The rest of the morning was a blur - breakfast was some sort of breadless skillet with vegetables, cheese, and a fried egg. It was delicious! From there, we prepped ourselves for the sun, packed our travel and camping gear, and boarded the tram to Dhashur to see the Bent Pyramid. Because damn us all if we're not going to do a little tourism while we're here in Egypt. We need the break, all of us. The tram took us several hours outside of Cairo, only to drop us at some sort of plaza. Nearby, several camel drivers and their herds waited, probably Bedouins who worked the travel circuit as a side job. There were enough camels there for at least ten or so other travelers who had just disembarked from the tram plus us, and it soon became abundantly clear to us all what we'd need to do. We were to ride a camel out to the pyramid complex, which none of us exactly relished the thought of.
Have you ever tried to climb onto a huge mammalian with a large hump in the middle of its back and the temperament of an annoyed llama? It's not easy. It's a bit like trying to herd cats, by way of getting pigs to fly. It took us four or five attempts that ended with us falling into the hot sand before the Bedouin camel drivers took pity on us and helped the majority of us onto the massive, smelly beasts. Then came the fun part - actually riding them. They're called the Ships of the Desert for a reason, you know, and between the sun beating down and the swaying motion of the dromedaries, half of us ended up nauseous before the halfway point. Poor Sarah even got so sick she had to stop her animal, get off, and vomit into the sand. The guide seemed compassionate to her plight, and offered her some water from his water skin and a piece of ginger root to chew. Good thing Sarah's proclaimed her love of ginger in the past, or she'd probably have been sick again.
Back on track and several hours into the day, we finally reached Dhashur's pyramids close to noon. Said pyramids were massive up close, looming like silent sentinels from a bygone era. The sun beat down harshly, and heat shimmered up from the sands. The Bedouin let their camels rest, and settled into the tents at a nearby outpost to have lunch. A sidewinder slid in its odd pattern across the sand and into the shade of a nearby rocky outcropping as the sands shifted. Several miles away, the sounds and sights of excavation could be seen and heard, with several guards standing watch outside the dig site, and our curiosity was piqued as we observed over a meaty, salty stew and plenty of water.
"What are they digging up over there?" One tourist asked curiously.
"Ah, the Clive Expedition." Our guide smiled gently. "They are from Britain, and they are excavating what they believe to be a temple from what I have heard. They have asked us not to bring anyone too close; they do not want their work disturbed."
"Any idea who funded them?" Clayton's eyes flicked to the expedition site and its guards.
"I am afraid I do not know for certain," said the guide, "But rumor is that it was paid for by the Penhew Foundation, a very prestigious British museum... and that Foundation's expeditions are also rumored to end in terrible tragedy, every one. And not only that, but to dig in such a place with such a history as this area...?"
Ewan was skeptical, but Sarah believed, and inquired further. The stories this guide told! He claimed men were dragged screaming beneath the sands by goblin-like things with wide, glowing eyes. He said that a great five-headed beast rose up on moonless nights to prowl the desert sands for human prey. He whispered that many men who had gone too far into the pyramids, especially the Bent Pyramid, had gone missing, and that strange groups of men sometimes congregated around the Collapsed Pyramid monthly. Ewan scoffed still! Can you believe this guy? We've seen whining tumors, flying snake-dragons that hate light, rat-men, fog beasts and more, and he still has the gall to say none of what this guide says is real. I just hope he's right. One more monster attack and I'm sure that we'd all finally go insane, for good.
After lunch, the guides allowed us to do as we wished, so long as we took care of any camels we borrowed and left the Clive Expedition alone. It occurred to us that setting up camp would be a good idea, just in case a sandstorm hit. Besides, we could kill two birds with one stone by keeping an eye on the Expedition, and an eye on the Bent Pyramid at the same time. As it turns out, Clayton is actually pretty good at knowing how to survive in the desert. He peered out at the horizon with binoculars, and discovered four or so large rocky outcroppings with good protection from both sun and wind, as well as large enough to camp in. That decided, we clambered clumsily back onto our rented camels and split up, one per site.
Ewan found perhaps the best of us all - a well-sheltered cave with a semi-hidden entrance, but inside were snakes and scorpions of all stripes... and something else huge, pallid, and arachnid that came rapidly skittering from the crevice as if all hell's demons were on its tail, claw-like jaws snapping. Yeah, Ewan panicked. We heard him screaming from miles away. I'm pretty sure he was screaming so loud, you could have heard him in London.
"What's wrong, Ewan?" Clayton shouted from his outcropping not even a few blocks from Ewan's. "What'd you find?"
"Goddamn spider from 'ell is wot I found, mate!" The Scot swore back as the arachnid bared its jaws threateningly. "Fuck me, it's as big as me damn head, it is!"
Clayton pulled out his binoculars, caught sight of the pale spidery creature, and then laughed before yelling back.
"Ewan, that's a sun scorpion!" He said, laughing. "They're harmless! Not poisonous at all! It just wants to be in your shadow..."
"Izzat right, then?" Ewan murmured, observing the creature skitter away fast as lightning. "Feisty little fucker, eh? Gotta admire that, I do..."
Harmless or not, sun scorpions as big as your head are enough for this writer, and I think they were enough for the others too. We opted not to choose Ewan's cave, and set up camp in Bridget's instead, creating a nice lean-to and setting up a fire pit in the rocky windsweep. Several hours later, we had a respectable camp, and had a fairly nice dinner of salted goat meat we purchased from the outpost and a few pomegranates we packed for the journey.
It was at about this time, just before sunset, we were startled by a rustling noise from some of the supplies we'd piled against a wall. One of the blankets moved - and it wasn't small enough of a movement to be a sun scorpion or a sidewinder...
Drawing his weapon cautiously, Clayton took up a large piece of stone, and slowly, carefully turned the blanket over... only to find Mah'muhd curled up in one of the now open trunks! Startled, Clayton shot, and thank God he'd missed or we'd have had a dead child on our hands. As it was, we weren't happy about the kid even being here.
"Mah'muhd, what are you doing here?!" Bridget demanded. "We told you to stay behind!"
"I'm sorry Miss Bridget!" The child cringed a bit at the suddenness of the harsh words. "I-I only... I just... I-I felt safer with all of you, and I have never been out of the city, and I so missed you all..."
Well, we couldn't throw him out like that, not so far from Cairo, and we were stuck with him either way. As it turned out, he had snuck into one of our trunks when we were loading the stuff into the tram, and stayed there in the heat with a water skin and some small provisions, plus what air came in through cracks in the trunk, for the entire day. He could have died, and we'd never had known it.
"Please do not be too angry with me," the boy apologized, remorseful for making us worry. "I brought pita bread. Do you want some?"
As we split the several loaves of unleavened bread Mah'muhd had bought with some of the money we'd paid him for his help, we all settled in as night came down over the desert, and watched the sun set behind the pyramids like a glimmering orange jewel. One could almost feel the ancient nature of this place, seeing a sight like that, so perfectly crowned beneath the Red and Bent Pyramids as if it belonged there all along. The pharaohs of old certainly knew what they were doing when they commissioned these great wonders, so perfectly crowning the sky's bounty. And my God! The stars! It's as if a great artist spattered paint in swirled hues across the heavens, hazy great band of the Milky Way glowing and the constellations so perfect and alluring now that we were out of the range of the city's lights. The incredible vastness was breathtaking, a reminder of how very small we were, and how large and ancient the universe was. These stars... they were the very same stars Sneferu must have once gazed upon as he surveyed his kingdom. There could be countless wonders out there... and countless dangers. Who could say what was out there? Who could know?
It's late, and I'm getting tired. The fire has died down, chill has set in (yes, apparently deserts become freezers at night), and the others have already turned in. Even our rented camels are sleeping. Bridget is keeping first watch, just in case something happens - can't be too careful these days. Sarah insisted that Mah'muhd sleep near her, as she feels protective towards him, and didn't want him running off. I think we'd all be devastated if anything happened to him, especially after his long trip in the trunk.
We've decided to head to check out the Bent and Red Pyramids proper tomorrow morning, first thing after breakfast. That is what we came here to do, isn't it? Besides... the Clive Expedition isn't going anywhere soon.