HalfWorlder #Wattys2017

Chapter 16-The tourist trap

We sat in a little corner eatery outside the library sipping a roast so dark someone might as well have hooked me up to a caffeine IV.

"I needed that."

"You needed that. I needed that." Alexandra took a big gulp. She was still groggy.

"Yeah, you did." I playfully shoved her; it was worth a try, but I immediately regretted it. She pushed me back so hard, I nearly fell out of my seat. Apparently that kind of thing was off limits now.

There were curious glances our way from the other patrons.

"What?" My face went red.

Alexandra didn't give it a second thought though. She was good at burying her feelings. I was well aware of that by now.

"Well, that was interesting," Ryan uttered through a mouthful of traditional Egyptian Ful. "Of course," he went on, "I'm talking about Seshat and not whatever that was." He waved his hand in our direction.

I smirked at him, but Alexandra remained detached.

He scooped another large bite into his mouth with a piece of hearty flat bread. Through his munching, he tried to give his opinion on the matter but it was unintelligible.

"What?" Even Amisi didn't understand him.

He swallowed. "I said we've got a decent clue. We have to find the eye of Ramses that was saved from a watery grave. Any ideas?" He pinched his forehead. "Aren't there like a million ancient statues of Ramses?"

I reached over Ryan's plate, grabbed a piece of his flat bread and stuffed it in my mouth, silencing myself. I had nothing either.

"Is it one of the statues they found in the sea?" Amisi pointed. "They destroyed a ton of artifacts rebuilding the breakwater in the bay before some French archeologist went scuba diving and discovered a treasure trove of ancient stuff out there." We had read about it in the brochure. The Antiquities Museum was filled with items that had been salvaged from the Mediterranean. Amisi flipped through the pages of a guide book she had picked up in the gift shop.

"There's nothing really here."

"It was a good thought anyway."

We became quiet again. A few of us pulled out our smart phones to get to Google. It was our answer to everything lately. But not Alexandra. She sat back and crossed her arms, staring straight ahead.

"What?"

"Nothing. Thought I saw someone."

I raised my eyebrows at her, but she wouldn't talk. She narrowed her eyes at me and then pretended to push a pair of glasses up her nose, making a horrified look of rejected confusion.

"Oh him. From the elevator?"

She nodded.

"Was it?"

"Not sure."

A noisy tour bus interrupted our exchange as it ambled by and stopped on our corner. There were advertisements plastered on its side. I read out loud. It gave me something to do. "One way flights to Aswan only $1,100 Egyptian pounds. See Abu Simbel at Lake Nassar,"

"That's pretty cheap. Only $160 US."

"Yeah, but look. Is that who I think it is?" Below the advertisement was a picture of three colossal statues of Ramses II sitting on thrones built into the side of a mountain, a gorgeous lake mirrored below it. A fourth lay broken off and fallen to the ground. The picture was taken at night and the electric lights at the base of each statue cast them in rich golden tones. Long shadows illuminated the details of each huge figure which sat enthroned in a recess carved into a hill, the open door of the temple entrance below a small figure of Ra with what must be the Aten crowning his head.