The moment the soldiers were out of earshot, Kate, hands and legs flailing, harshly pushed Alex away from her.
After waking Cairo, who really had fallen asleep, they all sat around and chuckled about the flying blanket, how assertive Alex was, and how on earth Cairo could sleep at a time like that. Soon they were talking about Pure Red Cinnamon. They all knew it was pale orange in colour, rather than the usual light brown, and its name came from the colour of the flame when it was set alight. Only Pure Red Cinnamon gave off a true red flame, which ancients used as an early form of firework on special occasions, such as royal weddings.
“I must go,” said Henuttawy, “as I expect the soldiers will check this field thoroughly once they see you leave. I came to tell you about a very old man who used magic when he was younger. He is very knowledgeable, and he is not somebody Gadeem would ever ask for help. He is in Luxor and lives somewhere in Awamya Street. I think he is still alive, in fact I am pretty sure he still is. He may be able to help you. He has helped me more than once, though that was many years back. Oh, and by the way, I really do like Gadeem, he is a–”
“Even after what he made your father do,” said Alex cutting right across her.
“He was right, as there was nothing else they could have done,” though as Henuttawy said this real sadness showed fleetingly across her face. “If you would like my help, I would really like to help you,” she said much more cheerily. She did, however, address her comment directly to Kate, as she knew Alex and Cairo welcomed her.
Choosing not to answer, Kate said they were off to Awamya, so if she needed to leave before they did, she had better get going.
Henuttawy gave Cairo a peck on the cheek and thanked him. She did the same to Alex, though she whispered “Street” in his ear as she did. She made a point of thanking Kate from a distance, and left.
Alex asked Kate why she had been so rude when Henuttawy had come to help.
“I saved her from Ramses’ soldiers, so I do not have to be grateful to her for anything, quite the opposite in fact. Now come on, let’s get going.”
They waved down a passing tourist minibus. Looking out of the back window as it sped down the road, they saw the field of maize, which they had only just left, was already well ablaze. Alex knew that Henuttawy would be away from there by now. If she was that easy to catch she would have been caught years ago, thousands of years ago, though he still worried. Being an ancient the flames could not hurt her, but if there was nowhere to hide she would all too easily be captured by Ramses’ soldiers. There and then he decided he would have to speak to Ramses about this, about his treatment of Henuttawy. This situation could not be allowed to go on, but he was not looking forward to broaching the subject. He would have to pick his time; no, that time would be the very next time he saw him. This miscarriage of justice had to stop and it had to stop now!
Chapter 15
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Awamya, Not a Good Idea
The minibus dropped the three adventurers off on the edge of Awamya, a small village which abutted the southern boundary of Luxor. The tarmac dual carriageway they were standing on the edge of, was a far cry from the wide expanse of dust and dirt that lay ahead of them. It was far too wide to be called a track, though neither could it be called a road. It did, according to the signs they were standing by, lead down to the docking area for some of the largest and most expensive Nile cruise boats. They were unable to see any sign of these, so they must be situated beyond a line of extremely shabby looking three or four storey buildings which themselves were several hundred metres away.
“Tourists who arrive here for their five star Nile cruise must be horrified,” said Kate as they walked in the heat towards the nearest buildings. They were still some distance away when clouds of white dust engulfed them with the passing of a tourist coach as it twisted and turned in a forlorn attempt to avoid numerous potholes. Slowing down would have helped, but this was not the Egyptian way.
“This must be what Bagdad looked like after the Americans had bombed it,” said Alex. They all laughed as they agreed. Dust from a second tourist bus enveloped them, which instantly caused their laughs to turn into coughs.
“We not come here. This not good area.” Cairo continued to cough, so he struggled to get the words out.
“I can see that,” said Alex as he put a hand on Cairo’s shoulder. He looked more closely at the buildings. They had looked bad enough from a distance, now that they were closer it was clear to see that they were indeed very roughly put together. Many with the upper floors unfinished, and many appeared to be without a roof, as sun shone through openings where windows should have been. In general, the whole area looked as though it should have been condemned. Alex’s thoughts went to Henuttawy, as he wondered why the last thing she had said to him was ‘Street’. “Probably,” he thought, “this is Awamya Street, as it is the only road into Awamya. Perhaps we can find this guy quickly, then get out of here.”
Alex was not feeling brave, Cairo most certainly was not, and even Kate wondered if they should turn and run. It was difficult for them to take in what they saw, as they reached the filthiest, most rundown little shops they had ever seen in their lives. Ahead and to their right, a group of men sat outside a coffee shop, drinking from dirty chipped glasses. Coffee and tea was all the young adventurers should have been able to smell, though there was definitely a strong smell of alcohol in the air, along with another strong smell, of which they had no idea what it was. It was as if they had willingly walked into a den of villainous thieves.
“You can see why the cruise companies have such tight security,” said Alex as he pointed some way into the distance, where a tour bus was being hastily ushered through large security gates. “Do you think we can make it there if we run?”
Two men who had been paying far too much attention to them, downed whatever they were drinking before standing on wobbly legs. Despite their condition, they were big, obviously powerful, and looked really mean. They were men who were not to be messed with.
“I don’t think we could make it there if we had wings,” replied Kate. She desperately looked for a safe haven ... they all did! Eyes seemed to be staring at them from every dirty little doorway, as well as from the few shops, each of which was as dirty and unwelcoming as the next.
Immediately to their right was a corner store, with cardboard boxes full of crisps taped together in upright columns either side of the entrance, holes punched in their sides ready for little hands to help themselves. It was the owner, they guessed, who after staring at them, turned and went inside. They heard him bolt the door before wiping a ring of filth from the inside of his window to stare out at them. Between the corner store and the coffee shop was a locked-up unit. It looked as though it had not been opened for years, though why Kate felt this she did not know, as it was no more disgusting and rundown than anything else around here.
The coffee shop was open fronted, with a mismatch of obviously heavily used wooden chairs and small metal tables, none of which appeared to sit level. It most certainly was minimalist, as there appeared to be nowhere to wash the used glasses and possibly no toilet. There was nothing more than a large water heater, from which an electric cable ran up to the flat above, where washing had only just been hung out and dripped on anyone below. A customer got up, lifted his galabeya, relieving himself where he stood. “Definitely no toilet,” Kate said to herself.
Looking to her left, she saw mainly homes. There appeared to be a few small shops further along, though she could not see clearly from her angle of view.
The two men stepped away from the coffee shop, blocking their way. Both had menace in their eyes, and both appeared to have traded braincells for brawn. Each had a hand in their galabeya pocket. They appeared to be holding on to weapons of some kind, as it was clear that their hands were clenched.
“I think we need to get out of here.” Alex spoke with a tremble in his voice.
“I too young to die,” said Cairo as he spun around
looking for somewhere to run to. “We trapped!”
“You boys are both masters of understatement.”
Alex looked behind them. “Cairo is right, we are trapped.” Kate turned around to see that they were indeed. With a continuous row of buildings to each side and two vile and villainous creatures in front of them, they now had two equally as large, and equally as frightening, men behind. The dirt road was wide, which could be to their advantage. There were also many metres between the men in front of them and the men behind, though that distance was slowly closing.
“They look flipping angry to me, but they are also unsteady on their feet,” said Kate of the men in front of them, as the three young adventurers stood back to back to form a circle of eyes.
“There are only two of them and three of us. If we split up, we can each run for the safety of the tour boat compound. It would be a physical impossibility for them to get hold of us all if two of us run wide and one down the centre. Whoever gets through can get help.”
They had just agreed to Alex’s course of action when a further two men stepped out onto the unmade road, half way between the men in front of them and the tour boat compound. There was no way they were going to be able to get through.
“What now?” asked Kate as she thumped Alex out of frustration.
He did not know ‘what now’, none of them did.
Just then an old woman, dressed head to toe in black, came scurrying out from the house opposite the coffee shop. She was barefooted and held a large broom in her hands. It all happened rather quickly and in Arabic. She gave the Egyptians so many blows with her broom, and they were real whacks, as she ran around shouting and screaming. She then turned to the three adventurers, shouting ‘Yalla’ several times, whilst making sweeping movements with her broom towards her house.
“It means ‘let’s go’,” said Cairo, though Kate and Alex did not need to be told as the old lady’s gestures were clear enough.
They all attempted to dive through her little doorway at once, which resulted in more than a little pushing and shoving. As it turned out they were not in her house at all. They were in a dark corridor, though there was a door at the far end which was half open, with light beyond.
The old lady talked away in Arabic as she ushered them along.
“She says we safe now.” Upon hearing Cairo’s words, they relaxed, though they continued to move forward at a pace.
Kate, upon reaching the door first, pushed it wide open. It was a living room, but a living room lit by flaming torches. Alarm bells went off in her head, though too late for her to do anything about it. Strong arms grabbed hold before she was lifted from the ground, as her legs kicked frantically.
Alex was horrified. He shot both arms out, jamming his hands either side of the doorframe. He stopped dead in his tracks. Cairo slammed into the back of him. Turning, he saw the old lady approaching fast, broom ready for action. Picking Cairo up by the collar of his galabeya and possibly his underpants, by the whimper, “Time to fly,” he said as he threw him into the room with all of his might. The old lady’s broom caught Alex fair and square between his shoulder blades. He hit the ground hard.
Cairo landed with a forward roll, ending up at the far side of the room. Two soldiers, two ancient soldiers went over to grab hold of him, but he was having none of it. He scurried between the legs of both soldiers, and though one managed to get hold of his galabeya, a tearing sound was heard, so all the soldier was left with was a long piece of material.
“Get higher,” shouted Alex, “get above ancient ground.” Then Alex’s vision blurred, the wound above his eye having reopened. “Not now,” he said to himself, “not now, I need to be able to see!” He scurried into the room on all fours. The moment he thought he was somewhere near the far wall and the stairs, he rolled, made a very quick wipe of his eyes, then shot up them, still on all fours, as fast as he could.
“They have her,” he heard Cairo say as he again tried to clear his vision. In the end he took his T-shirt off before slipping the neck of it over his forehead, letting the body of the shirt drape down his back. At least he could now see, thanks to his improvised bandage. He looked down onto a group of what he thought were most likely to be Merenptah’s soldiers. Full ancient Egyptian battle costumes, mostly in red, rather like an overly long T-shirt, their legs were bare. Turquoise and gold had been worked into their leather belts and also the straps which crossed their chests, into which were slipped small, though potentially lethal, daggers. They were Merenptah’s soldiers.
Alex could not decide if they should attempt a rescue of Kate or get help. He really did not know what to do. Cairo started tugging at his arm. “We should be okay here, as they can only walk on ancient ground.” Cairo kept tugging and was now pointing. Soldiers, ancient soldiers, were climbing vertically up an invisible ladder in the far corner of the room. “Watchtower, this must be the sight of an ancient watchtower. Are we ever going to get a break?” Alex paused to think for a second before saying to Cairo, “Get up onto the roof, get away from here. Clamber across to any other building as then you will be safe. The ancient watchtower cannot be very wide, just think of Gadeem’s roof. Make them fall off. I hurt so much that I cannot hurt any more whatever I do,” and with that said, Alex threw himself off the open landing. He crashed down onto the two soldiers who were holding Kate.
“You idiot, Alex,” was his thanks as she broke free and raced up the stairs. He followed, though he was limping badly. The soldiers were on the floor barely conscious as their heads had collided upon the impact of Alex. To his dismay, Cairo sat where he had left him.
“You like super hero. Zap. Pow. It is–”
“Time we got out of here,” shouted Alex, as he saw ancient soldiers approaching. They went up one flight of stairs and then up another, arriving quickly at an unfinished top floor so they could go no higher. The walls around them had no windows, just openings where windows should have been. Upon looking out, it was clear to see that there was no other building which was close enough to get on to. In reality the roofs of the surrounding buildings were not that far away, though too far for them to be able to jump to. There was no ceiling where they stood, so it was as hot as Hades. Nobody could last long in this heat, nobody except an ancient.
“Well, so much for your flipping Henuttawy leading us into this trap. Ramses was right to expel her from–”
“Shut up,” said Alex with both anger and confusion in his voice.
“I most certainly will not shut up, and you should not speak to me like that,” shouted Kate as she went to hit him.
Alex blocked the move, which came as much a surprise to him as to Kate. As he did, he started shouting Henuttawy’s name over and over again. He prompted Kate and Cairo to do the same. Cairo, yet again, immediately understood what Alex was doing, though Kate just said, “I most certainly will not!”
“If you want to live, Kate, you will,” was all Alex said between sentences like, “Nice to see you, Henuttawy,” “We must hide you from Ramses, Henuttawy.” Kate thought he had gone mad, but Cairo was uttering similar sentences. It was as if they were talking to an invisible person. She was so confused that she became Kate of old and lost it. She shouted, she ranted, she lashed out.
Upon hearing a clash of ancient soldiers beneath them, the noise of which was well above any they were making, they went silent. There was a battle taking place. It was, however, a battle which did not last long.
Kate, Alex and Cairo did not know where to look. They could hear approaching feet, though had no idea where the entrance to the top of the ancient watchtower had been. The approaching footsteps stopped, they were surrounded by silence. Nerves kicked in, Kate started to cry uncontrollably, Cairo rechecked every window aperture to see if there was any way to reach another building, whilst Alex did his best to keep standing, as he became aware of the pain he was in.
A single pair of feet could now be made out, or perhaps it was two pairs of feet. Kate stopped crying, though she cont
inued to sniffle, Cairo came back to the centre of the unfinished room, whilst adrenaline allowed Alex to forgot his pain.
“Very well worked out,” said Ramses as he appeared through the floor in the far corner. He was holding an empty glass of red wine. His Thoth stepped up and filled it for him. “I propose a toast to you, young Alex. You really are a thinker, though of course when you are all together you make a great team.”
Chairs arrived, the three young adventurers sat down. Courtiers held Ostrich feather sun screens over them whilst other courtiers fanned them. Ramses sat where the ancient seating must have been, though to them it looked as though he was sitting on nothing more than air.
Kate could not help herself. In her anger, she blurted out, “It was Henuttawy who led us into this trap. You need to find her. She needs to be severely dealt with.”
“My, my, you are a little firebrand, aren’t you!” Kate went to speak again, or perhaps shout would be a better description. Ramses held up a calming hand. “As you know I cannot show my real feelings about Henuttawy until the warlock is taken care of.” He looked extremely sad, as if he was fighting back a tear or two. Alex wondered if his glass of red wine was going to hit the wall again. It did not. “I have been talking with Gadeem. Together, we have come up with a plan to make this situation right, or as right as it can be, just as soon as the warlock is taken care of. You have found one of the ingredients already. Surely this must make you feel as though you can locate the rest. I for one feel more confident now that the three of you are on the case.” Ramses looked directly at Kate as he said, “I can assure you that Henuttawy is not your enemy, though I did not realise you had seen her. How is she?”
“Very well. A flipping lot better than we are,” said Kate, as she failed so totally to contain the anger in her voice.
Luxor Lost and Found Page 11
