“I think your imagination is getting the better of you, Riley.” I turn my back, hoping my voice is casual enough to put her off the scent because I suspect my face tells a different story.
“I don’t think so. You were the one who said getting involved with a lecturer was bad. I’ll be watching you,” she calls as I close the bathroom door.
Shit.
We haven’t even made it to the dig site yet, and Riley is already suspicious.
As the trickle of almost-warm water runs over me, I try to convince myself there’s nothing going on. Nothing for Riley to see.
But those looks we shared this morning, the few seconds in Ethan’s arms this afternoon, that one glance after the Sound and Light Show, have conspired to prove me to be a dirty liar. Because maybe we’re not acting on them, but there are plenty of feelings going on. And they’re all ‘not safe for work’.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ethan
Ihad thought I might leave the students to themselves today on their trip to Saqqara and spend the day on admin. Thereby avoiding Sadie. But having experienced the Pyramids of Giza anew through her eyes yesterday, I find I can’t resist joining them. Sadie’s joy is contagious, and I’ve had precious little of it in the past few years. I find I want to soak it up. Inhale it. Let it heal me.
My emotions around Sadie are seesawing, and it’s doing my head in. One minute, I’m sure I’m not ready, and I vow to avoid her. The next, I can hardly take my eyes off her and want to rip the head off any man who looks at her sideways. Then I remember her determination to be nothing more than colleagues. And right now, I’m looking at six weeks of this emotional scramble.
When we got back to the hotel last night, I deputised Ashraf to take care of today’s chores and asked the kitchen to put togethera picnic lunch for us. Saqqara is a little outside the city, and there are lots of peaceful, shady spots by the river where we could stop.
I love the necropolis of Saqqara. It’s a massive site, and in recent years there have been some incredible discoveries here. There are pyramids and tombs and buildings from the early Old Kingdom right up to the New Kingdom, and even some Coptic remains. So there’s something for everyone, Egyptian historian-wise.
Since the site is so big, and there’s so much to see, we decide to split into two groups so people can follow their interests. I know I shouldn’t go with Sadie. I know I should keep my distance. But it’s impossible not to be drawn to her. I can also tell by her demeanour that she’s nervous. My friend at the Department of Antiquities confirmed her father wouldn’t be arriving until the weekend, but plans change, and if she was going to run into him anywhere, it would be here.
Feeling so protective of her is perhaps another sign that maybe I’m moving closer to being ready for a relationship. The fact that it seems like the only person I’ve even considered getting close to doesn’t want me is a problem I’ll have to face. But right here and now is not the time. As I said, an emotional scramble.
At least we won’t be alone. We’ll have Bart and Garret with us. Simon, Jeremy, and Riley head off to look at the Coptic monastery and the museum.
“How about we start with the Djoser’s Pyramid?” I suggest, and we make our way to the oldest pyramid in the world.
As always, Sadie asks a million questions and poses almost as many theories. Despite his nervousness and fears around being in Egypt, Garret is at last starting to come out of himself. He may be timid, but he’s smart and insightful when he opens up.
By the time we meet back at the bus, we’re all dusty and starving. Mo and I confer as the students pile onto the bus and agree on a shady spot to stop for lunch.
Ten minutes later, we’re pulling up to a grassy embankment nestled between the river and a field of corn and surrounded by date palms. Across the wide, glittering stretch of the river, children are playing in the shallows. A couple of felucca’s sail slowly past. The half-grown crops behind us rustle in the breeze. It doesn’t get any better than this.
“Oh my God!” screeches Riley as we climb out of the bus. “We’ll be eaten bycrocodilesif we sit here!”
If Jennifer hadn’t filled me in on why Riley is studying Ancient Egypt, and why she’s on this trip, I’d wonder how she’s made it to PhD level and yet picked up so little knowledge. Or any interest, as far as I can tell.
“There haven’t been any crocodiles in this part of the Nile since the Aswan Dam was built.” Sadie fights a losing battle with a smile.
“You don’t know that. Maybe some have survived.” Riley manages to combine a pout and a scowl.
“Since the 1960s? Sadie’s right. We might get eaten by mosquitoes, but not a crocodile,” Jeremy replies, handing Riley a tube of insect repellent.
“Hmph.” A flick of Riley’s hair is all the response he gets before she moves to the furthest spot from the river she can find. Sadie, of course, sits right on the edge of the bank, despite the dampness, camera trained on the kids, the feluccas and the swaying crops behind us. Anything and everything is fair game for her lens.
The shade of the date palms and the slight breeze off the water are a welcome relief after a morning wandering over hot sand. Mo unpacks the feast the hotel has put together for us, and we load up our plates with fruits, nuts, cheeses, hummus, felafels, and flatbreads.
Our visit to Saqqara dominates lunchtime conversation. Even Riley shows some enthusiasm for the site. We’re down to pickingat the remains of the food when the conversation turns to the ambitions of the group.
Riley expresses a half-hearted desire to work in museums curating exhibitions, as does Simon. Garret has an interest in developing databases of 3D scanned objects, which seems to fit his personality perfectly.
“I’d like to run digs and maybe lecture,” says Bart. Which I already knew. We’ve spent many an evening discussing his plans.
“What about you, Sadie?” asks Jeremy, who has no idea what he wants to do, but since he’s the only son of some kind of baron or earl, perhaps the decision is not his alone.
