'There is an Air Egypt flight from Heathrow at 5.30 this afternoon. If I
drive like fury, I may just make it. But it gets me into Cairo rather
late.'
'I will be waiting at the airport, no matter how late.'
'I am on my way!' Nicholas hung up, and went to the door, but suddenly
he turned back and picked up the the Taita ushabti from the desk.
'Come on, you old rogue.' He laughed triumphantly.
'You are going home, as a wedding gift.'
EPILOGUE
which, -in the mauve evening.
They strolled along the corn Below them the Nile ran on eternally green
and slow and inscrutable, disposing of the secrets of the ages. At the
bank, below the ruins of the temple of point on the river once the great
barge of Pharaoh Ramesses at Luxor, where Mamose had docked with Taita
and his beloved mistress upon her prow, they paused for a while and
leaned upon ining wall. They gazed out to the coping of the stone reta
the darkening hills across the river. the funerary temple Time had long
since obliterated other' kings had and the great causeway of Mamose, and
ver the foundations. No man built their own monuments red the tomb that
he had never occupied, had ever discover ted close to the secret opening
but it must have been situa gh which Duraid Al Simma. had entered in the
rock thrOu ered there the scrolls of Taita the tomb of Lostris and
discover in their alabaster jars.
silent in the gathering dusk, the'
All four of them were firm friendship. They watched a cruise shared
silence the tourists clustered upon boat pass coming upriver wi her
decks, still agog after ten days of voyaging from Cairo on these
enigmatic waters, pointing out to each other the great pylons and
engraved walls of Ramesses temple, their ntial in the hush of th all and
inconseque excited voices sm desert evening slipped her arm through
Tessay's and Then Royan alked on ahead. They made a lovely pair, the two
women wand honey-skinned, their laughter gay slim and young ads ruffling
in the sultry Puffs Of and sweet, their dark he and Mek immur Saharan
air off the desert. Nichola followed them, each watching his own woman
fondly as they bantered.
'So now you are one of the fatcats, in Addis, you, the hard man, the
bush fighter, you are now a politician. I can hardly believe it, mek.,
'There is a time to fight and a time to make peace.' Mek was serious for
a moment, but Nicholas mocked him ' 11 lightly.
'I see that now that you are a politician you have to practise your
cliches and your platitudes.' Nicholas punched his arm lightly. 'But how
did you swing it, Mek?
>From dirty shufta bandit to Minister of Defence in one mighty bound.'
'The money from the sale of the blue crown helped a little. It gave me
the clout I needed,' Mek admitted, 'but they knew they could never hold
a democratic election without me as a candidate. In the end they were
eager to have me on board.'
'The only quibble I have with the deal is that you handed all that
lovely hard-won lolly over to them,' Nicholas mourned. 'Hell, Mek,
fifteen million iron men don't come along every day.'
