Whispers in the Sand

by Barbara Erskine

  Anna did her best to smile. ‘I think I would like to go outside. I am feeling a bit odd.’ She glanced at her watch, squinting in the dim light at her wrist. It was already past the time she and Serena and Toby had agreed to meet.

  Serena was sitting on a bench outside. She jumped up in consternation as Anna and her companion appeared. ‘Anna, what is it? What’s wrong?’

  Anna shook her head. ‘Too much heat and no sleep, I think. Celia was kind enough to look after me.’ She flopped onto the bench. ‘No sign of Andy? Or of Toby or Ben?’

  Serena shook her head. ‘None.’ They watched as Celia with a pleasant word and a wave disappeared into the crowds in search of her husband.

  ‘I saw Hatsek! In the temple.’ Anna turned to Serena as soon as her companion was out of earshot. ‘He was beside the statue of Ptah in the sanctuary. Someone said that Ptah was Sekhmet’s husband!’

  Serena thought for a moment. ‘Did you feel your energy depleted?’

  Anna shrugged. ‘I suppose so. I nearly fainted; that’s why Celia helped me. But it was fear, Serena. Cold hard total fear!’

  Serena nodded again. ‘I’ve made a decision while I’ve been here, Anna. I want to try and call up the priests again. But on my terms. I think I can do it this time, and I’m sure it is the right thing to do. We’ll try it if you like at Philae, this evening as I suggested. And it’ll be all right, I promise.’ She gripped Anna’s hands. ‘So, do we go on looking for Andy?’

  Anna closed her eyes wearily. ‘Toby and I have driven about a hundred and fifty miles through the night to save Andy! We’ll have to look for him. We have to. Supposing he is bitten by the snake?’

  ‘You are positive the snake will try and kill him?’

  ‘That’s why Carstairs called it up: to kill Hassan.’

  ‘And did it kill him?’

  Anna shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t read that far yet. I don’t think so.’

  ‘Did you bring the diary with you?’

  Anna nodded. ‘I’m not letting it out of my sight again!’

  ‘Then can I suggest we find somewhere shady and have a drink and look at it? It may be that Louisa found a way of dealing with it. This whole panic might be without any foundation.’

  Anna nodded slowly. ‘I suppose that does make sense.’

  ‘It does, Anna. And then, if he hasn’t already turned up with Toby or Ben or someone we’ll have another shot at finding Andy. Come on.’ Serena stood up and held out her hand. ‘Let’s get out of the sun.’

  ‘I hid it under the planking.’ Hassan showed Louisa a loose panel on the side of the cabin superstructure. ‘You see? Here.’ He glanced round to make sure that they weren’t being observed, then he pulled out the small package and handed it to her. ‘What do we do with it?’ The bruise on his head had subsided and the wound had nearly healed.

  That morning the Ibis had anchored amongst several other boats off the shore opposite the temple of Abu Simbel. Amongst their neighbours she had recognised Carstairs’ Scarab.

  After the rescue party had brought Hassan back to the Ibis from the kiosk at Kartassi, Louisa, alone and shaking with anger, had demanded that one of their crew row her over to Carstairs’ boat, but when she got there she found he had gone. His reis shrugged when she asked for him. ‘He say he go for three, maybe four days. No say where.’ The black Nubian face was full of concern. ‘May I help the Sitt?’

  Louisa shook her head. ‘Thank you, no. I’m sure I shall see him soon.’

  She instructed the boatman to take her next to the Lotus on which she could see David Fielding and his two ladies with their parasols. Venetia greeted her with a scowl. Neither David nor his wife moved.

  ‘Katherine is resting. I don’t believe she has the strength for visitors,’ Venetia called down frostily.

  Louisa inclined her head slightly. It was hard to remain dignified, floating in the small dinghy looking up at the other woman above her head. ‘Then I shan’t incommode her. It was you or your brother I wanted to speak to. Do you know where Roger Carstairs has gone?’

  Venetia’s face reddened perceptibly. ‘I have no idea. You are the one I had thought privy to all his movements.’

  ‘As I think you know by now, he attacked my dragoman, Hassan, and beat him fearfully.’ Louisa stared up into the other woman’s face, her words echoing across the water and, presumably, clearly audible to David and his wife. ‘If you see him I want you to emphasise that he is no longer welcome for any reason aboard the Ibis. I never wish to see him again and Sir John has forbidden him to set foot on the boat.’ She smiled coldly. ‘I have no doubt you find such news pleasing as it leaves the field clear for you, Venetia, but do beware. The man is a fiend.’

  As they rowed back towards the Ibis Louisa could feel the other woman’s eyes on her back for every stroke of her boatman’s oars. When she climbed back on board Venetia was still standing at the rail looking after her.

  ‘Sitt Louisa?’ Hassan, bandaged and much restored, had been waiting on deck. ‘You should not have gone to see him.’ He was looking furiously angry.

  Louisa shrugged. ‘You expect me to leave it at that? He tried to kill you! He is a dangerous man …’ She shook her head slowly. ‘Anyway, he wasn’t there. He won’t be back for several days. No one knows where he has gone.’ She reached over and touched his arm. ‘We do not need to think about him for a while. We can be happy.’ She smiled at him pleadingly. ‘We are going to stay here for a few days so I can paint the Sun Temple, and then we can go for lots more painting trips as we sail up towards the second cataract. I hope we never see him again.’

  He nodded. ‘Of course, my Louisa. We will do whatever you want.’

  It was then he had shown her the hiding place of the bottle and now he was staring at her, holding it in his hand. ‘What shall we do with it?’

  Louisa shrugged. ‘Is there nowhere safe?’ She took it from him. ‘While Carstairs is away I shall keep it with my painting things.’ She sighed. ‘So precious a gift, my love, and so dangerous. I intend to treasure this for the rest of my life. He will not have it.’

  ‘For the rest of your life?’ Hassan repeated quietly. He glanced at her. ‘You will take it back to England with you then?’

  Louisa bit her lip. The future was something she did not want to contemplate but she knew soon there would be no escape from it.

  He went on with a shake of his head as though he too could not countenance the content of the words he was making himself speak. ‘Soon it will be too hot to stay in Upper Egypt. Sir John will follow all the other visitors and turn north again. What will you do when you return to Cairo and Alexandria?’

  Louisa turned away from him. She walked to the end of the deck, then she turned back. ‘I have to go back to England, Hassan.’ She hesitated. ‘To my children. But how can I leave you? I don’t know what to do!’ Her voice suddenly trembled. ‘I have never felt such love for any man before!’ She closed her eyes aware of the treachery of her words, aware that she was near to tears.

  There was a movement behind her and she realised suddenly that Augusta had appeared at the door of the saloon. Desperately she tried to compose herself as Hassan moved a discreet pace or two away from her.

  ‘My Louisa, you must not cry,’ he murmured. ‘You and I will be together in our hearts, if it is God’s will. This afternoon I shall take you to the great Sun Temple over there. We can walk in the hills behind it.’ He smiled sadly. ‘We will be happy while we can. I can stay with you all the way to Alexandria if it is your wish and if Sir John permits it. Then next year you will come again to Egypt and your Hassan will be waiting for you.’

  She was staring out across the river and the desert. ‘Inshallah!’ she whispered.

  ‘Louisa, my dear. You cannot stay out here without shade!’ Augusta’s voice boomed out as her hostess sailed towards her. In her hand she carried Louisa’s fringed parasol. Hassan bowed and moved away as Louisa hastily dabbed at the traces of her tears.

 
‘I saw you coming back from the Fielding boat earlier. You didn’t say you were visiting them. I would have come with you, had I known.’

  Louisa managed a tired smile. ‘I had a message to deliver to Lord Carstairs. I hadn’t realised he had gone.’

  ‘Gone?’ Augusta frowned. ‘How could he have gone? Where has he gone?’

  ‘I don’t know the answer to either of those questions. I had the boy row me over to the Fieldings’ to see if they knew, but Venetia said not.’

  Something in the set of her lips made Augusta raise an eyebrow. ‘She is not too happy about Lord Carstairs’ interest in you. I’m afraid she still hopes for him herself.’

  ‘Does she indeed? Well, she is welcome to him.’

  ‘You are still implacable, my dear? He would be such a catch. Title. Money. And such a handsome man.’

  ‘And a loathsome one.’

  Augusta sighed. She glanced towards the stern of the boat where Hassan had settled with the reis in conversation over a hookah in the shade of the sail.

  ‘Once you are back in England you will feel differently about things, my dear,’ she said gently. ‘And it will be time to return very soon.’ She was fanning her face as she spoke. ‘Sir John has decided not to go any further south. The heat is becoming unbearable and David Fielding tells us he has made the same decision. He is anxious to reach Alexandria before Katherine’s confinement. She too is finding the heat intolerable. Whatever Roger is going to do, our two boats will travel together and make as good speed as we can. We are to start back north this very afternoon.’

  Louisa followed her into the saloon. ‘But Hassan is taking me ashore this afternoon to sketch the great temple of Rameses.’ She gestured across the water towards the four giant figures, still half obscured by sand, carved from the living cliff face which dominated the shoreline.

  Augusta sighed. ‘My dear, you have seen so many temples already. Enough for most people for a lifetime,’ she said firmly. ‘Surely you can draw it from here, if you must take a likeness of those ugly great brutes? You do not have to go ashore.’

  ‘But I do!’ Louisa felt a wave of panic sweep over her. Her longing to be alone with Hassan was overwhelming her.

  ‘What’s this, what’s this?’ Sir John strode into the saloon and stared round. ‘What is it you must do, Louisa my dear?’

  ‘She wants to go and see that temple this afternoon,’ Augusta answered for her. ‘I told her she couldn’t. We are turning for home.’

  ‘No, no. We must see the temple before we go. This is one of the wonders of the world, Augusta, or if it isn’t, it should be. I shall go ashore with Louisa. Why don’t you come too, my dear?’

  Augusta shuddered. ‘Indeed not. I have not been to visit any of these heathen places and I do not intend to start now. I shall remain on the Ibis.’

  ‘Well and good.’ He nodded. ‘It will not take us long. I understand that in spite of there being so much sand heaped around it, one can go inside and see the great hall of pillars and the inner sanctuary of the gods. After we’ve done that we’ll return and we’ll get the reis to make ready to sail as soon as we set foot on the boat. I understand it will take us a long time to travel north, even if we don’t stop along the way. The wind is likely to be against us much of the time but at least we shall have the current in our favour.’ He smiled at Louisa. ‘My dear, you are looking very serious. Does my plan not please you?’

  Louisa shook her head. ‘I am sorry,’ she blurted out. ‘I imagined I would have time to paint this afternoon. I had no idea you would want to come with us.’

  He frowned. ‘Can you not make quick sketches, my dear? You have done so in the past. Then you will have as much time as you need to paint on board on our way back down the river.’

  ‘I know that John will want to come back to me very soon, Louisa,’ Augusta commented. She raised an eyebrow. ‘Should you wish to stay longer on the shore I am sure that would be possible. Even if the Ibis sets off downriver I feel certain you would have no trouble catching us up. These little feluccas seem to travel so much faster on the light winds than does a larger boat. You may have your few extra hours with –’ She hesitated. ‘With your paintbrush and your muse.’

  Louisa glanced at her gratefully but Augusta was not looking at her. She had seated herself on a chair near the open door and was fanning herself vigorously.

  They spent an hour inside the temple looking at the carvings and peering over the piles of sand towards its as yet unexcavated corners, then Hassan rowed Sir John back to the Ibis, leaving Louisa alone sketching the four great heads of Rameses, peering from their sandy pall. When Hassan returned he was alone, carrying a bag over his shoulder. ‘I have permission to escort you wherever you wish as long as we join the boat by dusk. They will be leaving soon, but the wind, all that there is, is against them. We shall catch them easily.’ He smiled. Then he held out his hand. ‘Come. Pack up your painting. I want to show you the hills behind the temple.’

  They soon lost sight of the river and the other boats moored along its bank. Here, in the fierce heat they were totally alone. Hassan smiled at her. ‘I was talking to a dragoman from another dahabeeya. He told me of a secret entrance into the hill on the far side of the temple where we can find shelter from the sun and be alone.’

  She stopped. They were both panting, and she could feel her skin sticky from the cooking heat. ‘This may be the last time.’

  He shook his head. ‘No, there will be others. They cannot keep you a prisoner on the boat. When it is becalmed, then you and I can go on excursions once more.’

  ‘But there is no chance to be alone at the temple sites.’

  ‘There is always a chance, my Louisa. Always. We will make a chance.’ He smiled at her and reached for her hand.

  They found the dark entrance in the sandstone cliff without difficulty and stood peering in. ‘It’s like the Valley of the Tombs,’ Louisa whispered. The sandy hills behind them were empty, save for a lone vulture circling high over-head.

  He grinned at her and held out his hand. ‘Shall we explore?’

  They stepped into the shadows and Hassan dropped their belongings. He rummaged in the bag for a candle. ‘Do you want to see inside?’

  She frowned uneasily and shook her head. ‘We don’t need to go any further in, do we? Let us stay here, near the light.’

  He laughed. ‘Don’t tell me that my Louisa has had enough of the dark?’

  She nodded. ‘Just for now. Let’s spread out the rug and sit down here. No one will see us unless they come right up to the rockface and there is no one for miles.’

  He shrugged and did as she bid, laying out the rug and reaching for the bag which contained fruit juice and water and leather travelling cups. Then he frowned. ‘What is this, my Louisa?’

  ‘The scent bottle. I didn’t know where to hide it. Even your place on the boat seemed too obvious and I could not get near it without being seen.’

  Hassan shuddered. ‘It is accursed three times over, my Louisa. You should not touch it any more.’

  ‘I know.’ The little bottle was wrapped in silk, tied with a length of ribbon. She stared down at it as it lay in the palm of his hand. ‘So small a thing to have caused so much trouble.’

  Behind them, in the darkness something stirred. Neither noticed. They were both looking down at the small beribboned parcel. ‘It was your present to me,’ Louisa said with a shake of her head. ‘Right at the beginning.’

  He nodded. ‘I loved you, my Louisa, the first moment I saw you. But you were an English lady and I a lowly guide.’

  ‘Not lowly, Hassan. Why lowly?’

  He shrugged. ‘That is the way your people see mine, my Louisa.’ He smiled. ‘And perhaps, if we are honest, the way my people see yours. Inshallah!’

  The shadows in the cave were very dark. Behind them a passage led out of sight, deep into the heart of the hill.

  ‘Whatever our peoples feel, you were my friend and now you are my love.’ She moved towar
ds him and their lips touched. Slowly they sank down onto the rug. With eyes only for each other they did not see the sinuous movement on the rock-strewn sandy floor of the cave, nor hear the dry rustle of scales.

  The snake was young, perhaps only four feet long and capable of great speed. Ignoring Louisa it went for the man who still held the scent bottle in his hand.

  As he felt the sudden agonising pain of the venom-filled fangs Hassan leapt to his feet and spun round. The scent bottle flew into the air and rolled to the edge of the rug. For a moment he stared down at the wound on his arm near his shoulder then he let out a cry of anguish, his face contorted with pain and grief as he stared at Louisa.

  ‘Hassan!’ She had seen the snake for only a second. Already it had slithered away out of sight amongst the rocks. ‘Hassan, what shall I do?’ She clung to him. ‘Tell me quickly! What shall I do?’

  His face had gone grey. A sheen of clammy sweat broke out on his skin. He was staring at her, his expression suddenly concentrated, his eyes fixed on hers as he gasped for breath, clutching at his chest.

  ‘Louisa! My Louisa!’ The words were slurred as the muscles at the side of his mouth tightened and froze. He slumped to his knees and then he doubled over. Around his mouth the skin was turning blue as he toppled sideways onto the floor of the cave.

  ‘Hassan!’ She stared down at him in disbelief. ‘Hassan, speak to me!’ She touched his shoulder lightly with one finger, hardly daring to breathe. ‘Hassan, my love. Speak to me …’ Her voice trailed away into silence, as she knelt beside him. He was gasping for breath, as he collapsed back onto the rug where he lay, unable to move. A slow paralysis seemed to be creeping over him as he looked up at her through dimming eyes, then between one anguished breath and the next his heart stopped beating.

  ‘Hassan!’ Her whispered cry of agony was so quiet it barely stirred the hot shadows of the cave.

  She didn’t know how long she sat there with his body. The sun moved round so it no longer shone into the mouth of the cave. The heat remained intense. She cried a little, then she sat, staring into space. She had no fear the snake would return. The servant of the gods had done its work and vanished back to the kingdoms from which it came.