Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23 "'The Citadel was first used for defense,'" Amy said, reading aloud from the new guidebook. "'Now it has many holy sites. It offers some of the best views of the city.'" "It also has a bunch of streets with no signs," Dan said, looking around. "How are we going to find this shop?" "With great difficulty, obviously," Amy answered, consulting the map. They walked through the twisting streets and alleys of the Citadel for twenty minutes. Finally, they found themselves in an unmarked alley. Most of the signs were in Arabic. There were no numbered addresses. "Never mind how we're going to find it, how did Grace find it?" Dan wondered.

Amy stopped in front of a narrow doorway that appeared like all the others. The window was dark. It looked closed. "This is it." "You sure?" "I'm sure. Look." Dan's photographic memory clicked in. "It's just like Grace's card. Treasures, Egypt, and welcome were all in a line going down." Amy clutched his arm. "She led us here, Dan. This is it!" Amy pushed open the door, and a bell tinkled. The shop was long and narrow, its shelves crowded with pottery and metalwork. Rugs covered the floor. In the very back, she could see a man sitting at a counter reading a book. He looked up at her for a moment.

"You are welcome to look around." He looked back down at his book. That was weird. She'd never been anywhere in Egypt where someone wasn't eager to sell her something, pressing close, offering her bargains and cups of tea. "Excuse me?" Dan walked forward. "Did you sell this item?" He placed the base on the desk. The man picked it up. He was a handsome young Egyptian dressed in a snowy white shirt and a striped scarf that he'd wrapped around his neck despite the heat. He gave the base a quick glance. "Hard to say," he said. "It looks like something we would use to showcase a souvenir. I can show you some just like it." "We don't want another one," Amy said. "We want to know if you remember this one." "I am sorry." He looked at her for the first time, and he must have caught her frustration. "I am not sure what you are asking." "Do you remember meeting a woman called Grace Cahill?" The man shook his head. "I know no one by that

name." Amy and Dan exchanged a glance. Now or never. Grace had led them here for a reason. Dan slipped the Sakhet out of his backpack. Amy had given it to him to carry. "Have you ever seen this?" Dan saw recognition in his eyes, but he quickly shook his head. "No." "We're Grace Cahill's grandchildren," Dan said. "We believe she sent us here." He looked at them for a long moment. His gaze was searching and somehow honest. Then he leaned forward. "That is a beautiful necklace, miss." "Thank you." "Thirty years ago, the clasp broke. May I?" His fingers reached out and touched the clasp gently. "My father repaired it. I'm glad to see it is still intact." "So you do know her." "Forgive me for my hesitation. One must be careful. My name is Sami Kamel. Please call me Sami."

"I'm Amy, and this is Dan." "So you've come at last." He left his chair at the counter and went to the door. He flipped the sign to CLOSED. "Please. If you would come with me." He bowed slightly, then moved a curtain and disappeared. Amy and Dan followed him into a small, cozy room. He directed them to sit and then poured them mint tea in fragile porcelain cups. "Your grandmother knew my father," he said. "And my father's father. My father's father was a famous… how can I say this… crook." Amy and Dan laughed a little, startled. "But a good man," Sami went on with a smile. "A forger of antiquities. He did a favor for your grandmother in the late forties, he would never say what. When my father took over the business in 1952, he convinced my grandfather to retire the, uh, illegitimate part of his business. We sell some good items, some high-quality, some cheap, but our customers always know what they are getting. Your grandmother came to the shop on

every visit to Egypt. She was great friends with my grandfather and my father." Amy took a sip of tea. "You said, 'you've come at last.'" "Your grandmother told my father that you would be coming. He has been keeping something for her for some time now. She bought it on her last trip to Cairo. And now, I give it to you." He spun on his chair and reached out to the bookcases behind him. He flipped a lever concealed in the wood molding and the books revolved. He withdrew an old wooden game board and placed it on the tea table. "This." "She left us a game of checkers?" Dan asked. Sami smiled. "Not checkers. Senet. It's an ancient Egyptian game. A number of sets have been found in tombs, but no rules have survived. This one is not that old, but it is beautiful. Mother-of-pearl inlay and carved wood. We think it once had valuable marking pieces, perhaps made of gold, because there was originally a key to lock this drawer, where the pieces were kept." "A drawer?" Amy reached out but he held up a