Free Ghosts of Karnak by George Mann Page B

and begin making arrangements for her return to New York. She’d stay a few more weeks, make the journey back to Cairo to see the pyramids, and after that, take a berth on a steamship home. A month here would be long enough to see everything she wanted to see, to make the long journey worthwhile—and besides, she wasn’t sure she could stand being away from him any longer than that. Not if she didn’t have to.
    She sensed another camel drawing up beside her, and turned to see Landsworth, hunched uncomfortably in his saddle, sweat dribbling down his forehead and staining the front of his shirt. At least he’d made the concession of foregoing a tie that morning, although his pale suit still looked uncomfortably hot, and he was obviously suffering.
    “Here,” she said, holding out her water bottle. “Take a sip of water. You look as if you could use a drop.”
    Landsworth nodded gratefully, and took it from her, gulping at it as if it were the first drop of water he’d seen all day. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, replaced the stopper, and passed it back. “Most generous of you, Miss Gray. Although, if truth be told, I could use a drop of something stronger.”
    “Ah, well you have me there,” she said. “I’m avoiding the stuff.”
    “Good for you,” he said enthusiastically. “Best to keep your senses about you, what?”
    “Something like that,” said Ginny.
    He tugged on the reins of his camel, drawing closer to her. She wrinkled her nose at the smell, which she presumed to be the beast and not the man. “Listen, you seem like a good sort of girl, so I’m going to give you a little bit of advice.” He lowered his voice. “Just keep your wits about you around Amaury. That’s all. You might want to think about going off to visit the Luxor Temple tomorrow, after all.”
    Ginny frowned. “Are you driving at something, Mr. Landsworth?”
    He sighed. “No, no. Nothing like that. It’s just… oh, never mind.” He gave a dismissive wave, and then yanked at the reins again, and his camel pulled away.
    She watched him clomp away, moving up the caravan to speak with their Egyptian guide. She glanced over at Amaury, but he didn’t seem to be paying her or Landsworth any attention—the dig site had suddenly hove into view over the crest of a dune, and the sight was enough to take her breath away.
    The guide pulled his camel to a stop, raising his hand and issuing a low, braying sound that seemed to mean something to the other camels, which all juddered to a halt, forming a small group on the top of the dune.
    The excavations had clearly been going on here for some time. Amaury had given her a clear impression they’d discovered a tomb, but had failed to mention the vast necropolis that surrounded it. It was the size of a small town, and a veritable army of Egyptian workers crawled all over it, armed with trowels, brushes, and spades. From up here, she could see the broken stumps of a vast colonnade, the ruins of several buildings, the top half of a toppled statue; she hardly knew where to look. Onyx figures stood in a series of recesses sunk into a wall: one with a bird’s head, another a lion’s, and a third with a jackal’s. A plaza, partially unearthed from its sandy grave, displayed great symbols carved into the ground—a series of nested shapes, a circle inside a square, inside a triangle, inside a larger circle.
    These were things that no human eyes had seen for millennia, their true meaning lost to posterity. She thought again of Shelley’s words, although it was not despair she felt, but elation.
    “Impressive, isn’t it?” said Amaury, from beside her.
    She turned, surprised, to see him standing by her camel. The others had dismounted, too, while she’d been surveying the dig.
    “It’s… well, it’s not what I expected,” said Ginny.
    Amaury smiled and held out his hand. “You haven’t seen the best bit yet. Here, allow me to help you down.”
    Ginny took his hand, and lowered