Luxor Lost and Found

by Graham Warren

  Chapter 17

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  Tensions Mount

  “Yes, Gadeem, really,” said an overly excited Kate.

  “You are telling me that this really is Pure Red Cinnamon?”

  “Yes!”

  “Honestly?”

  “Yes!”

  Gadeem, hands shaking from anticipation, carefully placed the little package on the table in front of him. He gingerly removed the red cord which allowed the square of linen to fall, revealing its contents. He could not contain his excitement. “Well, it certainly is the right colour.” He leaned forward, putting his nose up close, his nostrils flared as he took in the aroma. A smile, more of a beam, came over his face. “It most certainly smells as it should. I have searched so long for this, so many years for this, and you found it here in Luxor. Really amazing, very, very well done the three of you, absolutely excellent work.”

  Alex watched as Kate’s face went from pride to anger and back again. He was angry with her, he was disappointed by her, but he was also sorry for her. He could see she wanted the glory all for herself, yet at the same time she was proud to be part of the team. Kate, after an all too brief period of calm, was in serious danger of spiralling out of control yet again. Rose must have been watching both his and Kate’s faces because she whispered in his ear, “Don’t worry, I will have a chat with her later,” and he did not worry. He knew Rose would deal with Kate sensitively. If anyone could get to the bottom of her problems, it would be Rose. Anyway, he had a much bigger worry in his mind, though not one he was willing to discuss in front of Kate.

  Kate was being very loud and somewhat obnoxious as she did her best to impress Ramses, Nakhtifi and Gadeem with the story of how she, not they, talked the very old gentleman into letting them have a small quantity of Pure Red Cinnamon. Gadeem did not appear to be listening as he carefully lifted the corners of the linen, before retying the red cord, in order to secure its most precious contents.

  “Rose,” Alex said quietly, almost inaudibly, as he looked directly at her, having turned his back towards Kate.

  She watched as he put a hand up to his chest, surreptitiously motioning for her to move the edge of the villa roof, where they could not be overheard. “What is it, Alex? What’s wrong?”

  “I need to speak to Gadeem and I need to speak to him alone.”

  “He will be here all day tomorrow as I will be out on the West Bank with Bast.”

  “Tomorrow will be too late!”

  “Are you sure?”

  “After all that has happened lately, I really am not sure of anything anymore.” Alex turned to lean on the low wall as he looked towards the Theban Hills. “He is over there, the one person who is responsible for destroying so many lives, the person who may be responsible for taking our lives. If we are to defeat him, we must be sure of every single ingredient.” Alex turned, gestured towards the little package of cinnamon on the table, “And of that I am really unsure.”

  “What!” exclaimed Rose. “How come, why?”

  “I might be wrong, but several things this morning concerned me. I do not think I am wrong, perhaps I am. Oh, I don’t know.”

  “What do Kate and Cairo think?”

  “Well, as you can see, Kate is on cloud nine, but I know Cairo has his doubts. We have not been able to speak about it yet, but I could see he was not happy.”

  “I do not wish to be difficult, but not being happy is quite different to thinking there is something wrong.”

  “Sorry, poor choice of words. Cairo has been unhappy with Kate all day, we both have, but there was something more, something I saw in his face as events unfolded. I don’t want to speak for him, but I am certain, absolutely positive, he has his doubts about the cinnamon.”

  “I imagine that Kate’s anger is making it very difficult for you to work as a team?”

  Alex did not want to say anything directly about Kate, though he gave a shallow nod as he turned to stare back out at the Theban Hills.

  “Look, Alex, if Kate is not allowing either you or Cairo to voice your doubts, it puts us all in danger. We must be able to talk, to discuss. Just look at Kate now, do you really think Ramses or Nakhtifi are impressed with her showboating? I know Gadeem isn’t.”

  “Showboating?”

  “Her pretentiousness, her overacting.”

  “No, I do not expect they are for one moment.”

  Catching Bast’s eye, Rose gestured for her to come over and join them. Before she could move, she had to lift Cairo’s sleeping head from her lap, placing a cushion underneath it. He did not stir.

  “So, what are you two plotting?”

  “We have a problem, Bast,” said Rose in hushed, though concerned tones.

  “How much of a problem?”

  “I’m not sure, but we need to clear the roof of Ramses, Nakhtifi and Kate.”

  “Kate?”

  “Yes, Bast, Kate.”

  “What about Cairo?”

  “I think it best if he stays.” Alex nodded as Rose continued. “Something was not right this morning; the boys noticed and they need to discuss this with Gadeem.”

  “Do you think it is time for Cleopatra?”

  “Normally I would say yes, but I just love the look on Ramses’ face when you say Hatshepsut.”

  “Hatshepsut it is.” Alex looked confused as Bast walked over to Ramses, where she apologised for interrupting Kate.

  “Explain in a minute,” said Rose, “for now let’s just enjoy watching Ramses’ face.”

  Alex did enjoy. Upon hearing Bast tell him that Hatshepsut had just arrived, Ramses’ eyes widened, the colour drained from his face, and his smile was replaced with a look of shock. Panic quickly followed. He downed his red wine in a single gulp, then left the roof. Nakhtifi was only a pace behind.

  “Easy, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, but what about Kate?”

  “Bast and I will take her downstairs, where we will ask her to tell us all about this morning. The things we suffer for you!” A half smile came to her lips.

  “Thanks, Rose, though I was wondering what this was about Cleopatra?”

  “Code word. If any of us say ‘Cleopatra is about to arrive’ it means we need to leave quickly, but without drawing attention to the fact we are leaving quickly.”

  “So, is Hatshepsut a code word?”

  “Oh no, that’s just me having fun. We all know Ramses cannot bear it when she is around. That male pharaoh beard she has stuck to her chin, along with her deep voice, really get to him. Thankfully, she can only come up as high as the lower level, what is now our washroom roof, because the ancient tower was not as high as this in her time. She does, however, make her presence known, as she shouts up from there.”

  Gadeem picked up the little linen parcel, slipping it in his pocket as he went to leave. Rose moved over, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him seated. She squeezed rather too hard as he winced.

  “Sorry, dear, but Bast and I have not heard of Kate’s adventures, so you stay here and entertain the boys, whilst we girls go downstairs. Would you like to tell us all about this morning, Kate, whilst I bake some scones?”

  Kate nodded, as Cairo woke at the mention of food.

  “Unless I am very much mistaken, and I do not think that I am, I gather you need to speak to me,” said Gadeem after the ladies had left.

  Having appeared so excited at the sight of the small package, Alex was unsure how to tell Gadeem of his doubts. To his surprise, whilst he was prevaricating, Cairo was direct. “Something wrong with this morning,” was all he said, but both Alex and Gadeem could see he was maturing quickly.

  “Okay,” said Gadeem, extending it to sound like two separate words, as he gestured for them both to be more forthcoming.

  “Do tell Gadeem what your worries are, Cairo.”

  “We should be dead. We look at Kate anger rather than our safety. I not trust the old man. That no good cinnamon.” Cairo’s nerves got the better of his English.

  �
��I think it is time for you to put some meat on the bones which Cairo just fed me.”

  “But I didn’t feed him any bones,” said Cairo, who looked really confused.

  “It’s a saying, Cairo, nothing more than that.” Alex sat down on the opposite side of the table to Gadeem, he gestured for Cairo to come and sit to his right. “You are quite correct,” he said as he looked towards Cairo, before turning to look directly at Gadeem. “He is, you know. We should all be dead, and we would have been if the warlock had wanted it so.”

  Gadeem looked incredulously at Alex.

  “He had a plan today and we were part of that plan, so he could not kill us. I think it is because he wants more than just us, he wants to harm you.”

  “I need a little more meat on that bone as well. Start at the beginning, Alex, and take your time.”

  Alex told Gadeem how the day had started, whilst Cairo added in anything he missed out. Rose popped up onto the roof, bringing them drinks along with a plate of sandwiches for Cairo. They were actually for all of them to share, but it was an easy mistake for Cairo to make, and neither Alex nor Gadeem were complaining.

  “We stood on the pavement like idiots, where we paid much more attention to Kate’s attitude than to what was going on around us.”

  “We did,” said Cairo through a mouthful of sandwich. He looked like a cement mixer in action.

  “There were noises all around us, yet for some reason, despite hearing screeching of brakes along Television Street all morning, this one made me turn around.” Alex went on to explain about the crashing motorcycle, the water, the car and the electricity pole, until he reached the part where he knew magic was being used. “The thing is, Gadeem, I am all too aware that the warlock can only use his magic against us when he can be told where we are and what we are doing.”

  “Yes, he has to have a mental picture in his mind to be able to control the magic. By the way, the reason you turned around is because this was magic being used. Sometimes, and none of us know why, we are drawn to see or hear magic. You did not turn for any other reason than you were drawn to it.”

  “Oh, great, now I can see magic.”

  “It is not a bad thing, Alex. Once you get to know the feeling it can be very useful. It may only give you a split-second advantage, but that may well be the difference between life and death. Now do carry on with what you were telling me.”

  Alex continued from where he had left off, finishing with their arrival at the villa.

  “So, Henuttawy helped you to find this very old man who gave Kate the cinnamon we need. I really cannot see anything wrong in that.” Gadeem did not worry about using her name any more than he minded using warlock, but he did mind about the very old gentleman, not that Gadeem would ever call him a gentleman. This was not someone, not a family he could ever have approached in his search for Pure Red Cinnamon.

  Alex was certain that Gadeem now had his doubts. The way he had said “I really cannot see anything wrong in that” told him the exact opposite. Gadeem was wise enough to wait and listen before forming a conclusion that he would be willing to share. “Well, if it was magic which made the motorcycle swerve into the bath of water, why not make it swerve into us? He could have made a car swerve into us as we were easy targets. The electric cables should have killed at least one of us, if not all of us.”

  Cairo choked on his last sandwich, showering pieces all over the table.

  “Forget about clearing it up, Alex, do carry on.”

  “Everybody was running, even us. Shop owners, and shoppers alike, but not them, not either of them in the spice shop ran. One of them must have been telling the warlock where we were. Feeding him the information he needed for his magic to go where he wanted it to.”

  “I can see your thinking. It would be a logical assumption, but someone else, someone you did not see, could have been giving the warlock the information he needed.”

  “Who else? The whole of the far side of Television Street was up in flames, and our side was deserted. Everyone had run away. It really was like a war zone with explosions and everything. It was almost immediately after we were inside the spice shop that I first had serious doubts about the very old man. The younger man was zapped by electric as he closed the metal shutter, rendering him unable to speak. Was it a fluke accident or was it intentional, in order for him not to be able to speak to us? Personally, I think it was intentional.”

  “Me too,” said Cairo.

  “Yes, but didn’t the old man admit to being a relative of the warlock and not liking him?” asked Gadeem.

  “No, he didn’t. He was clever enough not to deny it, but he never gave us that information willingly.”

  “That is interesting,” said Gadeem as he looked at the little pack of cinnamon which he had removed from his pocket.

  “I think you will find this even more interesting.” Alex placed an identical little package on the table. Identical that was, except that this little package had blue instead of a red cord around the top. I found this in my pocket on the way here. I think the younger man must have put it in there.”

  “And, let me get this straight, you think that your pack is genuine Pure Red Cinnamon, whereas Kate’s is not?”

  “No,” said Cairo firmly. “All we know, Kate’s cinnamon not right.”

  There was silence for a short while before Alex asked Gadeem what would happen if any of the items, when mixed into a potion, were not right.

  Gadeem rather waffled an answer which implied he had no idea. Either nothing would happen or lots could happen. He was far from reassuring, but then he had an idea. “I do know of a simple spell which uses Pure Red Cinnamon. If we try it and it works as expected, we can be reassured that it is what it purports to be.”

  Gadeem left the roof in a hurry. He returned almost as quickly, placing a granite mortar and pestle on the table which already had various little things in it. Not much of anything, but Alex could make out at least six different ingredients, though what they were was anybody’s guess. Gadeem very carefully added a pinch of Kate’s Pure Red Cinnamon to the mix, then started to grind it into one unified powder. Cairo went to get up so that he could go and hide, though stayed sitting after Gadeem had assured him that nothing would happen until he said the words necessary for the magic to work.

  “What does this spell do?” asked Alex.

  “Well, I have not been at all precise with the ingredients, but this is very forgiving magic. It is magic which used to be loved by schoolchildren. Can you imagine placing this powder on the floor where your teacher usually stands, and when he or she is close enough, saying the magic words? If mixed accurately, everything, and I do mean everything, within a two-metre radius turns red.”

  Cairo clapped his hands with excitement at the thought of his old teacher turning red.

  “It is quite harmless, the effects only last a few minutes. This particular mix could affect an area of one to three metres, no more than that, because, as I said, I have not been precise with the ingredients. At least we will know if we have Pure Red Cinnamon or not.”

  “What will happen if it is not?”

  “As you can probably guess, the cinnamon is what gives the spell its colour. If it is not Pure Red Cinnamon we may get another colour or no colour at all, but at least it will remove the uncertainty.” Gadeem poured the powder on the floor, where, if it worked, it would turn part of the overhead canopy and a section of seating red. He stepped back, pointed his hand at the powder, then started to mumble something which was totally unintelligible to both Alex and Cairo. Nothing happened. “This is quite normal,” said Gadeem in order to reassure the worried faces of the boys, “it often takes a few seconds before magic works.”

  There was an explosion, part of the fixed seating flew up into the air taking with it a large part of the canopy. “That was not quite normal,” said Gadeem, “not normal at all.” They looked on in disbelief as it shot up into the sky well above them. In equal disbelief, they watched as it returned,
disappearing out of sight, just half a second before hearing it splash into the Nile. As the dust settled, and still with ringing in their ears, they peered down through a hole in the flat roof to see an almost perfect circle of roof, the size of a car tyre, now sitting on the kitchen worktop. It was surrounded by three very shocked and very white ladies, as they were each covered in flour.

  “The scones are cancelled,” said Rose.

  Slightly shocked, though undaunted, Gadeem made the same mixture again, though this time he used the cinnamon which Alex had given him. He asked Alex to go and place the powder in a nearby field, at the bottom of a date palm. Alex was happy to do so. The spell worked as it should, and for a couple of minutes they stared at a vibrant red date palm.

  “I really never thought you would find one ingredient, yet you have found two and in record time.” Gadeem had no time to enjoy the moment as he had to face the newly showered and changed ladies, who did at least turn up on the roof with tea, scones and Himbeermarmelade. “The Pure Red Cinnamon is genuine,” he said, as he considered being upbeat, as well as economic with the truth, to be far better than the whole truth.

  “Well, Bast,” said Rose, “he has three other ingredients to test, just as long as they can be found. I do hope we will still have some home left after he has finished all his testing!”

  “Oh, you will, Rose, though where the pieces will be is anyone’s guess.”

  Rose playfully threw a scone at Gadeem. Cairo begged for one to be thrown at him.

  Chapter 18

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  Serapeum or Bucheum

  “We have located Dried Bullsblood and Pure Red Cinnamon which Gadeem thought would be impossible. Now we only have to find a ring from the nose of the Apis bull, freely given, the six sacred scuta from a single Nile crocodile and ten grains of sand of the Sun, then all this is behind us. The warlock will be history.”

  “And just how are we going to find them, Alex?” asked Kate with extreme attitude.

  “Her attitude confirms that Rose has not had a word with her yet. Either that, or, just as with Ramses’, her words fell on fallow ground.”