal. Still I think you should be
standing by incase you're needed."
I had personally seen how people sometimes
reacted to him and I thought we
could possibly use it to our advantage.
"Let's go into the
kitchen," I man said. "We'll see what we can find
out." Iman and I went in to
find Ann, the young woman we had been speaking
of. Iman called for her.
In walked this beautiful,
dark, tall young woman. We were introduced.
Iman began to question her.
"I was named for the
Ancient symbol of withcraft," Ann said. "I just
go by Ann here. My name is Ankh.
I am a witch, a witch in the ancient egyptian
rite."
I excused myself and
brought him into the room. He was more knowledgeable
than I was on this subject.
"Ann, I hope you don't
mind me bringing my very dear friend in," I said
after I made introductions. "He
is very knowledgeable about Ancient Egypt
and I thought he might be able to
assist us."
"No problem," she said.
She eyed him quite cautiously at first. "You
look very familiar to me, Sir, and
I'm not talking about your movies."
"Yes, you do, too,"
he said and his smild indicated that he did know
her in some way."You had a past
life in Ancient Egypt."
"Yes," she said. "Oh,
no, it can't be."
"It is," he said. he
reached out and touched her arm.
"What?" I asked. This
was making me crazy not knowing.
"You don't recognize
your own daughter?" he asked. "Yes, she was our
one and only daughter. She loved
to play with majic even then."
"Pharoah," she knelt
at his feet. "I can't believe that you have come
to me here. You have honored me,
Father."
"We only want to make
sure that the book of the dead will no longer be
recited here," I said.
"Whatever you ask,
Mother," she said and looked up at me with such devotion.
"Ann, get up, please,
and sit in the chair," he said.
"My dear," I said.
"Why were you doing this? Reciting from the book,
I mean?"
"Experimenting," she
said. "I wanted to know how powerful it was. I did
not mean to cause harm or problems
to anyone."
"It was only a part
of it," he said. "The book is extremely powerful
and should not be experiemented
with."
"I know now," she said.
"It will not happen again." She kissed his cheek
and all the memories from the past
life came back to me.
"She can't be trusted,"
I told Iman. "Not only by her word. I suggest
some sort of legal agreement." I
got up and walked into the other room.
My eyes were tearing. It was not
something that one expected to feel in
such a circumstance.
"What's wrong?" he
said walking out to join me. "I thought you would
be pleased to see our daughter."
"Her? Never!" I said.
"Don't get me started. I know exactly what took
place and how you could be happy
to see her knowing how much pain she caused
us, especially me."
"That's all in the past,"
he said. "I'm all yours now."
"Are you so sure?"
I asked.
"Positive," he said
putting his arms around me. "It's you I want. When
are we going back to the hotel?"
"Soon, I said. "Just
stay away from her. I don't trust her."
"I won't leave your
side," he said and he kissed me passionately. We
walked back to the living room where
Farouk and his sons remained.
"I think things are
taken care of, Cousin," I said.
""Thank you," Farouk
said and hugged me. Farouk shook his hand,"We've
taken up enough of your valueable
time. If you're ever in Houston again,
please stop by whether you're with
her or just yourself. Princess, please
call me when you get home." Farouk
knew that I didn't have much more time
before I had to leave for home.
I wanted to spend the rest of this precious
time with My Dragon.
"Back to our little
corner of the world?" he asked me when we were back
in the car.
"Of course," I said.
"Where else would I want to be?"
"I will have you all
to myself?" he asked.
"Yes," I answered.
"And I will have you to myself as well." I kissed
his cheek and snuggled under his
arm.
"Only us," he kissed
me back. "Just perfect."
We wasted no time once
we returned to the suite. He made a call and requested
that he not be disturbed. Sometime
later I looked at my watch.
"I need to take a shower
before I drive home," I said.
"I'll take one, too,"
he said. It began all over again. I was happy to
see that he didn't want me to leave,
either.
"Tell me you don;'t
have to go so soon," he said as we were towelling
off.
"I wish I could stay
longer," I said. "I'd stay with you here forever
if I could, but we both know it's
not realistically possible." I kissed
him.
"My dream coming true
and it's only a few days," he said. "It's not fair."
"I know," I said. "But
we can have times together that we plan."
"How would you like
to meet me in Hawaii next month?" he asked. "Have
another event...but not for me this
time."
"Wow! Hawaii and you?"
I smiled. "That would really be paradise! I would
love to!"
"Okay," he said. "That's
what I was thinking. I'll take care of it and
I'll call you and give you the details
soon. Great minds think alike."
"I'm glad we'll still
have the phone," I smiled.
"I will call you a
lot," he said. "I'll need to hear your voice if we
can't be together.You'll probably
think I'm a bother."
"Never," I said said
touching his face. "Don't ever think that."
"You'll call me as
soon as you get home?" he asked. "I'm going to be
worried until I know you're home
safe."
"I promise," I hugged
him. "I miss you already." he kissed me hard.
"Me, too," he said.
"Sit down and watch tv with me for a little while."
"Okay," I said as I
felt his strong arms around me again. I wasn't going
to complain. It felt wonderful to
be needed and loved this much.
The most difficult
walk ever was with him out to my car.
"Be careful," he said
as he opened the door for me. "I love you. Take
extra good care of yourself for
me."
"You, too," I said and we
kissed. It seemed as if it was the longest, most
loving kiss I'd ever received.
"Just wait until Hawaii,"
he said softly in my ear.
"I can't," I said and
kissed him back. "I'll call when I get home. If
you can't wait, you have my cell
phone number."
"Take me with you,"
he smiled. "I'm kidding, but I'm not."
"I know," I said. "I'd
love that, too. Kiss me again so I can feel your
kiss all the the way home." He did
not disappoint. I left knowing that we
would be together again soon. I
would be seeing him in my dreams until next
month arrived.