She looked seriously at Natasha. “We’ve unearthed the tomb of a five thousand year-old Mesopotamian Queen,” she said, and added quietly, as if sharing a secret, “we think it’s the lost tomb of Queen Sorrea, a Queen who was thought of more as a legend than a real Queen!”

“Really?”

“Yes. Not only have we found her tomb, but her complete skeleton. It’s all there, thanks to the dry air, and she has been totally undisturbed since the day she was entombed. That’s pretty amazing, you know, that tomb robbers hadn’t found it in all that time.”

“Wow!” Alex said.

“And…” Natasha prompted her impatiently, “go on!”

“Well, if it is Queen Sorrea, and we are pretty sure it is, this will be a very, very important find," she said. “A lot of people from all over the world will be very excited.”

“Wow, will we get to see her skeleton?” Alex asked.

“Of Course! Not only will you be able to see the Queen’s skeleton, but also those of her guards, a young female who was probably a maid, and her horse, all of whom were buried in the tomb with her.”

“That is so cool!” Alex couldn’t believe his ears.

“No it’s not,” Natasha muttered pensively, she wasn’t sure if she liked the sound of that at all. She decided not to think about it, and went in a different direction.
“But what did you mean about finding Alex’s kind of treasure? Was the Queen buried with all her jewelry and things?”

“Yes she certainly was, but even more lovely than her jewelry, was her amazing death mask.”

“Death mask?” Alex pulled a face. It didn’t sound that wonderful to him.
“This mask is like nothing I’ve ever seen, Alex. It’s incredible. It’s carved from large, single piece of the most beautiful obsidian.” She looked at him in the rear view mirror, “Do you know what obsidian is?”

“Nope.”

“Obsidian is a rare, jet black, volcanic glass, and it is extremely precious.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that, I think,” Natasha said. “Isn’t it really hard? Didn’t the Aztecs use it for daggers and stuff?”

“Yes, they did. It was often used for blades and weapons. Anyway, this mask we found is encrusted with the finest jewels and gemstones. It is exquisite; absolutely priceless! And it’s inlaid so delicately and with such care, it is really quite stunning. I think it will become as famous as Tutankhamen’s mask when the word is out.”

“Wow! So is it still in one piece?” Natasha asked.

“Yes, miraculously, it is; not even a crack or a chip on it. It was covering her skull, and was found in exactly the same position that it was left in when the tomb was sealed all those thousands of years ago. In fact,” she added, “it’s so fragile, and so precious, that last night we wrapped and boxed it up very carefully. Since I was coming to meet you two at the airport today, we decided that I take it first thing this morning to the bank in Medinabad for safe keeping. It was just too risky to keep it on site with the other artifacts in the ‘finds’ room.”

“Big responsibility, Mum!” Alex joked.

“Actually, it was, Alex! You can imagine how nervous I was; a priceless treasure strapped onto the car seat next to me here. That was a very slow drive, I can tell you!” “But what if you had tripped and dropped it?” Alex asked, “Or driven over a hidden pothole or a stone; it could have smashed into a thousand pieces!”

“Well, she didn’t did she,” retorted his sister.

“Well, she could have been kidnapped then, and held for ransom!”
“No one knows about it yet, stupid!” Natasha said. “And anyway Alex, I don’t think anybody gets kidnapped and held for ransom these days, that’s only in films.”

“Come on you two, there’s no need for an argument! Anyway,” their mother continued, “the mask will stay in the bank’s vaults out of harm’s way until the experts can examine and date it properly. As Alex suggested, we wouldn’t want it getting into the wrong hands. It is priceless, and it really will become a national treasure once the press release is out and we announce its discovery in a couple of days.”
“Wow, that’s so cool, Mum, will you be rich and famous?” Alex asked. She smiled and shook her head.

“Sorry Alex, it doesn’t work like that. We’re not treasure hunters. We’re here for the love of it, not the rewards. I’ll show you around the whole site tomorrow and you’ll be able to see the tomb where we found the mask, and the palace - or what we’ve uncovered of it so far, anyway.” She paused then added almost as an after thought, “Oh, and I forgot to mention, Marcello’s two children are here. They arrived a couple of days ago. You’ll have someone your own age to hang out wi...”

“MARCELLO?” Natasha screamed. “Not MARCELLO! You never told us he was going to be here!”

Natasha folded her arms tightly and stared out of the side window, frowning. Julia immediately pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car. She couldn’t believe Natasha’s sudden change in attitude. She looked at her daughter in astonishment. Julia sighed, waited a minute, then calmly approached her daughter again, almost pleading, “darling, come on, you don’t have to make a scene, what on earth’s the matter? Marcello is such nice man, and he is very fond of you both.”

She waited for some kind of response from her daughter, but got none.
Julia leant towards Natasha and tried to give her a hug. But Natasha wasn’t having it. She wriggled on her seat as far away from her mother as she could, arms still crossed tightly, and continued to stare out of her side window.

“I thought we would have you to ourselves,” she mumbled under her breath, “I thought he was in Pisa digging up those stupid sunken ships.”