Journey to the Lost Tomb (Rowan and Ella Book 2) (27 page)

           
Carter
shrugged. “It doesn’t seem like it could hurt anything. I have enough workers
to dig where I presently am as well as…somewhere else.” He raised his eyebrows
at Rowan.

           
Digby
frowned. “Is that wise? Have you asked Lord Carnarvon?”

           
Carter
didn’t bother looking at Digby. “This is my operation, Digby,” he said coldly.

           
“Yes,
well, I should think you might give your
patron
his due, I dare say.” Digby looked at Rowan, clearly laying the blame for this
new course of events at his feet.

           
“Tried
the wine, Pierce?” Carter said. “Came in this afternoon on the boat from Cairo.
Jolly good, I thought. From France, of course.”

           
Forcing
himself to deflect the snub at least for now, Digby took several more bites in
silence. When a second round of the wine had been poured, he made his move.

           
“I
say, speaking of the boat from Cairo,” he said, “I wonder if anyone noticed my
man Abdullah’s return this afternoon from Luxor?”

           
Carter
looked up and frowned as he chewed. When no one answered, Digby pressed on. “I
only mention it,” he said, “because it seems there was a message from Cairo waiting
for me at the docks.” He reached for a bowl of boiled carrots on the table. “It
was about Julia.”

           
Rowan
stopped eating and looked at him.

“I must say, I’m
not sure what would have happened if I hadn’t sent Abdullah to Luxor to acquire
more cigars for me,” Digby said. “I suppose they would have eventually sent a
man to the camp with the message. Seemed jolly inefficient, if you ask me,
especially considering how important the message was. I say, Pierce, hand me
the bread will you? There’s a good chap.”

           
Digby
met Rowan’s eyes and was rewarded with the depth of frustration and hunger he
saw there.

           
“What
kind of message?” Rowan asked.

           
“What?
Oh, yes, well, it turns out to be a very interesting one. Yes, very interesting,
indeed.”

           
“Interesting
in what way?” Carter asked, abruptly, clearly impatient with the game Digby was
playing.

           
“Well,
in that Julia was apparently seen yesterday in Cairo.”

           
“Just
Julia?” Rowan asked. He put his fork down.

           
“Pardon?
Oh, I see what you mean. Let me think. I don’t believe it referred to anyone
but my own bride but I suppose the sighting, as it were,
could
have included the American woman as well.”

           
“Can
I see the note?”

           
“Sorry.
I burned it. Didn’t think it was important.”

           
Rowan
stared at Digby. When he dragged his hardened gaze from Digby, he turned to
look at Carter.

           
“Take
your man Ra with you,” Carter said quietly. “And two horses. Anything else you
need, let me know.”

*
                                 
*
                                 
*
                                 
*

           
Later,
when Ella’s mind had cleared and she had the luxury of endless days to remember
and think about what happened next, she would always reflect that, when all was
said and done, it had happened very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that it was
all she could do to believe that it was real and not another dream.

           
When
the cool of the night had evolved to the bright hell of another sunny day, Ella
did not consciously make the decision to stop and rest until nightfall. In the
grips of a trance spawned by hunger, thirst and a numbing, relentless fear, she
simply sat immobilized on her camel as it moved forward. If it had stopped and
sunk to its knees as before, she would have acquiesced and slid to the ground
to sleep in its shadow as before. But the animal continued to move and she had
not the strength nor the presence of mind to alter its movement. She sat
transfixed and unsteady on its back under the full wrath of the sun.

           
How’s this, Rowan?
she thought dully at
one point when the sun and debilitating thirst powered down on her.
Is this good for you?
She didn’t know
why she thought that. She must have dreamt of him again. She didn’t know why
but she seemed to have developed a plan that was now directing all her actions
and thoughts:
She would simply go until
she couldn’t go any more.

           
When
the camel stopped on the rise, she stood with him and stared out at the vista, below,
not recognizing the dramatic and wide bend of the olive-green river as it lay
before her. It wasn’t until she watched four ibises in flight that she began to
recognize that something was different. The birds flew high above her and then
flitted away over the hill. She watched them with her mouth open.
They were river birds
. Shaking the fog
from her head she forced herself to focus on the panoramic view of the Nile before
her. It twisted and sparkled before her like a wild, living thing. She filled
her lungs with the fishy, damp air of the river. On the banks, the desert had
reluctantly given way to grass and reeds. The camel gave himself a shake and
began to lumber down the rise toward the water.

           
He’s led me here,
she thought and
noticed that she no longer held the reins and probably hadn’t for hours. She
leaned back to accommodate the downward movement of the camel descending the
bank.
I’ve made it. I’ve lived through it
.

           
As
she watched the river below, she
 
wanted to laugh outloud, to shout with the pure joy of it. She craned
her neck to confirm with her eyes what she thought she had heard.
There were people down there.
And God
bless the whole wide world, a
boat
.

           
The
next thing Ella felt were hands pulling her down from the camel. She found
herself falling, falling—the very thing she had feared for so
long—but the hands that caught her were gentle and the voices soothing.
Their bodies blocked out the bright sunlight and she lay on the sand across the
firm lap of a very large man who was pouring drops and then a steady stream of
water past her blistered and parched lips. When she opened her eyes to look up
into the face of her rescuer, he smiled down at her, showing a row of very
white teeth.

           
“
Effendim
?” the man said. “Safe now.”

Ella briefly
wondered what his religion would think about receiving a big wet kiss outside
of marriage as a way of thanks and then she fainted in his arms.

           
When
she woke up her vision had a soft focus on it as a result of the yards of
mosquito netting around her bed. She had no idea how long she had slept. But
she knew she had slept in a bed with soft linen sheets. She knew, although her
back still ached and her lips were swollen, that she was no longer thirsty. A
young Egyptian woman was
 
sitting on
a stool beside her bed, presumably waiting for Ella to wake up.

           
“
Effendim
hungry?” she said, and showed
Ella the bowl and spoon she held in her hands.

           
Ella
looked around the room and then nodded.

           
Before
the girl could help Ella to a sitting position in her bed, Ella noticed one
more thing.

           
They
were moving.

           
“Where
am I?” Ella croaked as the girl held a spoonful of beef bouillon to her lips.
The girl smiled but seemed confused as if she didn’t understand English.

           
They
were on a boat. A
moving
boat. That
much became clear as soon as Ella was able to take better stock of her
environment and the sensations.

           
She
was heading back to Cairo! Thank God!

           
She
took more of the soup from the girl. “Is this your boat?” Ella asked. “Was it
your family who found me? Is my camel okay?”

           
The
girl smiled again, looking even more unsure than before.

           
“
Effendim
?” she asked, holding the spoon
up to Ella’s lips.

           
Ella
drank the soup and felt very tired again. She decided it must be Tater wearing
on her. She shook her head at the rest of the soup and sank back into her
sheets and blankets.

           
“So
sleepy,” she murmured. “Thank you so much for everything.” And then she fell
asleep.

           
Rowan
stood on the dock next to Ra and waited for the women and children to board the
dahabiya
first. He hadn’t even waited
until morning but left Carter’s camp immediately, arriving in time to catch the
last boat back to Cairo. He had sent a message on to Marvel at Shepheard’s and
told her to expect him for breakfast. With any luck, he would arrive before the
message.
 

           
The
dock he stood on was on the west bank opposite Luxor. He noticed that Ra today
did not have his usual bold manner. In the two weeks that Ra had been in
disgrace, the young boy had worked diligently to regain Rowan’s trust. He
wasn’t there yet, Rowan thought, but he was closing in on it. As Rowan waited
to board, he stood with his hands on his hips and watched the boats on the
river. Two were headed in the direction of Cairo. Another, expensively
outfitted from the look of it, was sailing upstream. A woman lay bundled up on
a deck chair, only a small patch of her face not covered.
Must be wealthy Egyptians
, Rowan thought as he watched the boat
disappear around the bend toward Aswan.

           
Oh, it was another of those lovely dreams.
Ella blinked and squinted against the bright sun. This was the first time she
had had one that wasn’t in the middle of the night. She snuggled down under her
blankets on the deck chair and shivered. The sun had gone down but the light
had yet to follow suit. In Ella’s opinion, it was the perfect time of day in
the desert. Still light enough to see but not blazing hot, and not yet cold.
She knew this ideal combination of elements typically only lasted an hour or
less.

           
She
wasn’t sure how she had gotten into the deck chair, exactly, but she was
grateful for the fresh air and the change of view. From her lounger, she was
able to see the throng on the docks as people stood and milled about, loading their
luggage, saying farewell to friends and preparing to embark on their
dahabiya
s down the Nile to Cairo.

She frowned
through her stupor because all the other boats appeared to be pointing in the
opposite direction that hers was sailing, so
that
didn’t make sense, did it?
 
In any case, it would be so lovely if she
could catch another glimpse of him, before she dozed off, real or not. Seeing
Rowan in her dreams was always the best part of going to sleep.

She moved her
head against the lounge chair pillow to get a better angle but it felt so heavy
it fell heavily against its cushioned support. Her throat was dry but she felt
too exhausted to even lift her hand to reach her teacup sitting on a small
table to her right.
What was the matter
with her?

Oh! There
.
Her eyes found him and locked on and a slow smile curved around her lips. He
stood on the dock, his hands resting on his hips, those slim hips attached to
those incredibly long legs. He was surveying the bank and the other boats in
the river.
Such a Rowan thing to do,
Ella thought as she watched him dreamily.
Always
on the lookout. Always read
y.
Goodbye,
my love. Keep looking for the both of us. Until then, I’ll see you in my dreams
.
She closed her eyes then and slept.

Part II