Death in Luxor

by Graham Warren

  “We have some answers,” blurted out Alex with excessive enthusiasm.

  “But we lost sight of your dad, remember? So we don’t know where he went,” she said with attitude.

  “I think we do,” he replied with a knowing grin.

  Cairo had now joined them. They shared a quick hug before the boys dragged her over to the map table.

  “Look, here,” said Alex, as he excitedly pulled an ancient papyrus map towards them, before picking up what looked to Kate to be a single chopstick. It was in fact an ancient Egyptian ink brush, which he was using as a pointing device. “You were here, and we were here. Dad came through between us here and walked this way.” Alex was in his element as he continued. “The Theban Hills are much too high for him to climb, so he must be going to one of these tombs along here.” He said this as he moved the ‘chopstick’ along the ancient papyrus map from left to right, where the desert butted up against the bottom of the Theban Hills.

  Even with Kate’s poor map reading skills, she could make out that it was a line that ran between the workers village and the temple of Queen Hatshepsut.

  “He will still be somewhere in this area as it is not yet two o’clock. All we need to do is to start at one end, Hatshepsut Temple for example, and work along until we see some sign of activity.” Alex could not hide his excitement as he spoke. “We could cover more area, much more quickly, if we split up, but I think it best if we stay together after this morning.”

  “Who made you the leader?” thought Kate.

  Cairo was clapping as he said, “Yes, yes,” repeatedly.

  Thoth, the Thoth of Ramses II, interrupted Cairo’s excitement to ask if Kate considered this to be the best course of action. Thoth, this time the Thoth of Nakhtifi, said that Alex had formed a plan, and if they were going to discover where Quentin was working today, they must all go now, or it would be too late to search the entire area before he left.

  Kate could immediately see how each ancient god took on the strengths and weaknesses of their pharaoh.

  “Come on, Kate, let’s go,” called Alex, as he and Cairo headed for what they must have known was the exit, but to her it looked to be a solid wall.

  “Stop right there, the both of you. Use your brains for once,” shouted Kate, and it was a shout. Being sore all over, she did not want to run anywhere, though being Kate, she would make her problem their problem. “I’m fed up of racing off after you and getting nowhere fast. We need to use our brains. What is wrong with you, Alex? You were the one wanting to be a team, but now the team is follow me.”

  “Bravo, Madam Kate, bravo,” said Ramses’ Thoth. Alex and Cairo stood there quite perplexed, as it was Kate who was always the one for racing off, when they usually wanted to take things at a far slower pace.

  Turning away from the boys, she said, “Thank you, Thoth. If you don’t mind, I shall call you Thoth R as you are Ramses’ Thoth, and you,” she said turning to look at the other Thoth, “Thoth N, as you are Nakhtifi’s Thoth.” They both nodded in agreement.

  The boys looked to Kate expecting an amazing revelation. However, none was forthcoming. All she said was, “Come back to the table. Here we can work together to find the answer. That way we will be able to go straight to where your father is.”

  Alex protested that if they did not move quickly, they would not be able to search such a large area before his dad left to go back to the hotel.

  “Then we must make the area smaller. That way it won’t take us so long to search it.”

  “How do we do that then?”

  “You’re not thinking it through, Alex, just like when we arrived here.”

  “Okay, yes, I admit it, I fell into their trap. We had it explained to us whilst we bathed. The golden figures were only put there to distract attackers, so that it made the job of Nakhtifi’s Nubian guards much easier. And I have to say that I did not appreciate the joke, but yes, I made a mistake.”

  “Well, you are about to make another,” and with that Kate turned to Thoth R and said, “Isn’t he, Thoth?”

  “I think he is, young Madam, though it really is not my place to say.”

  “Okay, okay,” said a somewhat frustrated Alex. “What have you seen that we missed?”

  “Well, firstly, I know your dad is not at the temple of Hatshepsut, so we can discount that whole area for a start.”

  “How on earth do you know that?”

  “Easy really,” said Kate, who immediately wished that she had not used the word ‘easy’, as that was likely to make Alex less receptive to her ideas. She rephrased her statement. “Well, not easy exactly, though I’m sure you will agree that it is when you think about it.” Kate was digging herself a hole, so she thought she had better stop digging and just blurt it out. “Your dad is a world authority on Egypt under Greek rule, get it! Greek rule! Nobody in their right mind would go to him to be the archaeologist of choice for any other period of Egyptian history. Queen Hatshepsut most definitely was not Greek, so we do not need to go anywhere near her temple!”

  “Of course, so we can discount any non-Greek ruin or area,” and rather than being annoyed, Alex put a hand on each side of Kate’s face, pulled her towards him and kissed her right on the lips. After which they both blushed.

  “How we know which Greek?” asked Cairo as he looked at, and pointed to, so many little black rectangles on the papyrus.

  “Each rectangle represents a tomb,” said Alex, “with the larger squares and rectangles representing the temples.”

  “I would imagine Thoth R can help us with this.” Kate looked straight at him.

  Thoth was already nodding. “Well, what you need to do is to compare maps of different periods. This one,” he said as he unrolled a very torn and tattered papyrus, “predates the Greek period of rule in Egypt. The map that you have been looking at shows all the tombs and temples. Egyptian, Greek and Roman.”

  After slightly less than ten minutes of comparing the two, Kate and Alex, along with a little help from Cairo, had discounted all bar one area, the Greek temple and its surrounding tombs at the northern end of Deir el Medina – more commonly referred to as the workers village. This was the end of the village closest to the well they had escaped by, with the help of Sobek. It was not far from where they were right now.

  This fact was not lost on Cairo, causing him to ask if Quentin’s backers could be using him to find a way into where they were, into Nakhtifi’s domain. He was immediately reassured by Thoth N that whatever Alex’s dad was doing, he would not be heading towards them. “His backers will be doing whatever they can to keep Nakhtifi from becoming a household name. Quentin will definitely not be coming here.”

  Kate thought that now was exactly the right time for her to speak of her theory, so she did, and she spoke with far more certainty than she actually felt. “Everything lately has been too much of a coincidence. I needed you to be in Luxor, and I needed you to be here with me right now.” She looked at Alex. “Suddenly, your father has the chance of a dig. Not in a month’s time. Not in winter when all the digs are taking place, but right now! Out of nowhere he has these mysterious backers at exactly the time I needed you to be here. What do you think the chances are of that being a coincidence?”

  “Slim,” said Alex almost under his breath.

  “I would bet that whoever these backers of Quentin and that Napoleon guy are, they are one and the same. It is them who are backing the dig, because it has to be a dig, just one dig, which they will use to somehow promote the status of the warlock, at the expense of Nakhtifi. There is something they are doing, or have done, that we, that nobody but them knows of. Whatever it is they have up their sleeves, they must have a problem with it. That’s why they need a world leading archaeologist here. To put his name to something. To give it, um …” Kate came to a halt, making rolling motions with her hands as she hunted for the correct words.

  “To give the find credibility,” said Alex.

  “Yes, exactly!”

  “
But you say an archaeologist? They have two!”

  “Insurance! They only need one to agree with them. It doesn’t matter who.” She was happy with how this was going. “Quentin or Napoleon, take your pick. Both, from what you have told me, have enough clout in the archaeological world to immediately be taken seriously.”

  “They would, they would.” Alex gently stopped Cairo from clapping.

  “As they are both desperate for a find, they might not be as critical as they should be. I’m just saying. It will then be too late for Nakhtifi, Ramses or any of the family to do anything about it.”

  Kate paused. She was a little anxious about continuing because her thoughts worried her immensely. Far more hesitantly she proceeded to explain how their lives were in so much more danger than at any time in the past. Having survived, much against the odds, everything that had been thrown at them so far – ancient soldiers, a massive battle and even a poisoner, not to mention a flipping large piece of Aswan granite that almost landed right on top of them at Luxor Temple, only the day before – their luck had to run out sometime.

  If Nakhtifi, along with the ancients who shared the afterlife through his name, were to live on, they depended on Kate, Alex or Cairo proving his name to the world, before any plan to promote the status of the warlock could succeed.

  “The warlock has drawn us here. All he needs, in order to succeed, is to kill the three of us and one archaeologist, the one who will not agree to his plans.” This was the only conclusion Kate could come to. She worried that Alex and Cairo would think that she was suffering from too much sun.

  To her surprise, as well as relief, Alex confirmed that this was almost exactly his line of thinking, after lying awake for so many hours last night. He only added, “Dad is honest, but he is also desperate for a really big find.”

  Cairo said that Three had told him something similar.

  Both Thoths nodded. “When two world famous archaeologists are in Luxor at the same time and both have backers that nobody knows …” said Thoth R.

  Thoth N took over: “Then it can lead to no other conclusion than this is the work of the warlock and his followers. My pharaoh is still unknown, so he is in real danger of losing his place in the afterlife.”

  Doors which none of them had noticed, opened. Ramses, side by side with Nakhtifi, entered the room. Both were wearing their royal robes as well as the combined crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. They were surrounded by a heavy presence of Nubian guards, far more than could have been deemed necessary, considering where they were.

  “They are taking no chances,” thought Kate.

  “It will never again be as safe here as they previously considered it to be,” thought Alex.

  “I want one of those hats,” thought Cairo.

  “You all appear to be working very well together,” said Ramses. “Do keep talking, as when you do, I am convinced that you are able to solve anything. We concur with your findings, do we not, Nakhtifi?”

  “Oh yes, Ramses, we do … we certainly do.”

  Kate and Alex both said, “Thank you,” but they also knew that they must have been listened to, though from where was a mystery.

  “It not nice to listen to other people’s conversations,” said Cairo, so the point had not been lost on him either.

  “Quite right, Cairo, you are quite right,” said Ramses as he turned to Nakhtifi. “See, I told you no good would come of you listening to other people’s conversations. You should apologise to them all.”

  Nakhtifi started to apologise when the penny suddenly dropped. He turned on Ramses, who held up a nonchalant hand as he rolled his eyes and spoke. “Now come on, as I need to celebrate.” He ushered four of his Nubian guards forward. They stood, one at each corner of the map table, before lifting the top slowly, moving it to one side. The youngsters had all taken a step back as the Nubian guards had moved forward, but now they moved in, in their eagerness to see inside the table. They should have known. Hundreds of bottles of red wine were standing next to each other. There was not an empty space or a speck of dust to be seen.

  With the table top completely removed, all the light in the room was centred on the bottles. It was a most impressive sight. A rich glowing red shone out, giving the appearance of a treasure chest of rubies. Kate supposed that to Ramses it was his treasure chest, as his red wine meant so much more to him than anything else.

  Moving around the table as if he was the only person in the room, Ramses touched many bottles before choosing one, which he removed, holding it up to the light to check for clarity. Satisfied, he slipped it into his robes. His Nubian guards silently moved the table top back into place.

  “Did you see that?” asked Kate.

  “Yes,” said Alex, “he took the bottle out, but it left no space. It was as if no bottle had been removed.”

  “No wonder his wine has lasted all these centuries,” she sniggered. “Now, we must get back on track. We have to find out what your dad is up to, so how do we get out of here?”

  Cairo called out. Kate and Alex turned quickly to see not only him, but also his ancient ancestor Ropet, standing by open double doors. To their dismay, they also saw the rear of the cart they had arrived on.

  Kate made her position clear. “You really don’t think, not for a second, that I’m ever going to get in that cart again, do you? And anyway, what are those things pulling it?

  “They are craptors,” said Ramses. On hearing this, the three youngsters stifled a snigger. “They are cute, cuddly and extremely powerful. They are also very easily offended, and when offended, they can be just a tad, just the slightest bit …” Ramses came to a dead halt, looked at his Thoth and asked, “What is a nice way of saying that if you annoy them, they will rip you open with their serrated horns and start eating your innards before you have taken your last breath?”

  “I think temperamental is the word you are looking for, my Pharaoh.”

  “That’s it, Thoth, I knew I could rely on you. Yes, Kate, they can be the slightest bit temperamental, so it is worth being nice to them, in fact it is always worth being very, very nice to them.” Ramses gave an evil grin as he added, “Unless you can run extremely fast, or, failing that, have an ibis handy that you can feed them with.” The expression on Thoth R’s face turned from one of smug satisfaction to one of horror. Thoth N ran squawking from the room.

  “You really are quite evil, Ramses, and I for one want nothing more to do with you,” said Kate, as she turned to take the few paces needed to join Cairo and Ropet at the cart. Alex followed. Within seconds they were off, and much to Kate’s relief, they were travelling at a far more sedate pace than that of the white-knuckle journey down.

  “I might be evil,” said Ramses out loud, though to nobody in particular, “but I was the one that made you angry enough to get back in that cart. I needed you in that cart, Kate, as I need you to save Nakhtifi.”

  Chapter 6

  -

  Actions Speak Louder

  Than Words

  Kate found, much to her surprise, that it was a most pleasant ride through the lightless tunnel, back to the bottom of the hill. Unlike last time, Ropet brought the cart to a halt sooner than either Kate or Alex wanted. Aware of being able to make out the people around her, though only in dusky outlines, she pushed Alex’s arm from her shoulder and exited the cart. Light with less power than that of a lit match was reaching them, though exactly from where was not immediately obvious.

  Ropet was already off the cart and heading down a corridor, Cairo followed, and so of course did Kate.

  Alex was a few paces behind. He muttered under his breath that yet again he was following. Kicking up some dust in annoyance, he immediately regretted it. His foot crumpled as it impacted upon a rock that had no intention of moving. Now he was not only behind, he was behind and limping.

  After a sharp bend, through which they all had to squeeze, there was a small circle of daylight up ahead. Small it was, but it had an intensity which forced eyes to be screw
ed up. Gradually becoming accustomed to the daylight, Kate was able to make out the silhouette of a crouching figure, though this figure remained some way off.

  Reaching the end of the tunnel together, for protection, they need not have worried. It was Sanuba. He stood up to welcome them. Each in turn received the customary handshake and brush of the face on both cheeks, like a kiss that missed. Cairo also received a hug which caused him to beam with pride. This was another ancient relative of Cairo’s, though unlike Ropet, Sanuba could speak perfect English, when of course it was safe to do so. Obviously, it was not safe to do so here, because he whispered in short broken sentences. During their attempt to reach Pharaoh Nakhtifi a few days previously, they had been made aware that when an ancient spoke English, it somehow drew the attention of other ancients. Attention which was especially unwanted when some of these ancients were trying to kill not only Kate, but now also Alex and Cairo.

  “Cannot help you much.” There was a pause as Sanuba looked outside, before turning back to look at them. “Quentin is here somewhere.” There was another pause as again Sanuba looked all around. “This area after my time.” Yet another pause and yet another check of the area. “So I cannot help you further.”

  Kate was about to burst, though with her newly found maturity she did allow Sanuba a few more seconds to say something they did not know, or that might be of the slightest bit of use to them. However, nothing useful was forthcoming, so she spoke, also in a whisper, though this was a whisper with attitude. “So, you know that Quentin is somewhere in this area, though you don’t know exactly where he is. In fact, you have no idea at all, as none of this was around in your time.” Sanuba went to speak, but Kate shushed him by raising a hand directly in front of his face. “Okay, okay, I know that you are this big brave soldier man, and that you are not frightened to go out there.”