Free Journey to the Lost Tomb (Rowan and Ella Book 2) by Susan Kiernan-Lewis Page B

back as she wept and tried to speak.
                “Are
you sure she hasn’t called you?” Maddie asked, trying to compose herself.
                Rowan
shook his head. He had answered this question at least twice. But he knew it
was an important one. The wrong answer to has
she called? meant something had happened to her. Maddie knew that. Rowan
knew that.
                “She
told you she had to pick up a souvenir for me?”
                “Yes.
She said it was something she saw last night when she was at the bazaar.”
                “Why
didn’t she just get it then?”
                “I
don’t know. Maybe she saw it in a window and the shop wasn’t open last night.”
                “It
doesn’t make sense,” he said, still stunned that Ella had not gotten off the
airplane.
                Letting Maddie come home alone? He shook
his head. Wasn’t that the whole point of
the trip? To bring Maddie back? Had she been in an accident? He checked his
cellphone again. He knew he was listed as her emergency contact. Her passport
was in her purse. She had been carrying her purse. If she was in a hospital
somewhere, they should have contacted him by now.
                “I’m
so sorry, Rowan,” Maddie said, still sniffing.
                “Don’t
be,” he said tersely. “It’s not your fault. We’ll find out what happened. Probably
sometime today. Her cellphone’s dead. It’ll take her awhile to figure out how
to use the Egyptian public phones.”
                “Oh!
You’re probably right.”
                “I’m
sure I am.”
                “You
have a long drive back to Dothan,” Maddie said. She was making an obvious
effort to pull herself together. “My folks will come get me.”
                “Not
at all,” he said. “I’ll take you home.” He leaned down to collect Ella’s
carryon although a stab of worry reignited when he saw it. There is no way Ella would have voluntarily missed that plane. He glanced
at Maddie and was glad to see she looked so relieved. He wished he could feel
the same.
     
                The
first thing Ella did was put her hand to her face. The left side of her cheek
was burning as if she were was too close to a really hot fire. When her vision
cleared, she saw that she was lying on her side on a wet stone surface. Afraid
to move for fear she had damaged herself, she lay frozen on the ground and
tried to get her bearings. She heard voices but not nearby. The ground was wet because
it was raining. She moved slowly to try to sit up and found that she was
unhurt. She was no longer wedged in a gap between two buildings but was lying
on the side of a fairly wide alley. It took a moment of blinking before she
realized it was nightfall.
                She
jerked her wrist up close to her face to see the time. It was past eight
o’clock.
                She
had missed the flight.
                Even
though she knew it was too late, she frantically pulled herself to her feet. Would Maddie have left? Ella had told
her to get on the airplane. Yes, she would be gone by now. Not trusting her
legs to hold her, she leaned against the brick wall lining the alley and studied
her surroundings.
                She
still heard voices—nothing distinct so she couldn’t tell what language
they were in—but she saw no people. Her clothes were wet all the way
through and she had already started to shiver. In spite of how hot it had been
earlier in the day, she felt a chill straight through to her bones. The shops
down this street were closed and dark. She wondered if it was Friday already?
How long had she been out? Was everyone at prayer? She noticed a movement at
the end of the alley and instinctively moved in that direction.
                Someone
must have found her in the alley behind the bakery