Missing in Egypt (18 page)

After a few hours we turned off the torches and slept again.
 
I was so thirsty as we were rationing ourselves to a few mouthfuls at a time and my stomach was rumbling with hunger.
 
I couldn’t decide what was worse – being thirsty, being hungry or being confined.
 
The three together made for a very miserable and depressed human being.
 
We tried to console each other with thoughts of “we’ll soon be out of here” but we both knew our chances of finding a way out, even through another tomb, were fairly remote.

When we awoke, stiff and sore, we returned to our hole in the wall with renewed vigour.
 
As always happens after sleep, our optimism returned and with it our confidence in finding a way out.
 
Kareem went for it like a man possessed.
 
We watched the beautiful hieroglyphics falling away and eventually the hole grew to the size of a man’s head. Another look with the torch confirmed that there did indeed appear to be another tunnel – but how far did it go?
 
I took over for a while and then Kareem returned to the task.
 
After a few hours the hole was big enough for us to step through – we had made it!
 
I hugged Kareem with joy.

Grabbing the other torch and what was left of our water, we stepped through the hole.
 

2.
What Lay Beyond

As we stood on the other side the torch flickered and died. Kareem was right about the storage life of batteries in
Egypt
!
 
Fortunately the other one had hardly been used and I quickly turned it on to check our new surroundings.
 
There was a long tunnel in front of us, quite low, with bare walls and of course completely dark.
 
No beautiful stories were depicted on these walls. We set off along the tunnel, shining the torch this way and that as we went to see if there were any tunnels or chambers leading off it.
 

After about half an hour we found a tunnel off to the right.
 
Which way go to?
 
There was no way I was going to explore one on my own whilst Kareem took the other.
 
“I think we should keep going” I whispered.
 
“Why are you whispering? “ Kareem asked “no-one is going to hear us. My guess is we should take the one to the right.” We headed off down the right-hand tunnel.
 
It went for about 400 metres and then came to a dead end. “Maybe it led to another tomb” I said, not really caring.
 
We retraced our steps and continued on our original path.

We must have walked for about three kilometres before I saw a shaft of light ahead of us.
 
Kareem saw it at the same time and we looked at each other and whooped with delight.
 
We hurried towards it, hoping against hope that we had found our way out.
 
There were steps up to the light and we could see a gate barring our way – but there was daylight and, switching off the torch, we climbed the steps like two excited children.

We reached the gate and peered out.
 
There was no sign of life – just sand and ruins.
 
“It looks like the old workman’s
village
of
Deir El Medina
“ said Kareem
 
“That was where the villagers who worked on the tombs lived - they stayed near the tombs when they were working and only went home for their days off”.
 
“How are we going to get out?” I asked impatiently, shaking the steel gate to no effect.
 
“We may have to wait for someone to come along” Kareem replied patiently.
 
“If I am right, this is only about 10 minutes from the Antiquities Inspectorate and lies between the modern villages of Qurnet Murai and Sheikh Abd el Qurna.
 
Also it is a tourist site, although we are obviously at the wrong end of it.
 
I understand they only open the main street to the tourists so they do not come this far.”

I sat down, exhausted.
 
We were so close to freedom and yet we were still entombed.
 
I took a drink of water and handed it to Kareem.
 
“Not more than a few mouthfuls left” he commented.
 
“We should shout for help” I suggested.
 
It is very quiet and someone might hear us.”
 
“Its worth a try” Kareem agreed “but our voices may just stay within the hills of the village”.
 
I didn’t care “Help” I yelled “Somebody help us.
 
Over here – we’re over here.
 
Help”.
 
Kareem added his voice “Anybody there?
 
Anyone out there?
 
Help”.

There was no response to our cries and the sun was dropping behind the hills.
 
“Maybe tomorrow, Anna” Kareem said.
 
“
Let’s get some rest.”

We slept fitfully longing for morning to come.
 
Eventually the sun came up and we started our vigil.
 
Surely someone must come this way occasionally.
 
I just hoped it wouldn’t be Gahiji!

It was not long, however, before our prayers were answered.
 
A man on a donkey was making his way towards us – unhurriedly and singing quietly to himself.
 
“Look Kareem - there is someone coming” I exclaimed.
 
We yelled out together – for a while he was too far away to hear us.
 
Then slowly we saw him looking around, puzzled as to where the voices were coming from.
 
“Over here” we screamed “Over here in one of the tombs”.

Eventually he made his way towards us.
 
When he finally saw us he was very surprised. He talked to us in Egyptian and we replied in English.
 
He got off his donkey and tried to open the gate, but to no avail.
 
He picked up a rock and hit at the hinges but they didn’t give.
 
He handed us some of his water and we gratefully took long draughts.
 
Our supply had nearly gone and we were so pleased to quench our thirst.
 
With words we took to mean he was going to get help he got back on his donkey and dug his heels into him, trying to make him trot.
 
The old donkey eventually got into a slow shuffle and they disappeared into the distance.
 
‘I hope he comes back” I said to Kareem.

It was nearly an hour later when we heard the sound of an old truck in the distance and we were relieved to see it appear out of the dust, with the donkey man and a couple of others hanging from the sides.
 
They had crowbars and soon went to work on the hinges – it seemed no-one had the key.
 
In a flash the hinges snapped and we were free!
 
The men spoke no English but it was obvious they were keen to know how we got there.
 
The language barrier was a welcome one for us – it meant we didn’t have to give an explanation we just kept pointing to the inside of the tunnel.
 
We were bundled into the truck and taken to the
village
of
Qurnet Murai
.
 
One of the men took us into his house and his wife gave us food.
 
We hadn’t realised how hungry we were until the fear of dying was removed.
 
Suddenly it was like waking from a nightmare- the events of the past c
ouple of days seemed totally un
real.
 

After we had eaten our host arranged for a taxi.
 
The driver understood
Luxor
and we were soon leaving the
village
of
Qurnet Murai
.
 
We farewelled our rescuers and our host, waving until they were out of sight.
 
We must have looked a sight when we returned to the hotel, but fortunately Hamidi was not around and we were able to sneak into our room and shower.
 
After that we fell into bed and into an exhausted sleep, which lasted until late in the afternoon.

When we awoke, safe and refreshed, we sat and talked about our ordeal.
 
We knew we were very lucky to have survived.
 
We also knew that the only person who would have any reason to bury us alive was Gahiji.
 
“He must know what has happened to Ramy” Kareem reasoned.
 
“Otherwise he would have no reason to do us any harm.
 
If it wasn’t him who set off the dynamite then it must have been others involved with him.
 
He is our only link to Ramy”.
 
“Shall we go to the police?” I asked.
 

At that moment there was a knock on the door.
 
It was Hamidi.
 
“Where have you been?” he inquired.
 
‘Your friend, John Turner, is on the phone.
 
He rang yesterday and I couldn’t find you.”

“Qurnet Murai” I called out, as I rushed down the hall to pick up the phone.
 
John sounded relieved to hear my voice.
 
“I was starting to worry about you” he said.
 
“So you should” I retorted.
 
“I have a lot to tell you but I can’t say much now.”
 
“Its my day off tomorrow.
 
I’m not doing anything, how about I drive up there?”
 
“That would be great” I replied.
 
“We’d love to see you”.

Our next step was to contact the rental company.
 
For this we needed Hamidi’s help to translate.
 
We told him the car had broken down and we had managed to get a lift to Qurnet Murai where we spent the night.
 
We didn’t want to go anywhere near Gahiji’s house or for him to know we had escaped, so the best solution seemed to be to let the rental company think the car had stopped and for them to collect it.
 
We could always rent another one later if necessary.

We spent the evening trying to make sense out of what we had discovered.
 
“My brother’s St Christopher” said Kareem, pulling it out of his pocket and fastening it around his neck “means he was in the same tomb that we were in.
 
We know that Yasmeen and he were probably taken because of her father’s connection to the tomb, so it makes sense to believe they were the link to the kidnappers finding the location of it.
 
That would explain why Yasmeen’s father has also disappeared.
 
They would have used Yasmeen as the bartering tool to get him to go to them and to reveal what he knew about the tomb.
 
He must have taken them to it.
 
But what happened to them afterwards?”
 
 
“I suppose” I said after a while “it rather depends on whether there was anything left in the tomb when they opened it.
 
If it was empty, they would no longer be of any use to them, which probably explains the ransom demand.
 
If, on the other hand, it was full of treasures, then they have obviously removed them all, and by the amount of well-worn tracks leading from the road to the tomb it would seem to me that they have indeed been busy doing just that.
 
If that is the case, there is a slight chance they might have used Ramy, Yasmeen and her father to help them move it.
 

“Yes, yes” Kareem responded.
 
“The tomb must have still been full of treasures – otherwise why would there be so many tracks?
 
But what happened to them afterwards?”
 
 
We still didn’t seem to be any closer to finding Ramy.

John Turner arrived early the next morning.
 
I ordered some coffee and we went up to our room so we could speak in private.
 
We quickly filled John in about our entombment and rescue.
 
“I’m just so glad you are safe” he said when we had finished, looking straight at me. “If you are right and the tomb had not already been robbed, then this is a very serious matter for the Egyptian authorities.
 
They do not take kindly to someone removing their treasures and either keeping them for themselves or trying to sell them overseas.
 
It seems to me it is unlikely they would want to make too many approaches in Egypt itself or word would get around that a new tomb has been robbed and that would be very dangerous for them.
 
It is much more likely that the goods are to be shipped out of
Egypt
to an overseas buyer.
 
They may even already be on their way.