“What book?”Tom asked, confused by their conversation.
“La Description de l’Egypte,” David replied, his French nearly perfect.“It was written by the savants Napoleon brought with him when he invaded Egypt.Four-and-twenty volumes filled with maps, drawings, and very detailed descriptions of what they discovered.”
At the mention of Napoleon, Will stiffened.“Are these the same men who saw to removing statues and other artifacts to Paris?”
“Probably,” David hedged.“But they’re all in a museum now.For safe-keeping,” he replied.“Much like what Belzoni took for the British Museum,” he added, referring to an Italian who had been responsible for the early exploration of Abu Simbel, some tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and of the temples of Karnak in Luxor.
Will seemed to relax, although Tom knew he was bothered by the pillaging that had taken place at some of the other historical sites they had visited on this trip.“Are these books anything like Pausanias’Descriptions of Greece?”he asked, referring to the books they had used for reference whilst they were in Greece.
“They are, although these are far more exact in terms of their drawings,” David replied.“They include measurements.”
“And the illustrations are very well done,” Randy announced, joining them at the trestle.
“You’ve seen them?”Barbara asked, angling a cheek when he leaned over to kiss it.
“From over Diana’s shoulder,” he replied.“She was reading quite late last night and was back at it again this morning.She’ll be along shortly.”He helped himself to some of the foods.“Apologies for my tardiness.I was sound asleep until I heard footfalls on the roof.”
“That was your brother,” David said, adding more eggs to his plate.
“Save some for Diana,” his mother scolded him, at the same moment George appeared with more food and a bunch of small bananas.
“So what, pray tell, had you up on the roof?”Randy asked, turning his attention to Tom.
His brother stiffened.“I saw some people on the shore.They were...”He shrugged.
“Dressed like us,” David finished for him.“I’m fairly sure I recognized the man with the gun.”
“Gun?”Barbara repeated in shock.
“He was aiming it at the...”He hesitated to mention more, as if he feared frightening his mother.
“A crocodile,” George stated, placing another plate of cut fruits on the table.“The beasties are everywhere in this river.”
Barbara exchanged a quick glance with her son and husband.“Those atrocious animals we saw in the menagerie?”she asked, her face screwing into disgust.“With the long jaws and large teeth?”
“That would be them,” Will affirmed.
“They stay close to the water’s edge.As long as we are moving, we needn’t worry they will come aboard the ship,” George assured her.
For a moment, she didn’t appear convinced.“Did he shoot it?”
David shook his head.“I didn’t hear a gun shot,” he replied.
“Who did you think it was?”
At that moment, Diana appeared, her hair swept up in a bun atop her head.She was dressed in a pale blue gown and wore a shawl around her shoulders.“Good morning.Please accept my apologies,” she said, her color still high from that morning’s lovemaking.“I’ve been reading and didn’t realize breakfast was already served.”
“You’re forgiven, Diana, and, oh, you look so pretty this morning,” Barbara commented.
“Thank you,” Diana said, taking the remaining seat at the table next to David.“Did I hear correctly that there’s been a crocodile sighting?”
“Not close enough to see directly,” David replied.“I was using the binoculars.”
“What made you think to even look?”she asked, nodding to George when he set a cup of licorice tea before her.
“Oh, well, I saw people on the shore.I’m fairly sure the man was Everly.”
Will gave a start.“Everly...as in the Earl of Everly?”
