“Grandpa!”
He was a short man with white hair and a beard that covered half his face. He wore a light cotton suit, and his tan face split into a smile as he spotted us.
“My girls!”
We rushed into his arms and he cuddled all three of us at once. The smell of his cologne filled my nostrils.
“How was the flight?” he asked, his Lebanese accent thick as ever.
“It went smoothly,” I said.
A tall ebony-skinned man arrived next to him. “Meet Fariss,” my grandfather said. “My new driver.”
Fariss smiled and shook hands with each of us. He bent down and picked up my sisters’ luggage. When he motioned to carry mine too, I held up a hand and said, “No, it’s fine. I can manage. Thanks.”
We made our way toward my grandfather’s shiny black car in the parking lot. My sisters and I sat in the back while our grandfather sat in the passenger seat. After Fariss had packed all the luggage into the back, he started up the engine and drove us away.
I reached for a paper napkin stuffed into the back of one of the seats and wiped my forehead.
“Wow, it’s hot,” I said.
“Welcome to Cairo.” My grandfather chuckled.
“So what’s the surprise, Grandpa?” Dafne asked.
He swiveled in his seat to look back at us, a gleam in his eyes. “Well, it didn’t look like it was going to coincide with your visit at first, but plans changed… We’ve been invited to an exciting dig. It’s in the ruins of an ancient temple and it’s happening in the desert not too far from home.”
“Oh, my,” Dafne gasped.
“Normally they wouldn’t allow children to attend such things, but the organizer is a friend of mine and he agreed to make an exception. So… what do you say?”
“Yes!” Dafne squealed.
Lalia still looked too overwhelmed by the change of scenery and temperature to register what my grandfather was saying. She was staring out of the window. I was sure that he would find a way to make the dig interesting even for a six-year-old.
The dig certainly sounded exciting to me. Although I wasn’t quite as much of a nerd as Dafne when it came to Egyptian history, I was always interested in my grandfather’s work.
“How long will the dig last?” I asked.
“Well, it’s started already. But I think we will most likely see something interesting by the day after tomorrow. I suggest we leave early, stay the whole day and night and return the next day before lunchtime.”
“Stay the night? In the desert?” Dafne looked all the more excited by the prospect.
“Yes. They’ve set up camp there.”
“Wow,” Dafne said.
“Bashira would come with us, too,” my grandfather added.
“How is Bashira?” I asked. My grandmother had died five years ago, and now my grandfather lived alone except for his longtime housekeeper, Bashira.
“Her joints are getting a bit stiff, but otherwise she’s in good spirits. She’s very much looking forward to seeing you three again.” He paused, straining his neck to look me in the eye. “Are you really going to go back after just one week? I’m still sore about it.”
“Dafne and Lalia could stay longer… then perhaps Bashira could fly back with them to New York?”
My grandfather turned his attention to my two sisters. “And would you two like to do that? Stay here without River?”
Dafne nodded her head furiously. “Can I stay a whole month?”
“Of course! And what about you, Lalia?”
She tore her eyes away from the window. “Huh?”
“Grandpa’s asking if you want to stay here longer with Dafne,” I said. “I’ll be returning home after a week.”
She paused, looking from me to our grandfather. “Ummm, I’ll stay for just… four more days if River isn’t gonna be there.”
“Just four more days?” my grandfather said, chuckling. “I like how precise you are. Okay, I’ll change the tickets when we get home.”
After half an hour, we pulled up in the dusty street outside my grandfather’s home. It was a five-bedroom house—not including Bashira’s quarters, which were round the back—and beautifully constructed. Its white exterior and sleek stone entryway made it seem like a miniature palace.
We entered through the heavy door and looked around at the entrance hall. The walls were covered with parchment containing hieroglyphics, mounted in gold frames. Ancient relics from his various excursions covered the long mantelpiece. We approached the wide staircase in the center of the room and my grandfather led us up.
“So, where would you like to sleep? You have four bedrooms up here to choose from.”