The little girl stepped into the dusty room, making sure that not one part of her white summer dress touched a single particle of dust. While her peers were spending their summer holiday, touring the cities of Italy and the countryside of France, eleven-year-old Rose Harrington was stuck in Cairo.
"Grandfather, do I really need to be here? I wanted to see the shops, so I could buy mummy a pretty shawl.." she whined, as her grandfather walked through the tables that stood near the enormous bookshelves.
"My dear Rose. The shops will still be there when we leave. Your mother and father didn't send my only grandchild to Cairo for shopping. You are to learn of great history here, darling." Franklin Andrews said, with a chuckle.
Rose bit her tongue and rolled her eyes, fighting the urge scream. This was not how she planned her first day of holiday.
Frank scanned the library, until he spotted the person he was looking for.
"Ah! Evelyn! There you are my dear girl!" he said, moving towards the end of the library.
Rose watched as a tall brunette looked up from the book she held, with utter confusion on her face. When she saw that it was her grandfather, she smiled.
"Mister Andrews! How lovely to see you!" she said, as Frank took her hand.
"I must say Evelyn, the library is looking wonderful! You truly a wonder!" he said, as they both looked at the massive shelves and books that rested upon them.
Rose scowled, unimpressed by her surroundings. To her, all she saw were dusty old books and uncomfortable chairs to rest on. The library at home was far more luxurious with cushioned seats and couches. And all of the books were new, smelling of freshly cut paper and ink. Besides, the only thing Rose used the library for was to take tea with her mother and grandmother. Or to play with her little lap dog, Princess.
"And this must be Rose!"
Shaking out of her thoughts, Rose turned to look at the smiling woman moving towards her. Rose did a once over, as the woman stopped in font of her. She wore the most boring dress that they eleven year old ever saw. A khaki skirt and stiff white blouse, that gave her no shape. Rose found her to be pretty, but slightly boring.
"Yes this is my Rose," Frank said, placing his arm around her.
"The color of her hair.. I have never seen such a color before," Evelyn said, glancing up at Frank.
She then turned back to Rose, "You better keep an eye on her, Frank. She will most deffinitley catch the eye of a tall, dark and handsome stranger when she grows up," she said.
Frank's laughter boomed across the room, causing poor Rose to jump.
"Well, I must be off. I hope my granddaughter will be a great help in whatever it is you need her for," Frank said, as he placed his hat back onto his head.
Rose turned to look at him, wide eyed and in shock. He was going to LEAVE her there. In the museums' library? With HER?
"Come back an hour after noon! I think that's as much time that will be needed for this.." she said, glancing down at the girl.
"Grandfather! You're not going to really leave me here…right?" Rose asked, as Frank started towards the exit.
"I think some quality time in the museum will do you good, Rose. I wish I had done the same with your mother. You are much too young to worry about shops and being in the run of the most house calls in London. Evelyn is a lovely young woman. You will learn much with her today," he said, before stepping out into the busy sidewalk.
Rose was angry. Furious. She didn't want to stay indoors with a stranger. She didn't care about whatever this Evelyn woman wanted to show her. Cairo was supposed to a fun holiday, with shopping and eating wonderful food. Suddenly, she wished that she were back on the ship and home with her dog.
"So," Evelyn said. Rose turned to look at her and she smiled at the girl. "What would you like to see first?"
A long, painful hour later, Rose had learned about the earliest dynasties of Egypt and what hieroglyphics were and what the symbols stood for. Evelyn was babbling on about some silly temple, when Rose yawned.
Evelyn stopped talking and winced, "Oh dear, it seems as if I went on for too long. You must be starving, dear.." she said, turning her book upside down.
Standing up, Evelyn pushed her glasses up onto her head and looked down at the girl.
"Shall we have tea?" she asked.
Settling into the backroom, Rose watched as Evelyn moved about, setting the kettle onto the small stove near the window. Evelyn brought a tray with cups and a sugar bowl to the table, along with a tin of biscuits.
"They aren't like the ones from home.. but they're the best we've got.." she said, nodding to the tin.
Rose didn't care if they were covered in ants at that point. She was starving. Grabbing a biscuit, she took a large bite and made a face.
"Oh that's awful!" she said, chewing the biscuit in disgust.
Evelyn laughed as she brought the kettle over, pouring the water into the two cups. Setting the remains of the awful treat to the side, Rose placed sugar and a drop of honey into her cup, and settled back into her seat.
Evelyn rested her elbows onto the worn tabletop, teacup held firmly in her hands. She eyed the little girl over the brim and sighed.
"I know you don't want to be here, Rose. " she said.
Rose looked up from her cup and blinked. Evelyn put her cup down and placed her hand down next to it, tapping her fingers.
"It's alright. My feelings aren't hurt. I just hope you learned something about today.. this is what I do. I research these things and then lose all control, when I meet people. I have to talk about what I find. It is my hope that the future generations will carry on what we've started.." she said, with a nod.
Rose giggled.
"It wasn't so bad," she finally admitted.
The images of the jewels and supposed dresses caught her attention, and she made a mental note to find a lapis and gold necklace for her mother.
Evelyn smiled, happy to hear that. Picking up the teacup, Evelyn spent the rest of the afternoon answering any questions that Rose had. When one o'clock rolled by, Frank Andrews returned to the library.
"And remember.. Lapis was a precious stone. These statues were once inlaid with it, but as you can see.. they were removed during looting.,"
Frank watched as his granddaughter and Evelyn sat at one of the worn tables, surrounded by books and papers. Rose was looking at the photographs laid about the table with great interest.
"Such a lovely statue.. they have ones like these at home in the museum. I've seen them before!"
Both girls giggled and Frank smiled. Though he hated to ruin the moment, it was time for lunch and he knew that Evelyn had a lot of work to do before the museum closed by five.
"I see we are having a lot of fun!" he said, making the two girls turn around in their seats.
"Oh yes, grandfather. Miss Evie has taught me loads of things.." Rose said, before turning back to the pictures.
Evelyn smiled, "Truly Mister Andrews, Rose is a wonderful girl. I have never met anyone who knew so many stones and metals for jewelry…
Frank laughed, "Ah. I assure you, she has learned that from my wife and her mother."
Rose looked up at Frank, "I guess it's time for us to go?" she asked.
Frank nodded, "Yes, we must return to the hotel for lunch. We are to have lunch with Madame Pearson,"
With a sigh, Rose stood up from her seat. She grabbed her hat and shawl and started away from the table.
"Thank you, Evelyn. I shall see you soon," Frank said, before turning away.
Quickly, Rose turned around and walked back to the table. Evelyn was putting all her papers into a pile, when she felt a tug on her sleeve. Looking over she smiled, "Yes?" she asked.
"Could I come back? Tomorrow? I want to hear more about the pyramids. And that boy king.." she said.
Evelyn laughed, "Well, I will be here everyday except Sunday. I would love for you to come back anytime," she said.
Rose nodded and turned back to her grandfather, "I would like to come back tomorrow," she simply stated.
With a nod, Frank took her hand and gave Evelyn a nod of thanks. As they stepped through the doorway, Rose quickly turned around and waved goodbye to Evelyn, before stepping out into the hot sun. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.