by Jo Franklin
“Stop that tramp!” someone yelled. “He’s been hiding on our boat and stealing our fish!”
No one stopped her. She may have looked like a down-and-out but she had the grace and speed of a gazelle. Soon they were all far behind her and she’d reached the narrow backstreets.
She found a big urn of water outside a house. Not caring who it belonged to or what it was doing there, she cupped her hands together and drank thirstily. When she was satisfied, she wandered on. She was ravenously hungry. If she didn’t eat soon she felt she’d die. There were many buildings along the street with kitchens opening out onto the road. She carefully looked into each one of them. There had to be food left out on a table, food left over from a meal, something. She would even steal animal food if she had to. Almost the very last house she looked into rewarded her; she saw a piece of half-eaten bread which had fallen onto the floor. She checked to see if anyone was about, quickly went in, deftly picked it up, and concealed it under her clothes.
When she was far enough away she could wait no longer, and she ate it with gusto, ignoring the teeth marks of the person who had gone before.
She sat down on a wall. She was no longer so hungry or thirsty, but she felt low. She had stolen for the first time in her life. She was incredibly dirty. She smelt of fish and dung. Her hair must be matted with dirt beneath the filthy rags she’d wound round it. Her face was covered in mud. She had nowhere to go and no friends. Ptah, her only family, had chased and terrorised her and would kill her on sight. Her head sunk to her chest. She was lonely, unloved, and defenceless, with no hope for the future.
And yet something was about to happen to her which would change her life forever.
Chapter 4
Aline breathed deeply. She was soundly asleep. Something kept her securely tied down at the bottom of a deep, dark well. Her eyelids fluttered open, then closed again. She didn’t want to wake. She wanted to stay where she was. Then she noticed an odd smell. It was an aroma of fish, dirt, and an unpleasant unwashed stink which made her feel sick. She could hear the noise of animals and people not far from her. She couldn’t understand what anyone was saying. Suddenly she was frightened. Something was wrong. She was in limbo.
“Aline!”
Someone was calling, a woman’s voice. But was that her name? She thought it was… or was it something else?
“Tadinanefer!” This time it was a man’s voice, deep and commanding, but gentle. At first it was loud, as if in her ear, and then as he spoke again he had already started to fade into the distance. “Stay with me!” she cried.
She shifted, moving her stiff body. She started to come to. Who had been here? Nephthys! Of course. She’d drugged her, she remembered. She’d also tied her symbols round her neck, helping her to view the past.
Something dug hard into a finger on her left hand and as she looked the ring sent a gleam of sharp light into her eyes. Then something slipped from her neck and the necklace dropped so slowly, down and down. It finally reached the floor and broke into a million pieces, destroying all the symbols and turning them into dust. Aline began to realise the power of the ring. It could take her back.
The dream or whatever it was began to fade. Where had she been and why had she been brought back?
Slowly she picked up her shawl and put it round her shoulders. Did it have special powers too? That woman who told her to kneel in the dream seemed to imply it.
“Aline, where are you?”
The door opened and Gerald burst in, her face clouded with concern, her strange ears bright red and shining like beacons.
“Oh, there you are! Thank God. They’re about to close the temple for the night.” She sat down next to Aline on the stone seat, and took her hand.
“You’re so cold. What are you doing here?”
“I… fell asleep.” The words came out in a slow, sluggish way.
“We were so worried. We saw you go off, and expected you to come back, and when you didn’t everyone wanted to organise a search party. But that would have been crazy as it was getting dark, so the main party went back to the boat and Achmed and I set off to find you. You could have had an accident or something. Oh, I’m so glad I found you.”
“I’m sorry,” Aline murmured, “I didn’t mean to worry anyone. I’m fine now, honestly.”
Gerald stood up and helped her to her feet.
“Let’s go and find Achmed, then,” she said gently. “He’ll be so relieved.”
As they wandered out amongst the ruins Aline could see just how dark the sky had become. Most of the tourists had left and only a few people wandered about. Achmed spotted them almost immediately.
He raced over.
“What happened?”
“I’m so sorry, Achmed. I must have fallen asleep.”
He looked at her curiously. He didn’t say another word but she noted the searching questions in his eyes.
As they walked back slowly towards the boat Aline was protected on one side by Gerald and on the other by Achmed. She felt nothing could touch her with them next to her.
The others were still waiting on the top deck to make sure she’d returned safely. Achmed gave explanations and took her back to her cabin.
“Will you be all right now, Aline?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“What really happened?”
“I was tired. I sat down and fell asleep.”
“I don’t think so. You were taken back in time, weren’t you? Something is happening to you. Do you remember anything?”
“Nothing.”
“Who made you go back?”
“No one. I allowed it.”
“It’s dangerous, Aline. Dangerous.”
“I have to do it. I have to find someone.”
“Someone?”
“Yes.”
“No one is that important. Forget it. You could get stuck there.”
“I have to risk it.”
“You risk death, Aline. The past is dead. It is a mirror image.”
“I know.”
“You are willing to sacrifice yourself if necessary to find someone. Who, Aline, who?”
“I don’t know. A man. I have to find out.”
“Whoever it is has been dead for a long, long time. Your joy will last only minutes, maybe seconds, and then you will die. You have a life here. You must stay in the present.”
She knew he spoke a lot of sense.
“Who are you, Achmed?”
“I’m just an Egyptologist, nothing more, Aline. Promise me, you won’t go back again.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t.”
*
Aline bumped into Nephthys as she was going to breakfast the next morning. The latter looked dressed for the pool, with a black see-through robe over a black swimsuit.
“You do look well after your little sleep,” Nephthys murmured quietly. “You should dream more in these disused old buildings. I can always help you on your way.”
“I’m sure you can. What are you up to?”
“Me? Nothing. Oh don’t say that after all the trouble I took, you can’t remember anything that happened. Never mind. Next time.”
She stroked Aline’s face with a long fingernail and then gently ran it down to her neck. “Maybe something will happen to jolt your memory.”
She smiled. “Do come and have a swim, Aline. The water will revive you.”
She didn’t wait for an answer but was gone in a flurry of silk and perfume.
*
“Here she is!” Gerald gave her a big smile.
The entire group looked up from eating and there was a chorus of different greetings.
“Hello,” said Peter, jovially. “It’s the writer. Now what’s this story I hear about you going to sleep in the temple. Bit of a strange tale if you ask me. Do tell us what really happened, young Aline?”
“Ah now, Peter,” Aline replied, matching his mood. “What sort of story would you like to hear? Do you think I had a liaison with someone? Do you thi
nk I went for a walk in the moonlight, or maybe a ride on a camel?”
Peter laughed uproariously. “There you are, you see. You’re losing interest in the cold, calculating facts about Egypt. You’re becoming more and more of a romantic. I predict,” he waved his toast at her, “that by the end of this holiday you’ll have found a tall, rather dark and very handsome fellow to write about. There’ll be no more accounts of how many thousands of years ago so-and-so lived, or what this temple meant, and how many people lived in a certain spot. No! There’ll be a passionate and romantic novel, written in true Aline style, which will become a bestseller, and the travel magazine with all its facts will become a thing of the past.”
“Shut up, Peter,” Mary said, chiding him but grinning at the same time.
“I can’t shut up,” Peter said. “We should write together, Aline. We could make lots of money.”
“You’ve got lots of money,” Mary reminded him.
“I’ll give it all away and make my own.”
“Pass it down our way,” laughed Jan. “We can have a share-out over breakfast.”
“People, people!” Achmed shouted above all the noise. “Can I have your attention for a moment? When the boat docks in a few minutes in the small town of Kom Ombo, we are first going to take a special excursion into the hills where some burial places have recently been excavated. If you can be on deck very soon we’ll group together and I will take you. We must stay together,” he said, looking directly at Aline. Then, to all of them, “It isn’t too far to walk but you must bring water and all the usual things.”
*
As they waited to set off, Aline noted that Nephthys wasn’t with them. Once again she felt relieved. Maybe she didn’t know about the impromptu trip or had decided she was more interested in lazing about.
“Hey, Aline, can you wait for me a moment?” Jan called. “I think I need some stouter shoes than the sandals I’m wearing. I won’t be a moment – they’re just inside my cabin.”
The others started to set off. Aline waited patiently, watching people pass her.
Suddenly she gasped. Completely on his own, and hurrying away from her, was the Egyptian. Even though she couldn’t see his face she knew by the proud way he held his head and his muscular and desirable body that it was him! She was quite certain he was the same person she had seen before at the hotel and on the cruise ship. She started after him – but then realised Jan wouldn’t know where she’d gone. Feeling really frustrated, she knew she had to stay where she was.
Long minutes passed before Jan reappeared, and Aline could no longer see the Egyptian anywhere, and knew it would be difficult to find him.
“Oh, that’s better,” Jan said, breathless from her efforts.
She took Aline’s arm as they set off up the dusty trail, just a little way behind the others. “You know, that chap in the market said he thought you were my daughter, flattering young puppy, but I tell you, you do remind me of one of my granddaughters. She’s about your age.”
“That’s nice. Does she work?”
“Oh yes, she’s a dancer. Not lap dancing,” she said, and giggled. “No, she backs pop music videos and stuff. Do you know, I used to be a model in my younger days? Did I tell you that?”
“I’m not sure, but you have the grace of a model and you have such good dress sense.”
“Some people think I dress a bit young for my age, all my pink things and jewellery, but that’s me.” Suddenly she stumbled. “Oh, it does seem to be a long way to walk,” she murmured. “Tell you what, Aline, I think I might go back and sit by the pool. The others are only just in front. You can easily catch them up. Do you mind?”
“Of course not. I’ll walk back with you.”
Jan protested but Aline ignored her. They soon retraced their steps, and then Aline quickly hurried after the group.
Even though it was early morning it was hot. She covered her head and her arms with her shawl. She could see the others. Gerald and Cheng were talking happily, right at the back of the party. Peter sauntered along, looking very dashing in his white suit and panama hat. The others seemed to blend in with each other, chatting and laughing. She couldn’t see Achmed who must be at the front leading them.
She became slower. Her legs felt strange and light and didn’t seem real. She suddenly knew she’d been there before. She could hear the wind and yet there wasn’t any. She could also hear something else. It was the sound of children’s voices. They became louder and louder. Girls’ voices, boys’ voices. There was a lot of merriment. She was suddenly twirled round as if she was playing with them. There was more laughter and Aline laughed. Whatever was happening, it was light-hearted and fun. She felt very young, a child herself with them, and very happy. She felt loved and cared for. Then her shawl fell from her head and the game was stopped. Gentle grown-up hands replaced the shawl. Someone whispered to her in a strange language, which she somehow could understand. “You must always cover yourself. You are different. No one from the outside must know you are a different colour to the other children. You must always obey me. I must keep you safe.” Then a kiss brushed her head, and they were suddenly all gone. Aline walked further, her feet not touching anything. She was weightless.
*
“Hurry up, Aline!”
Gerald was calling to her from a distance.
The spell was broken. Her senses returned.
“Aline, where’s Jan?”
“Oh, she decided to go back. She felt it might all be too much for her.”
“That’s a shame. Achmed has been telling us all about the tombs we’re about to see. They’re only very small, a bit like houses, and have only recently been unearthed. Most of them are not in a very good state. But there’s one which has been beautifully preserved, I believe. It was buried far deeper than the others, probably much older, and no one had robbed it or lived in it, which frequently happened in those days. Apparently someone would find a tomb, would think it suitable as a house; they’d turf out the coffin and live in it! No wastage there!”
Aline smiled. “I’m not sure I’d have wanted to live in a tomb.”
“Well, free housing!”
Achmed was waiting patiently at the entrance.
“It is very small,” he announced. “So only six of us will go in at one time. Aline, we will go first, with Gerald, Cheng, Peter and Mary. And then I will take the next six, and so on. You can all wait at the cafe just over there, and I will collect you when we have finished. The tour will be very quick as there are only three rooms for you to see, so you won’t be kept waiting for long. Come along,” he said to the first party. “Be careful how you go. This way.”
Aline shivered. She could feel the coldness of the air in the house even before reaching the door. She pulled her shawl closely around her, almost obscuring her body. The others had become more subdued, and walked slowly towards the entrance, which was quite narrow and barely wide enough for two people to walk through together.
Achmed led them into the first of the rooms, which was lit with ceiling lighting.
“This is the tomb chapel outer room,” he announced. “You will notice that here, and in the inner tomb chapel, are lots of paintings of how the family lived. This tomb is dedicated to a very wealthy farmer, and you will note the party scene on one wall, with friends and family and many servant girls to dance and give food to the guests. Here on this wall,” he indicated another scene with his rod, “is the farmer inspecting his fields.”
Aline stared at the party scene. Something stirred in her memory. She could hear the music of the pipes, marvel at the near-naked dancing girls as they contorted their bodies to the strange music. As she looked at all the black wigs and glittering jewellery of the wealthy, it was as if the women leapt off the wall at her and pulled her into the painting.
“What do you make of them?” Peter nudged her. “Which would you rather be – one of the rich women, a prisoner of convention, or a slave girl enjoying herself?”
“Ne
ither, I think.”
He grunted.
“This way.” Achmed led them to the inner room. “Here you will note there is a small alcove where the two statues of the entombed husband and wife would have stood; it is a little bit dark to see. Offerings would have been left for them, like food and drink, so they didn’t go hungry or thirsty. Note also the paintings, once again depicting the life of the farmer, and showing how he enjoyed fishing and hoped to do more in his afterlife. We will now go down to the burial chamber itself. The steps are quite steep but there are handrails and it is very well lit. Just hold on carefully.”
Aline followed Achmed. Her hand trembled as she held the rail, and she walked slower than usual down the steps. When she got to the bottom she felt breathless and suddenly frightened. The walls seemed to close in on her.
“There isn’t a tomb?” Cheng asked.
“No. Nothing very much was found in here,” Achmed answered.
Aline could just make out the shadow of something. “A chair, perhaps,” she murmured.
“Yes, there was a chair. And there were two statues in the alcove, and a decorated box. They have been removed to the local museum. We will now return to the top rooms and when you are ready we will let the next people in.”
Aline was glad to leave the tomb chamber. In the outer room she lingered, looking at the paintings and the hieroglyphics. Slowly she traced her finger very delicately across the symbol of a bird, and then onward to the farmer. From the deep recesses of her mind strange feelings emerged. ‘I could write,’ she thought. ‘I could write about you and the family if only you’d let me. But you won’t because I am only a girl.’ A deep sadness engulfed her, and when she left the house she didn’t join the others immediately but sat for a while, trying to brush off the darkness she felt.
*
She wasn’t alone for long however. Peter ambled up and sat down heavily next to her.
“What’s this?” he said in a kindly way. “Not our writer, looking deep and melancholy? Are all these tombs getting you down, Aline? You should be out there swimming and enjoying yourself.”
