The story ends…
Edmund and Tom looked at each other as if trying to read each other minds. They simultaneously struck at the mummy and ran out of the room to see if whatever was going on downstairs was a bit more manageable than an undead creature. It turned out it was not.
The vision they were greeted with as they descended the stares was one of chaos.
There were other, less regenerated mummies all over the dining room. Maria and Julia were both having fits of hysterics, trying to keep the mummies away from them. Sir Bertram, Mr. Rushworth, Fanny Price, and Henry Crawford were attempting to fight off the monsters with various makeshift weapons, such as a fire poker, a broom, and frying pan.
Lady Bertram was the only person in the room who seemed completely content. She went along eating her meal peacefully and without concern for any of her friends and family. Strangely, she was also left alone by all the monsters in the room.
The two men had no idea what to do. Nothing anyone did to the mummies helped. Their moments of hesitation cost them dearly when the dead pharaoh caught up with them, resuming the fight they had started in the upstairs closet.
Both Julia and Maria were locked in an unpleasant embrace with a mummy that was opening its mouth extremely wide. Mr. Rushworth was now on the floor with a mummy holding the fire poker he was using. It seemed as if everything would be lost. Fanny, who had been dodging mummies after losing her broom, saw Lady Bertram and had an epiphany.
The Eye of Horus necklace the lady wore around her neck had only been there for a few months, coinciding with Lady Bertram’s return from an Egyptian vacation for the good of her health. That necklace’s appearance also coincided with Lady Bertram’s odd behavior.
She ran to her aunt and ripped the necklace from her neck. She held it and shouted, “Enough! In the name of all the Gods of Egypt I demand you desist!”
Every mummy in the room came to a halt and stared at her as if expecting instructions. She threw the necklace to the ground and crushed the jewel beneath her heel. A puff of smoke emitted from it and the necklace deteriorated and fell apart. The mummies all fell over at that moment, never to rise again.
~end~
* Taken from Mansfield Park and Mummies by Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian, pg. 296
* guest post from Titania of Fishmuffins of Doom
* image source necklace
