Free Flora's War by Pamela Rushby Page A

everyone laughed.
    ‘I’m not anxious to see inside a pyramid again,’ Gwen said. ‘I’ll stay outside as well.’ Emily and Lieutenant Callendar looked rather disappointed.
    I beckoned to a guide waiting for hire. He eagerly accepted the coins I handed him and led us scrambling up the tall, rough stones to the entrance.
    ‘Can you climb right to the top?’ one of the officers asked, leaning back to stare above us.
    ‘You’d need a guide. Some of the stones are taller than your head and it’s quite dangerous,’ I warned him. ‘It’s also a very strenuous climb, I’ve done it myself.’
    ‘You’ve climbed it?’ he said. ‘If a girl can do it, it can’t be too hard. I think I’ll give it a try.’
    Not too hard if a girl can do it? He didn’t see my glare; he was still staring up at the top of the pyramid.
    ‘Oh come on, Lewis,’ one of the officers urged him. ‘We want to go inside the pyramid.’
    ‘No, I think I’ll do the climb to the top,’ Lewis said. He grinned at me challengingly. ‘Maybe Flora would like to guide me?’
    That did it. ‘I’ll get an Egyptian guide if you really want to go,’ I said coolly. ‘And I’ll certainly come with you, if you like.’
    There was a chorus of disapproval from the nurses and officers.
    ‘Let it go, Lewis.’
    ‘It’s not a competition you know, old man.’
    ‘Are you sure?’ Gwen murmured to me.
    ‘He’s not getting away with saying girls can’t do things,’ I hissed at her.
    I turned to the group. ‘Do you mind waiting?’ I asked. ‘It won’t take long. Not if Lewis can keep up.’
    I beckoned to an Egyptian guide and gave him some instructions.
    ‘What did you say to him?’ Lydia asked curiously.
    ‘I asked him to guide us to the top,’ I said. I glanced at Lewis. ‘I told him to take care of Lieutenant Canning, because he’s never done this before.’
    Lewis grunted.
    With the guide leading the way, we started out. I hadn’t been exaggerating; it was a hard climb. I ascended carefully, placing my feet where the guide said. Lewis kept up determinedly.
    We climbed and climbed. I was careful not to look down, concentrating on placing my hands and feet exactly where the guide indicated, Lewis right beside me. As we neared the top, the guide nodded to me. I moved to the side of the block of stone he pointed out and disappeared behind it. A few more steps upwards and I reached the top.
    I was sitting on the top, admiring the view, when Lewis appeared. ‘Why hello, Lewis,’ I said. ‘What delayed you?’
    ‘That guide –’ he panted. ‘He took you a different way!’
    ‘Did he?’ I said innocently. ‘I didn’t notice. Isn’t the view quite splendid?’
    Lewis gave me a dark look.
    ‘Will you go down now?’ the guide said in Arabic.
    ‘Quite ready, Lewis?’ I asked. I got to my feet. ‘By the way,’ I said, ‘do take care on the way down. Every year two or three tourists die falling off the pyramids.’
    The nurses and officers, perched on the stones of the pyramid, welcomed us back enthusiastically.
    ‘Well done, Flora!’
    ‘Not as easy as all that, eh, Lewis?’
    ‘Just what did you say to the guide?’ Gwen whispered to me.
    I grinned at her. ‘I told him I’d pay him double if he made sure I reached the top first .’
    Boots off, we gathered around the low entrance to the pyramid. ‘Bend over,’ I told them. ‘Heads well down. The passage goes down first, then up, and it’s only about four feet tall and three feet wide.’
    Bent over and heads tucked in, we shuffled down the sharply descending passage. Our guide led the way with a dim torch. Hands on either side of the passage, I stumbled along, sucking in moist, stuffy air. Occasionally people coming out of the pyramid met us, and we pressed ourselves against the sides of the passage to allow them by.
    The passage began to tilt upwards and continued low and narrow for a short way. It abruptly opened up into the Grand Gallery and we could stand up and