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After all, they had a good deal to talk about.

?

Ellie could still feel the exhaustion in her bones as she trudged into the cool, palm-shaded courtyard of the Tyrrells’ Cairo house. The fountain tinkled musically beside the clean-swept tiles under the shade of the softly rustling palms.

Lady Sabita and Sir Robert sat at one of the wrought-iron tables. Sir Robert browsed a newspaper while Lady Sabita sorted through the post. She spoke distractedly as they entered, barely glancing up.

“Oh! Are you back from your excursion already?” she asked. “Was it very nice? Maa said you were going all the way to Aswan.”

Constance stopped short in front of Ellie, causing Ellie to nearly collide with her. She cast a quick and uncomfortable look over at her grandmother.

Padma had apparently taken the effort to concoct a cover story for them before setting out in pursuit.

The kumari smiled dangerously, and Constance blanched—undoubtedly considering how many more favors had just been added to her Aai’s count.

“Aswan! Yes!” Constance blurted out, flashing her mother a bright smile. “Ellie’s brother joined us, as you can see, and it was lovely. They had the most beautiful…”

“Temples to Ramses II and Nefertari,” Ellie filled in with a mutter.

“Some very nice quarries as well,” Neil added. “I have been wanting to see them. I mean—had,” he corrected himself with a slightly panicked look at Ellie and Constance. “Had been wanting. Because now Ihaveseen them, and they were splendid!”

At Neil’s painfully awkward tone, Lady Sabita finally looked up from her letters. Her eyes immediately widened.

“But you look as though you have been through a robbery!” she exclaimed. “Has something happened?”

Ellie was conscious of the rip in her blouse and the scab on Adam’s split lip. Even Neil was showing the shadow of a beard—though it paled in comparison to the scruff on Adam’s jawline. They were all wearing the same clothes they had left in nearly a week before, which were looking significantly worse for wear.

They had acquired a scruffy dog.

“You wouldn’t believe it, Maa!” Constance cut in quickly. “All the better carriages were full, and we had to travel third class!”

“All the way from Aswan?” Lady Sabita exclaimed with obvious horror as she rushed toward them. “You poor things! That must have been absolutely dreadful. We shall have to coddle you soundly. Come—let’s get you all a change of clothes. And a wash,” she added awkwardly, stopping a few steps shy and giving them an unenthusiastic sniff.

“Sounds good to me,” Adam said happily. “I’ve been itching for another turn in that sauna.”

“Thank you, Lady Sabita.” Ellie forced a tired smile. “That would be lovely.”

?

A few hours later, Ellie stepped into the meshrabiyeh-screened salon on the roof to find Constance sprawled across the cushions, shamelessly stuffing her face with dates. The tortoiseshell cat had returned as well—if it had ever left. It dozed on a pillow above her head.

Zeinab sat beside her in a fresh galabeya of midnight blue embroidered with gold, with a hijab to match. She leaned tiredly against her husband. Sayyid’s fez was back in place, which he looked quite relieved about.

Neil looked far less comfortable as he tried to settle himself on the piled cushions. He had managed to shave, and his hair was still wet from a wash. Mr. Mahjoud had sent someone to fetch some of Neil’s spare clothes out of storage, and so he, too, had been able to indulge in a change. Ellie couldn’t be sure when it would be safe for him to fetch his things from the dig site at Saqqara—if ever.

With his crooked spectacles, he looked overwhelmed and slightly forlorn.

Ellie sat down next to him. He blinked at her as though a bit surprised to find her there.

Adam rubbed a towel through his wet hair as he stepped out from the stairwell. He had donned a clean shirt and trousers, even deigning to shrug into a pair of braces, but had foregone a coat, clearly using the extremity of their circumstances as a continued excuse to avoid putting on a jacket. Kalb trotted worshipfully at his heels.

His gaze moved unerringly to Ellie and locked there. His mouth broke into a boyish grin.

Ellie found herself grinning back—and remembering the feel of calloused hands on her skin under a sprawling desert sky.

Deliberately, Adam crossed to her side. He dropped onto the cushions… and set his arm around her shoulders.

Neil stared at the casually intimate gesture. Constance smirked a little triumphantly.