The curse of Kalaan by Unknown

full of whisky. He shot himself in the foot trying to put his pistol back in his belt! I was the only one there to help him and I am the only one who knows the truth. Is that not so?” he asked the giant who was quickly losing his composure now that the sailors were jeering and whistling at him.
    “True,” he said, lowering his head in shame. He should have remembered that a battle with the captain was always lost from the start. Yes, indeed, without a doubt, this was the captain.
    “Does anyone else want to play?” Kalaan’s tone was amused as he crossed and uncrossed his arms over his ample bosom. “What about you, Ar kaerell-vras? [41] ” He was speaking to a pimply young cabin boy who was openly making fun of La Gouelle . He was a boastful, proud and lazy boy that Kalaan really wanted to put in his place. Now, on hearing his name the boy stood straight as a ramrod.
    “Ma’am? Uh…s... sir?” he stammered.
    Just because he’d said ma’am , Kalaan decided to go in for the kill.
    “My friends, do you remember the lovely Flora, this young man’s sweetheart that he presented you during a recent stopover in Saint Brieuc? Well, truth be told, she was nothing more than a strumpet who I paid to play the part so that you would stop teasing him.”
    The stripling turned bright red and tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible when then sailors turned to taunt him.
    “Who’s next? Do I still have to prove who I am?” Kalaan had to shout to be heard over the pandemonium.
    Then, everyone was quiet and together the crew all shook their heads to say no.
    “Good, now that that is taken care of, get back to your duties, you lazy shirkers!”
    The crew moved as fast as they could. Some went up the rigging, others went back to swabbing the bridge and gangways; but most of them disappeared into the belly of the ship, in direction of the cabins or the kitchens.
    “Ye ‘andled that splendidly,” Lil’ Louis said after letting out a low whistle of admiration. “D’ye want te take back t’helm, now?”
    “Yes, for we are turning back, returning to Egypt!”
    Salam frowned and replied, “There is nothing more for you in that country, except certain death. The tale of what happened at Amarna and that building must have reached the ears of Muhammad Ali [42] Pasha, not to mention that we ran off, right under his nose, an insult he will most certainly wish to make us pay heavily for.”
    “I must speak with Jean-François, find out if he was also afflicted by the curse and find the remedy that will make me a man once again.”
    “Jean-François goes well. We received a letter from him shortly before leaving Alexandria,” Salam told him. “You must know that he has forgotten everything that happened in that building, and he doesn’t seem to have been a victim of any... transformations. You are the only one who can speak of this and help us to understand. Above all, we must not go back. It is important to accept the situation, as difficult as it may be.”
    Lil’ Louis nodded in agreement with the Tuareg’s words. He seemed extremely worried at the idea of turning back.
    “That he was not affected, while I was, may be the beginning of an answer,” Kalaan replied. “I alone opened the door leading to the gold chamber and I was the only one to have held the cursed pyramid stone.”
    “What’re ye talking about? What gold chamber?” Lil’ Louis frowned in confusion. “We found the two of you lying on dark sand in a room destroyed by fire, and we did not find any pyramid shaped stone.”
    Kalaan sighed and ran his slender fingers through his jet colored locks.
    “I should tell you the whole story, and then we will set sail for the Isle of Croz. There at least, I can be assured I will not encounter my mother and sister who are wintering at our home in Paris. By the time they return I will have found a way to become a man again.”
    “And how d’ye propose te do that?” Lil’ Louis asked,