Sherlock Holmes and the Mummy's Curse by Stephanie Osborn Page B

Professor?”
    “I shall do so myself, my boy,” Whitesell said with a smile. “Good night, Nichols-Woodall, Beaumont, Phillips. Cortland, old chap, would you be so kind as to escort Leighton back to her tent? Thank you, sir. Leighton, I shall be back shortly, dear. Now, lads, come with me.”
    * * *
    As they walked, Whitesell pointed out various important locales: the foreman’s tent, his own tent, Phillips’ tent, the location where the hospital tent would be—essentially next to Holmes’ and Watson’s tent—the artefact tent, where newly-discovered relics were taken to be catalogued, cleaned, and studied, as well as the dig fields beyond.
    “…So I know you are a bit away from us,” Whitesell explained, “but it has been our experience that the labourers are the ones most likely to need medical attention, because of all the heavy work, you know, and so we put you over here, near the hospital… or rather, where it will be once we have found the deuced thing.”
    “It is well thought out,” Holmes concurred. “That way, should things be going well, and Watson have few patients to attend, he may retreat to our tent to rest, out of the sun, until needed again. But if an emergency should arise in the night, say, he is ready to hand.”
    “Precisely,” Whitesell agreed, nodding vigorously. “If, however, the two of you take issue to being among the, ah, the ‘hired help,’ I can have your tent moved.”
    “No, no, it is fine,” Watson demurred. “I have no objection.”
    “And nor do I,” Holmes added.
    “…As Holmes says,” Watson continued, thoughtful, “it is a well thought out plan. I should prefer to be closer to my patients by my natural inclinations, and this will do nicely.”
    “Excellent. And so here is your tent,” Whitesell said, stopping before a large canvas structure. “It is one of the larger ones, as large as my own, actually. I wanted the pair of you to be quite comfortable, and to have the room to spread out your equipment—though I hadn’t an idea at the time that it would also be a makeshift hospital, so I suppose it is fortunate. Holmes, while you are ‘only’ the translator, I fully expected you to be interested in the other matters as well. All of your work on the expedition will be most welcome, regardless of its nature, and I am very glad to hear that you brought some of your equipment.”
    “Oh, entirely,” Holmes vouched, smiling. “Even had the tent been too small for the lot of it—and it may still be, once Watson and I both settle in and spread out—I would have sponged a corner of a tent somewhere, to work with it.”
    “Excellent, my dear boy,” Whitesell said, returning the sleuth’s smile. “I have no doubt but that Nichols-Woodall will quickly come to appreciate your skills as a research chemist, and you can assist Beaumont and myself in extracting any relics, into the bargain.”
    “Precisely what I had hoped, Professor.” Holmes’ own smile grew wider.
    “Oh, my dear boy,” Whitesell murmured, sobering, then he grabbed Holmes’ arm in gruff affection and clapped his shoulder. “It is so very good to see you again, Holmes.”
    “And you, Professor.”
    “Now, your baggage should be inside already, with the camp cots, tables, chairs and the like having been set up previously, and awaiting your arrival,” Whitesell continued, stepping back. “Do you both go on in, do what unpacking you feel needful for the night, and perhaps retire a bit early, if you feel like it. You have had a long journey, with one or two… unfortunate impediments… along the way. You have earned it, and that merely by arriving here. Breakfast is at six, which is sunrise; this enables us to reach the dig pits and begin work before the region becomes very hot. Lunch is at noon, and is followed by a siesta, as Beaumont calls it, during the heat of the day. Tea is set out on the sideboard, and is what Leighton calls ‘catch as catch can,’ and dinner is at sundown,