“Darcy, I think the time has come for us to take the doll away from Meg.”
“You surely cannot believe this folklore and superstition?” he asked.
“I am not sure what I believe,” said Elizabeth. “Out here in the desert anything seems possible. And besides, whatever else, this attachment to the doll cannot be healthy.”
Darcy was about to protest when the memory of his youngest daughter standing by the railings in her thin white shift rose in his mind. It had no doubt been nothing more than a trick of the moonlight, but she had seemed to take on an otherworldly form.
“Very well,” he said. “When we land, we will make sure the doll does not go ashore with us.”
And then he surprised himself by thinking grimly, Whatever sins you may have committed, Madam Aahotep, you will have to find someone else to help you make amends.
Chapter 10
“This is it,” said Edward, the following morning. “This is where we leave the boats and venture into the desert. Is it not magnificent? An endless stretch of golden dunes, stretching as far as the eye can see, and buried beneath it, fabled treasures just there for the taking.”
Darcy made arrangements for the boats to remain close by for the duration of their stay; he wanted to be able to take his family back to Cairo without delay if for any reason their adventure proved unsuitable for his wife and children.
While he was speaking to the reis, Elizabeth arranged for many of their own possessions, including cooking implements, bedding, and other necessaries, to be left on board until they should be needed, for although Sir Matthew had assured her that the camp was well equipped, she suspected that an archaeologist’s idea of “well equipped” would not match her own.
And embedded securely within a pile of sheets was Aahotep.
Leaving behind some of the guards they had hired to protect the boats from any passing thieves who might otherwise prey on them, and to make sure that the reis did not decide to remove his boats without their permission, the Darcy party disembarked. All around them were the fellahs who had been engaged to work for them, unloading their less precious possessions and then putting them onto the backs of camels and donkeys.
“Well, Elizabeth?” said Darcy as he saw his wife eyeing one of the beasts. “What is it to be, a camel or a donkey?”
“Mama, Mama, look at me!” shouted Laurence enthusiastically, as he balanced precariously on top of a camel which rose unsteadily to its feet.
Paul rapidly sketched the sight, catching Laurence’s expression of triumph perfectly—as well as the camel’s placid gaze, the undulation of the sand dunes, and the exotic dress of the camel driver, whose long robe was tied in the middle with a rope belt and who wore a rusty red turban wound around his head.
“I can hardly do less than my son,” said Elizabeth.
She accepted the camel driver’s hand and he helped her to mount another beast, which was kneeling before her. It looked placid enough, but its teeth were large and its smell was appalling. It was, nevertheless, an exhilarating experience when the camel stood up and she found herself high above the riverbank, looking down at Sophie and Edward.
Sir Matthew, William, and John were already astride camels, while Jane was perched in front of Laurence. Beth had decided, like Sophie and Edward, to ride on a donkey. Margaret stood by, placidly watching them all and clutching her new doll.
There had been tears when Aahotep could not be found, but her nursemaid had consoled her by saying that Aahotep had no doubt been packed in one of the cases and would be unpacked when they reached the dig, and in the meantime there was her new doll, which her mama had kindly bought for her on a shopping expedition…
So Margaret had unwillingly accepted the substitute, which had come as a relief to Elizabeth and Darcy, and the nasty little doll was left behind.
Darcy climbed onto a camel and scooped his youngest daughter up in his arms, setting her down in front of him, and the caravan began to move away from the lush, fertile banks of the Nile toward the endless sand dunes that lay not far beyond. Their camels sailed along, stepping sure-footedly in the shifting sands, and once Elizabeth had become accustomed to the strange rolling sensation and to being so high above the ground, she found she was enjoying herself. The sun shone down from a cloudless sky, and the party was in cheerful mood. It was not too hot, the year being advanced, and they stopped once at an oasis, where they rested in the shade of the palm trees and drank from the cool waters of the pool. Ferns grew there and a surprising number of wild flowers.
“We will return here later, just you and I,” murmured Darcy. “We will come one morning for a picnic, without our entourage.”
“I should like that very much,” said Elizabeth.
After another few hours’ ride they began to see signs of activity, which was a welcome change after the vast emptiness of the desert. Fellahs in loose robes and colourful headdresses were leading strings of heavily laden donkeys toward a campsite in the distance.
It was for this site they headed. Elizabeth was surprised to see how well organised it was. They passed an area which served as a stable, where donkeys were being unloaded, and then rode through an archway into a courtyard. The courtyard was surrounded on all sides by a long, low building, which was alive with bustle. Men came and went through open doors, and in the middle of the courtyard there sat a group of small boys washing bits of pottery, some of it broken and all of it colourful.
“You did not believe me when I told you it was almost as large as a village,” said Sir Matthew, seeing her face.
“No, I must confess I did not. I thought…”
“You thought I was saying what I must in order to persuade you to visit and finance further work,” he said, “but as you can see, I spoke nothing but the truth. It was very much smaller at the start of the year, but with the help of my patrons I have been able to extend it to a useful size.”
“I am glad to see your trip to London was so profitable!” Elizabeth returned, as her camel knelt and Sir Matthew helped her down.
“It has enabled me to continue my work, and do so in some comfort,” said Sir Matthew. “You will be hot after your journey, but once you have had time to wash and eat, you must let me give you a tour.”
They were all ready for a meal eaten in the shade, and once they had refreshed themselves, Sir Matthew himself showed them round the camp.
“On this side of the courtyard we have the bedrooms,” he said. “Rooms have been made ready for you. They are simple, but I think you will not find them too uncomfortable.”
Elizabeth looked round at the bare walls, but noticed with pleasure the rug on the floor.
“A mixture of goat, sheep, and camel wool,” said Sir Matthew, following Elizabeth’s gaze. “Not as fine as the rugs you have at home, I am sure, but colourful and attractive in their own way.”
There was a bed and a washstand with a bowl and jug and space for hanging clothes. It was indeed sparse when compared to Pemberley, but Elizabeth glanced at Darcy and knew she could be happy with him anywhere. She caught his gaze and knew that he was thinking the same.
Sir Matthew led them on, showing them the rooms where the finds were kept. Most of them were pieces of pottery, but here and there were small daggers and the like, and the glint of gold.
“We found these in the desert not long since,” said Sir Matthew, picking up one of the necklaces. “A pretty trinket, no more. The tomb it came from had been plundered many times and only a few, small pieces remained.”