Page 117 of Sands of Sirocco
He peered around the empty space, which was bereft of any furnishings.“Where’s Sarah?”
“Watering the horses.And trying to see if she can bathe them, if possible.”They’d disposed of Alastair’s motorcar after escaping the soldiers and purchased a few nags from an eager native.The poor animals were coated in dust and flies.Then they’d ridden to Abusir, just a few miles north of the town where Victoria had suggested they were holding Jack.
Noah had taken the first watch, allowing Ginger and Sarah the chance to sleep for a few hours.Then he’d taken a turn, the bare minimum on which to function.He’d thought his anxiety over Jack would keep him tossing all night, but he’d fallen asleep almost immediately.
Standing, Noah stretched his shoulders back.He went to his bag and searched for a new disguise.He’d spent so many days in disguise over the last few weeks that the skin on his face had begun to feel raw from the spirit gum.“When Sarah returns, I need to ask her expertise about Saqqara.And we should hurry.They may have been so distracted by searching for me last night that they haven’t moved Jack.But I doubt the situation will remain that way for long.The only advantage we have is that they may be unaware that we know where Jack is.”
“Unless Victoria tells them she told you.She may have even given you a false location.Either way, they could be counting on your devotion to Jack to attempt a rescue.”
He understood her anger with Victoria and shared some of it, but a betrayal of that level on Victoria’s part seemed too vicious.Would he ever trust Victoria again?Doubtful.But her confession at the end had felt genuine.
“Possibly.But I don’t think so.If she really wanted to have me captured, there were far easier ways.”He pulled a mirror from his bag.“Can you hold this for me?”he asked Ginger.As she took it, he found a bottle of spirit gum and a false beard.
“Where did you learn to do all this?”A smile tipped at the corner of her luscious mouth.He fought the temptation to kiss her, shifting his eyes back to the mirror.
“A book on theatrical makeup by Cavendish Morton.”The pungent scent of the spirit gum burned his nostrils as he opened the bottle.He hated the stuff, but these theatrics had saved his life more than once.His eyes burned as he applied it to his face.
Once he’d finished dressing, he put his supplies away.She watched him warily, her pupils large in the dimly lit hovel.“Noah, I’m worried.I can’t help but feel we’re walking into a trap.”
“Not we, just me.You promised to stay at a distance.And I’m not going to lie,rohi.I may not return.If I don’t, I left everything of value to me at Alastair’s house, including our marriage certificate from the priest.Most of my money is there, but there’s some—”
“Noah, stop.You can’t talk like that.”Tears fringed her lashes.
A crack sounded as Sarah moved the wooden board they’d used to cover the entrance.There wasn’t a real door, but it had sufficed.
Sarah pushed her veil from her face as she came in.“I’m sweating,” she said, scratching her cheek.“And probably covered with bites.”She nodded approvingly at Noah.“Nice costume.You would fool me.”She tugged the straps of their canteens from her shoulder.“I filled these up at the well, treated them with bleaching powder.Where in Saqqara are we heading?”
“The Serapeum, I think.Victoria mentioned some rather large sarcophagi.She also said the Step Pyramid wasn’t directly within walking distance but that she saw it when they drove past.”
Sarah pursed her lips.“That makes sense.They likely wouldn’t have driven past it unless they were coming from the south or west side of it.”She squinted, as though trying to comb her memory.“Come to think of it, I heard something about the Greater Vaults being closed recently due to sand erosion.”
Ginger set her hands on her hips.“And why, exactly, does it make sense?”
Noah strapped a pistol just above one ankle.Sarah had the advantage of knowing the local archeology as well as, or better, than he did.“Saqqara was built as a burial place for the kings of ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt.But several cults used it as well, including the Apis cult, which buried sacred bulls at a complex known as the Serapeum, hence the large sarcophagi.The site was excavated a half a century ago, but most of it has become inaccessible over the years.”
Sarah gave Ginger a sympathetic smile.“Why not just thunk her over the forehead with an encyclopedia on Ancient Egypt?”
Noah crossed his arms and quirked a brow at Sarah.“She understood.”
Sarah raised her chin as she met his eyes.“Good man.You don’t underestimate her.”
They slung their bags over their shoulders and left the hut.
The horses looked better than they had when they’d purchased them, though being forced to load them with their bags added an extra strain to the already-overworked creatures.Noah patted the gelding he’d ridden here, glancing over the top of the saddle at Ginger.She wore an amused expression in her eyes, which was the only part of her face he could see now that she’d donned her face veil.“She isn’t wrong,” Ginger said.
Noah strapped the bag to the gelding.“I’d be happy to leave the archeological explanations to the expert.”He nodded toward Sarah, who had already climbed onto her horse.He helped Ginger onto her mare, then mounted up beside her.
They rode from the hamlet toward the pyramids of Abusir, which took them to the edge of the desert.Like Giza, the cultivation from the Nile was a strong line of demarcation—the fertile expanse of palm trees and other forms of green plants seemed to come to a sudden stop at the edge of the crumbling, dry plain of the desert.It was hard to imagine what these areas must have looked like thousands of years earlier, when the Nile had taken a closer course to where the pyramids lay.
The broken limestone bricks forming the mounds of the pyramids at Abusir were all that remained of those times.
“How long will it take us to get there?”Ginger asked, bringing her horse alongside his.Sweat glistened on her forehead.
“The trip south is about five miles.My guess is that it will take us about an hour,” Noah said, swatting a fly away.
“An hour in five miles?Aren’t we supposed to be in a hurry?”Sarah’s voice was dry.
Noah patted the gelding’s neck.The saddle cloth encroaching on its neck was mere tatters and strings.“These horses can’t handle much more than a trot for an extended period time.If we need to take them to a gallop later for a quick getaway, we don’t need them already exhausted.As it is, one of them will have to take two riders.If Jack is able to ride on his own, I’ll take Ginger with me on this gelding on the way back.”
