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His face bore every one of his stories; the lines held untold adventures, his scars displayed the perilous moments in his life, the glasses a necessity from long years of being hunched over a book. All put together, he was a study of secrets and academic pursuit, the mark of an explorer.

“What do you wish to know?”

My breath stayed at the back of my throat. Would I have many more moments like this? Only the two of us? When we reached Philae, his attention and time might be pulled in a thousand different directions. “They spent seventeen years in Egypt. Were they happy here?”

Tío Ricardo let out a soft chuckle. “Do you know why I invited them to come?”

“You needed money,” I said flatly.

He gave me a rueful smile. “I’d drained all of my personal resources and I refused to accept funding from institutions who demanded artifacts in return. Zazi and I were at our wits’ end, and then she had the idea for me to reach out to Cayo and Lourdes. It was the only way she thought the three of us could continue with any integrity. Her brother Abdullah’s work had bound us all together… but then she died.” Acute misery swept across his face, and I wanted to reach forward to take his hand in mine. But I held still, somehow knowing he’d stop talking if shown any pity.

And I didn’t want him to stop talking.

“I continued to ask for the money because I believed in Abdullah’s mission, and because I knew that Zazi wouldn’t have wanted her brother to carry it alone.” The line of his mouth relaxed as he fell into a memory. “Your father was happy from the start, but it took time for Lourdes to fall in love with Egypt. But when she did, she fell hard. Soon, she made herself indispensable to the team. She was so organized, and I trusted her to pay everyone on time, keeping track of their hours. She was a favorite among the crew, always making them laugh with some of her pranks. Eventually, she made a life here.”

“She played pranks at the excavation site? That doesn’t sound like Mamá.”

My mother always knew how to behave, knew the right thing to say, and was a favorite in the social circles of Buenos Aires.

“It’s who she was as a young girl,” he said quietly. “Egypt brought that out of her. Try to remember that she married young, younger than you are now, and to a man much older than her. My parents were rigid people who expected much from their only daughter, and while they had a good name, they didn’t have money. Your father made his wealth by working hard, making smart investments, and succeeding in the railroad industry. It was a good match, though, and they both were able to relax here. Become the people they were meant to.”

“But still, to playpranks…”I let my voice trail off. The idea was as foreign to me as my mother wearing a bright red evening gown. She had never shown any playfulness with me. Hurt pinched my heart and I tried not to think about how we might have laughed harder if she had behaved more like herself around me.

“She has an old silk scarf that can shrink anything it can cover down to the size of a charm.” Grief tinged his smile. “I can’t tell you how many shoes of mine have gone missing.”

I finally found my voice. “Well, I can see her ordering everyone around on the team.”

“Much to the dismay of Abdullah. He’s the one who likes to keep order,but your mother tried to override his decisions at every turn. I had to come between them many times.” He gave a rueful shake of his head. “Between the two of them, I never had a question of who did what, or when. What time everyone would arrive to commence digging, or how long anyone worked. She managed everything and kept records of all the discoveries.”

“Records?”

“Yes, she…” He hesitated, and then decided against continuing that sentence. “It was important to her that she kept track.”

“Where did she keep said records?”

“That’s something you don’t need to know. But since we’re on the subject, I’m going to repeat the need for caution when discussing your time with us here. If you care at all about my life’s work, then you’ll keep what you see and learn to yourself. Do it for your parents, if not for me.”

“You can trust me.”

“I wish I could,” he said with real regret underscoring each word. “Not for something like this. You might be family, Inez, but you’re a stranger to me where it counts and I won’t risk everything merely because your feelings might get hurt.”

He didn’t know me well enough to pass judgment. He hadn’t taken thetimeto get to know me. We were strangers by his choice, not mine. “Well, you haven’t proven to be trustworthy yourself.”

He stilled.

“I know you’re keeping something from me,” I accused. I hadn’t planned on saying any of this to him, but now that I’d started, I couldn’t stop. “I heard you talking to Mr. Hayes about Mamá and Papá, so don’t bother denying it. What really happened to them? What aren’t you telling me, Tío?”

“Listening at doors, Inez? That’s beneath a young lady of your upbringing.”

I threw my hands up. “Well, I have to if you insist onlyingto me.”

He stood, his guard up.

“You’ve hired Mr. Fincastle, who brought practically enough guns to outfit a militia. Why must you have security at your excavation site, Tío? My parents wouldn’t have approved of having so many weapons.”

His words rang out. “You didn’t know your parents.”

I reared back as if he had struck me across the face. But he hadn’t lied, and perhaps that was what hurt the most. In a hundred years, I never would have expected my parents to be so reckless with their lives, and travel across the desert without any precautions. Not unless they had good reason.