Among Sand and Sunrise

by Stacy Henrie

  Marcus threw Adelle a half-questioning, half-pleading glance. As his patroness, she ought to have the final say in who joined them at the other dig, but he greatly hoped she would understand his reticence at having things remain as they’d been.

  “What if Rose, Ethel, and I join you, Marcus?” Adelle suggested after a moment. “Florence and Syble can remain at the hotel this week. That is, if you don’t mind playing chaperone, Florence?”

  The other widow offered them a rare grin. “Not at all.” Marcus thought he heard her mutter something about “keeping a better eye on the charlatan.”

  Syble frowned. “I don’t mind coming to the dig midweek.”

  “We know.” Her grandmother’s self-assurance had returned. “But this will give everyone a chance to do what they like best. We’ll be sure to let you and Florence know when to come to see the treasury room. Isn’t that right, Marcus?”

  He nodded. If this was his concession for not having to interact daily with Syble, he would accept it. Besides, as Adelle’s granddaughter, it was only right that she witness whatever lay behind the treasury room doorway. Hopefully by then he would have a greater hold on his feelings for her, and they could go back to interacting as friends.

  “Is that what you want?” Syble directed the question at Adelle, but she kept her gaze on Marcus.

  In truth, it wasn’t what he wanted. But Syble had asked him for time, and this was the best way Marcus knew to give it to her, while still maintaining his own energy and focus to pursue his work.

  “I think everything will work out well,” Adelle said.

  Still, Syble seemed to be waiting for some word from Marcus. Forcing a smile, he dipped his head in a pleasant nod. “I believe I’ll head to my room now. Have a good day, ladies.” He turned to Syble and, with complete sincerity, managed to say, “I hope you have a wonderful week exploring.”

  With that, he left the dining room without looking back. Nearly everything else had changed in less than a day, but one thing remained unchanged. He still had the treasury room to open, and he would keep hoping that dream wouldn’t be shattered too.

  * * *

  Syble found the bazaar every bit as loud and exciting as she had eight years ago. Only this time she wasn’t perusing the stalls alongside Marcus. It was Mr. Kirk who strolled at her side this time, his sister and her husband a few yards behind them.

  Florence had been their vigilant chaperone the past three days, even though Syble had explained multiple times that the widow shouldn’t feel obligated to join them, since Mr. Kirk’s sister and brother-in-law had been with them on all of their excursions. Florence had still insisted on accompanying them, at least until today.

  Rather than walk around the crowded bazaar, the older woman had opted to stay at the hotel for the afternoon. And while Syble wouldn’t miss the poorly masked looks of skepticism Florence frequently aimed at Mr. Kirk, she would miss her company. She’d enjoyed having Florence around.

  She missed her grandmother as well as Rose and Ethel. Most of all, though, Syble missed Marcus. She’d wanted some time away from him, yet the days without him hadn’t brought the clarity she had hoped for. If anything, she felt more confused…and lost. It was as if she’d misplaced a very important part of herself and she wasn’t sure if or how she might find it again.

  “So this is where you found your ancient urn and the hidden map?” Mr. Kirk glanced around, as elated as Syble at the noise and commotion.

  She’d told him the story last night at dinner. “Marcus was sure it was a fake.” She couldn’t help smiling at the memory. “Even after he agreed to help us find the tomb, I don’t think he fully believed the map would actually lead to anything.”

  “Yet it did.” Mr. Kirk smiled at her. “And you went on to discover not only a tomb but one full of treasure as well. That is quite impressive, Miss Rinecroft.”

  The admiration in his gaze and the sincerity of his compliment pleased her. It was what she’d hoped to gain with the discovery of the tomb. But that desire had changed the more time she had spent with Marcus. Now, once the newspapers ran the story she’d given them last week, there would be very few people who would know her exact role in the discovery of the tomb. She didn’t regret her decision, though—not with how much Marcus had helped them. Syble only hoped she would be able to see his face, his reaction, when he found out what she’d done.

  “Thank you.” Syble matched his warm smile with one of her own.

  She’d been wary to join him at breakfast the other morning. But after a few minutes, she had recognized the truth of her own words to her grandmother. Mr. Kirk was still a decent gentleman, and they were alike enough in personality that she was soon laughing and enjoying herself. He had thankfully kept things light and entertaining the past few days, which had been a relief to her battered, bewildered heart.

  Yet Mr. Kirk’s esteem felt less like a victory in this moment than she once would have believed. It had taken a grand discovery for him to see the true value of her spontaneity and love of adventure. On the other hand, Marcus had recognized the importance of those traits of hers long before they’d found the hidden tomb.

  The contrast poked anew at the ache inside Syble. How could someone as seemingly wonderful as Marcus hold back telling her something so significant? Her smile drooped at the frustrating question. Had he meant what he’d said to her that night in Karnak after she’d told him about Mr. Kirk? Or were Marcus’s words of encouragement merely an attempt to assuage his guilt at having discussed her with his friend?

  “Look at these scarabs,” Mr. Kirk said, stopping beside one of the stalls. “My mother would surely love one of these.”

  Syble studied the jade-colored beetles. “Marcus would be able to tell if they’re authentic or not.”

  “As he did with your map?” His eyes danced with a teasing light, but Syble felt more regret than amusement at the reminder.

  “He was wrong about that, yes, but that’s because he’s overly cautious, not because he isn’t well informed.” Syble thought back over their time together, both in the past and more recently. “Marcus is actually very knowledgeable about antiquities and Egypt, and he speaks fluent Arabic.”

  “Sounds as if he has a champion in you, despite his mistakes.”

  Mr. Kirk’s tone made the words sound more like a question than a statement, and his probing gaze produced a blush in Syble’s cheeks. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Marcus at present, but she certainly didn’t wish to discuss it with a former suitor either.

  Thankfully she was saved from responding when his sister and brother-in-law joined them in front of the stall. Soon all three were immersed in examining the wares. After a few minutes, Syble announced that she was going to wander up ahead. The group promised to find her as soon as they were done.

  She ambled down the line of stalls, her own defense of Marcus repeating through her head. She’d been the one who was right about the validity of the map, but that didn’t make all of Marcus’s expertise or decisions wrong. Could the same logic apply to his mistake with her? He should have told her about his conversation with Mr. Kirk. But did that truly make everything else about him, about the two of them, wrong as well?

  Lost in thought, she accidentally bumped into someone. “I’m sorry,” she said to the woman. She attempted to squeeze around the group and jostled a table in the process. Blushing, she reached out to steady one of the jars teetering there.

  “Forgive me.” She looked up into the eyes of the young man standing behind the table. Something about his smile struck her as familiar.

  He gestured to the urn. “You wish to buy?”

  “No, thank you.” She let go of the urn as she studied the young man’s face, searching her memory for how she could possibly know him. It wasn’t until he reached behind the table and held up an even older-looking pot that she suddenly remembered. “You were the little boy! I bought an urn from you and your grandfather eight years ago.”

  The young man’s smil
e disappeared. “He die last year.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

  He nodded in acknowledgment of her sympathy. “You like urn you buy from him?”

  “Very much,” Syble said with a nod. “After I bought it, your grandfather reminded me that what we find inside is always better than what we can see on the outside.” That had certainly proven true of the map and the tomb.

  His grin returned. “So he offer special urn to you? He offer special ones to those he know see value and listen to his words about life.”

  Syble frowned in confusion. “About life?” Hadn’t the old man been talking about the urn and the treasure map inside it?

  “We not see outside to have good life,” the young man explained. “We see inside.” He tapped a finger to his chest. “People be cracked like urn on outside—but inside not cracked. Inside beautiful.”

  The words resonated with more eloquence and power than anything else Syble had ever heard or read. She realized she’d misinterpreted the old man’s wise counsel until this very moment. His advice had applied to more than the urn, the map, or the tomb. The greatest truth of what he’d shared could be found in the application to herself.

  For some time now, she had allowed herself to believe she was somehow less as a person because men had deemed her unsuitable for marriage due to what others saw of her on the outside. And while she had flaws and cracks, just like the urn, what she had inside—the beauty there—was of far greater value. That was what Marcus had been trying to tell her that night at Karnak. It was what God wanted her to always remember. She was enough, inside and out, as herself.

  A sensation every bit as thrilling and liberating as finding the tomb washed through her. She still wanted love and marriage, but she didn’t want them with someone who simply overlooked her outer cracks and weaknesses—she wanted someone who could see and appreciate all of her, the complete and lovely imperfection that made her Syble.

  “I’d like to buy that urn of yours, after all.” She indicated the one in the young man’s hands.

  His expression brightened all the more. “Yes. Good.”

  Syble paid for the urn just as Mr. Kirk and his party approached her. After thanking the young man, she fell into step with the trio, the urn in her grasp. She couldn’t wait to add this to her growing collection of Egyptian jars.

  “You bought another urn?” Mr. Kirk said with a chuckle. “Hoping this one holds a map too?”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Not this time. This urn holds something even more special than a map to a hidden tomb.”

  “And what would that be?”

  She fingered the urn’s lid. “Perspective,” Syble answered with a smile. “And with any luck, some direction too.”

  CHAPTER 16

  They’d finally reached the doorway to the treasury room, though it was much sooner than even Marcus had anticipated. Then again, that’s what came from bringing such single-minded focus to his task.

  He’d put all of his time and energy the last five days into clearing the burial chamber. His motive wasn’t solely born out of his eagerness to see what lay beyond the door either. He was also ready for the Rinecrofts to depart Luxor. Knowing Syble was still nearby and was spending her days with Kirk had been torture for him. Marcus would miss his grandmother after she left—he would miss all of them—but he hoped that once Syble was gone he could put his feelings for her to rest.

  However, he first had to manage seeing her again this afternoon.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to be present when he finally entered the treasury room. After all, her grandmother and the rest of the Wandering Widows would be on hand for the momentous occasion. What Marcus dreaded most was learning that Syble and Kirk were once again a couple.

  Was Syble still understandably upset at his mistake? Or would she be happy to see him again? Marcus didn’t know, and the uncertainty continued to wreak havoc with his expectations. One moment he found himself hoping for a future with Syble, only to feel certain in the next that such a thing was no longer possible.

  “They’re here!” Adelle announced before rushing out of the dining tent. Gran and Rose were right behind her.

  Marcus pulled in a full breath and let it out slowly, then exited the tent as well. Outside, his grandmother and Rose were talking with Florence, while Adelle hugged Syble. The happy reunion drew a smile from him.

  “I missed you so much, Nana.” Syble pulled back and looked her grandmother in the eye before embracing her again.

  Adelle nodded with understanding. “I’ve missed you too. Wait until you see the tomb. Marcus and the crew have worked so hard.”

  “Hello, Marcus,” Syble said, moving past her grandmother to greet him.

  She wore the blue dress she’d had on that first night in Luxor, the one that perfectly matched her eyes. If possible, she was even more radiant and beautiful than he’d remembered.

  “Hello, Syble.” He took a step towards her. Should they also hug or confine their greeting to a handshake? Marcus chose neither as he slipped his hands into his pockets. “What has your week of exploring been like?”

  How he’d missed her smile. “It’s been eye-opening, actually.” Before he could ask what she meant, she offered a question of her own. “How are you?”

  “I’m well.”

  It was the truth, at least in that moment. He’d missed her more than he had been willing to admit to himself. And now that they were face to face again, Marcus wasn’t so keen for her to leave right away.

  “Are you excited?” She motioned to the tomb’s entrance. “I am, and I haven’t been waiting nearly as long as you to see inside that treasury room.”

  Marcus chuckled. “I see our other discovery has whetted your appetite for more.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  Their conversation, so far, had gone better than he’d expected. She seemed warmer and more open toward him than during their last interaction. Did that mean Syble might accept another apology from him? Marcus still regretted his choice to put fear of her reaction over being forthright. In the end, he’d complicated things even more with his silence and angered her just as he feared he would.

  “Syble, I wanted—”

  “Hello there, Brandt.”

  Marcus jerked his gaze past Syble to see Kirk—once again—striding unexpectedly toward them. Only this time the man’s sister and brother-in-law were right behind him.

  “I hope it’s all right I invited them.” Syble peered first at Adelle and then at Marcus. “They were so curious to see something like this firsthand.”

  His hopes plummeted to his feet at her words. Things might no longer be tense between them, but that didn’t mean Syble preferred his company to Kirk’s. Marcus forced his mouth to turn upward. “They are indeed welcome. A large party is the way to do this. Isn’t that right, Adelle?”

  “Yes, of course.” Her smile might be more genuine than his, but the sympathetic glint in her eyes wasn’t lost on him either.

  Marcus nodded a greeting to Kirk and the others, but he hung back from entering their conversation with Syble and Adelle. Instead he took the time to remind himself of the importance and excitement of what he was about to do. He’d anticipated this day for more than a year, and he would choose to enjoy it regardless of what Syble thought of him or whether she and Kirk were courting again.

  A look from Adelle signaled it was time to proceed. “Shall we see what awaits us?” Marcus motioned for the group to follow him into the tomb. The sound of footsteps echoed behind him as he descended to the burial chamber. Outside the treasury room doorway, he paused.

  As he waited for everyone to gather around, his heart drummed a hard staccato beat. Access to this room had eluded him for a long time, but today he would learn what stood behind this door. Would the contents meet his large dreams or not?

  Marcus sensed someone’s intense look centered on his back. Glancing over his shoulder, he met Syble’s fixed gaze. Her lips rose in
an encouraging smile that, in this moment, felt like a gift.

  “Here we go,” he murmured as much to himself as to the rest of them.

  The others watched as he cut a hole in the door’s plaster, wide enough for them to at least get a glimpse into the room beyond. The air fairly crackled with expectation—his and everyone else’s. When he’d finished, Marcus traded his tools for a lamp. This was it. He pushed out a long breath, then positioned the light near the hole and peered inside.

  The paintings on the opposite wall were as exquisite as those in the other rooms and drew his attention first. His gaze moved lower, his pulse thudding with wild hope…but it soon soured. The room held no piles of treasure or golden chariots. In fact, the tallest object inside the room had the bearing of a mummified cat. There were other objects as well, small ones that had been scattered about. But even the sight of the ornate jars and the smattering of statues and jewelry failed to impress—and they did nothing to stem the tide of disappointment rising inside Marcus.

  “Well?” Florence called from behind. “What do you see?”

  Marcus stepped back from the door. “I’m afraid nothing as grand as what we saw in the other tomb, though there are a number of small items.” He tried his best to sound optimistic, but he knew he’d not succeeded when Syble frowned. “All of you are welcome to look inside.”

  Someone took the lamp from his hand, and Marcus moved out of the way to allow the next person to peer inside the treasury room. He’d pinned all of his hopes and dreams on this excavation, yet it had resulted in something much less than he had hoped.

  “I for one am still pleased, Marcus,” he heard Adelle say.

  He thought he nodded in reply, but he couldn’t be sure. It was as if he watched the proceedings around him from a great distance, the exclamations from the others sounding muted in his ears.

  A hand on his sleeve gave him something more to focus on than his gutting regret and the feeling of detachment. He recognized the gloved fingers. Lifting his chin, he met Syble’s blue eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Marcus.” Her words were low enough that no one else would hear them. “I know you wanted it to be full of treasure.”