The Moses Legacy - Adam Palmer [74]
Yes, they would still come and they would still take cruises on the Nile, but they would go with the luxury, air-conditioned vessels not the austere feluccas. Na’if’s father had been lucky to get that job – carrying that Western couple from the Esna Lock to Cairo. Normally the tourists just wanted a two-hour fun trip to get their feet wet, so to speak.
But now with the tourist season nearly over, it would be back to fishing. So now it was Na’if’s duty to clean out the boat and get it ready for a fishing voyage. He always hated this time of year. The tourist season was so much more fun. Not just because the money was better, but also because there was more to do. The tourists were always interesting people to talk to. They came from other lands where they did things differently and it was always fun to hear about foreign lands, and especially to meet the Western girls who showed their bodies in the way they dressed.
He wanted one day to go to the West. Maybe to study in one of their universities or colleges. He had heard that in the West you could study to be a reporter for a newspaper or learn how to play football like David Beckham. It would be nice to do that. If only his father had the money to send him.
It was while he was cleaning out the boat that he noticed something that must have fallen out of one of their pockets. It was a mobile phone, one of those big ones with a fancy display. It belonged to the man – Daniel. He remembered that now. He had two phones, but he never used them. And now he had lost one of them.
It was too late to give it back to him because they had left the boat and could be anywhere in Cairo. Besides, Daniel had two mobile phones; he had seen that. So why did he need both? It wasn’t really stealing because he hadn’t taken it, but merely found it. And he couldn’t give it back to the owner because the owner wasn’t there.
There was no point handing it in to the police. They would never be able to find the owner. So why couldn’t he keep it for himself?
He made up his mind in that moment that this was precisely what he would do.
Chapter 58
‘I didn’t actually lose it,’ Sarit was explaining. ‘I just left it in my hotel room by mistake.’
‘But why didn’t you tell the police that you found it?’
Sarit was trying to convince the border official in Taba that it was all just a misunderstanding. But the border official was playing hardball.
‘I phoned the police and told them. But it was late at night when I discovered it and I couldn’t get through to the right person. They said they’d pass on a message.’
‘But you don’t know the name of the person you spoke to?’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘What is the purpose of your visit to Israel?’
‘Sightseeing.’
It was normally the Israelis who were more suspicious, but it was understandable that the Egyptians were being cautious under the circumstances.
‘You don’t think it was a bit careless, leaving the passport in your hotel room and then wasting police time by telling them that it was missing?’
Sarit felt herself blushing. This was good. It would make her seem like an embarrassed, careless tourist.
‘I didn’t just forget it. It had actually fallen out of my bag in the hotel room and was down by the side of the bed. It was only when I searched really thoroughly that I found it. Look, I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused. What more can I say?’
The official looked at her coldly. ‘We’ll have to check with the police in Cairo.’
It was then that Sarit began to worry.
Chapter 59
Daniel had initially assumed that Walid was a local Luxor man, because that was where he had boarded the felucca. But in fact he turned out to be a lot more well-connected than Daniel had imagined. He seemed to know everyone in Cairo, or at least everyone in the lower classes, from the waiters to the road-sweepers.
He also seemed to know quite a few of the Bedouin, including this group of five who were making their way across the Sinai