Guardian of the Horizon - Elizabeth Peters [37]
He crumpled the telegram in his hand and threw it on the floor.
So much for Sir Reginald, I thought, wondering if we would have his people after us too.
Despite the improvements in transport and communication, travel in the Sudan was still slow and complicated. Between Aswan and Khartoum, the swift flow of the Nile is interrupted by six cataract regions, where navigation is perilous if not actually impossible. From Wadi Halfa, at the foot of the Second Cataract, a railway track ran across the desert to Abu Hamed and thence along the river to Khartoum, but there was still no railway line in the two hundred miles between Aswan and Wadi Halfa. To fill this gap, the government ran a regular service of paddle wheelers from Shellal, the terminus of the Cairo-Aswan line.
It was at Shellal, a few miles south of Aswan, that Emerson had instructed Selim to meet us; and I was not surprised to find him and the others waiting on the platform when the train pulled in. They crowded round, embracing and greeting us, and it was good to see their friendly faces. Selim had selected the best of our men, and the best was very good indeed. There were three of them—Ali, who was in his early twenties, Ibrahim, still strong and stalwart at forty, and Hassan, Selim’s cousin. Selim had wanted to bring more, but Emerson had refused. The fewer lives at risk, the better.
The village of Shellal has few amenities, since travelers do not linger there; either they are boarding trains to the north or boats to the south, or they are making an excursion to the temples of Philae—now, alas, under water most of the year. Selim and our fellows had found lodgings which they were very pleased to leave, since they did not measure up to the standards of cleanliness to which they were accustomed.
I had a feeling they would not approve of the boat either.
The government steamers are comfortable and well maintained; but Emerson, being Emerson, rejected them in favor of a dilapidated boat owned by a friend of his. The stern-wheel looked as if it was about to fall off, and the reis, whose name was Farah, was so cross-eyed that both eyes appeared to be staring straight at the end of his nose. When I expostulated, Emerson reminded me that we meant to have as little as possible to do with the government.
“He has you there, Aunt Amelia,” said Nefret, as Emerson went off with Farah and Daoud to direct the loading of our baggage. She took off her broad-brimmed hat and fanned away a swarm of gnats. “Don’t worry, I brought quantities of insecticides and disinfectants. Shall we go on board?”
“Not until we have to,” I said with a slight shudder. “So, Selim, what do you think of Aswan?”
“An ugly place,” said Selim promptly. “Not like Luxor.”
“That is pure parochialism,” I retorted. Selim, who did not know the word, widened his eyes at me. “It is a pretty town, with many points of interest.”
“The dam is interesting,” Selim conceded. “I talked to one of the engineers, who told me how the sluices work. They are all open now, because the river began to rise in July, but they will be closed, one at a time, until winter.”
His cultivated air of superiority had been replaced by the enthusiasm he displayed toward mechanical and engineering subjects, and I knew he would go on and on about the cursed dam unless I stopped him.
“Who was this person?”
“Moncrieff,” said Selim. “He was a friend of Emerson’s, and he said he hoped he would see you all when you were in Aswan. How long will we stay here?”
“Emerson means to get off at once,” I said, mentally adding another group of curious persons to the list. Moncrieff was a pleasant fellow and a dreadful gossip. “We may as well inspect our quarters and start cleaning them. Selim—”
“I must help the men load,” said Selim, retreating in haste.
I suppose it is difficult to keep a dock neat and tidy. This one looked as if no one had even tried. Nefret and I picked our way through rusting tools and coils of rope, puddles of oil that shone greasily in the sunlight, and other objects I will not mention, to a shady