The Book of Two Ways

Excavating the burial chamber has been delayed by both the digging itself and the need for an inspector to be present. The night before excavation begins, Wyatt outlines the team’s duties. Afterward, he and Dawn talk, and he tells her about the letters and emails he had written after she left, which were returned. She realizes that after her mother’s death, she had filled a box with her unopened mail, which Brian had later gone through and disposed of.

Afterward, Dawn reflects on the way her relationship with Brian began, the way she, Kieran, and Meret seamlessly became a part of his life. When they got married, it felt more like a practical convenience, as their lives were already so intertwined. Dawn finally calls him. He asks when she is coming home, but she cannot say. Wyatt interrupts the call, and both men realize that the other is there. When Brian’s call gets cut off, Wyatt withdraws from her again.

The next day, Wyatt and Dawn are the first to descend to the burial chamber and remove the stones blocking the coffin room. Because Dawn is the only person on the team small enough to fit into the chamber, she works to clear the dust and limestone powder away from the coffin. When they finally lift the coffin out of the chamber, Dawn again wonders why Dailey, their donor, is not present for such an important discovery, but Wyatt is evasive.

When they finally open the coffins and remove the mummified corpse, Wyatt finds the painting of the Book of Two Ways on the bottom panel of the coffin where it is normally located. The coffin is now the earliest known version of the Book of Two Ways. Dawn also finds an illustration that has never been seen in the Book of Two Ways before. It has only ever been in the Book of Going Forth by Day, which was published 400 years after Djehutynakht was buried. The discovery changes their field, and what they thought they knew about the Book of Two Ways. They also realize, after further examining the tomb, that her theory about the texts’ placement being important was correct.

When Wyatt confronts her again about why she did not return, Dawn reminds him that she couldn’t have come back because she was caring for her brother. She does not tell him that she was pregnant at the time. Wyatt leaves, upset, and Dawn finally decides to check her email, a chore she has been delaying. The emails from Meret make her cry, and she writes back to Meret and Kieran. Finally, she writes to Brian, but she still does not tell him the full truth.

Throughout their final dig season together as students, Wyatt and Dawn had an affair that they thought was secret until they came to breakfast late one morning and realized that everyone else had known all along. Soon after, Dawn received a call from her mother, telling Dawn that she had cancer and was in hospice with weeks left to live. Dawn decided to go home, and Wyatt drove her to the airport in a terrible storm. He told her he loved her, but she left without saying it back, afraid that if she did, she would not go.

Now, Dawn goes to Wyatt’s room and wakes him up. She tells him she loves him and explains why she could not say it at the airport 15 years ago. They have sex, and Dawn falls asleep, wondering how she would be judged in the next life. They are awakened early the next morning by one of the team members telling them that Dailey, the donor, is there. Wyatt gets dressed, and Dawn follows. When she gets to the kitchen, she realizes that Dailey, who she assumed was a man, is a woman named Anya, and that she is engaged to marry Wyatt.