Gold of the Ancients

by Graham Warren

  Alex thanked the owner, said that the book was exactly what he was looking for, and left.

  Alex was already well down the road by the time the bookseller said, “No … thank you, Mr Alex, because I could retire on what this is worth!”

  Chapter 13

  -

  Back in the Bar

  “So, let me get this straight.” Emmy paused as she quickly thought through all Alex had just said. Cairo thought he understood, and Bast, who had joined them in the bar, certainly understood. “You believe that a person or persons unknown have bought up all the silver in Luxor, because in ancient times silver was worth more than gold.” Alex nodded. “You also believe that these same people are using this silver to buy lots of ancient gold.” Alex kept nodding. “Merenptah and this what’s his name …”

  “Psusennes I,” Alex said helpfully.

  “So, you are convinced Merenptah and this Psusennes are behind all of this.” Alex kept nodding. “They are working together, though you have no idea why.”

  “For power,” Cairo said. “They only work together for power, evil power.”

  “I get that, Cairo, but why?”

  Cairo was just about to say ‘for power’ yet again when Alex cut across him. “I do not know why, but we will when we head north.”

  “Please correct me if I am wrong, but if I understand you correctly, your Merenptah and Psusennes theory has convinced you of the genuineness of the note our would-be assassin dropped. It came from the north, so, because of this, we must head to the north.”

  “No, Emmy, not just anywhere in the north, to Tanis. You have read the book, so you must be able to see that we need to go to Tanis, we must go to Tanis.”

  “Of course I have not read your book.” Emmy flicked through the edges of the pages, the hundreds of pages. Alex went to speak, but Emmy got in first. “Yes, I know what you meant. From what I have rather hastily scanned here about Psusennes, it is mind bogglingly clear that he had a love affair with silver, so perhaps you are on to something. You really do seem to be convinced, but …” Emmy came to an abrupt halt. She so wanted to support Alex and did not want to hurt his feelings, but what of her feelings? She had been much relieved, whilst at the same time somewhat annoyed, that Alex had arrived back at the hotel so full of his thoughts that her earlier comment about an engagement ring appeared to have been forgotten. Even if she herself was still embarrassed to have uttered such words and had worried about Alex’s reaction, his total lack of reaction left her feeling somewhat empty inside.

  “But what, Emmy?” Bast asked.

  Emmy recovered well. “But surely if silver was treasured above gold in Tanis, it was treasured above gold here in Luxor.”

  “No, Emmy, it doesn’t work like that. Do you know, there was a time when the people of Egypt thought that gods, such as me, had bones made from silver, flesh from gold, and hair of lapis lazuli. I am so glad they were wrong.” Alex was eager to speak, so instead of Bast explaining, she gestured for him to do so.

  “Emmy, I need you to know that even when gold was available in abundance in Nubia, silver never became important here. The pharaohs who lived in Luxor loved gold.”

  “Any you know this, how?” Emmy now showed a real sign of annoyance.

  “From Ramses and Nakhtifi and the gold which changed hands in order for Kate, Cairo and me to be attacked.” He was thinking back to previous adventures. Emmy went to speak, but unusually for Alex he talked over her and also became rather animated. “There has never been a mention of silver here, because they did not care for a metal which failed to keep its shine. Do you know, silver turns black when in contact with sulphur, and there was a lot of sulphur around in those days. Here, right here in ancient Luxor, you would only find silver being used as weights for scales. Bast, please tell Emmy that I am correct.” Bast said nothing, though she did not disagree. “Further north they craved silver and Psusennes paid for it with gold, lots and lots of gold. You have read there,” Alex leaned forward and tapped his finger on the open page, “he chose to have his sarcophagus made from silver, rather than gold. It proved his vast wealth, his status. That is how I know we must go to Tanis, because in Tanis you would only have to give an ancient a little silver and you could come away with lots of gold.” Alex was really excited.

  “Sorry, Alex, perhaps I am just being slow this evening, but I really do not get it. What I am hearing is that you have made quite a leap without anything solid to support your theory.” Emmy placed a hand on his knee in reassurance that she was not trying to be difficult.

  “Emmy?”

  “Yes, Bast?”

  “I really do think Alex may be onto something.” She turned to him and gave him an encouraging smile. “It is late, perhaps you should discuss this over breakfast, after you have all had time to think.”

  “What there to discuss, it simple. They not want Quentin to go to dig because they stealing gold. Gold going north to Tanis where criminals buy it with legal silver. Then gold no longer stolen, it bought, so they legally take it out of Egypt. We not know what Merenptah and Psusennes up to, but we know if Merenptah involved it will hurt family. It up to us to stop whatever going on. Mister Alex right, we go to Tanis.” As always, Cairo had a way of reducing a complicated conversation down to its basics, even if his reading of the situation did not stand close scrutiny.

  Emmy acquiesced, though she did have a question for Bast on a not unrelated subject. “You know Rose better than any of us. Who are her ancient family, and where has she gone?”

  “Yes, I know her very well, she is my best friend, but I cannot answer either of your questions.”

  “Cannot, or will not?” Emmy just had to ask. There was no malice in her question.

  Bast put a hand into her coat and pulled out Rose’s letter. “I received this from Rose, and if you will let me, I would like to read out the last paragraph.” She unfolded the letter and read it out loud.

  “‘Do not attempt to find me or contact me. This is something that I must do on my own. Look after Gadeem for me, but tell him nothing for the moment. If everything goes horribly wrong, please tell him that I shall still love him a thousand years from now.’

  “As I said, I have absolutely no idea where Rose is.”

  “I can see that now. Sorry for doubting you … Don’t you think you should tell Gadeem that Rose may be in danger?”

  “Oh no, I couldn’t do that. Our friendship is built on respect and trust, so I am left with no option. I cannot make any attempt to find her, contact her, or tell Gadeem, however much I want to.”

  “I know you, Bast, you’re the free spirit, you will be doing whatever you can without breaking the trust Rose has in you.”

  “Yes, Alex, you can see through me, but my hands are very much tied,” Bast emphasised the ‘are’. “One thing I do know for certain is that Rose is not in Upper Egypt, because if she was Ramses would know.”

  “Perhaps he does,” Alex suggested.

  “With all his spies around somebody would have told him,” Emmy said.

  “Perhaps they have and he not tell you,” Cairo added.

  “I was with him earlier so I can tell you all for certain that he has no idea Rose is even back in Egypt. You know what he is like if he thinks he knows something that you don’t. He would not have been able to keep news like that to himself, especially after the amount of red wine he and Gadeem had consumed.”

  Alex nodded in agreement, Emmy gave a smile of agreement, and Cairo clapped his hands as only Egyptians do.

  “You are off to Tanis then.” The young adventurers agreed that they were. “Well, perhaps whilst you are following the trail of the silver you may come across Rose, or hear something of her. If you do, please try and get a message to me. I know I do not have to ask you to help her, because I know you that will.”

  “Of course we will,” Alex said, as he looked towards Emmy and Cairo who were both now uttering similar words.

  “I really do worry for her safety. She h
as never gone off like this before. Don’t get me wrong, Rose is strong willed. She certainly has her moments, her causes, but she has never gone off without telling anybody; without letting somebody know where she has gone.”

  They were heading to Tanis, in Lower Egypt, and Rose was not in Upper Egypt, so she must be in Lower Egypt. “No coincidences,” Alex thought, “I do not believe in coincidences.”

  Bast stood, wished them well and left as if she had an urgent appointment elsewhere. Alex asked Emmy and Cairo if they would wait for his return. They agreed. He left the bar at a pace, heading in the direction of reception, the opposite direction to that of Bast.

  Mohammed, the Mohammed who was the size of a barn, was on reception tonight. “What can I do for you, Mr Alex?”

  Alex very quickly explained what he needed. He was back in the bar in no time at all. “Are you both okay with an early breakfast, after which we will leave for Tanis?” Emmy and Cairo were happy with this. “I’ve arranged for everything we will need for our trip to be loaded into the buggy … including food, Cairo!”

  Cairo was very happy to hear this. He said his goodbyes and left, though he did not head for reception, he headed in the opposite direction.

  “He is off to the lower kitchen, the ancient kitchen,” Alex said.

  This removed the somewhat confused look from Emmy’s face. “Of course. He is off to impress one of Inky’s daughters.”

  “I expect so, but if she is looking for a soldier, then, with Cairo, it’s not going to work.”

  Emmy wondered if Alex was still looking for Kate, and any relationship she had hoped to have with him would not work either. “Well, if we are off after breakfast, I must go. I need my bed.” Emmy stood as she said this and afterwards wished Alex goodnight as she left.

  Alex sat motionless. He was wondering what he should do, when a head appeared over the bar. Unbeknown to him Three had been there all the time. Now standing on his box he peered over the very high bar to give Alex an order, “Go and kiss the girl … NOW!”

  Alex moved like lightning. He entered the corridor just in time to see Emmy stepping into the lift. After trapping his arm, the doors did reopen … eventually. As the lift started to ascend he leant in and kissed ‘the girl’.

  Chapter 14

  -

  Which Way to Tanis?

  “Alex, the buggy is that way,” Emmy protested as she pointed towards the rear of the hotel with her free hand.

  “Trust me,” Alex replied as he grasped her hand even more tightly. He continued to drag her through reception at a pace. “Morning, Mohammed, and thank you,” he called out as he and Emmy flew past.

  Mohammed did reply, though Alex, Emmy and Cairo were already well outside of the hotel before his brain had assimilated what he had just seen. The three adventurers were in a real hurry.

  “I had to make sure nobody was following us,” Alex spoke through gasps for air as he and Emmy bundled onto the back seat of the waiting taxi. The doors had barely closed before it sped off.

  “Well! You could have warned me.”

  “No, Emmy, I couldn’t, that was the whole point,” he said as he pushed himself upright. “If both of you had no idea what was going on, then how could anybody else?”

  Cairo turned around, he had taken the seat beside the driver, “You clever, Mister Alex.”

  “Drop the ‘Mister’.”

  “Sorry … Alex.”

  “No sorry needed, we are all friends here.”

  Emmy squeezed Alex’s hand. After the kiss they had shared in the lift the night before she now knew for certain that she was more than a friend. Or did she? It had not been a great kiss. Far from it. Though she was inexperienced, very inexperienced in the art of kissing, she truly believed that she would know a great kiss when she experienced it. Great or not, it had fallen far short of her expectations, her dreams. The way Alex had left the lift, without so much as a goodnight, had also taken the shine off of what should have been such a special moment. Had Alex only kissed her because of her mention of an engagement ring? She really could have kicked herself, because it had been out before she had even thought about what she was going to say. Friendship ring would have been much more appropriate. It was obviously her inner feelings which had uttered forth. She had lain awake on her bed with everything rolling around in her head for quite some time, before she had eventually drifted off into a deep sleep. So deep that she had almost not made it to breakfast.

  Alex finally stopped peering out of the back window of the taxi a full ten minutes after they had departed the Winter Palace. He was content that they were not being followed. By running out of the hotel, anyone attempting to follow them only had two options. They could either run after them, in order not to lose them, though by doing so they would have revealed themselves, or, as in this case, they did not run, did not reveal themselves, but then they were unable to follow the three young adventurers. “So far, so good,” Alex thought. Not for one second did he experience the slightest doubt that there would be somebody trying to follow them. Who, he did not know. Friend of foe, he did not know. All he knew was that he did not want to be followed. He needed all his attention focused on looking forward, not behind!

  Twenty minutes of nothing conversation followed as the taxi driver took them well out into the White Desert. Mohammed at reception had, amongst other things, arranged for the taxi. It was being driven by one of the family who knew exactly where to go and whom Mohammed regarded as beyond reproach. Through an assorted selection of hand signals and facial gestures, out of sight of the driver, the three young adventurers confirmed that, regardless of what Mohammed thought, it was still unwise to say too much; hence the twenty minutes of nothing conversation.

  Upon reaching a small oasis in the middle of nowhere –tall grass surrounded an approximately five metre circle of clear water, by which there was a single large mound in the shade of four palm trees – the driver locked the wheels, causing the taxi to come to a halt amidst clouds of dust. As Alex picked himself up from the rear seat well, he really did want to know why Egyptian drivers thought that an emergency stop was the only way to bring a car to a halt, though he said nothing. In real terms it did not take long for the dust to settle so they were soon able to get out. The heat was intense and the view was amazing, in a flat boring sort of way. They were on a plateau. Coarse white sand stretched away from them in all directions for as far as the eye could see. This contrasted dramatically against a deep blue sky in which the few lines of gossamer cloud appeared ethereal.

  After some initial confusion, the large mound turned out to be their fully equipped sand buggy under a camouflage sheet.

  The taxi driver spoke for the first time. His English was perfect, almost without accent. “Mohammed told me to tell you that you have a full tank of diesel, two spare twenty-five litre cans of diesel in the back, and that he changed the engine oil for a synthetic one which works better at extreme desert temperatures. There is a spare can of water for the buggy, should you need it. It is strapped into the engine compartment. However thirsty you become, DO NOT DRINK THIS. Your drinking water is in containers on the back seat.” The driver had moved to the back of his taxi as he spoke and now opened the boot. “Mohammed also said that he packed enough food for him for three days, so it should be enough for the three of you for four days, possibly five. Eat the perishables first.”

  As they loaded the buggy with all of their supplies, and plugged the two mini-fridges into auxiliary sockets, Alex made much of heading south, to Nubia. At one point he even got a map out and fiddled with his compass in order to emphasise his point.

  The driver got back into his taxi, powered his window down, wished them luck, and pointed north. “Tanis is that way, don’t get lost.” And with that said he sped off, leaving them in a cloud of dust. Thankfully for Alex the fine white dust attached itself to his hot sweaty face before Emmy and Cairo could see his embarrassment.

  Alex and Cairo watched as the taxi disappeared off into
the distance, throwing up plumes of dust as if it was a jet plane about to take off. They would have watched until it was totally out of sight, but upon hearing a loud splash behind them, their senses were immediately heightened. They spun around, adrenaline pumping, ready for action. Firstly, they observed a small pile of discarded clothes which sat, not very neatly, beside the water. Secondly, they noticed Emmy in the clear water. They could not fail to notice a naked Emmy in the far too clear water.

  She turned her back towards them as she said, “Some gentlemen you are!” in a very impish way. Alex and Cairo stood there and stared as if they were rabbits caught in headlights. Emmy looked back, “Oh, for flips sake, come on in … the both of you.” Neither of the boys moved. “Have you seen yourselves, you both look whiter than Quentin does.”

  Alex looked at Cairo and Cairo looked at Alex. They were indeed white, very white.

  “Don’t worry, Quentin, no harm will come to them,” Bast said. She paused, saw a blank look upon the face of Quentin, and was unable to keep a straight face as she thought of the absolute stupidity of what she had just said. “Okay, forget that I said anything!”

  “I would if I could, but I am still wondering how, for even the minutest part of a second, you thought that I would need to be reassured–” Quentin was abruptly brought to a halt as a cushion hit him squarely in the face. Shrugging this off, he picked up the hotel phone and ordered a fresh pot of coffee and, with Bast’s urging, a large quantity of her favourite canapés. For himself he ordered blue cheese and biscuits. He requested Stilton, but was advised that they only had Danish Blue. This caused him to smile, as whenever he heard this name it made him feel as though he was ordering an adult movie rather than a cheese, which, though he considered it to be inferior to English Stilton, was still quite acceptable to his palate. He did also try and order a glass of Port to enjoy with his cheese, but alas, this was also not available, so he rather reluctantly stuck with the coffee.