Isra - An Excerpt from Flashbacks

The Dubai Desert, 1926:

“How much farther?” Rachel spit the desert sand back into the pelting wind. The constant shifting of the saddle chaffed her thighs. Her camel ambled forward, oblivious to her discomfort. Its breath was horrid and the camel farted. Often.

John peered through his binoculars. “We should be coming up on the site soon. We made excellent progress on the dig before the sandstorms necessitated our return to the village. But now we can finish what we started. How’s the girl holding up?”

Rachel glanced behind her at Isra. The 17-year-old sat comfortably on her camel, amazed at the seemingly endless, selcouth desert. Isra had never been this far from her village and the vastness of the desert astonished her. “Better than me,” Rachel replied. She wanted to wash the sultry desert from her skin and longed for the bathtub she had left behind in the village, realizing it would be at least three months before their return.

“There it is!” John pointed ahead toward the partially excavated ruins. The four Arab men the archaeologist had hired for the mission rode ahead to set up camp. “It’s just as we left it. If we can find a way into the crypt beneath the ruins, I’ll bet we could fill an entire wing of the British Museum with the artifacts we recover.”

Rachel shared John’s enthusiasm – such an expedition had been a mutual dream of theirs since their days at college — but she was equally excited to be able to dismount from her camel. She hitched the camel to a makeshift post and joined John in the ruins, determined to prove to her parents the money they had spent indulging her penchant to study archaeology at college had not been wasted on a foolish girl’s whim. Few girls had been admitted to the college and fewer still expressed an interest in archaeology. In fact, Rachel had been the only woman in the class. But her fervent passion for ancient civilizations was exceeded only by her ardent passion for her classmate, John. She made sure the camel was securely tied to the post, grimacing at the odious beast, and then turned her attention to the swarthy Arab men erecting the canvas tents.

The Vampires & Werewolves You Only Think You Know!

  Fangs & Fur, Book One: Flashbacks

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