Whispers in the Sand. Barbara Erskine

cabin was very quiet. All the other passengers were in the lounge watching as Omar set up a projector on the bar preparing to take them through Egypt’s more recent history. The two corridors on the boat, off which the ten cabins led, were empty. For the crew, it was their turn to eat. The river bank was dark and deserted. There was a gentle lap of water from outside the half-open window and a dry, quiet rustle from the reeds as the wind began to rise, stealing subtly in from the desert.

      Very carefully Serena began to unwrap the bottle. ‘It’s smaller than I expected.’

      Anna sat down beside her. ‘It’s tiny.’ She gave a nervous giggle. ‘So small, and it’s causing so much hassle.’

      ‘Hush.’ Serena pulled away the scarlet silk and dropped it on the bedcover. She was gazing down at the bottle lying on the palm of her hand. She stroked it with her finger. ‘It feels old. The glass is flawed. Bumpy.’ Closing her eyes she went on stroking with her fingertip, gently, scarcely touching it. ‘It’s old. Full of memories. Full of time.’ Her voice was very soft. Dreamy. ‘This is real, Anna. It’s old. Very old.’ She went on stroking. ‘There is magic in this. Power.’ There was a long silence. ‘I can see a figure with my mind’s eye. He’s tall. His eyes are piercing. They see through everything. Silver, like knife blades.’ She was still, caressing the bottle with slow, gentle movements. ‘He has so much power,’ she went on slowly, ‘but there is treachery there. He has enemies. He thinks himself invincible, but close to him there is hatred, greed. Someone, whom he thought a friend, is near him. Waiting. Drawing the darkness of secrecy around him. They serve different gods, but he has not realised it. Not yet …’ Her voice trailed away into silence. Anna held her breath, watching mesmerised as the fingertip with its neat, oval, unpolished nail stroked gently on. ‘There is blood here, Anna.’ Serena spoke again at last, her voice a whisper. ‘So much blood – and so much hate.’

      ‘You’re making it up.’ Anna backed a step away from her. She leant against the door. ‘You’re frightening me!’ Suddenly she was shivering uncontrollably. Was it this which had woken Louisa and frightened her in the darkness?

      Slowly Serena looked up. Her eyes found Anna’s face but she wasn’t seeing it. Her pupils were huge; unfocused.

      ‘Serena?’ Anna whispered. ‘Serena, please!’

      There was another long silence then abruptly Serena rubbed her eyes. She smiled uncertainly. ‘What did I say?’

      ‘Don’t you know?’ Anna didn’t move from her position near the door.

      Serena looked down at the little bottle still lying in her hand. With a shiver she let it fall onto the bed. ‘It is old. Very old,’ she repeated, her voice completely flat.

      ‘You said.’ Anna swallowed. Her eyes were riveted to the bottle, lying on the bed. ‘But what was all that other stuff? About the blood?’

      Serena’s eyes opened wide. ‘Blood?’ There was a moment’s silence then she looked away. ‘Oh shit!’ She put her hands to her face. ‘I didn’t mean that to happen. Forget it, for goodness sake. I’m sorry. Don’t believe anything I said, Anna.’ She reached out towards the bottle, changed her mind and stood up, leaving it where it was. ‘I have a tendency to be melodramatic. Take no notice. The last thing I meant to do was scare you.’

      ‘But you did.’

      ‘Did I?’ For a moment Serena stood gazing into her face as if trying to read her thoughts. Then she shrugged and looked away. ‘They must have finished the talk by now. Why don’t we go to the lounge and have a drink?’ She bent over the bed and reached out to the bottle. The hesitation was only momentary, then she picked it up and firmly rewrapped it in the silk square. She held it out to Anna. ‘I should get Omar to put it in the safe for you. I think it probably is genuine.’ Her voice was still strangely flat.

      Anna took it reluctantly. She held it for a moment then she stooped and tucked it back in the suitcase. ‘Later. I will. When there’s someone at the desk.’ She opened her mouth to ask another question, then she changed her mind. Grabbing her purse she reached for the door handle. ‘Come on. Let’s get out of here.’

      Drinks in hand they made their way through the lounge where the others had settled in groups round the low tables and they stepped out onto the open covered deck where the tables and chairs were deserted. Anna shivered. ‘There’s a cold wind.’

      ‘I don’t mind. It’s wonderful – cleansing. Such a relief after the heat of the day.’ Serena shook her head. ‘Let’s climb up onto the sundeck.’

      She led the way up to the front of the boat, where Anna had been asleep earlier. All was in darkness up there as they looked down on the string of small coloured lights around the awning of the lower deck. Looking up they could see the velvety black of the sky and the intense brightness of the stars. They stood leaning on the rail looking out across the river. The night was somehow more silent for the sounds of talk and laughter wafting out of the doors below them.

      Anna fixed her eyes on the wavy reflections in the dark water below them. ‘How did you do it?’ She took a sip from her glass.

      Serena didn’t pretend not to know what she was talking about. She shrugged. ‘They call it psychometry. It’s a kind of clairvoyance, I suppose. Reading an object. I’ve always been able to do it, since I was a child. It was what first drew me to the study of psychic phenomena. In children it’s called a vivid imagination. In adults …’ she paused. ‘Eccentricity. Lunacy. Schizophrenia. Take your pick.’ There was the slightest touch of bitterness in her voice for a second, then it was gone. ‘It’s not something to be cultivated lightly, as you can imagine, but it has its uses. Sometimes.’

      Anna was still gazing down at the water. ‘What did your husband think about it?’

      ‘Ah.’ Serena smiled ruefully. ‘Another woman, of course, goes unerringly to the crux of the problem. He vacillated between thinking me delightfully scatty and certifiably insane. But to do him credit he never tried to get me actually locked up.’ Her quiet laugh made Anna glance up at last.

      Serena stood back from the rail and sat down on one of the chairs. Leaning back with a sigh she stared up at the stars. ‘We were very happy. I adored him. I kept all this stuff firmly under the hatches as much as I could while he was alive. Then, when he died,’ she paused, ‘I suppose it was rather like coming out. I found kindred spirits. I read. I talked. I wrote. I studied. Charley thinks I’m mad, but she’s not there much and frankly I don’t care what she thinks. I began to study Egyptian mysticism two years ago and I came out here to get a feel of the place in a group before coming back on my own.’

      Anna turned back to the river, leaning on the rail. She too was looking up beyond the low bank and the dark silhouette of the trees. The stars were so bright. So clear. She shivered. ‘So, tell me about my bottle.’

      ‘I don’t remember what I said.’ Serena took a sip from her glass. She caught sight of Anna’s face in the darkness and gave a rueful smile. ‘No, honestly. I don’t. Sometimes I do, but more often than not I go into some sort of trance state. I’m sorry, Anna. But that’s how it is for me. You will have to tell me what I said.’

      ‘You talked about hatred and treachery and blood.’ The words hung for a moment in the silence. ‘You described a man. The priest. You said he was tall, with piercing eyes.’ She turned with a start at the sound of footsteps behind them.

      ‘That sounds like me. Tall. With piercing eyes!’ Andy had appeared at the top of the steps. ‘Come on, girls. What are you talking about so secretively? Serena, old thing, I can’t have you appropriating the most beautiful woman on the ship. It’s not allowed. Especially if you’re going to discuss other men.’ He gave an amiable grin.

      Serena and Anna exchanged glances.

      ‘We’ll join you in a minute, Andy.’ Serena did not move from her chair. ‘Now, bugger off, there’s a good chap.’

      Anna hid a smile. She said nothing, watching his momentary