The Seven Swords of Diya: An Indiana Jones Fan Fiction Part 1

Chapter 87: Flashback: Israel, 1947

Israel

1947

(Weeks after the tomb cave in where Emily got her scars)

Indy felt a small hand stabbing his ribs as he tried to sleep. "Yes, Em?" He murmured exhausted.

"Can't sleep." His four year old daughter mushed her words together in exhaustion.

Indy moved his arm out of the bedroll. "Want to sleep on my shoulder?"

"No."

"Em... please..." He nearly groaned from underneath his fedora hat.

"Daddy, please...!"

Indy sat up. He'd heard the fear in her voice. "What is it, Littlest Artifact?"

"I'm scared to sleep."

Indy took a quiet breath, staring at his daughter. "You were sleeping just fine on my chest this afternoon while I was teaching..."

"It wasn't dark out." She was hesitant, blinking her big brown eyes, then spoke again. "I don't like it when the world gets all dark like the tomb."

Indy flopped against his rolled up jacket, which he'd been using as pillow. "Em..."

"But you told me sleeping was bad!" Emily protested.

"When?" Indy was struggling to remember.

"When I woke up on the camel and we were running away!"

Indy wrapped his jacket around Emily, buying himself time to think. He'd stolen a camel and rode off on it, carrying injured Emily. She was still small enough to be swallowed in the jacket and protected in his arms.

"Em," he tenderly brushed her face with his hand, trying to avoid the bandages and cause her pain. "When people fall asleep and they have head injuries it's not a nap - it's called a coma. You're getting better, hon. It's safe for you to take naps."

"Even when it's dark out?" Her voice was tiny.

"Especially when it's dark out," Indy tried not to groan through his exhaustion. "So go to sleep." He put his fedora hat over his face, hoping Emily would take the hint and settle. His arm was still out, waiting for her to lunge and snuggle like she'd been doing the past several days.

She didn't move. "Didn't the ancient Egyptians think that their gods fought when the sun goes down?"

"Yes." Indy blinked behind his fedora hat, uneasy to start another conversation.

"And if the right god didn't win... the sun wouldn't come back up?" Her tiny voice was trembling.

"Yes. That's what they believed." He'd moved into professor tone.

"Do I need to do something to make sure the sun rises?"

Indy turned on his side and lifted his fedora, exhaustion draining his features. "Em... what's wrong?"

"I don't like it when the world feels like a tomb!" She crawled against Indy's chest, crying.

"Come Littlest Artifact," Indy mused, fully awake. "I'm going to teach you something. Let's go up on the roof and look at the stars."

"Don't wanna be outside. Scary. Dark."

"It's darker in here than outside," Indy replied, trying to encourage with what little energy he had left. "Hang on." He pulled a cigarette lighter out of his left jacket pocket. "Em, you've seen me start fires with this... if you get scared, we have a light. Ok?"

"Kays." She stared at it, as Indy let her hold the cigarette lighter. "Is this the one Grandpa burned down the castle with?"

"No. That one melted. I had to replace it." Indy offered Em his hand. She took it, wrapping herself around his hand and forearm, her other hand clutching the cigarette lighter, bravely holding it out in front of her, the tiny flame catching the whites of her eyes in a terrified gaze.