According to her, yes. Forgive me poking my nose in, Anna, especially at this early stage, but Ive been on cruises before and ours is an exceptionally small boat.
Anna raised an eyebrow. Am I being warned off?
I think the lady could turn a bit nasty, if provoked.
Sighing, Anna shrugged. Isnt it a shame when one cant just be friends with someone of the opposite sex? I dont want to get in anyones way. He was friendly. I dont know anyone. Thats all.
You know me. Ben gave her a warm smile, his eyes crinkling into deep folds at the corners. Not so attractive, I grant you. Not so young. But infinitely less dangerous. Come on. He touched her elbow lightly.
They were in front of a large square entrance, the heavily barred gate standing open but overseen by watchful guards, who solemnly took their tickets, tore off one corner and returned them to each tourist. Slowly, shoulder to shoulder with people of every nationality, they shuffled down the long slope into the darkness, staring at the walls on either side of them, and at the ceiling over their heads. Every available surface area was covered from top to bottom in hieroglyphics and in pictures of pharaohs and gods the overwhelming colours ochre and lemon yellow, green, lapis and aquamarine and black and white, stunningly preserved and covered now in plexiglass. She couldnt take her eyes off them. So many books, so many pictures ever since she was a child she had seen them, as everyone has, but never had she realised the overwhelming beauty and power they would present, or the sheer scale of them. To her amazement she found she could ignore the people milling round her, ignore the shouts and excited talk, the high-pitched competitive commentaries of the guides, the laughter, the irritations of people who, having come so far, to this wonderful, awesome place, proceeded to gossip and talk amongst themselves, seemingly oblivious to the beauty and history around them. The incredible silence was overwhelming. It drowned out the noise. It was all encompassing.
The further they walked into the tomb, the hotter it got. Used to British and European caves, which grow colder as you penetrate further in, Anna found it a shock. The darkness did not give respite. The silence and heat grew more and more dense.
On they moved, through three successive corridors, towards a huge pillared hall and then, at last into the burial chamber itself, with nothing but a rectangular pit to show where the sarcophagus would have been.
Ben glanced down at Anna. Well, what do you think?
She shook her head, Im speechless.
He laughed. Not an affliction which seems to affect many people down here. Slowly they turned and started making their way back towards the daylight. What about going to see Tutankhamens tomb next? Hes back in there, you know, minus his treasure, of course. As they came out once more into the sunlight, he gestured towards one of the smaller entrances. Were lucky. I think they close his tomb every so often to give it a rest from all the visitors who come here. According to my guidebook its small and relatively low key compared with some of the others, because he died young and no one was expecting his death. He might even have been murdered.
Once more they queued, once more a corner was removed from their ticket and slowly they made their way into the darkness. This tomb was indeed very different from the last one they had seen. Besides being smaller, it was simpler; there was no decoration, but there was something else. Anna stopped, allowing the people around her to pass on, unnoticed. Staring round she let her eyes become accustomed to the low level of lighting. Ben had moved on and for a moment she was alone. Then she realised what it was that was so strange. This tomb was cold.
She shivered, conscious of the goosepimples on her bare arms. Ben? She couldnt see him. A crowd of visitors were making their way into the inner chamber. She turned round, half expecting to find someone standing behind her. There was no one there. Ben? Her voice was muffled in the silence.
Confused, she put her hand to her head, conscious suddenly of a group of tourists speaking Italian loudly, happily, as they filled the entrance behind her; in a moment they were all around her and she found herself being swept on in their wake.
She frowned. The tomb was no longer cold; it was as hot as the other they had visited and she could hardly breath. Suddenly panic-stricken, she pushed her way forward. She still couldnt see Ben. She wasnt usually claustrophobic, but the walls seemed to be closing in on her.
The people near her were anonymous black shadows, faceless in the dark. Her mouth had gone dry.
She stared round frantically and diving for the next entrance she abruptly found herself standing in the burial chamber itself, looking down at the open eyes of the young king Tutankhamen. He lay gazing up at the ceiling of his dark, hot tomb, disdaining the presence of the peasants who had come to stare at him, divested of the riches which had bolstered his royalty, but still he was awe-inspiring. How many of the people standing round him, she wondered, were as suddenly and as intensely aware as she was of the emaciated, broken body of the young king, lying inside that gilded wooden coffin? She shivered again, but this time not with cold.
Anna? Ben appeared beside her, his camera in his hand. Isnt he amazing?
She nodded. The bag on her shoulder had grown very heavy. Why had she not taken out her own camera? She swung the soft leather holdall to the floor and was pulling open the zip when a strange wave of dizziness hit her. With a gasp, she straightened, leaving the bag to subside into the dust at her feet, spilling its contents over the ground.
Are you OK? Ben had caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye. He stooped, and hastily began pushing everything back into the bag for her. She saw a flash of scarlet as the silk-wrapped scent bottle was scooped out of sight, then his arm was round her shoulders.
I felt weird suddenly. She pressed her hands to her face. Im all right. I must have bent over too quickly to get my camera. Too much excitement, and too early a start, I expect. She forced herself to smile.
Perhaps that is a sign that its time to go and have a rest up in the fresh air. He took her arm, glancing over his shoulder. These tombs are a bit overpowering, to my mind.
Theres something down here, isnt there? Anna could feel the perspiration on her back icing over. She was shivering again. I thought all that business about the curse of the mummys tomb was rubbish, but there is an atmosphere. I dont like it.
A shout of laughter near her from a party of Germans, and the earnest mumble from a group of Japanese photographers in the treasury beyond the burial chamber, seemed to contradict her words, but it made no difference. I do want to leave. Im sorry.
No problem. Come on.
Grateful for the strength of his arm she stumbled after him, back towards the entrance corridor and the blinding sunlight outside.
Once sitting in the shade of the visitors resting area, she felt better. They both drank some bottled water, but she could see Ben was longing to move on. Go without me, please. I will be all right soon. I shall just sit for a few minutes longer, then Ill follow.
He gave her a searching look. Are you sure?
Of course.
She couldnt see where it was that Hassan had taken Louisa and pitched her a makeshift shelter on a soft Persian rug. She desperately wanted to get away from the crowds, to find the place and to experience the silence as Louisa had done. She stood for a moment shading her eyes, looking up one of the white, dazzling paths which led away from the noisy centre of the valley. Could that have been where they went? Glancing over her shoulder she saw Ben disappearing with another queue into a tomb on the far side of the well-trodden centre of the valley. Near him she recognised one or two other people from their party. She hesitated, then, resolutely turning her back on them, she began to make her way up the empty track past a dusty fingerpost labelling yet more tombs, and, her shoes slipping on the dust and stones, she scrambled on upwards away from the crowds.
Above her the rock martins circled and swooped into holes in the cliffs but apart from that nothing moved. Almost immediately the sound of the crowds behind her diminished and disappeared. The heat and the silence were overwhelming. She stopped, staring round, scared for a moment that she might lose her bearings, but the path was clearly marked. Just empty. The colours of the rock were monochrome. Blinding. The sky the most brilliant blue she had ever seen.
Somewhere near her she heard footsteps suddenly, and the sound of scraping on the limestone. She frowned, shading her eyes as she scanned the cliff face. There was no one there. It was no more than a shifting of the sands.
But her mood had changed again and once more she began to feel uneasy. After the noise and bustle and colour of the main valley the crowds, the shouting guides, the raised voices in a dozen different languages this intense silence was unnerving. It was the silence of the grave.
In spite of the heat she found herself shivering again. She had the strangest feeling that she was being watched, a weird sensation that there was someone near her. She stared up at the cliff face, narrowing her eyes against the glare. There were other tombs in this direction. She had seen them on the plan. But no one seemed to be visiting them. Perhaps they were closed as the greater part of the tombs were, to protect them from the massive tourist interest. She took a few steps further up the path, rounding another corner. The cliffs were arid, silent, but for the birds. Far above she could see a dark speck against the blinding sky. Perhaps that was a kite, like the one Louisa had seen. The feeling that there was someone there at her shoulder was so intense suddenly that she swung round. Tiny eddies of dust swirled momentarily round her ankles in an undetectable breath of wind, then the air was still again.
Stubbornly she moved on. It was round here that Hassan had pitched the shelter for Louisa, she was sure of it. Here they had sat together on the rug and she had opened her sketchbook and, unscrewing her water jar, had begun one of her paintings of the rugged hillside.
Do I gather you too prefer to be away from crowds?
The voice, a few feet from her, shocked her out of her reverie. She spun round. Toby Hayward was standing nearby. He swung his canvas satchel off his shoulder onto the ground and wiped his face on his forearm. Im sorry, I didnt mean to startle you. I didnt see you until I came round the corner.
Astonished at how relieved she was to find out the presence she had felt was that of a real person, she managed a smile. I was dreaming.
The right place for it. He stood for a moment in silence. I find it hard to catch the atmosphere with the crowds down there, he said suddenly. So many of them, and they snap endless pictures, but dont look. Have you noticed? Their eyes are closed.
The camera remembers. They are afraid they wont, Anna said quietly. We all do it. Her own camera was still in her bag.
Im sure you look as well.
The anger in his voice disturbed her. I try to. She decided to try a different tack. Her quest, after all, was not secret. I was trying to picture this place a hundred years ago, before it was commercialised.
Its always been commercialised. They probably brought guided tours here before the corpses were cold. Folding his arms he stared up at the cliffs. Did I hear you right last night? You are a relation of Louisa Shelley? No apology for eavesdropping, she noticed.
Im her great-great-granddaughter, yes.
She was one of the few Victorians who empathised with the Egyptian soul. He had narrowed his eyes, still studying the rock formations above their heads.
How do you know thats how she felt? Anna stared at him curiously.
From her painting. They have a set of watercolours at the Travellers Club.
I didnt know that.
He nodded abruptly. On the staircase. Ive often studied them. She lingers over details. Shes not embarrassed by form or feature. And shes never patronising. She uses a wonderful depth of colour unlike Roberts. He sees all this he waved his arm at the cliffs as one tonal range. She sees the shadows, the wonderful textures.
Anna looked at him with a new interest. You talk like an artist.
Artist! He snorted. Stupid word. If you mean a painter, yes, Im a painter. He was still staring up at the cliff and she took the opportunity of looking at him for a moment, surreptitiously, taking in the rugged features, the thatch of unruly greying-blond hair beneath the faded blue sun hat.
Louisa loved Egypt. Im reading her diary, and its apparent on every page. She gave a wistful smile. I almost envy those Victorian women. They had so much to contend with and yet they persevered. They followed their dreams. They worked so hard for them She broke off in mid-sentence, aware suddenly that he had turned his attention from the cliff and was watching her intently. She met his gaze and held it for a minute, but it was she who looked away first.
It sounds to me as though you wished you too had had to work hard for a dream, he said quietly.
She shrugged. Perhaps. But Im not the intrepid type, sadly. How could she be when she had remained so meekly in her marriage and at home?
No? He was still looking at her thoughtfully.
No. She smiled suddenly. Or not until today. Breaking away from the group and coming up here was pretty intrepid for me.
He laughed and suddenly his face looked much younger. Then we must encourage your intrepidness. Which tombs did your great-great-grandmother visit? Not young King Tut, obviously.
No. Annas smile died.
Watching her, he raised an eyebrow. So, what have I said now?
Nothing.
Something about Tutankhamens tomb?
She shook her head. He was intuitive, she would grant him that. I was in there. A little while ago. Something strange happened.
Strange?
She shook her head. Claustrophobia, I suppose. Nothing really. Only it made me need to get away from everyone and come up here.
And I spoilt your solitude. Im sorry.
No. No. I didnt mean that. She shrugged helplessly. The trouble is, it didnt work. The feeling, whatever it was, followed me up here.
Again he gave her that long, disconcertingly direct look. There was no judgement in it. He wasnt laughing at her. On the contrary he was considering her words, mulling them over, scanning her face for clues. I think this whole valley could have that effect on people, he said at last. In spite of the numbers of tourists who come here, the atmosphere is extraordinary. It is uncomfortable. Have you met Serena Canfield yet? She was sitting next to me at dinner last night. You should talk to her if youre a sensitive. She is into Ancient Egyptian magic and stuff which might appeal to you. She has read all the books about star gates and Orion and Sirius.
Anna raised an eyebrow. Was he being dismissive of her, gently taking the mickey or was he making the suggestion in good faith? It was hard to tell. Those steadfast eyes, the colour as clear as water, were impossible to read.
I might just do that, she said with a small touch of defiance. There is room for so much that is strange and out of the ordinary in Egypt.
He shrugged, but the angling of his head could have been a nod of agreement. What I do hope is that she doesnt go too near our revered guide, who is a devout Muslim and will not hear a word about all that stuff on his ship. He has enough trouble with the legends of the pharaohs. Did you notice that? He will not allow them even to be history.