Whispers in the Sand
Page 47
He frowned.
That was Anna’s voice.
He jumped as the car behind him hooted angrily. The lights had changed and he had not seen them. He stared into the mirror, dazed, then suddenly he made up his mind. He spun the steering wheel full circle and swung the car round with an angry squeal of tyres.
Seconds later he was speeding back towards her house.
‘Anna! Anna?’ He left the car in the middle of the road, the door open, the engine running.
‘Anna! Open the door!’ Running up the path he hammered on it with his fists. There was a slight click and the door swung open. She had not closed it properly when she walked back into the house.
‘Anna?’ Toby stared inside. ‘Where are you?’
The hall was deserted, the door into the living room ajar. Pushing it back, he threw himself into the room.
‘Anna!’ He skidded to a halt.
The room smelt of Egypt. Of heat and sand and of exotic incenses.
The shadow was all around her.
‘Anna, fight it, sweetheart! I’m not going to let him have you. Anna, look at me! I love you!’
He grabbed her hands and spun her to face him. ‘Anna!’
She blinked, frowning. ‘Toby?’
‘I’m here, sweetheart. It’s all right.’
She was coming back to him. The shadow was fading.
Gathering her into his arms he kissed the top of her head.
‘It came back, Toby,’ she stammered. ‘The bottle. Louisa couldn’t get rid of it and neither can I. I threw it in the Nile but Andy caught it. He had it in his hand, Toby. Andy brought it back!’ Sobbing, she glanced at the table where the little bottle stood amidst its wrappings on the polished mahogany surface. ‘I’ll never be free.’
He stared at it thoughtfully. ‘There are a lot of things we can do, Anna. We can give it to the British Museum. We can send it back to Egypt. We can throw it in the Thames. But whatever happens, we’re going to face this together.’
She looked up at him. ‘You mean it?’
‘I mean it. You are not alone. You’ll never be alone again unless you want to be and you are going to be free of Anhotep and Hatsek. I guarantee it.’
As he kissed the top of her head he glanced up. On the shining wood of the table, scattered amongst the wrapping paper he could see the fragments of dried resin, smell its cloying scent. As he watched more appeared on the carpet at their feet.
Anna looked up at him. ‘Serena is on her way,’ she murmured. ‘She’ll help us, I know she will.’
Toby tightened his arms around her. ‘Of course she will. And don’t forget, I have the blood of Roger Carstairs and of my reverend great-grandfather in my veins. That must give me some start in the spiritual stakes.’
As she looked up at him he smiled. ‘Courage, my darling, their combined shades have given me an idea. If I stand over that little bottle with a large hammer in my hand, I think the priests of Ancient Egypt are going to start listening to what we have to say to them for a change, don’t you?’
The goddess Isis is with thee and she never leaveth thee; thou art not overthrown by thy enemies …
Let the servants of the gods sleep in peace …
Afterthought
It is very hard to know when to end a book. As an author one has been immersed in the lives of the characters for perhaps years; they are part of one’s psyche and of one’s soul and yet they have taken on a life of their own. Some, having taken on that life, have died. Others have wandered out of one particular story and on into another of their own. Some, the core characters in a novel, stay with it until it finishes and then, as in real life, they will live on even though the spotlight has left them. What happens to them in the future is, as in real life, an unknown. They may meet other people. They may stay friends. Love may blossom and come to fruition. It may grow stale.
In a saga the spotlight may follow them until the day they die. In a crime novel it may focus on them for just one case. In a romantic novel there may be a happy ending, or a tragedy. The canvas may broaden and extend to a thousand pages, a luxury which is seldom welcomed in a modern book! In my novels, which contain mystery and uncertainty and a collision of worlds, I like sometimes to leave the characters at a significant turning point in their lives. They have survived and they have won through thus far. The future however, for them and for the reader, is still mystery. Thus it is with real life.
Author’s Note
In common with many people, I suspect, my expectations of Egypt were so enormous that I was, in a way, almost reluctant to go there. Supposing it was not as wonderful as I hoped? Supposing the visit was a disaster and all my dreams and fantasies were shattered? I have Carole Blake to thank, both for the suggestion as a possibility rather than a dream that we embark on the adventure, a first for both of us, and for being a wonderful companion on the trip which ensued; we had such a good time!
The boat in which we sailed from Luxor to Aswan was very like the White Egret, although, I’m pleased to say, nothing sinister happened while we were on her – although I did see a ghost in the passenger’s lounge! Perhaps that gave me the idea that ghosts too could go on cruises!
Within ten minutes of setting off from the airport towards the centre of Luxor I knew that there was going to be an Egyptian novel. I was entranced and from that moment on, Egypt was everything I expected of her and more. The atmosphere, the history and the memories were all there to be found if one looked, in spite of the crowds.
I already had a great many books on Egypt and I bought more, but those which helped me most with the Victorian sections of this story were the accounts of two of the intrepid ladies in whose mould Louisa was set. I do recommend Letters from Egypt by Lucie Duff Gordon and A Thousand Miles up the Nile by Amelia Edwards to anyone interested in Egypt’s nineteenth-century past and of course no one should go through life without looking at the wonderful magical lithographs of David Roberts.
Rachel Hore and Lucy Ferguson helped bring me back down to earth in the editing of my manuscript – to both of them as usual my grateful thanks. My visit was short and so packed with experiences that I may have remembered some things wrongly. If so it is my fault alone.
I made my own offering to Isis at Philae. Maybe, like a coin in the Trevi Fountain, that will ensure that one day I return to Egypt. I hope so.
BE
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If you enjoyed this book, you’ll love Barbara Erskine’s brilliant latest novel, Sleeper’s Castle – an epic tale of suspense, passion and history.
Two women, centuries apart. One endless nightmare tearing Wales apart – and only they can stop it.
Sunday Times bestselling author Barbara Erskine returns to Hay in the year that marks the 30th anniversary of her sensational debut bestseller, Lady of Hay.
Hay-On-Wye, 1400 – War is brewing in the Welsh borders, Catrin is on the brink of womanhood and falling in love for the first time. Her father is a soothsayer, playing a dangerous game playing on the mixed loyalties and furious rivalries between welsh princes and English lords. For two hundred years, the Welsh people have lain under the English yoke, dreaming of independence. And finally it looks as though the charismatic Owain Glyndwr may be the man legend talks of. In the walls of Sleeper’s Castle, Catrin finds herself caught in the middle of a doomed war as she is called upon to foretell Wales’s destiny … And what she sees, is blood and war coming closer …
Hay, 2015. Miranda has moved to Sleeper’s Castle to escape and grieve. Slowly she feels herself coming to life in the solitude of the mountains. But every time she closes her eyes her dreams b
ecome more vivid. And she makes a connection with a young girl, who’s screaming, who’s reaching out … who only Miranda can help. Is she losing herself to time?
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About the Author
Barbara Erskine is the Sunday Times bestselling author of over a dozen novels. Her first book, Lady of Hay, has sold more than three million copies worldwide and has never been out of print since it was first published thirty years ago. Her books have been translated into over twenty-five languages and are international bestsellers. Barbara lives near Hay-on-Wye in the Welsh borders.
To find out more about Barbara and her books visit her website, find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
www.barbara-erskine.co.uk
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Also by Barbara Erskine
Lady of Hay
Kingdom of Shadows
Encounters (Short Stories)
Child of the Phoenix
Midnight is a Lonely Place
House of Echoes
Distant Voices (Short Stories)
On the Edge of Darkness
Hiding from the Light
Sands of Time (Short Stories)
Daughters of Fire
The Warrior’s Princess
Time’s Legacy
River of Destiny
The Darkest Hour
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