The Quest of Julian Day (38 page)

‘Hullo, Julian, old boy! Fancy you getting here before us!'

Next moment he caught sight of Oonas through the mosquito-curtain and with a single ejaculation of ‘Good God!' he pulled the door shut again.

‘Who on earth was that?' asked Oonas quickly, sitting up.

‘Harry Belville,' I said. ‘I told you last night, if you remember, that my friends would be arriving in Luxor this morning.'

‘Yes, of course,' she agreed. ‘Do you think they'll like me?'

‘I am sure they will,' I replied with a conviction I was far from feeling and I wondered miserably what wretched complications the day would bring.

A line of Kipling's flashed into my mind: ‘I've taken my fun where I found it and now I must pay for my fun.' That about summed up my own situation but before I could attempt to deal with anything else I had to cope with Oonas, so I said:

‘I'm awfully sorry he barged in here like that. But it must be ever so much later than I thought. I ought to have seen to it that you got back to your room a couple of hours ago.'

She shrugged. ‘It doesn't matter, darling, but it's lucky I managed to get a room in the same corridor. If you keep a look-out till the coast's clear I can easily slip along there now without any of the servants seeing me.'

As soon as she had gone I bathed and dressed, thinking matters over while I did so. On second thoughts I decided it was rather a good thing Harry had found Oonas and myself tucked up together. He was not the sort of chap to conceal anything from his wife so it was a pretty safe bet he would tell Clarissa and that would save me quite a lot of troublesome explanations. By being presented at once with the
fait accompli
they would know exactly where I stood and Clarissa was such a good sport I felt confident I could rely upon her treating the situation tactfully. I wondered if she would pass the glad tidings on to Sylvia and I rather hoped she wouldn't.

As there was nothing whatever between Sylvia and myself it was nothing to do with her whom I chose to sleep with; yet I liked her a lot so I naturally wanted her to think well of me, and I could not get away from the feeling that she would disapprove intensely. However, that just had to be faced, and having finished dressing I went downstairs to find them.

They had only had coffee and rolls on the train so they were just finishing a second breakfast in the restaurant. The greetings of them all were very friendly so I sat down to tell them of
the way I had struck up an acquaintance with Oonas on the Nile boat and my subsequent adventures at Tel-el-Amarna; only suppressing the fact that I was actually in bed with her when Zakri and his bravoes arrived at the marquee to murder me. I then went on to explain that Oonas had experienced a change of heart, done her best to save me by a last-minute warning, and that I was now playing her for all I was worth to get such information as I could about the enemy.

As I told the story it sounded credible enough but I knew quite well that I was painting the picture with roseate hues and I felt distinctly guilty about it. They all listened in intent silence while I recounted the particulars of my escape and confided themselves to a few polite, non-committal remarks when I went on to speak of Oonas.

When I had finished there was a rather awkward silence until Harry said: ‘Amin came to meet us on the train and he tells me the six cars we're taking on the expedition and most of our supplies have arrived from Cairo. They're in the station yard and we thought of going along to check them over. Would you care to come?'

‘There's no need for us all to go,' Clarissa cut in. ‘You and Sylvia can manage quite well between you. Julian can stay here and show me the famous garden we've all heard so much about.'

The front of the Winter Palace Hotel looks out over the Nile and has a magnificent view of the Libyan Hills in the distance but behind it there is one of the loveliest gardens in Egypt. It is a much-advertised feature of the place and covers many acres. The part immediately overlooked by the hotel windows consists of numerous varieties of palm and other tropical trees, grass lawns, gay flower borders and groups of flowering shrubs; while the further portion of the demesne is given over to avenues of fruit trees, mainly bearing grapefruit, oranges and tangerines which are picked as required, fresh from the trees, for the hotel dining-room. Half-a-score of native boys are employed to water it morning and evening, so it presents an ever-green and colourful oasis in the middle of the dusty little town.

As soon as the others had gone I led Clarissa out into it; upon which she took my arm and said:

‘Now, Julian, what you've been telling us will do very nicely for Sylvia but I want to hear the
real
story.'

‘There isn't very much else to tell, except what you can guess for yourself,' I parried.

‘You've fallen for the beautiful Oonas, haven't you?'

‘Well …' I hesitated. ‘I suppose I have. It's rather difficult to explain. There's no question of my marrying her. If there were, I'd set out on an expedition to the North Pole rather than go through with it, because, as sure as God made little apples, our attraction for each other can't possibly last; but at times I find her absolutely irresistible.'

‘I can quite understand that,' Clarissa conceded handsomely. ‘I thought her one of the loveliest little things I've ever set eyes on when I saw her at that fancy-dress dance in Alexandria. But do you really believe in this “change of heart” business? It doesn't sound quite in keeping with her character.'

‘I honestly don't know,' I confessed. ‘At times I believe she loves me so much she'd let me jump on her with hob-nailed boots if I wanted to; and at other times I'm quite convinced she means to double-cross me at the first opportunity.'

‘I should think you're probably right about both things, Clarissa said wisely. ‘Any woman can see with half an eye that your little friend is sex incarnate. When she's all het up about a man she would probably risk prison or stick a knife into anyone for him; but once she's cooled off, her brain gets control again and we've pretty good reason to know that all her real interests lie in the enemy's camp.'

‘You've hit it. “The leopard cannot change his spots” or Oonas her criminal mentality. As a matter of fact, owing to her temporary aberration about me, she actually offered to get Zakri murdered for us yesterday.'

‘Did you accept?'

‘No. I'd have liked to, but I hadn't got the guts. I'm afraid the truth is that I am an awful weakling in lots of ways when it comes down to brass tacks.'

‘Not weak, Julian dear, just very human,' Clarissa murmured kindly, giving my arm a friendly squeeze. ‘Have you succeeded in getting anything out of her yet?'

‘Nothing I can use without bringing her into danger.'

‘I thought as much. She's clever, Julian, so watch your step. You've caught a bad go of the old measles and you won't be better till you get it out of your system. Have as much fun with her as you like but for God's sake don't trust her.'

‘What a grand person you are, Clarissa,' I smiled. ‘You've clarified all my vague ideas and put the whole issue in a nutshell. You couldn't have been sweeter about it, either. But tell me, now, what's the most tactful line to take? In the ordinary course of events I should join up with you now that you've arrived, but at the moment I'm sharing a table with Oonas. Are you game to meet her or would it be best if we kept the two parties entirely separate?'

‘Of course I'll meet her and I shall be charming to her; but I think it would be best if you kept to your own table and don't bother about us too much for the next few days. She's certain to be jealous and possessive so that'll leave you quite free to amuse her and, at the same time, the less the two of you are with us the less chance there is of anything slipping out about our plans while she's present.'

Clarissa's suggestion seemed extremely sound as the less Oonas knew about our intentions the less opportunity she would have of proving dangerous to us if she did rat on me later. By the warmth of my thanks I tried to show Clarissa how very grateful I was to her and we strolled back to the hotel so that she could get on with her unpacking.

Oonas was in grand form over lunch. The Nile boat, on which we should have arrived, was due in that evening and she had arranged for her own car to be driven down from Cairo to meet her in Luxor. Her chauffeur had just reported to her and she said that now the car was here we could go on lots of expeditions in it.

After lunch I took the opportunity of introducing Oonas to the others and we all had coffee and liqueurs together in the lounge. The business went off better than I had expected.

Harry had no great brain but he was one of the most friendly people I have ever met and such a happy soul that it was second nature to him to be nice to everybody; without any deliberate effort he soon had Oonas talking and laughing. Clarissa backed him up with conscious skill and only Sylvia remained at first a little aloof; but directly she found that Oonas was interested
in Egyptology she came out of her shell, and the five of us spent a very pleasant half-hour together.

Everything would have gone off quite splendidly if, just as we were breaking up, Sylvia had not said to me:

‘If you're not doing anything this afternoon, Julian, I would very much like you to come for a walk round the town with me, because I want your advice on some things I have to see to.'

I guessed at once that she referred to the men Amin had got together for our expedition and she wanted me to vet them before they were definitely engaged but, on the face of it, her invitation sounded as though she was just trying to carry me off for a quiet stroll.

As Oonas and I had not arranged to do anything and I knew that the sooner the job was done the better, I agreed at once; next moment I caught sight of Oonas' face and it was a positive revelation. She was staring at Sylvia as though she could cheerfully have killed her and, without another word, she picked up her bag and left us.

A rather awkward silence followed until Clarissa remarked that, having had to get up so early on the train, she was going to lie down; upon which Sylvia and I went off together.

To avoid any possibility of Oonas seeing what we were up to Sylvia had arranged that instead of the men parading on the steps of the hotel they should meet us down by the Nile boat landing-stage which was some little distance along the water-front. Amin was outside waiting for us and as we strolled along the Nile bank the two of them told me of the arrangements they had made.

The leading car was to take our guides and servants and the second, which would be driven in turns by Harry and myself, would also carry Sylvia, Clarissa and Amin. The other four vehicles were lorries containing our stores and water, each of which would need a driver and have a man on the box beside him to help with the general labour of digging the vehicles out of the sand when they got stuck, erecting tents, porterage and so on.

Amin produced a cook named Abdulla and two servants, Omar and Mussa; the last of whom could also act as chauffeur to the first car. We were to pick up our guides at the oasis of
Kharga but Amin had secured four reliable drivers for the lorries and four hefty-looking fellows to do the odd jobs.

Altogether we should number eighteen which was more than I really cared about but Amin said that as the lorry drivers could not be counted on to lift a hand outside looking after their vehicles it was essential to take at least three servants and the four labourers for general purposes. We had already worked out the amount of water we should require and two out of the four lorries were to be devoted entirely to it; that gave us an adequate supply for such a party but did not leave as large a margin against emergencies as I had hoped. The third lorry was to carry our petrol while the fourth would provide transport for our tents and stores.

I had not had much experience of engaging natives but I had a word with each of the men, impressing upon them the difficulties and dangers of the journey, and the replies of all of them were quite satisfactory. Sylvia, who really knew more about Egyptians than I did, agreed with me in this and I had enormous faith in Amin's judgment, so we duly signed them on for an exploration into the Libyan desert; the ostensible reason for which we gave as a geological survey of a portion of that vast, unknown region.

On the opposite side of the road from the landing-stage, right in the centre of Luxor's waterfront, rise the ruins of one of the finest temples in Egypt. It is not as big as the great temple of Amen-Ra at Karnak, although far larger than most Christian cathedrals, but having been built by Amenophis III, surnamed ‘The Magnificent', in the ‘great' period, its architecture is exceptionally fine; and, having done our business, Sylvia suggested that we should walk round it.

From the time of the fall of the Roman Empire, or in some cases earlier, right up to the middle of the last century all the temples of Egypt were left to fall into decay. The Coptic, Christians, and later the Mohammedans, occupied miserable little corners of them for the worship of their less spectacular Gods and the rest of these vast, pillared halls were given over to the poorer towns-folk. Huts and lean-tos were built by the hundred in the courts and chambers, so that they became a rabbit-warren of slum dwellings and when these fell in others were erected on their debris.

By the 1850's, when the European archæologists first gained permission to excavate, the lower forty feet of the temples were entirely buried under a solid mass of refuse which had accumulated during some fifteen centuries. In addition, all and sundry were allowed to treat the temples as free stone-quarries and carry away any portion of them that they could manage to transport for their own purposes. When a law was at last passed to prevent this iniquity, one vandal had just made off with sufficient stone from a temple to build a sugar refinery; and it gives some idea of their immensity that in spite of these depredations which have gone on throughout the whole of the Christian era the greater part of most temples still remain to testify to the greatness of the people who built them.