Shadows of the Nile by Jo Franklin Page A

retraced her steps along one of the corridors into the section of small rooms which still had their walls. She’d listened earlier to one of the guides saying that until recently those rooms had been used by nomadic people, and she could even see the holes in the walls where they tied their animals at night to stop them from roaming.
    She wandered into one such room. She tried to imagine what it would have been like living in it. She’d have found it small, perhaps unbearable, to sleep there, with humans and animals all in close proximity, with only a small hole in a very high ceiling for all odours, including smoke from the fire, to exit. She sat on a stone seat, waiting.
    She didn’t hear the door close and didn’t see who’d come in, as she was facing away from it, but she knew immediately who it was.
    â€œYou mustn’t be afraid of me,” Nephthys said gently. “I followed you to make sure you’ve come to no harm. It isn’t safe to wander round the ruins on your own so late at night. Even this room is becoming dark with its one light. They might switch them off soon and then you’d be completely in the dark.”
    â€œI was just going.”
    â€œNot yet. Do stay. I have some perfume for you.” She drew a small phial from her pocket and before Aline had time to move she thrust it under her nose. “Do smell this, my dear. It’ll make you feel very beautiful. It’ll make you a bit sleepy and it’ll make you forget now and remember back. It’s very special.”
    Aline tried to avoid it, but couldn’t. She only took one small whiff. That was sufficient. She began to feel light-headed.
    â€œThat’s it. Well done.” She slid the shawl off Aline’s shoulders and it fell to the ground.
    â€œAh, that’s better. I want to take you on a little journey but you don’t have to move. I have something else for you.”
    Aline tried to speak but couldn’t. Her body began to feel stiff. All she could see was Nephthys.
    â€œI gave you a necklace,” she went on. “You were quite right. It was rubbish. I have another one for you. It’s engraved with symbols and it’ll help you to dream.”
    Aline tried to move. She tried to get her mind to function, as Nephthys wound ropes of coloured beads and pebbles many times round her neck, pulling it tight and knotting it at the back. The only thing she could remember was her ring, hidden under the scarf round her hand.
    She felt sure Nephthys hadn’t noticed it.
    â€œThere, now. You mustn’t fear me. I’m your friend.”
    As Aline started to drift into a deep slumber, her surroundings became unearthly, filled with strange shapes and shadowy figures from the distant past. Someone whispered ‘Soon, soon,’ and she was once again in the room near the Sphinx. Then she was in the inner sanctum of the Hatshepsut temple with him waiting for her. In her overwhelming desire to be with him once more she would accept anything. Whatever happened she had to find the Egyptian.

Chapter 3
    Tadinanefer sprinted through the fields, trying to outrun the wind, which had increased in strength since the morning. As her brown hair flew out behind her, free from the black wig she was nearly always forced to wear, she felt the wind mischievously playing with it and tossing it hither and thither. The energy of youth surged through every bone in her body and she felt as if she could fly straight up into the sky. She had left the strict confines of family and servants far behind. No one could catch her. No one knew where she was. She had taken advantage of her own serving girl, knowing the girl was madly in love with one of the young men helping to build her father’s tomb and would do anything to slip out to meet him. She had told her she was unwell, and had pretended to take herbs to make her sleep, and had lain watching through half-closed eyes as the servant slipped out