The Moses Legacy - Adam Palmer [55]
How long did he have? How rapidly was he losing blood?
Daniel looked over at Gabrielle and saw from the look on her face that she too was concerned. Without any exchange of words, she seemed to pick up on his suggestion and whipped out her phone. The look in her eyes said it all even before she put it away again. He tried to get a signal with his, but had no more luck, and Mansoor’s proved no better, despite his confidence.
They carried on more in desperation than hope, Gabrielle taking the lead.
‘I wish I’d followed my nephews’ advice and got into shape sooner,’ said Daniel, trying to make light of the situation.
‘You’re pretty fit,’ said Gabrielle.
‘Not like you.’
‘Flattery, flattery.’
He quickened his pace and lengthened his stride to catch up with her, just in time to catch the smile on her face before it vanished.
‘You know, I always wanted to be like you,’ she said.
‘What? A man?’
‘Ha fuckin’ ha. No, I mean when I used to visit Uncle Harrison during the summer… when you were working on your dissertation.’
‘So how come you went into Egyptology instead of Semitic languages?’
‘That came later. No, at the time, I wanted to be a magician.’
‘A magician?’
‘Yes. Remember all those tricks you did with cards and coins and all that?’
‘Oh, yeah. That was something I did at school. It was the only way I could make friends. I didn’t know you were interested in that.’
‘Oh God, yes! I used to spend hours practising… hoping I could be as good as you.’
‘And were you?’
‘Did I ever show you my magic skills?’
‘Not as far as I recall.’
‘Then there’s your answer. Rest assured, Daniel, if I’d thought I could have impressed you in those days, I would have done.’
He remembered that she had had a bit of a crush on him in those days. She was fifteen when he first started work on his PhD. He had got into University College London’s Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at the age of sixteen and graduated with a First in Language and Culture. At twenty he had gone on to do a direct doctorate at Cambridge under Harrison Carmichael. Gabrielle lived in Vienna, but spent her summers in Cambridge with her uncle, while her widowed mother travelled.
Daniel was well aware at the time that Gabrielle had a crush on him. He remembered all too well the constant flirting, the dressing up to look older, the ostentatious way she used to swish past him in a short skirt, desperately trying to catch his attention. He had to admit to himself that at times his eye did rove and his imagination was aroused. But she was a girl on the cusp of womanhood and he was an adult. To take it beyond the occasional acknowledgement of her flirting would have been as improper as it was illegal.
So he had played it cool and somewhere along the line she had grown out of him.
Half an hour into the walk, they tried the mobile phones again. This time, Gabrielle’s face lit up, so that even before she made eye contact with Daniel, he knew that the news was good.
She spoke urgently into the phone and when she was finished, she turned to Daniel with a beaming smile on her face.
‘They’re on their way.’
‘I heard. Did they say which hospital they’re taking him to?’
‘Luxor. But only because it’s nearer.’
‘Okay, well, let’s keep going till we make it to the valley, then see if we can get some sort of transport.’
Gabrielle nodded.
In the quarter of an hour that followed, they heard a helicopter in the distance and glanced at each other for encouragement. Privately, Daniel still had concerns. Would they arrive on time? Was Mansoor still alive?
‘What?’ asked Gabrielle, seeing the look on his face.
‘Nothing.’ He