“We wave anyway,” said Cairo, who had followed him out. And they did wave until the ARM was out of sight, though with its dark tinted windows, they had no idea if Kate had waved back or even noticed them.
“I cannot believe Kate left like that. I don’t understand how she could. Was she not at all curious about how we defeated the warlock?”
“He dead. Tomorrow we celebrate. So that is it!”
“No, Cairo, that is not it. We succeeded where generations before us failed … my mother and father failed. I need to know what they did wrong. Why they had to die.”
Cairo understood the need for Alex to know in detail, but for him it was good enough to have seen the warlock be removed from the afterlife.
“Do you suppose that Kate will be alright?” asked Alex.
“You care about her even after all she do to you.”
“We were friends … no … we are friends. She was my first girlfriend, but now she is somebody I do not know anymore.”
“Since we ‘see’, we all different. We all changed.”
“Yes, we have all changed,” said Alex in a reflective tone, as he and Cairo stepped back into the hotel.
“Mr Alex,” called out Mohammed as he held out a package over the reception desk, “this was left for you.”
Upon returning to the bar, Alex dropped the unopened package on the table before flopping back down into his usual chair. “I feel confused. I am sad at the way she left, but I am happy that she has gone. I will not miss her attitude, or her thumping me for that matter, but we have been through so much.” Cairo sat and listened, as Alex needed to talk right now. “I used to really enjoy our time when we met at the library. It was so quiet, yet we both found adventure and excitement in books. In the beginning, I even liked her stroppiness. I wonder if we will ever meet again.”
“Do you know,” said Dr Margretti, who had stepped away from Quentin and now stood beside Alex, “if you carry on as you are, there will not be a dry eye in the house.”
Alex pushed himself up in his chair as he started to apologise. The Doctor gestured with the palm of his hand for him to stop.
“It is quite normal to have mixed feelings. There is nothing at all wrong with that.” Dr Margretti looked around to check for tourists, there were none. He leant in and said very quietly, “I cannot stop loving Nefertiti, yet I also hate her. I know just how horrid she can be, how horrid she is, yet, when I think back to the tenderness we shared, the love that we had for each other … See, being confused about your feelings does not change in the afterlife, you just become confused with more certainty.” He looked up as he heard someone enter the bar. “Good morning, Rose, I was not expecting to see you here this morning.”
“I can leave.”
“No, no, no, my dear, it is always a pleasure to see you.”
Rose quickly said good morning to everyone before sitting down between Alex and Cairo.
Three shut the doors, placing the bar-closed sign outside as he left.
Dr Margretti turned to return to Quentin, which prompted Alex to ask, “What about that job you have for me?”
The Doctor sat before saying, “All in good time, Alex. Quentin and I still have much to talk about. What would you say if I asked you to meet me here for coffee at five o’clock? We could talk, and afterwards, as I have booked the 1886 restaurant, we can all get together over dinner. And that means you as well, Cairo.”
Three returned to the bar with a large pot of steaming coffee for Quentin and Dr Margretti. He asked Rose if she would like anything, but she was content with Kate’s tamar-hindi.
Cairo was beginning to fidget. “Can I go?” he asked Alex, as Three went to leave.
“You would rather help your father with the washing-up than being here!”
“I do not think that is where Cairo wants to go,” said Rose. “I understand that Inky has a beautiful daughter. Am I correct?”
Cairo nodded before saying, “And the family do make great sandwiches.”
“See you for dinner,” said Alex with a smile. After Cairo had run off and Three had left the bar, he asked Rose how she knew.
“I came in the ancient way. Ropet and Sanuba asked me to hurry Cairo along. Apparently Inky and his wife have three very beautiful daughters.”
Alex understood. The adventure was over. They had each changed, and they each had their own life to live. He heard Dr Margretti mention ‘university’ and ‘London’, and saw happiness radiate from the face of his father.
“Alex?”
“Sorry, Rose,” he said as he turned back to look at her.
“As you can imagine, Gadeem is busy preparing for the celebration tomorrow. It really is going to be a feast of happiness. It will be such an exciting day. Gadeem tells me that there are going to be several pharaohs attending who have not been seen for thousands of years. Getting rid of the warlock from the afterlife is such a total wow. Already everybody appears to be so much happier, and it hasn’t had time to fully sink in yet.”
“But how did we get rid of him? We did not have all the ingredients needed for the spell, yet I saw the spell work. I didn’t know you were a …” Alex did not like to call Rose a witch.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not. Gadeem spent days trying to teach me how to cast that spell. Apparently, it was a very simple spell to cast, so he was convinced that I would be able to cast it. It was the ingredients which made it difficult, and Gadeem put them together.”
“Well, you cast it to great effect.”
“Yes, I cast it, but when the warlock’s magic took Gadeem’s arm off – oh, I still shudder when I think of that – I thought it had not worked. He failed to tell me that it could take several seconds before the magic fully developed within its target.”
“But how did he make the ingredient part of the spell, without the sacred scuta?”
“Because there is no such thing as sacred scuta.”
“So, what were we looking for?”
“Let me explain.”
“I wish you would.” Alex turned in his chair so that he directly faced Rose as she turned hers to face him.
“You must understand, I know nothing of magic, so I am only telling you what Gadeem has told me.” Alex nodded. “Magic that was written down could be copied or stolen, so, with that in mind, ancient warlocks used to add in security measures. They would write down impossible to find ingredients, unnecessary ingredients or ingredients which did not exist. Gadeem had always had his doubts about the sacred scuta, especially as no Sobek knew of their existence.
“It was only when he discussed this with …” Rose pointed to Dr Margretti, “that Gadeem knew for certain. There is no such thing as sacred scuta, it is a myth. He worried that the warlock also knew that sacred scuta did not exist. The moment the warlock moved the armies of Ay and Merenptah to Crocodilopolis, he worried no more.”
“That all makes sense. As you were going to cast the spell, Gadeem needed Kate and me to be in his chariot. That way the warlock would perceive any threat to him as coming from us, so he would be watching us. He would not worry about Nakhtifi, Cairo or you.”
“Exactly! It was risky, but it worked.”
“Why were we able to get rid of the warlock this time, and not when my parents tried to rid the world of the flipping warlock?”
“Remember, Emmy lost her parents at the same time as you lost yours.”
“That I will never forget. So, what was so different this time?”
“To put it simply, Gadeem had total confidence in the three of you. Never before has he had that confidence. You complimented each other. This allowed him to let the warlock out from his prison. It was a massive gamble, and nobody would have agreed to him doing that. He just did it, and I am proud of him for doing so.”
“It was a dreadful risk, but the warlock never appeared to be as scary as we were lead to believe.”
“If he had got out with his spells, he would have been far worse than you expected. Gadeem made sure that messa
ges got back to the warlock, as you found ingredient after ingredient.”
“By the spell he put on Aryamani’s button.”
“Yes, though there was no way he could know what spell you wanted them for. It was vital to make the warlock think of nothing except escape, so he could kill the three of you before you could find all the ingredients.”
“Thanks, Gadeem,” said Alex, after which he gave a wry smile.
“The warlock grabbed at the chance to escape, and in his haste he left his spells behind. The second he was free, Gadeem stopped him from being able to get back in to retrieve them. He probably only had a handful of spells on him, but it was the spell of last resort which every warlock carries with them, that made him remain so dangerous.”
“So, I get everything except the wall of water, though I have a theory on that.”
“Let me hear your theory.”
“Where we saw the Sobeks was in front of a dam, as the water had to be coming from somewhere. The drum beats we heard were the Sobeks using their tails to fracture the dam wall. Once fractured, the pressure of the water from the lake did the rest.”
“Exactly! So now you know everything.”
“Everything except what Dr Margretti has planned for me.”
“Do you like excitement, Alex?” asked Rose
“I didn’t, but I think I am quite hooked on it now.”
“Glad to hear you say that,” said Dr Margretti as he dragged a chair over. Quentin did the same.
There was a knock at the door just before it opened, and Emmy stepped into the room. “Do you mind if I join you?” They were all pleased to see her, though nobody was more pleased than Alex.
“I have some good news for us as a family, Alex,” said an excited Quentin. “My university wants me back.”
“But I thought it would be impossible for you to go back to your university.”
“That is where my good friend Dr Margretti comes in. He has solved the problem. We are to have our own rooms within the British Museum. A whole suite. More space than we have ever lived in before. I will be with my university, but based at the British Museum. This solves everything.”
Alex could not really take this in, but he was excited because his dad was excited.
“It also means that you, Alex, will be perfectly placed to work with Emmy and me.”
Alex looked from Dr Margretti to Emmy and back. “Emmy is working with you?”
“Yes, I thought that would please you,” said Dr Margretti as he saw the smile appear on Alex’s face. “I have told Emmy all about it, so I am sure that, as she is now here, she will be able to fill you in with all the necessary details.” Emmy nodded. “I think you will find it most interesting. Anyway, this works well for me, as I must be off. Gadeem needs me. I shall see you all at dinner later.”
“Hold on, Doctor,” called out Rose, “I will come with you, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, my dear.”
“I think that I had better go and tell Babs. She will be so excited, as it is just the news she wanted to hear. We are going back to London permanently, but I am free to come back here as often as I want.”
“What about you and ancients, Dad?”
“That is a conversation for another time, though not in front of your mother. She does not want to know that they exist. Do you know she is in such denial that she is not even going to the celebration tomorrow?”
“You are though?” asked Alex.
“Try stopping me. I shall see you both at dinner.”
“Yes, see you then, Dad.”
“Goodbye, Mr Cumberpatch,” said Emmy.
“Call me Quentin, especially as we are going to be neighbours.”
“Neighbours?” asked Alex, as soon as his father had left the bar.
“Neighbours,” replied Emmy. “I live with Dr Margretti, and he lives in the British Museum.”
“But I didn’t think anybody lived in the museum.”
“Not officially, no, but now that you will be living there officially, it will make it much easier for Dr Margretti and me if we are seen around the museum after it is closed.”
Alex wanted to ask more, but Emmy picked up the package from the table. “What is this?”
“I think it is the book that I bought Kate. She left it for me when she left the hotel. I thought she would have taken it with her.”
“You sound disappointed. Can I take a look?”
“Of course.”
Emmy opened the package. Alex saw that he was correct in his assumption. It was the large book he had bought Kate from the Aboudi Bookshop, shortly after he had arrived in Luxor. He muttered something unintelligible as Emmy opened it. She started to read a penned message on the inside cover, which made her pass the book to Alex. He initially pushed it away, but she insisted. With the book now open in his lap, he read:
I love this book
just as much as I love the person who gave it to me.
Please bring it back to me one day,
when I am able to appreciate both the book and the person.
I have found the life I have always been looking for,
even though I did not know I was looking for it.
I hope you find what you are looking for.
Kate xx
Alex took Emmy’s hand in his, and as a tear ran down his cheek he said, “I hope I have … I know that I have.”
“Then, does that mean you are taking me to the celebrations tomorrow?”
“Try stopping me!”
Also from this Author
You have been reading the third in the series of:
The Egyptian Adventures of Kathryn Black
The books in order are:
THE LUXOR CURSE
DEATH IN LUXOR
LUXOR LOST and FOUND
GOLD OF THE ANCIENTS
and
ANKHTIFI’s PAPYRUS
Available worldwide from Amazon
in paperback and for Kindle.
This book is written totally from the imagination of the author, and any resemblance to any person living, dead or very dead is a total coincidence. Real places and names, where used, are also used fictitiously and are intended to add to your enjoyment of the story and nothing more.
For more information, news and a photo gallery of places mentioned in the Kathryn Black adventures visit:
www.KathrynBlack.co.uk
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Whiplash from a Warlock
Chapter 2 - If Looks Could Kill
Chapter 3 - Planning for Action
Chapter 4 - Worker Trouble
Chapter 5 - Tea, Scones and Red Wine
Chapter 6 - Unplanned Action
Chapter 7 - Dr Margretti Arrives
Chapter 8 - Unwelcome News
Chapter 9 - Out On Their Own
Chapter 10 - Three Separate Journeys
Chapter 11 - Lead Astray
Chapter 12 - Reunion of the Three Adventurers
Chapter 13 - Who Said This Was Impossible?
Chapter 14 - Pure Red Cinnamon
Chapter 15 - Awamya, Not a Good Idea
Chapter 16 - Television Street
Chapter 17 - Tensions Mount
Chapter 18 - Serapeum or Bucheum
Chapter 19 - Armant Temple
Chapter 20 - Tunnels, Tombs and Marble
Chapter 21 - A Difficult Conversation
Chapter 22 - Sand, not Scuta
Chapter 23 - Vision of Reality
Chapter 24 - Wall to Wall Ancients
Chapter 25 - Dust and Confusion
Chapter 26 - No Way Back
Chapter 27 - Too Late to Find Out
Chapter 28 - United We Fail
Chapter 29 - Crocodilopolis
Chapter 30 - Magic and Mayhem
Chapter 31 - Revelation
Chapter 32 - Righting a Wrong
Chapter 33 - Short Lived Celebration
Chapter 34 - We Are Not Alone
Chapter 35 -
Escape to Where?
Chapter 36 - Loitering Within Tent
Chapter 37 - Life is a Fragile Thing
Chapter 38 - Tears
Chapter 39 - Luxor, Amarna and London
Also from this Author
Luxor Lost and Found Page 32