The morning, when it finally came, was bright and harsh but the inside of Ella’s tent was kept deliberately dark to cool its interior as much as possible. When Rowan finally tore himself away from her bed to find breakfast and confer with Spenser who awaited him, Julia slipped into the tent and took his place next to the bed.
Ella, exhausted and aching, thought about pretending to be asleep, but decided she didn’t have the energy for the subterfuge.
“Are you awake, Ella?” Julia whispered loudly, leaning over her to rearrange her cotton sheet such that if she wasn’t awake, she soon would be.
“You know I am,” Ella said without opening her eyes.
“Can I hold him?”
That made Ella smile. She opened her eyes and glanced down at the warm and sweetly sleeping bundle tucked next to her on the bed.
“As long as you don’t wake him,” she said. “I just fed him.”
“I won’t,” Julia said, reaching over and carefully picking up the baby. “Oh, Ella, he’s beautiful. Especially all cleaned up as he is now.”
Ella couldn’t help but smile at the memory of Julia swooning during the crucial last moments of Tater’s birth.
“That reminds me,” she said. “Did you hit your head when you fell or are you okay?”
“Pshaw! I suppose you’ll be spreading gossip that I fainted during your delivery or something. Has Miss Newton been in yet?”
“Visiting hours are restricted to family,” Ella said and was rewarded by a wide smile from Julia.
“We’ve had quite an adventure, haven’t we, darling?” Julia said to her. “One neither of us will ever forget.”
“That’s for sure. Did you talk to Carter about the raid?”
Julia pulled the blanket back from the baby’s face and smiled down on him and then handed him back to Ella. “He was very understanding. Said no harm done, nobody really hurt, and no gold taken. I think he was really more embarrassed for me than anything. We English aren’t comfortable with strong passion.”
“Honestly, Julia. You must have been out of your mind.”
“I loved him,” she said.
“Promise me you’re not going to go find him or something asinine like that.”
“No. He was losing interest in me. I believe he came here last night not so much to rob the camp but to deliver me back.”
“He probably could’ve done that with a whole lot less gunfire. I think the robbing part of the plan was still high on his to-do list.”
“I know you didn’t like him,” Julia said. “But I’m not sorry for any of it.”
“And Carter really is okay with you staying on?”
“He says so.”
“What about Digby? How are you doing with all that?”
Julia shrugged. “At least now I don’t have to get an annulment.”
Ella grinned and shook her head. “The English,” she said.
After deciding to stay in camp another week for Ella to get her strength back, Ella was happy to allow Julia and even Marvel to help her with the baby. When she did she was surprised to discover that there was nothing like a newborn to bring women together who might not normally feel inclined that way. Tater—formally named James Phoenix Pierce—was a good baby who slept much and cried little. To Ella, he looked like a miniature version of Rowan with brown hair and large blue eyes. He smiled easily and often. Sometimes when she looked at him she couldn’t help but remember how he had been with her through every step of her travels through the desert. And when she touched his little fingers and hands, she realized how much of her strength had come from him.
Once, when she was coming out of the bathing tent after having left Tater with Rowan, she passed the central camp dining table and was startled to realize that Spenser was sitting there writing in his log with Tater in the crook of his arm. Marvel—never far from Josh—was hovering nearby and it occurred to Ella that she was getting a good preview of him as the future father of their own children. Ella had to admit he looked relaxed and comfortable. Almost as much as Rowan did.
Few things delighted her as much as her nights alone with Rowan and the baby. Because Tater didn’t sleep through the night, Rowan could be found every night in the wee hours holding and rocking his son—sometimes outside looking at the stars in the Egyptian sky. Nothing made Ella feel as close to him as watching the two of them together. Every once in awhile she would remember the wooden statue of the three of them, or she would recall the memory of her husband and child in the hammock on the cliff and then she would be flooded with relief and unbelievable gratitude. Often she would touch the tattoo on the inside of her arm and her gratitude would be silently extended to the woman who had loved her and helped her save her family.
As for all that business with Abdullah, Ra and Viscount Digby, it became clear that as far as Carter was concerned, the less said the better. Rowan revealed to Ella that stolen artifacts from the dig site had been found in Digby’s tent. For the sake of his family back in England, Carter was happy to recover the objects and say no more about it. For everyone’s sake, it would be reported to the authorities that Digby died—as the sole casualty in the camp raid—attempting to free Julia from her Bedouin captors.
Julia showed no interest in returning to England, and Carter, who, it transpired, did not have a wife and family back home, graciously allowed her to stay and even began spending some time with her in the evenings as she developed an interest in drawing the found artifacts. It became clear to Ella that Julia felt she had no home to return to. Several times Ella found her tacking up one of the little camp ponies to ride the camp’s perimeter. Whether her intent was a hope that she might catch a glimpse of her desert sheik or to enjoy the barren, incomparable beauty of the land, it was clear to anyone who could see that her heart now belonged to Egypt.
When the news came that Lord Carnarvon would be arriving even earlier than anticipated, Ella was happy to put off returning to Cairo for another few weeks. The baby was healthy and she felt strong. There didn’t seem to be any reason to hurry back. Carnarvon’s coming while she and Rowan were still at the camp felt like the final perfect piece of the whole picture falling into place. For Rowan to be able to be a part of the opening of the Tut tomb would be an experience beyond anything he could ever replicate back in 2013. He would be here as history was made.
* * * *
Rowan held his son firmly in the crook of one arm and held the other out for Ella to hold. It had taken some time before she remembered to hold his arm when they walked in public and she had recently admitted that she had grown fond of the practice.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked as they wound their way through the crowded streets of the Cairo bazaar. “I thought we weren’t going to try to go back just yet. We can’t just leave, Rowan, without saying goodbye to everyone.”
“We’re not leaving today,” he said, frowning as they came to an intersection of streets lined with shops. “I want you to meet someone.”
“Someone who lives here?” She wrinkled her nose. “I know the hospital gave Tater a clean bill but I’m sure he could managed to pick up something air-borne from this market.”
They had arrived back in Cairo three days before and settled in at Shepheards. The city—indeed, the world—was still abuzz with the news of the recent discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. If it hadn’t been for Marvel’s suite of rooms, they would’ve had to pitch a tent on the banks of the Nile. Every room in Cairo was booked with tourists and journalists from all over the world.
“There it is,” Rowan said, guiding Ella across the street to a shop front.
Ella was surprised to see an elderly woman standing in the shop, smiling at them as if waiting for them.
Rowan nodded at the woman and gave her a half bow. “Olna,” he said.
Olna grinned, showing many missing teeth, and pointed to the baby in his arms. “You found her, I see.”
“I did. Can we talk?”
Olna led them to an interior room with a table. Before entering, she said a few words to the proprietor who nodded and left them alone.
“Olna is the reason I didn’t return to 2013 a few months back,” Rowan said, “when I was convinced you weren’t in 1922 any longer.”
Ella’s eyes widened. It hadn’t occurred to her that Rowan might have come back in time and then left again. Just the thought made her feel instantly cold.
The proprietor returned with a small tray of three cups of tea and set it down on the table and left again without a word. Olna gestured for them to sit. Rowan handed Tater to Ella and they seated themselves at the table.
“First,” Rowan said to Olna, “I want to thank you for helping me find my family.”
Olna nodded and smiled.
“But secondly, I wanted to ask you, how are we able to do this? Switching times like we have? And can we control it?”
Olna smiled at the baby in Ella’s arms and then at Ella. “How was it the first time for you?”
Ella looked at Rowan and he nodded encouragingly. “Well, I was very upset when it happened in Heidelberg,” she said. “I had gotten some bad news and was just…walking blindly around extremely distraught.” She looked back at Olna. “It was storming. Is that significant?”
The old woman shrugged.
“And I had my mother’s locket.”
Olna widened her eyes. “A talisman,” she said. “That is good.”
“And when Rowan came over to 1620,” Ella said, “he had his uncle’s dog tags.”
“Your uncle was dear to you,” Olna said to Rowan.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice a gruff whisper.
“But this time, we had nothing,” Ella said. “I mean, I had my locket but I wasn’t thinking of my mother and I wasn’t particularly upset.”
“You were with child,” Olna said, nodding to the baby in Ella’s arms.
“But what about Rowan? How was he able to come to this time?”
The old woman put her hands out in silent request to hold the baby. Ella gave Tater to her without hesitation.
“Your husband had the emotion for the trip that you did not,” Olna said, pulling the blanket away from Tater’s face.
Ella looked at Rowan. “I’m so sorry, Rowan,” she said. “I’m not sure I’ve even told you yet how sorry I am to have put you through that.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “It all worked out.”
Ella turned back to Olna. “It doesn’t feel like we have any control over when it happens.”
“Are you sure?”
“I didn’t deliberately time travel this time! It just happened to me.”
“Perhaps.”
“You think I wanted to leave my own time?”
“Yes.”
“She’s got a point, babe,” Rowan said, his eyes on his son.
Ella looked at him and fought down the hurt and the guilt building in her chest.
Rowan glanced at her and reached out to squeeze her hand but he spoke to Olna.
“We’re not going to be able to go back, are we?” he asked. He saw Ella’s startled look but she waited for Olna to speak.
“I’m afraid not,” Olna said, tweaking little Tater’s chubby cheek and smiling at the baby. “This little one cannot stay here without you.” She looked up at Ella and then Rowan. “And he cannot go back with you.”
“Ever?” Ella said, her eyes wide with shock.
Olna handed the baby to Rowan. “This, I do not know,” she said. “Perhaps when he is older.”
Ella looked at Rowan who was rearranging Tater’s blanket as if he hadn’t heard Olna’s words.
“Rowan,” she said. “We can’t go back.”
“I heard. Did you see that?” He looked at Ella and then back at the baby. “That was definitely a smile. Did you see it?”
“You don’t care,” Ella said. “You don’t care that we can’t go back.”
“Not too much,” Rowan said, still focused on the baby.
Ella watched him as he cradled their son, his fascination with the baby clearly evident. She looked at Olna who was watching her. “I guess I really don’t either,” she said softly.
Olna smiled at her.
On the way back to the hotel, Ella tried to process the fact that they wouldn’t be returning to their own time.
“What will our parents say? They’ll think we’re dead. Oh, Rowan. They’ll be devastated to lose us. I know we’ve only been parents for about five minutes but I already know I’d kill myself if something happened to Tater.”
“I know, love. But on that score, Yeena was one step ahead of us.”
“Yeena? The seer in 2013?”
Rowan nodded. “I thought she was nuts but she asked me to write a letter, addressed to both sets of our parents saying we had decided to stay in Egypt and would be gone a few years.”
“Are you serious?”
“I thought it was crazy too but I’m thanking God now that she insisted I do it.”
“Did you say why they won’t hear from us?”
“I said that we were doing missionary work in a remote section of the country with very bad communication channels.”
“Missionary work?”
“They’ll believe because they want to,” he said. “Yeena said she wouldn’t send the letters unless we were gone a few months so I’m sure she’s sent them by now. Our parents may be missing us but they’re not broken-hearted, Ella. And if we’re lucky, someday, we’ll see them again.”