Whispers in the Sand (33 page)

“And was Lord Carstairs spying on me, to make these accusations?” Louisa asked hotly. “I don’t remember inviting him to join me at any point. The dress to which he refers I brought with me from England,” she went on furiously. A small moment of guilt had vanished as quickly as it had arrived. “It is most certainly not native attire, as he puts it. It is both cool and sensible wear for the climate and is totally decent, I assure you.” Her anger was almost choking her suddenly. “As for Hassan, he has never ever been anything other than respectful to me. How dare Lord Carstairs imply anything else! He insults me, Augusta!”

Augusta stood up, agitated, and took one or two small steps up and down the saloon. “No, my dear. He does not mean any such thing. He was right to speak to John and me, he really was. He was enormously concerned for your reputation. He admires you, Louisa. He has a tremendous respect for your talent which he tells us is considerable.” She picked up one of the letters from a pile which had been left lying on the side table, and she fanned her face with it. “He meant it for the best, my dear, he really did.”

“In which case I have now set your mind at rest in all particulars.” Louisa could feel her face flaming. “Forgive me, Augusta. I need to go and change before dinner.” She paused at the door. Augusta was standing still, staring at the floor, and Louisa felt suddenly very sorry for her. “I will show you some of my sketches later, Augusta, if you wish. You may see for yourself what it is I do all day on my trips to the temples.” The woman had not up to now shown any interest in her drawings. “And once we have passed the cataract, you will also see how beautiful the island is,” she added gently.

Augusta gave a small smile, but she did not look up.

It was not until after dinner, when Augusta had gone to bed and Sir John and Louisa were sitting together in the saloon over cups of scented tea by the light of a single shaded lamp, that Sir John dropped his bombshell.

“I have sent a message to the consul to ask him to recommend a dragoman for you for the rest of the trip.”

Louisa put down her cup. “I have no need of another dragoman. Hassan suits me perfectly.”

He shook his head. “I have let Hassan go.” He was concentrating on his cigar, turning it round and round between his fingers.

“You have done what?” Louisa sat without moving. She did not look up. A wave of blackness seemed to have settled over her.

“I have dismissed him. He was a nice enough fellow, but not of the standard one requires, don’t you think?” He stuck the cigar in his mouth. “Don’t fret. We’ll find someone new for you, my dear. It won’t affect your little drawing trips at all.” He hesitated. “You won’t want to wander off anyway while we’re going up the cataract. Everyone tells me it’s very exciting. There will be lots for you to draw from the boat…”

Anna looked up angrily. “Poor Louisa. How could she put up with it? Sir John was so patronising! And what a complete bastard Carstairs was!”

Andy was sitting beside her, staring down at the book on her knee. His arm was pressed against her arm, she noticed suddenly, his thigh against hers. It was not an unpleasant sensation, sitting so close to him. Almost unconsciously, her fingers strayed to her lips, as though she could still feel last night’s brief kiss. Embarrassed, she closed the book. “Andy, it’s nearly time for lunch. I can hear the others. They must have come back from their shopping trip. Perhaps we can read some more another time.”

He nodded reluctantly. “Sure. I enjoyed that.” Standing up, he made for the door. “I can’t wait to find out what happened next.” He turned and winked. “I’ll leave you to get ready. See you in a minute.”

She stared at the closed door. The room was suddenly larger, emptier, somehow more lonely. Shaking her head, she stood up, and opening the drawer in the bedside table, tucked the diary away.

When she reached the dining room, the others were already seated. A chair had been left for her beside Andy, she noticed. She slipped into it, glancing towards Toby as she did so. He was sitting with his back to her and did not appear to have noticed her entry. For a moment she gazed at him thoughtfully, then she turned back to her own table. Charley was sitting on Andy’s left, and beyond her Ben, and then Serena. Anna leant forward and grinned across at Serena. “I’m sorry I missed this morning’s trip. I would have liked to see the bazaar. Did you buy anything nice?”

Serena nodded. “I’ll show you later.”

“I trust you had a nice morning, too.” Charley put her elbows on the table and peered round Andy. “You wouldn’t have been lonely. Not with Andy to keep you company.”

Ali appeared with a pile of hot plates and began distributing them around the table. Behind him Ibrahim followed with a tureen of steaming lentil soup. Relieved at the distraction, Anna turned away, but Charley was not to be deflected.

“Strange that you should both oversleep, isn’t it.” She flicked her hair back over her shoulders, ignoring Ibrahim’s efforts to serve her.

“Did you buy anything nice in the bazaar, Charley dear?” Ben put in mildly.

She ignored him. “I suppose the bazaar was too common for Anna. After all, she’s the descendant of a famous painter. She’s just going to lounge around and wait for everyone else to dance attendance on her. I’m surprised she didn’t have her own private boat. But then, she wouldn’t have had the chance to meet any nice, eligible men.” She sat back triumphantly. “Ali? Where is my wine?” Her call made the young waiter jump nervously. He bowed and hurried to the central table to find the bottle which had her name on it. She poured herself a glass and drank it straight down.

“Charley, go easy.” Andy leant towards her. There’s no need for any of this.”

“No?” She helped herself again. “This Egyptian wine is crap. It’s not strong enough!”

“It’s fine.” Andy took the bottle out of her hand and put it on the table, out of reach. “Come on, we don’t need this. We can all be friends, surely.”

The dining room was very silent, Anna noticed suddenly. People were embarrassed, concentrating on their soup, which was thick and spicy and garnished with fresh mint. She was conscious of Ibrahim, hovering behind her, passing round a basket of warm rolls. She glanced up at him, but his eyes were fixed on the basket, his face completely without expression.

Omar, seated with the others at the next table, stood up at last, clearly reluctant to become involved. He wandered over. “Is everything all right, people?”

“It’s fine.” Andy glanced up at him. “We can manage.”

Omar paused for a moment, then he nodded and turned away. Toby, she noticed, was sitting sideways in his chair, his arm across the back, openly watching the situation. He caught her eye and gave her a wry wink. She smiled uncomfortably back.

Plates were collected, replaced. Huge heaped platters of steaming rice and
kebeiya
meatballs were carried in.

Anna glanced round the table. Charley had poured herself another glass of wine. She sipped it in moody silence whilst Serena watched.

“It certainly is a bit different from an elegant lunch on a private
dahabeeyah
.” Andy commented quietly. “It must have been wonderful, travelling as they did, with all that leisure and time and money.”

Anna nodded.

“Don’t forget, you’re going to let me read the next instalment,” he went on. “I want to know what happens next.” He smiled at her.

“I’m sure you do.”

Beyond him, Charley was sitting, her fingers linked around her glass, staring into space. As though feeling Anna’s glance, she suddenly sat up. Swigging down the contents of her glass, she leant forward to look at Anna again.

“I’m not going to let you have him, you know. You’re mine, aren’t you, sweetie.” Her hand came down on Andy’s as it lay next to his empty plate, and she raked a nail up the skin of his wrist.

He jumped. “Charley!”

She smiled sweetly. “Yes, Charley. And if sweet little Anna comes between us, I shall do more than steal her silly little Egyptian bottle to teach her a lesson, believe me—” She broke off with a squeal as a hand came down on her shoulder.

“That’s enough threats, young lady!”

Toby had stood up without them noticing and was standing immediately behind her. “Come on. You’re not eating, and you’re causing a lot of grief. I suggest you go and sleep it off.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her up out of her chair. Her glass of wine flew out of her hand, depositing its contents over Andy’s shirt.

With a scream of rage, Charley whirled round and hit Toby in the face.

“Take your hands off her!” Andy was frantically wiping himself down with his napkin.

“Please, Mr. Toby, let me deal with it!” Omar tried to pull Toby off as Ibrahim and Ali appeared anxiously on either side of him, brandishing cloths.

“Leave it. I can cope.” Toby had the screaming Charley by the shoulders. “I’ll dump her in her cabin. Come on, no more of this nonsense.” He pushed her off balance, and she collapsed against him. In seconds, he had dragged her out of the room, and the doors had swung shut behind him.

Serena stood up. “I’d better go and look after her.” Andy leapt to his feet. “No, you stay here. I’ll go and see that she’s all right.” He threw down his wine-stained napkin and ran after them. But not before he had turned to Anna. “I told you he was violent!” he murmured, then he had gone.

Serena sat down with a shrug and turned back to the table. It seemed only seconds before Ibrahim and Ali had replaced the cloth, re-ordered the table, and finally began to serve the food. As they did so, the conversation in the dining room resumed—at a slightly louder pitch than before.

It was ten minutes before Andy reappeared. He had changed his shirt and trousers. “She’s asleep.” He slid into his chair.

“And Toby?” Anna studied his face. “I hope you didn’t hit him.”

Andy laughed. “No, I didn’t hit him. I helped him carry Charley to her cabin and put her on the bed. We took off her shoes and left her to it.”

“So, where is Toby?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps he wanted to rush off and draw the scene as Louisa would have done. Who knows?” There was an angry tic in his cheek, and he had suddenly become very pale. He sat down and reaching for Charley’s wine, poured himself a glass.

Anna frowned. “I’m sorry I asked.”

The meal continued in silence for several minutes, then Serena looked up. “So, when do we leave to visit the high dam?”

“Soon.” Omar had heard her question. He stood up. “People, please be quick with your coffee. We leave very soon.” He smiled round the room. “Very soon, English time, please, which is today. Not very soon Egyptian time, which is next week.”

Anna caught Serena’s eye as they all laughed. Egyptian indifference to time was one of Omar’s favourite jokes—one he no doubt repeated to each succeeding group of passengers. She had already decided to sit beside Serena on the bus on the way to the dam. There were urgent matters to be discussed.

Her decision was thwarted immediately by Andy, who inserted himself into the seat next to her as soon as she had made herself comfortable. “You don’t mind, do you?”

She hid her impatience, although she desperately needed to speak to Serena. “Of course not.”

“Have you brought your haunted bottle with you?” His eyes were sparkling.

She glanced down at the guidebook on her knee. “No, I’ve left it in my cabin.”

“And the diary?”

“And the diary. I’m sure they’ll be perfectly safe.”

“I hope so.” He glanced round the bus as the doors closed and the driver pulled away from the quayside. “Toby doesn’t appear to be with us. I knew Charley wouldn’t come—she’s out for the count—but why hasn’t he? I’d have thought he’d be interested to see the high dam.”

“Well, whatever the reason, it is not so that he can go through my cabin,” Anna put in firmly. Serena, she could see, was sitting by herself towards the front of the small coach.

“I hope you’re right.” He folded his arms and grinned.

When the coach stopped for them to see what remained of the cataract after the first dam was built at the beginning of the twentieth century and again when it reached the high dam itself, Andy stayed close by her side. She was beginning to think he was deliberately coming between her and Serena, and she was becoming increasingly irritated as they left the coach and walked out onto the top of the vast concrete edifice to stand staring over the far side at Lake Nasser, the inland sea created by the building of the dam.