Death on Tour - Janice Hamrick [80]
Before the silence could become uncomfortable, Kyla broke the spell. “Those look good,” she said, eyeing the martinis. “I’m going to go get one. What do you want, Joss?”
“Bloody Mary if they’ve got tomato juice. Wine if they don’t.”
“They do.” Ben turned to me as Kyla left. “I saw the bartender mixing one a minute ago.” Then his eyes widened. “Smashing necklace, Jocelyn.”
Lydia turned to look and her eyebrows rose almost to her hairline. “Well, well. That is a beautiful piece. May I?”
I nodded and she leaned in very close, lifting it to get a better look. She straightened and gave me an appraising look.
“That is exactly what I’ve been looking for myself. If you don’t mind, can you tell me where you got it?”
“Edfu. And it’s kind of a funny story.” I gave her a shortened version, but even that was strange enough.
“Bizarre,” she said when I’d finished. “They just handed it to you and shooed you out?”
“Basically. I guess because they’d scared me.”
“Well, you’re very lucky. It’s lovely.”
The atmosphere had changed subtly. The evening was still beautiful and clear. The breeze still blew gently. Lydia and Ben still sipped their drinks and smiled, but something was different. It crossed my mind that perhaps they didn’t believe me. I couldn’t really blame them. I almost didn’t believe it myself.
“Let’s go find a seat near the band,” said Ben, and they left.
I decided not to tell that story again.
I found Kyla, and we sat near the railing. Far below in the inky blackness of the Nile, we could see the golden lights of our ship reflecting on the still surface of the water. Now that we were away from Edfu, there were very few lights on the shore and it was impossible to tell where the water ended and the land began.
A band of Nubian drummers came running up the stairs from below, beating their drums as they came. The tour directors rose and began prodding their charges, and in a remarkably short time a conga line had formed. Kyla hopped up instantly and joined in. I sat, sipping my Bloody Mary. More alcohol was required before I’d feel up to dancing on deck, I thought.
I saw Alan before he saw me. Coming up from the stairs, he stood and watched the line of dancers winding erratically around the deck, led by a drummer whose smile gleamed white in his dark face. For a moment, he just stood, a dim form on the sidelines, and then he saw me and made a beeline to my side. I felt my heart beat a little faster.
“Come on,” he shouted above the din and reached out a hand.
Before I knew it, we had grabbed onto the tail end of the line. I held on to an elderly man I hadn’t seen before and Alan grasped my waist. His hands were very warm through my blue galabia. I started laughing with pure pleasure.
The conga ended a couple of minutes later, but the Nubians played for about thirty more minutes. Then we played a few cruise games that everyone enjoyed immensely but would later claim were silly. Left on my own, I would have watched from the sidelines, but Alan and Kyla between them made that impossible. We swung potatoes on strings, did the hokey pokey, and made fools of ourselves for longer than I would have thought possible. DJ was in his element, throwing his head back and laughing his big laugh. Nimmi had either forgiven me for thwarting her shoplifting attempt in the gift shop or decided I hadn’t known what I had done because she joined us, talking and laughing. She admired my necklace and waved DJ over.
“Look! Do you see this? This is exactly what I want.” She shouted over the music.
He looked dutifully and gave a great big smile. “When we find another, you shall have it. I will make a wonderful bargain for you.”
It was ridiculous to suspect such a loud, happy, and basically nice man could be a smuggler. I felt a little ashamed of myself for even thinking such things. Eventually, the games ended and a disk jockey arrived and began playing softer music that had been popular once and now was heard primarily on elevators and oldies stations. Anni and the other tour guides said their good nights and went below, as did about