Cobalt

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Cobalt

Excerpt from novella

Cobalt Cauldron

1894 Egypt

“Mom, I’m getting dirty.” Violet Manchester pouted. The six-year-old accompanied her parents on a dig in Egypt, and everything Egyptian fascinated her.

“Today is our last day digging in Luxor. Next, we’ll go to the museum in Cairo.” Bartholomew, Bart for short, held his daughter’s hand. “You’re being a very good girl.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” Staring at her father’s adoring face, capped with long blond hair, she admired his magical eyes—one green and one blue.

Violet inherited the Manchester family trait of magical eyes from both parents. She inherited her long black hair and ivory complexion from her mother. But she’d yet to come into her powers of witchcraft.

“That’s my big girl.” Picking her up, he placed her on his hip. “What’s your favorite part about Egypt?”

Basking in her daddy’s attention, she contemplated his question with her index finger touching her chin. “Hmmmm, the pyramids and the Sphinx.”

“Those were my favorite things, too. But we’ll see some cool stuff tomorrow, like mummies.”

Violet fainted, and a vision flashed through her mind.

A gold mask with the image of a handsome boy appeared. The gold mask was part of an ornate sarcophagus. A mummy was placed inside of it, and the room was surrounded with treasure. The walls were painted with pretty pictures, including two Egyptian figures. The burial chamber’s entrance was sealed with stone doors covered in hieroglyphs. The vision of the tomb zoomed out to the surrounding landscape of the desert.

“Tutankhamun,” she whispered.  

“What’s wrong with her? What happened?” Olivia, Violet’s mother, wailed.

“I don’t know. Her eyes went blank, then she fainted.” He knelt next to his little girl.

“Is it the heat? Give her some water.” Olivia held her daughter’s hand.

When Violet opened her eyes, her parents huddled above her with worried expressions. “Mommy? Daddy?”

“Oh, thank God, Violet. You’re awake.” Her daddy sighed.

Sitting up, she asked, “Who’s Tutankhamun?”

“You mumbled his name. Tutankhamun was the Pharaoh of Egypt from 1332-1323 B.C. They called him King Tut for short. He ruled at the age of nine but died when he was only eighteen. He married his half-sister when he was nine.” Daddy handed her a full canteen of water.

“Married at nine? I thought ladies weren’t wed until fifteen?” She sat up and drank from the canteen.

“That’s true now, but things were different three thousand years ago. Why did you say his name?” Picking her up, he plopped her on his lap like he was about to read her a bedtime story.

“I had a vision. I saw King Tut’s tomb. His coffin had a gold mask with blue stripes. It’s beautiful.” Violet wrapped her arms around her daddy’s neck.

“How do you know that? They’ve never found his tomb.”

Olivia held her hand to her throat and gasped, “Her powers! She must have the power of foresight.”

“Of course, my mother had the same power. And you received it so young.” Cooing, he hugged Violet.

While hugging her father, her gaze went to the same hill formation she saw in her vision. “We’re digging in the wrong place. We need to dig over there.” She pointed.

“Oh, honey. We’re just digging for fun. It’s how these Egyptian men make a living, taking wealthy adventurers on a dig. We never expected to find anything,” Mommy reasoned.

“But those hills. I saw them in my vision when I zoomed out of the tomb. That’s where we need to dig.” Standing on her tiny legs, she pointed. “Can we dig over there, Daddy? Pretty please?” She clasped her hands together, begging.

Smiling down at her he said, “Of course, my darling, Violet. Let’s go dig over there.”

* * * *

“Look, Daddy. It’s the entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb.” Violet pointed excitedly at the stone door they’d reached after only an hour of digging.

“How in the world are we supposed to move this stone door? It must weigh a ton.” Daddy dropped his head, defeated.

“Bart, dear, remember my powers.” Mommy referred to her telekinetic powers. She waved her hand across the stone door, and it slowly opened with a loud scraping sound.

“Thank you, my dear. I’ll go in first.” Daddy lit his lantern and ducked into the tomb.

“Wait for me, Daddy.” Violet picked up her lantern with one hand and grabbed her daddy’s hand with the other.

A room filled with treasure greeted them. Gold jewelry, cobalt jewelry, coins, plates, and pottery filled the room, all ready to follow King Tut into the afterlife, or so the Egyptians believed.

“Wow, this is amazing.” Mommy followed them into the tomb.

“Look at these paintings on the walls. They’re exquisite.” Bart held the lantern higher which illuminated the large drawings on the wall.

“I saw those in my vision.” Violet sang and skipped around the tomb with glee. “I have my powers. I have my powers. I can see the future.”

Stopping suddenly, her eyes focused on a beautiful cobalt cauldron. She was drawn to it. She’d never seen anything like it. Picking it up, she rubbed off over three millennia of dust. The brilliant cobalt-blue color mesmerized her. Although heavy in her tiny hands, it was smaller than the ones her parents kept in the attic.  She was normally a good child, but a devious moment consumed her. She just had to have this Cobalt Cauldron. Compulsion dictated her. While her parents studied the paintings on the walls, she slipped the Cobalt Cauldron into her knapsack.  

“Where’s the mummy?” Mommy asked, scanning the room.

Violet pointed to a set of engraved doors like she saw in her vision. “He’s in there. That’s the burial chamber.”

The trio stood in front of the shrine doors engraved with hieroglyphs. “Wait, what if it’s cursed?” Mommy stepped back.

“Remember my powers, my dear.” Daddy could reverse any curse or spell. Standing, he raised his hands above his head. Closing his eyes, he said, “I remove all curses and spells from this tomb of Tutankhamun, Pharaoh of Egypt.”

“Now it’s your turn, my dear.” Daddy nodded towards the shrine doors.

Again, Mommy waved her hand, and the stone doors opened at her nonverbal command.

“Me first, me first.” Not waiting for permission, Violet walked through the opening holding the lantern above her head. The lantern illuminated the room, and a gold mask with King Tut’s youthful image appeared.

“Hi, Tutankhamun. It’s nice to meet you.”

Another vision filled her.

The boy king’s spirit floated above the cobalt cauldron. But not here in his Egyptian tomb, he floated above the cauldron in her room at their home in New Orleans.

“Violet? Are you alright?” Bart knelt next to her.

“Uh, huh. Daddy, this is King Tut.” Pointing, she kept her vision to herself.   

“I see that. You were right, my dear. You’ve discovered his tomb.”

“Are we rich now?” She grabbed her daddy’s hand.

“Violet, we’re already rich because of the Manchester dynasty.”

“Bart, dear. We can’t keep this, any of it.” Mommy stood next to Daddy and admired the gold sarcophagus.

“I know. It belongs to the people of Egypt. Won’t they be thrilled to have such a beautiful collection to add to their museum in Cairo?”

“We can’t tell anyone. We can neither disturb the dead, nor let anyone else disturb it.”

“Of course, my dear. Violet, take one last look at Tutankhamun.”

She studied the ornate coffin. “Goodbye, King Tut.” Smiling, she thought of her Cobalt Cauldron and her last vision. She’d see King Tut again.

“Perhaps a spell is in order, Bart. We should protect King Tut’s tomb from looters and grave robbers. The dead need to rest.”

“Of course, my dear.” Daddy raised his hands above his head and said, “Protect this tomb of Tutankhamun. I curse it with an early death to all who open it, hereafter.”

They exited the tomb and outer chamber. Once outside, Mommy waved her hands, and the stone door moved back into place. After walking over a mile away, Mommy waved both hands. A sandstorm blew in and covered the tomb’s entrance under a mountain of sand.