The Mummy Page #4

And that's when the ladder pulls away from the shelf. Evelyn YELPS, flings

the Tuthmosis book and grabs the top of the ladder, which stands straight

up. Evelyn holds her breath, swaying precariously, a long BEAT, and then

she loses her balance, the ladder swings around and Evelyn starts

stiltwalking down the aisle.

EVELYN:

OHEIUGM! ! AHHHHHH!

The ladder crosses the aisle, does an about face and heads back the way it

came. Evelyn clings to the top, struggling for balance. The ladder teeters

out into the main aisle and picks up speed. Evelyn SCREAMS as it does a

180, spins into another aisle and finally crashes to a stop at the top of a

bookshelf. Evelyn holds her breath, then SIGHS HEAVILY.

And that's when the bookshelf falls away from her and CRASHES into the next

bookshelf. Evelyn slides down the ladder and plops to the floor. She looks

up just as the domino effect kicks-in: each bookshelf crashing into the

next. And onward it goes. Bookshelf after bookshelf. Thousands of volumes

flinging off shelves and scattering across the floor. It finally ends as

the last shelf CRASHES into a wall. Evelyn's eyes are closed. She opens one

eye. Looks left. Then right. Then opens the other eye and stares at the

huge mess.

EVELYN:

Oops.

The Egyptian CURATOR storms in.

CURATOR:

Look at this! Sons of the Messiah! Give

me frogs, flies, locusts, Anything but this!

Compared to you, the other plagues were a joy!

Evelyn quickly gets up and starts gathering books.

EVELYN:

I'm sorry, it was an accident.

CURATOR:

When Ramesses destroyed Syria, it was an

accident. You are a catastrophe! Why do I

put up with you?

Evelyn turns to him, trying to contain herself.

EVELYN:

You put up with me, because I can read and

write ancient Egyptian, decipher hieroglyphs

and hieratic, and I'm the only person within a

thousand miles who knows how to properly code

and catalogue this library.

CURATOR:

Who needs smart women? I put up with you because

your mother and father were our finest patrons,

Allah rest their souls. Now straighten up this

mess!

The Curator storms out. Evelyn just stands there, steaming. And then she

hears a NOISE and quickly turns around. A BEAT.

EVELYN:

Hello?

Quiet. Eerie. And then she hears it again, like feet, slowly shuffling

across the floor, coming from a nearby gallery.

EVELYN:

Abdul? Mohammed? Bob?

Evelyn walks through the stacks and enters--

INT. THE RAMESSEUM

Filled with treasures and plunder from the Middle Kingdom. it's very dark

and quiet in here, the only LIGHT is from FLICKERING TORCHES at either end

of the spooky gallery.

The NOISE again! From the far side of the room. Feet, slowly shuffling,

plodding across the floor. Evelyn grabs a torch. Looks around,-at a statue

of Anubis, another of Horus, they stare down at Evelyn, who is starting to

get scared now. She walks down the aisle. Past a closed sarcophagus. Past

cases of ancient artifacts. Past another sarcophagus, --only this one is

OPEN! Evelyn freezes, swallows hard, nervously looks around to see who

could have opened it. Then she slowly leans forward with the torch, and

peers inside.

--A hideous rotted MUMMY sits up and SCREECHES at her! Evelyn

SCREAMS, drops the torch and backs away, scared out of her wits. And then,

coming from inside the sarcophagus, she hears a Man LAUGHING. Her eyes

narrow as a foppish cad crawls out from behind the Mummy, laughing his ass

off, half drunk.

EVELYN:

You... ! YOU... !

JONATHAN:

Drunkard? Fool? Rat-bastard? Please call

me something original.

Meet JONATHAN CARNARVON. As he crawls out of the sarcophagus, Evelyn pulls

a cigarette out of the mummy's mouth.

EVELYN:

Have you no respect for the dead?

JONATHAN:

Right now, I only wish to join them.

He grins drunkenly. Evelyn punches him hard in the chest.

EVELYN:

Well I wish you'd do it sooner rather than

later, before you ruin my

career the way you've ruined yours.

JONATHAN:

My dear, sweet, baby sister, I'll have you

know, that at this moment my career is on a high note.

He BELCHES, then falls back and sits on the edge of a tomb.

EVELYN:

High note? Ha! For five years you've been

scrounging around Egypt, and what have you

to show for it? Nothing.

Jonathan excitedly starts scrounging around in his jacket.

JONATHAN:

oh yes I do! I have something right here!

EVELYN:

Oh no, not another worthless trinket,

Jonathan, if I bring one more

piece of junk to the Curator to try

and sell for you.

Jonathan pulls out a small, ancient BOX; the collapsed KEY to Imhotep's

sarcophagus and coffin. Evelyn is instantly curious, she grabs the box out

of his hand.

EVELYN:

Where did you get this?

Jonathan knows her weaknesses, gives her a mischievous smile.

JONATHAN:

On a dig, down in Thebes

Evelyn rolls the box around in her hands, mumbling to herself as she

translates the hieratics and hieroglyphs covering it. Jonathan licks his

lips in anticipation.

JONATHAN:

My whole life I've never found

anything, Evy Tell me I've

found something.

Evelyn's fingers play with the various little slats on the box, shifting

them this way and that way, it's like a puzzle box. Then suddenly, it

UNFOLDS ITSELF, almost-mechanically, turning itself into the KEY. Sitting

inside the open key/box is a folded piece of GOLDEN PAPYRUS. An ANCIENT

MAP.

EVELYN:

Jonathan?

JONATHAN:

Yes?

EVELYN:

I think you found something.

INT. CURATOR'S OFFICE - DAY

The Curator sits at his desk, staring through a jeweler's eyepiece at the key/box. Evelyn hovers behind him, excited.

EVELYN:

See the cartouche there, it's the official

royal seal of Seti the First, I'm sure of it

CURATOR:

Perhaps

Jonathan leans in from across the desk.

JONATHAN:

Two questions. Who the hell is Seti the First?

And was he rich?

EVELYN:

He was the last Pharaoh of the Old Kingdom,

said to be the wealthiest Pharaoh of them all.

JONATHAN:

Alright, good, that's good. I like this fellow,

like him very much.

The Curator picks up the MAP. It's actually the exact same map that we

established in the opening scenes of the movie.

EVELYN:

I've already dated it, this map

is almost four thousand years old.

And the hieratics over here....

(Inhales deeply)

It's Hamunaptra.

The Curator freezes, suddenly very nervous, then he recovers

CURATOR:

My dear girl, don't be ridiculous,

we are scholars, not treasure

hunters. Hamunaptra is a myth.

JONATHAN:

Are we talking about the Hamunaptra?

EVELYN:

Yes. The City of The Dead. Where the early

Pharaohs were said to have

hidden the wealth of Egypt.

JONATHAN:

Right, right, in a big underground treasure

chamber. Everybody knows the story. The entire

necropolis was rigged to sink into the sand. On

Pharaoh's command, a flick of the switch! And the

whole place could disappear beneath the dunes.

EVELYN:

All we know is that the city mysteriously

vanished around 2,134 B.C.

The Curator holds the map closer to the burning CANDLE-LAMP.

CURATOR:

As the Americans would say: it's all fairy

tales and hokum.

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