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An Introduction to Cairo

T he following day at the port at Cairo

Although the dock where George had tied up the dhahab?yeh was busy, it wasn’t as chaotic as the other ports the Bellinghams had experienced on their trip. There were porters, of course, and all manner of donkeys, camels, and horses to see to cargo, but the number of people was considerably less.

Awake earlier than usual, Barbara watched the activity from where she was seated on the upper deck.

Although some of the cargo was familiar, much of it was not.

Especially a line of dark, linen wrapped packages, each about five feet long, laid out on the planks of the dock.

As she watched, two men loaded them into a wooden crate, and it wasn’t until they were handling the last one that she realized just what it was she was seeing.

Mummies.

“Ew,” she murmured, deciding she best return to her cabin and finish packing.

W hen the last of the trunks had been off-loaded from The Cleopatra and were stacked on a dray cart with a single donkey, George finished his discussion with a well-dressed man and turned to introduce him to Will.

“Monsieur DeSalle is the gentleman who has a riad available for your stay. Many rooms, a cook, and servants. He frequently hosts Englishmen on their way to India, so he is familiar with your ways,” he explained.

“He says you should be very comfortable during your stay, but I am to tell you there will be three more English people coming, probably later today. Maybe you know them?”

Will chuckled. “I rather doubt it. I’m rarely in London and unfamiliar with those who see to the offices in India,” he replied,

“You are an earl, no?” DeSalle asked in English, holding out his right hand.

“I am,” Will acknowledged.

“My other guest is as well. Harold Tennison?—

“The Earl of Everly,” Will finished, scoffing softly. “We thought we saw him on the banks of the river yesterday.”

“He is a savant? Come to research plants?” DeSalle asked, obviously curious about the aristocrat’s avocation.

“He is a… naturalist , I believe is the term he uses to describe himself. A member of the Royal Society. Well-traveled, too. I look forward to seeing him again.”

“I expect his arrival at any time,” DeSalle said, nodding to a robe-garbed man who approached him and bowed. “Ah, our hantours have arrived. There are three for your party,” he said, waving to a line of horse-drawn carriages that had pulled up just beyond the dock. “They will see you to my riad .”

“I look forward to meeting the Countess of Everly again,” Barbara murmured, her words meant for Diana. “I think I will recognize her from the Morganfield ball we attended prior to our departure.”

The younger woman grinned. “I recall meeting her when I was young. My father and her husband are both members of the Royal Society,” she explained before realization dawned on her features. “You must be at your wit’s end with all these men,” she added.

“Really, it’s no different when we are at home,” Barbara replied on a sigh. “But there I have a lady’s maid and Hannah—your new mother-in-law—and there are women in the village of Bampton with whom I can speak when I am there,” she explained. “Here I feel as if I am a fish out of water.”

Diana gave her a sympathetic glance. “I fear I have been of no help in that regard. I have spent so much time in the company of my father and brothers, I am not much of a conversationalist, nor am I in possession of any gossip to share.”

“Oh, you are doing fine, darling,” Barbara assured her. “I do think the boys already think of you as one of them as opposed to a sister.”

Resisting the urge to wince, Diana nodded. “Perhaps it is merely due to Randy, but I do find I like my new brother and your son far more than I do my own brothers,” she whispered.

Barbara tittered as she opened her fan and waved it in front of her face. “I will keep your secret,” she promised. “No reason to let these ruffians know they are appreciated,” she added in a tease. She was prevented from saying more when they were ushered to the hantours.

Topped with fabric coverings from which tassels dangled from the edges, the black carriages were manned by robe-garbed drivers, their heads wrapped in turbans. Each man held the reins of the single horse hitched to their hantour.

W ill helped Barbara up the high step into one of the hantours while Randy did the same for Diana in another.

Tom and David ended up in the last carriage, but before they climbed aboard, they stopped to admire the small horse in front.

“This is an Arabian,” David announced in awe, finally tearing his attention from his binoculars to give the dark brown beast a look.

“It’s so small,” Tom remarked, his gloved hand smoothing along the horse’s withers to its flank. He winced at feeling the ribs so close beneath its hide.

“We’re so used to draft horses and bays, any other horses appear small to us,” David reasoned, climbing into the carriage. Given the harsh afternoon sun, he appreciated the carriage’s flat roof, although the sides remained open to provide unimpeded views of the city.

They watched in fascination as the carriages cleared the dock, and for the first time since they had docked, David had the opportunity to view the pyramids at Giza through his binoculars. “They’re so close,” he said in awe. “They’re just across the river.”

Tom took the instrument from him, and despite the rough road, he was able to make out three of the pyramids before buildings interrupted his view. “We’ll see them up close on the morrow,” he commented, giving the binoculars back to David.

“From atop a camel?” David asked, his expression suggesting he was looking forward to the experience. He lifted the binoculars to his face and continued to study the horizon when he could.

“No doubt,” Tom replied, not sharing his cousin’s enthusiasm.

David grinned in delight, aiming his binoculars at a pair of young ladies carrying baskets from a nearby market. When one of them caught him staring, he waved and smiled.

They did not return his greeting, and he lowered the binoculars to discover Tom grinning at him.

“We should take advantage of our time here to do some shopping,” David remarked. “George said we should buy gold items.”

“You mean... like jewelry?”

“Rings, necklaces, anything made of gold. They’ll be small. Easy to transport and give as gifts when we return to England,” David explained.

“Good idea,” Tom said. “Especially since it would seem there is a jewelry shop right next to where we are to stay,” he murmured, watching as their riad came into view.

He decided he was going to like Cairo.