Bird of the Gods

Chapter Eight

Fiona huffed as she weaved her way through the hordes of tourists. Luxor's sun was scorching her even though the day was well into the evening.

"At least there are fewer tourists at this time," she whispered to herself. Yesterday, she visited the Valley of the Kings just to sightsee. She couldn't resist the chance to enter some of the sublime ancient Egyptian tombs. And she didn't regret it, either, once she saw the wonderful murals.

The vibrant colors, the wild imagination, the expressive storytelling; all of it exhilarated Fiona. She couldn't stop gaping at the images. How did these colors survive over two millennia? How did the architecture survive that long? The long, underground tunnels, the decorated columns, the-

"Fiona!"

She squinted, trying to locate her 'tour guide'. He was just in front of her mere seconds ago. She must've lost him in the crowd when she was daydreaming.

"Right here!" she called out.

What was his name? It was something with an A- or that sound she couldn't pronounce. Why was she always terrible at remembering names?

"Fiona," he came up to her, drenched in sweat and irritated, "Don't walk away."

She was about to explain that she didn't lose him on purpose when he turned around and started walking. She hurried after him.

"Is it far?"

"Eh?"

"Is the tomb far?"

"No," he took a moment to think, "Not too far."

After 10 minutes of walking, Fiona realized that it must be far as she couldn't see any tomb entrance in sight. Why were there no modes of transport here? Couldn't they get her a small car or a motorcycle?

As they walked, her mind wandered to the clue's location. She knew it was a secret tomb. One that belonged to the daughters of Ramesses II. Obviously, tourists weren't allowed inside.

She only found that out when she was buying a ticket from a very confused and agitated salesman. She realised something was wrong when he repeatedly told her that tomb was "not real". Her grandfather, thankfully, only needed to make a few calls (and spend quite a sum of money) to get her in.

What wonders would this tomb have? Would there be more drawings of the process of mummification? Fiona recalled depictions of stored organs. She remembered the jackal-headed god of death and mummification as he stood over the linen-wrapped bodies of the pharaohs.

Her train of thought was once again broken by the sound of a man. A few men, in fact. They stood at the entrance to the tomb. Fiona realized that two of them were policemen, judging by their uniforms.

"ايه يا عمرو رايح فين؟"

So Amr was his name.

"ديه الاجنبية اللي عايزة تدخل الأبرز"

Fiona watched as the men bickered back and forth. She couldn't understand a word of their conversation.

"Is something wrong, Amr?"

He turned to her with a questioning look.

"Is there a problem?" she repeated.

He shook his head and looked back to the other men.

"اهي بتسأل لو في مشكلة."

"There was thief yesterday," one of the policemen answered, "Red hair, crazy American."