Chapter 4

"And here we have the Neanderthal men; be a bit cautious around them, for they always demand that you teach them how to make fire, which has yielded some unfortunate incidents," Teddy explained to a wide-eyed pharaoh. So far, the night had been uneventful, aside from encountering a walking, golden Buddha statue. Ahkmenrah had thought the statue was a living deity-it had taken Teddy five minutes to pry the boy off the floor after the latter had sunk into an impossibly low bow. (The statue had not been helping, as it kept commanding Ahkmenrah to kiss its golden-slippered toe.) Now, in his mind, would come the first real test: the Neanderthals. Teddy had every reason to be anxious; at their best, the cavemen were extremely invasive, and he had no idea how the pharaoh would react to such an intrusion upon his personal space.

Indeed, the king initially froze, clutching his tablet to his chest as the Neanderthals thundered towards him. He seemed unsure what to make of their enthusiastic sniffing, poking, prodding, and grunting. Fortunately, after a few moments, he began sniffing and grunting them in return, adapting to their greeting methods. The Neanderthals were overjoyed by this, happily pumping their arms in the air. Clearly, they accepted Ahkmenrah. The President relaxed the unconsciously tightened grip on his riffle,-crisis averted. God only knew how many more to go.

There were some rather amusing moments earlier, the president admitted to himself. As they were passing some tribal warriors he'd been introducing, the tribesmen yelled back, "JUMBO!" which caused Ahkmenrah to accidentally ram himself into the president in fright. Teddy had not been expecting the king to startle so easily. Looking embarrassed, Ahkmenrah detached himself from Theodore and pretended the moment had never occurred.

Later, Teddy couldn't help but smile at Ahkmenrah's obvious amazement when they entered the Hall of Miniatures. Careful not to step on the tiny citizens, the young man had squatted down to meet eye-to-eye with Jedediah and Octavius. (Before meeting the cowboys and Romans, he'd tried to meet the Mayans, but both he and his guide had ended up fleeing for their lives to avoid the poisoned darts.) Both miniatures were curious about their museum's most mysterious inhabitant.

"Greetings, my liege! I do not believe we had the pleasure of meeting last night," Octavius stated.

Jed's greeting was much less formal. "Howdy, pharaoh! Nice to finally meet ya!"

Ahkmenrah introduced himself in his customary manner. After a few minutes, the cowboy remarked, "My, that's a mighty whooper of a name you've got there! Mind if we just give you a nickname?" Octavius looked ready to scold his friend, but the boy king merely grinned.

"No, I would not mind, if it really is too difficult for you to remember my full name. How would you prefer to address me?"

"How about Ahk, or Ahkie?"

"Ahk will be fine. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jedediah and Octavius!"

With a tip of a hat and a regal bow, both miniatures said their goodbyes,-they had to play with Rexy for a while.

Another 'test' of Ahkmenrah's adaptability occurred when Rexy then came bounding towards the group, eager to play fetch. Once again, Ahkmenrah's personal space was trampled upon as he was nudged and smelled at. Despite being almost bowled over, the pharaoh showed no signs of irritation or alarm,-he just cautiously reached up to pet the T-rex's muzzle, smiling for the first time that evening. Teddy actually regretted prying the two apart, but Rexy's tail was whipping up a rather dangerous wind while he crooned at the pharaoh's touch.

Ushering Ahk along, Teddy had to keep pausing, making sure the pharaoh was paying attention to what he was saying. This was a bit challenging, as Ahkmenrah kept stopping and staring agog at his surroundings every few paces. On the one hand, Teddy found it amusing... Much like a child might be over-awed by his or her new play room. On the other hand, he found himself growing a tad impatient,-he wanted to spend some time with Sacagawea, which, if the pharaoh kept prolonging the tour, would not happen that night. His paternal side warred with the impatient, passionate side of himself.

The paternal side won out. After all, he'd promised Larry...

"Come along, pharaoh, there's much to see, and if we're going to see most of it tonight, we must keep up a vigorous pace," Teddy urged. After all, there were plenty more stops to go. Teddy wanted to see how Ahkmenrah would get along with everyone, not just the miniatures and Rexy. Inspired by the pharaoh's reaction to the dinosaur, he herded Ahkmenrah towards the Hall of African Mammals. If he could get along with Dexter, he'd be able to get along with everyone else just fine, Theodore reasoned.

As it turned out, Dexter not only approved of Ahk, he refused to leave his side. The monkey hovered near the pharaoh all night, occasionally reaching for his crown-and being politely shooed away from it. The other animals weren't alarmed by the pharaoh's presence at all; they either paid him no attention, or flocked toward him and allowed him to pet them. Ahkmenrah seemed more cheered up by their company than by anything else on the tour so far.

Eventually, almost subconsciously, Teddy began guiding Ahkmenrah to Sacagawea's exhibit. Apparently, his romantic voice would not be silenced completely.

As it turned out, he needn't have bothered heading that way, as they bumped into Sacagawea near the Viking's exhibit. "Teddy!" She smiled as she hurried towards them. For a moment, Ahkmenrah was forgotten as the lovers embraced. Finally, Sacagawea noticed him standing near a longship, trying to be inconspicuous. "You are the pharaoh, right? The one who controls the tablet?"

Suddenly shy, Ahkmenrah replied, "Indeed I am. Thank you, my lady, for your indispensable help in getting back my tablet the night before."

"It was my pleasure. Thank you and Larry for releasing me at long last," she smiled back.

"You were imprisoned as well? For how long, and for what reason?" Ahkmenrah's face darkened in anger and shock.

"I've been behind that glass case for as long as I can remember. As for why?.. I truly don't know. I believe the former night guards decided one less exhibit loose was less for them to deal with. Still, all those years..." She sighed.

"Your treatment was unjustified! I am glad you are free now."

"Yes. I can't tell you what a relief it is to finally be free! We owe so much to the new night guard!"

"More than we can ever repay him for," Ahkmenrah agreed.

By that time, they had an hour and a half until sunrise, which was long enough to show the pharaoh a few more sites. Determined not to leave Sacagawea's side, Teddy offered a horseback ride to both individuals. Sacagawea eagerly accepted, but Ahkmenrah was more hesitant. "I confess, I am accustomed to commanding chariots, not riding horses," he admitted.

"Tonight is one for new experiences for all of us, pharaoh. Give it a try?" Teddy offered his hand to Ahkmenrah. The pharaoh stared at it for a few seconds, but in the end, he reluctantly shook his head. "I have no doubt Texas is a noble, capable steed, but I believe three people might be too much for him to carry. Ride with your lady, and I shall walk alongside you."

"As you wish, pharaoh."

And so they toured for the rest of the night. When only a half hour until dawn remained, Teddy rounded up the rest of the inhabitants, with some help from Sacagawea, Attila, and, to his surprise, Ahkmenrah. This task wasn't too difficult, but it reminded Teddy of Larry's absence,-he truly wished the night guard would return. However, if he hadn't been able to make it back that night, it was doubtful Larry would be returning at all.

With everyone else back in their proper places, it was time to lead the pharaoh back to 'Ancient Egypt.' As they approached his tomb, Ahkmenrah appeared to grow more agitated. He entered his exhibit and, seeing how apprehensive Teddy was around his jackals, spoke a terse, Egyptian word, obviously ordering his guards to grant them both entry. Turning away from his sarcophagus, Ahkmenrah said, "Thank you, President, for giving me your tour. Words cannot express the wonderful time I had!"

"It was my pleasure, pharaoh," Theodore replied, slightly taken aback by the gratitude emanating from the young man. "Be sure to rest well, for tomorrow we will see many more exhibits!" To his astonishment, Teddy was actually looking forward to it. The tour had gone much better than he'd expected, since the pharaoh had not given him any cause for alarm. "Until tomorrow night, then?"

The king bowed. "Until sunset tomorrow, President."

Leaving Ahkmenrah to his evening preparations, Teddy Roosevelt hurried towards Texas. Don't forget to smile, he told himself, sunrise approaches.