Night Train to Memphis - Elizabeth Peters [22]
‘It’s difficult to get used to this schedule,’ she said. ‘One is tempted to linger in the saloon, but dawn comes all too soon. How nice you look! Very professional.’
I had tried to control myself with Burckhardt’s money, but I hadn’t been able to resist the safari outfit. The pants were modestly loose – we had been warned not to offend Egyptian sensibilities by wearing scanty or skin-tight garments – and the jacket had more pockcts than a shoe bag. It made me feel like Amelia P. Emerson, but when I saw Alice’s calf-length cotton skirt and casual shirt I realized I had made a fool of myself. Professional archaeolosts didn’t dress like that. Not these days, anyhow.
‘I resisted the pith helmet,’ I said with a sheepish smile.
Alice let out a booming laugh. ‘You shouldn’t have. Why not enjoy yourself?’
Feisal returned with a loaded plate. I buttered a croissant and began eating. Perry (I wondered if I would ever be able to call him that) pushed his plate away. Having concluded the primary business of the morning, he was ready to give me his attention.
‘I look forward to your lectures, Dr Bliss,’ he said solemnly. ‘I confess I have not read any of your publications – ’
‘It isn’t actually my field,’ I said. I had known this would happen, and it would have been a waste of time trying to fool these people. ‘I – uh – I cheated a little bit.’
Perry frowned. ‘In what way?’
‘Don’t be such a stick, Perry,’ Alice said easily. ‘I don’t know what strings you pulled to be selected for this cruise, but I wasn’t exactly forthright either. My specialty is New Kingdom literature. There are at least a dozen people who know more about Ptolemaic temples than I do. But I’d have cheerfully murdered all of them to get a chance of living like a millionaire for once in my life. Ths is a far cry from the Hyde Park Holiday Inn.’
Feisal laughed. He really was gorgeous – even white teeth; glinting dark eyes – and he had a sense of humour. ‘A pity one can’t claim bribes as legitimate business expenses, isn’t it?’
‘I always do,’ I said.
Perry looked blank. ‘Really,’ he began.
‘Time we were off,’ Feisal said. ‘Forward!’
He bustled us out. The antisocial reader remained.
Alice fell in step with me. ‘I’m sure you were warned about lecturing on site. You can answer questions, but only licensed Egyptian guides are allowed to lecture.’
‘There’s very little danger of my breaking that rule,’ I assured her.
She laughed and gave me a friendly pat on the arm. ‘Some of these people don’t know the difference between the nineteenth dynasty and the nineteenth century; if they back you into a comer, just refer them to me or Perry or Feisal.’
The passengers had assembled in the lobby. I joined the fringes of the group – which, I was sorry to see, included the Tregarths. Avoiding them, I found myself standing next to Suzi Umphenour. She hailed me like an old friend, and I studied her in consternation. She had ignored the guidelines about dress, and was attired in a jumpsuit that clung lovingly to her posterior and bared her arms, shoulders, and cleavage.
‘Don’t you have a jacket?’ I asked.
‘It’s on the chair.’ She gestured carelessly. ‘But I don’t see why – ’
‘You’ll get a horrible sunburn. If nothing worse.’
‘Feisal said if I didn’t wear it somebody would drag me off behind a pyramid and rape me,’ Suzi said hopefully. ‘He’s such a bully.’
Feisal overheard, as she had meant him to. Frowning masterfully, he handed Suzi her jacket and hat, and ushered us down the gangplank.
‘Let’s sit together,’ Suzi said. ‘And have some girl talk. I adore men, but sometimes it’s a terrible bore having them cluster around.’
‘I seldom have that problem.’
‘Oh, now, honey, you’re just being modest. You know, if you’d spruce yourself up a little bit, you’d be real attractive.’
We took our places on the bus. By the time we reached the site my ears were ringing. Suzi had made helpful suggestions about my hair – ‘those little picks you have stuck in your bun are right cute, but you ought to let your hair