Chapter Eight

Ahmed was waiting for me as I left the tomb.

“Assalaamu aleikum, Miss Katie.”

“Wa aleikum assalaam, ’ammi,” I replied, using the polite form of address towards an older man. “I hope you are well.”

“Inshallah.”

I felt my heart sink at these words. In Egypt, as in most Muslim countries, this was the standard response. It means “God willing” or “if it pleases God” and the Egyptians used it as a reply to any number of questions ranging from “is dinner ready?” to “does your business prosper?” But my experience of the word tended to make me expect a pessimistic reply, so when Ahmed said “Inshallah” to me, I had a feeling things were not good.

“Is there a problem, ’ammi?”

“There could be, my heart.”

We had been digging for three days now. After we had cleared up the mess left by the plunderers at the original mummy pit and excavated further down the passageway, we had found a small chamber full of possessions. These were still relatively modest, but even so I was pleased with the finds. I had written to Papa last night, a second report in as many days, detailing all our treasures. I wanted him to miss out on as little as possible.

Ahmed crouched down beside a water barrel and took a drink, his white galabiyya stained with the red soil and dirt from the tunnels. I knelt beside him, knowing better than to rush him, and for a while we watched as the others worked around us. When I had first met Ahmed as a child, he was one of the few adults I was genuinely intimidated by. He was a tall imposing man in his swirling robes, barking orders at his sons or his workmen. But he seemed to take a liking to me for some reason, and he would often bring me katif—cakes made of honey and nuts—or mahalabiyyah—sweets made of rice and pistachios—when he visited the sites we worked on. I think it amused him that an infidel child could speak Arabic as well as I could. Papa had made him promise to come out to the site as often as possible to help me, and he had spent the day with us, even going so far as to enter the tunnels, something he rarely did. Ahmed was very fond of Papa and greatly respected his ability to find precious artefacts, but he was not particularly interested in seeing where they had come from.

Finally he pushed his rolled, turbanlike headdress up a little on his forehead and dropped the tin cup back into the water.

“Last night one of your servants saw the Red Woman.”

“The Red Woman? You mean the ghost?”

He nodded, a serious look on his wrinkled face.

“How do you know? Who told you this?” I asked warily.

Ahmed spread out his hands. “Alas, it is already common knowledge among the workers. Why else do you think they would be so keen to leave this early in the day?”

As he spoke he pointed to the diggers walking away from the site back to their village. Usually the local population were happy to stay chatting to the Egyptians we had brought with us and share a cup of tea or coffee. But today there was none of that. They strode purposefully out of the tomb area, the long lines of men looking like rats running away from a sinking ship.

I looked round at the servants by the cooking tent. Although everything seemed to be normal, with the cook preparing the evening meal and his minions running round to do his bidding, suddenly I couldn’t help feeling there was a sense of anxiety in the way they kept giving darting looks at every sudden sound.

“Do you know what happened?” I asked and he nodded.

“The child who serves your young friend mentioned it to one of your grooms, and he in his turn told the workers. It appears that last night, just as she was returning from attending her mistress, she happened to see a strange, red figure by the mouth of one of the old tombs. Apparently the figure disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared. Naturally she was terrified, but her story was dismissed by older, wiser heads as the over-imaginative ramblings of a child. However, this morning…”

His voice tailed off and I didn’t need him to tell me the rest. This morning when the little groom who tended the donkeys mentioned it to the daily workers they would have been more than happy to supply him with all the details of our resident ghost. It would have been all round the campsite by midday.

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance the servants laughed out loud at the diggers’ stories?” I asked.

Ahmed shook his head. “None at all, Miss Katie. We Egyptians love a good ghost story. Especially when it involves love and riches and betrayal.”

I nodded. “Do you think we’ll have any servants left by tomorrow?”

“Not if she’s spotted again tonight.” He stood up, brushing dirt from the galabiyya. “I would stay, but I have urgent business to attend to in town.”

I got up from my crouching position too. “Not at all, ’ammi. I know you’re very busy. Thank you for coming today. And thank you for telling me this.”

Bowing politely, Ahmed began to walk towards the corral where two of his sons and the horses stood waiting for him.

“’Ammi!” I called. He turned back. “Do you believe in the Red Woman?”

He paused. Finally he said, “Allah has given us a world of mystery and beauty, my heart, and eyes with which to behold it. There are many things in this life that I cannot explain except as the Will of God. But I also know this…where men are concerned and riches are involved, look to the earthly to explain any inconsistencies before bowing to the infinite.”

He stared at me long and hard before turning round and continuing his journey back home for the night.

****

I walked into the tent and made a vain attempt to beat the dust from my white linen blouse and bloomers before giving up and pulling my scarf off, glad to feel cool air against my neck. Then I put on my reading spectacles and looked through the documents on my little desk at the end of my bed. The tent Bella and I shared was the most spacious I had ever seen. Lady Faversham had insisted on the best—after all, Bella was an honourable—and after initially feeling decadent and spoilt, I had come to enjoy the luxury. Lady Faversham was rapidly going up in my estimation.

Just as I sat down, there was a rapping sound on the stout wooden pole that was the central support of the tent. It was the nearest we could make it to knocking on someone’s door.

“Come in,” I said.

Adam pulled across the canvas flap, letting in some welcome fresh air. Like me, he too was grubby and mud-stained, soil smudges on his face and hands and clothes. White linen was the best defence against the heat, but it made any dirt stand out a mile.

“What did Ahmed want?”

“And a good afternoon to you too, Adam,” I said, rolling some paper into the typewriter. I began typing quickly, wanting this done before dark. It was always more difficult typing with only the aid of a lantern. “And how are you?”

“If you must know, I’m hot, tired, thirsty, and in no mood to play games. What did Ahmed say?”

“Why don’t you ask him?”

“Because he’ll tell me only what he wants me to know and nothing I want to know. As far as he’s concerned, Professor Whitaker is still in charge.”

“Yes, Ahmed’s a dear, isn’t he?” I said, silently blessing him for his loyalty to Papa. Adam sat down on Bella’s luggage chest, resting his chin in his hands.

“Do you really need me to say I think this is still your father’s dig, too?”

“That would be nice.”

Adam scowled at me. “Kate, for the last time, I did not tell the Board that I thought James’ sponsorship should be curtailed.”

“So you say.”

“Yes, I do. I—Good grief, Kate, this is terrible.”

I looked up from my typing again. “What? What’s the matter?”

“This.” He held up a report I had completed earlier. “I thought you said you were good at this. Henry was devilishly generous giving you the allowance he did if this is the best you can come up with.”

The disdain in his voice surprised me. I stopped typing and took the sheet from his hand and examined it for a moment. Then I turned back to my work once more.

“Sometimes you’re a complete ass, Adam Ellis,” I said.

“But there are mistakes all over the place. And smudges. It’s practically illegible.”

I looked at him briefly over my spectacles. “That’s not my typing, it’s Bella’s. She’s getting bored because there’s little to interest her at the moment, and she refuses to go into the tunnels because the only time she did a bat flew past her and nearly got tangled into her hair. She noticed my typewriter and asked if she could help me, so I gave her some notes to type up. Here. This is my work,” I said, passing him the file I was intending to send to Papa. “If you can’t tell the difference, then you deserve to go back to London empty-handed.”

I could tell from the way his eyebrows suddenly went up that he could see the difference. I began typing again.

“Forgive me,” he said finally. “These two reports look nothing alike. Can I take these back to my tent? I’d like to read them if that’s all right with you.”

I quite liked the humble tone; it was definitely something new. But that didn’t mean he was going to get me to do his work for him. He’d caught me out once, long ago, like that. It wasn’t going to happen again.

“No, you can’t. Get the museum secretaries to do your report writing. That’s what they’re paid for, isn’t it?”

“Kate, I wasn’t going to—” he started to say in exasperation, then stopped and frowned. “Listen, if I promise to be polite from now on and say nothing to annoy you, can we call a truce? I really didn’t come here to make you angry.”

“No doubt. And yet you have. I wonder why that is, Adam,” I said, my eyes still focussed on my typing. “What is it that whips me up into a fury whenever I get into a discussion with you?”

“I don’t know,” he said innocently.

I stopped typing. “Perhaps it’s the fact that I don’t feel I can trust you, Adam. Do you think that might be it?”

We looked at one another. We were sitting very close by now and the sounds of the camp seemed far away. There was a smudge of red soil on his cheek and without thinking I reached out and wiped it away, feeling the rough grittiness as something completely new against my fingers.

“Kate, I wish I could—”

“Kate! Are you in here?”

Adam and I sprang back as Bella threw open the canvas flap, letting in bright sunlight.

“Oh, I beg your pardon. I didn’t realise you were busy.”

“No, it’s all right,” I said, turning back to my typewriter. “Adam was just leaving. Weren’t you?”

“Was I?” He leaned back again too. “I suppose so. If you’re not going to tell me what Ahmed had to say.”

“Ahmed? You mean that frightening old man who’s always shouting at the workers?” said Bella. “Never mind about him now. Have you heard the latest news?”

“No, what is it?” asked Adam with interest looking at her whilst behind him, I shook my head frantically but to no avail.

“All the workers are getting hysterical about Kate’s Red Woman. Isn’t it ridiculous? Karima thinks she saw a ghost last night all wrapped up in red, and now those silly Egyptians think the place is haunted. Honestly, you’d think grown men would know better.”

Adam turned to me, an eyebrow raised. “Was that what Ahmed was talking to you about?”

I had been hoping to keep the story secret at least for a little while until I had some time to think about it. Now however, there was no alternative but to admit the truth. I shrugged my shoulders, trying to keep my voice as casual as possible.

“He did mention it among other things. If we’re not careful, there won’t be any servants left out here after nightfall soon.”

Adam stared at me for a few moments, before rubbing his eyes, his fingers going white at the knuckles.

“Well, I suppose it was inevitable really, given the site and its history. I wonder what she did see.”

“Probably just a shadow or a flicker from someone’s lantern. Candlelight can play tricks on one’s eyes very easily, and Karima is still a child. Would you like my advice?”

He looked up, surprise in his eyes. “Of course. Always.”

“Keep a watch posted for the next few nights and make it clear to the servants that’s what we’re going to do.”

He thought for a moment before nodding. “That’s a good idea.” He got up from his seat and walked towards the entrance. “I’ll see you at dinner, ladies. May I, please, Kate?” he added, picking up some of my old notes. “I promise I won’t crib from you. I just need to check something.”

I nodded as he ducked down through the tent opening.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” he said, just before he left. “That inspector fellow, Bennett, will be arriving tomorrow. He wants to see what progress has been made.”

“Oh, how nice,” said Bella. “I do so enjoy Mr. Bennett’s little visits.”

I groaned at this, but Adam just laughed and as soon as we were alone, she sat down next to me, unable to contain her curiosity.

“Please tell me I didn’t spoil anything important,” she begged.

I kept my eyes on my typing. “Certainly not. In fact your arrival was very opportune.”

“Hmm. That’s not what I thought.”

She sounded disappointed, and I could see she wanted to continue this conversation, so I decided to head her off.

“Bella, you realise if the servants think there’s a ghost here, there’s a good chance they’ll all leave, don’t you?”

“Not all of them, surely?”

“Probably.”

She thought about this. “How ghastly. I suppose that means we’d have to leave as well.”

“Unless you want to do your own cooking and washing.”

“Good Lord, no. Although I daresay Uncle George would. I think he’s rather in love with living in such a primitive fashion.”

I laughed briefly as I thought of our elaborate surroundings. This was hardly my idea of primitive.

“What about you, darling? You can’t stay here on your own. What will you do?”

I stopped typing for a moment. I hadn’t thought of that before. Papa and I were quite used to living without servants in the desert, but he was ill at home and clearly I couldn’t remain here alone with a group of single men, none of whom were my relatives. And yet poor Papa had been adamant that I should not leave the dig.

“Perhaps Alice will want to stay,” I said, but although Bella nodded enthusiastically, I could see even she didn’t believe that. Alice would be no more keen to live without servants than Bella was.

“Well, let’s not worry about it now,” I said. “Perhaps it might not come to that. So, what have you done today, Bella? Did Sir George finally get you to venture into one of the tombs?”

Bella began to recount her day to me, but as I listened to her, I couldn’t help wondering what other problems the next few days would bring.

****

Dinner that night was a difficult affair. First of all Adam and Mr. Tillyard were late, arriving some ten minutes after the rest of us, and it quickly became clear they had had the devil of all rows. Then the news that we might soon be without servants was broken. When Sir George heard about the Red Woman he was quite jovial at first, seeing it as no more than the simple superstition of the natives. But when it was pointed out that they might not remain at the site, he became distinctly less amused.

“No servants? Then what do we do for meals? And washing? And cleaning and all the rest of it?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that most adults managed to do all that for themselves, and Papa and I certainly had no problems when we came out here, but before I could say anything, Adam spoke up.

“Well, none of them have actually left yet. It may well be that the servants from the city are more sophisticated than we’re giving them credit for, and they won’t believe in the stories any more than we do.”

“Yes, that’s true,” said Alice. “There’s no reason to assume the servants are going to leave just because a little girl got somewhat overexcited.”

“Right. And if we make it clear to them that we’re going to have guards out for the next few nights, we shouldn’t have any trouble convincing them that this is just a silly superstition.”

“Dr. Ellis, I really don’t see how taking it in turn to lose sleep for the next few nights is going to do any good.”

We all turned and looked at Mr. Tillyard. His tone was sharp, and it was obvious this was the reason he and Adam had been arguing earlier.

“Yes, you’ve already made that clear, Tillyard. If you don’t want to lose any sleep, fine. I’ll do it myself.”

“Is there a problem, Adam?” Alice was beginning to get agitated now. She hated conflict.

“Tillyard doesn’t think it’s a good idea to post guards to keep a lookout for this Red Woman,” said Adam brusquely.

“Dr. Ellis,” Mr. Tillyard began irritably then paused, obviously trying to keep his temper. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea to give credence to this ridiculous story. If you really want the natives to have faith in our ability to keep order, then I think we’d be far better off by carrying on as normal. It’s the best way to show them how idiotic and childish this fairy tale is.”

“Good point, Tillyard,” said Sir George, taking a large gulp of wine. “It’s never a good thing to pander to the servants’ whims. Makes ’em feel safer if we stand up to them.”

Adam glared at Sir George, but I don’t think he noticed. He was too busy peeling an apple.

“Yes, Sir George, but what if Karima’s ghost wasn’t a ghost at all? There’s already been evidence of plundering round here. What’s to stop any thieves from taking advantage of nightfall to look for any treasures? And take advantage of the legend as well to achieve that end. I was trying to explain that to Tillyard before dinner.”

A howl from the desert hyenas distracted us all momentarily. It still seemed surreal to me to be sitting at this dinner table surrounded by uniformed servants and elaborate cutlery and shining candelabras while lizards scuttled under our feet and above us the stars sparkled in the inky black Egyptian sky. Then Adam pushed back his chair.

“Well, I’m going to explain to the servants what I intend to do and then start organising shifts. If you’ll excuse me,” he said as he got up.

Sir George put down his knife. “Wait a minute, my boy. Hold on there. I’m not so old I can’t take a share of guard duty. Can’t have the natives thinking we’re not together on this.”

I forced myself not to laugh at this comment after he’d just said we shouldn’t pander to the whims of the natives. Also, I could tell from the look on Adam’s face that he was less than ecstatic at the thought of the old man taking a turn at guard duty.

“Thank you, Sir George, but I’m not sure—”

“Don’t worry about me, Ellis. I can still keep awake if need be. In fact, I’m probably better at it than you. You young folks would be surprised as how little…”

As they walked away from the dinner table, Adam still trying to dissuade him, Richard sighed and got up too.

“If you’ll excuse me, Lady Faulkner, ladies. Wait a moment, Dr. Ellis. I’m quite prepared to take my turn with you…”

For once it was the gentlemen who left the table first, not the ladies, although I didn’t hold out much hope we would be served port and cigars. As the three men disappeared, Alice watched them go with an expression of relief on her face that they were all finally in accord about something.

Shortly afterwards, we all retired to bed. I was exhausted as usual. For the last three days, we had been working to a punishing schedule, and I was always ready to fall into bed as soon as we had eaten. I was finding it hard to have to make polite conversation as well and was relieved that for once, dinner had been curtailed.

When we got to our tent, we found that Karima had already turned down our blankets and laid out our nightwear. Outside the crickets chirruped and the scarab beetles clicked their antennae ceaselessly. We undressed, and I handed the lantern over to Bella so that she could check her bed for any insects or other animals that might have crawled in. Bella had read somewhere that snakes regularly curled up in Western camp beds, and no matter how many times I told her that in all my years on digs it had never once happened to me, she still insisted on making a thorough, rather morbid, search for them. I had wondered more than once what she would actually do if she ever found one.

As we finally climbed into our insect-free beds, we heard voices murmuring and the sound of footsteps walking past the tent. I recognised Adam in quiet conversation with Sir George, obviously about to start their guard duty. Bella heard them too.

“I’m glad I’m not them,” she said as she lowered the lamp. “I really wouldn’t want to have to sit up now for another four or five hours.”

I pulled my blankets up to my chin. “Neither would I.”

Bella squinted at me through the dim lighting. “But it was your idea,” she said.

I grinned. “So it was, my dear. That doesn’t mean I’d actually want to do it. It’s just fortunate that no one expects a fragile creature like myself to have to take on such an onerous task.”

Bella stared at me for a moment longer, before bursting out laughing. “Kate, you’re a wicked woman.”

I snorted as I turned out the lantern. I still hadn’t forgotten Adam’s remarks about me jumping off a cliff to prove him wrong. Somehow knowing he was losing sleep made me feel much better. To the sounds of the crickets and the occasional howl of a hyena, I gently drifted off.