Page 46 of The Storyteller of Krakow

We went under the arch and then turned right, another right, and then she led me up a flight of stone steps at the side of a building.

As soon as we reached the top, I told myself I would run back. I needed to take a left, a left, under the arch and wait somewhere for Arthur. There was no way I was going to see this Noor now.

‘See. Pyramid.’

She let go of my arm, and I did not move. Before me, I could see the pyramids: Khufu’s Great Pyramid, Khafre’s pyramid close beside it, and Menkaure’s smaller pyramid to the south. In the low light their stone faces turned gold, then dimmed towards dusk, and their shadows stretched long across the sand.

‘I come here, sit, sit.’ She sat on the ledge of a small wall and patted the concrete. ‘I come here to see. I like very much to see now, sun is going to sleep.’

I could not really talk; I just could not take my eyes off the scene in front of me. It was one thing to see them in a book, another to see them so close up.

I heard a jangle and saw that the woman was removing her headscarf and the lace covering her mouth. As she did, I noticed a thick, puckered scar running down the right side of her face from just under her eye, touching her chin.

‘I am hurt,’ she said, pointing at the scar.

‘Who did it?’

‘Man. He say I am too pretty. He say I am marry him. I say no. So he make me not pretty so no man can want me.’

I looked at her and could see that she was beautiful with or without the scar.

‘But look, they now disappear!’

She directed my gaze back to the pyramids, and I watched as the sun dipped behind the horizon, each pyramid fading away.

‘Is sad,’ she said. ‘I like to see.’

‘Tomorrow you will see again,’ I said.

‘Yes, tomorrow.’ She sighed sadly. ‘Heba,’ she then said and pointed at herself.

‘Lena.’ I copied her.

‘Lena, I like!’ She grinned at me.

‘Here.’ I dug around in my satchel, which I had brought from the truck, and found a few coins.

‘No, no!’ She waved her hands. ‘No money.’

‘Please,’ I said. ‘You bring me here. And is perfect. Please?’

She looked at the three coins in my palm, took one, then closed my fingers over the others.

‘You keep. Very important you keep.’

I had no idea what she meant, but I smiled back.

‘Do you know Noor?’ I asked, feeling braver now, more like the old Lena who punched bullies in the face.

I handed her the address, and she crinkled up her nose as she read. ‘Noor is magic woman.’ She handed me back the paper.

‘I know. I want to ask questions.’

‘Lena,’ she said and placed her hand over mine. ‘You must to be careful. Noor very powerful. She can magic things. Change things. Be careful, yes?’

I almost wanted to laugh. All of a sudden, I was a character from a children’s story, or even one of the characters I made up in my head all the time. Magic women, warnings, wishes.

I didn’t laugh, though. She looked so serious, so earnest, that I promised I would be careful.