[Hey it's Carter. Kess, Sadie, and I have been running around for a while, so you haven't heard from us for a while, but there's a whole lot of stuff you all need to be updated on. ]
Carter
I wiped my brow; searing July sun beat down on my back as I trekked to the nearby village, empty water bottle in hang, dad's workbag thumping against my leg with every step.
The village appeared on the blue skyline, a cluster of houses and stables nestled in the rolling dunes. I smiled as I watched the wind blow the Saharan sand in circles on the toes of my boots. I pushed my Ray Banz sunglasses up on my head ["Which I so kindly bought him for is birthday in May." "Thanks Sadie, I think we got that…"], glaring into the sun to see if Sadie had made her way over yet.
Jogging up to the well, I filled my bottle, and greeted a few of the locals going about their daily chores. As news spread that Dr. Nafil was bringing a crew out to excavate a recently found site near Giza, and their village, the inhabitants of the unnamed village were quick to offer us water and tools when available.
I was turning to head back, when a figure dismounting a camel caught my eye. She smiled as she dipped her head to the man taking the camel to the stables, and adjusted the over-stuffed knapsack and work bag slung over each shoulder.
Her slightly mussed brown hair hung just past the top of the bag straps she was maneuvering, partially tucked behind her ears. Her blue blouse was casually tucked into crisp camel-colored pants, which themselves were tucked into brown knee-high riding boots.
She reached up and took off the shiny gold aviators she was wearing to reveal big almond-shaped brown eyes, spilling out the contents of her bag as she tried to put her glasses away.
Okay, I'm not going to lie, she was pretty, really, really pretty, and I was kinda zoning out watching her, until I noticed all her stuff strewn around the sand. ["Carter darling, you just spent half that time talking about what I look like. While I'm flattered, there's something wrong with your prioritizing at the moment."] I walked over and started gathering up pencils and pens that had fallen out of her improperly zipped orange pencil case.
Looking up, she shoved a few of her books in to the bag. "Thanks. Nice to know that people know how incredibly smooth I am." Standing up and quickly dusting off her shaking her hair out of her face, she held out a hand. "I'm Kestrel."
I shook her hand. "Carter." Not going to lie, I might have enjoyed shaking her hand more than the sane person should.
Kestrel couldn't have been older than fifteen, and as I should know, teenagers usually don't spend their summers around villages and excavation sights in Giza, especially American ones, judging from her accent and appearance.
"You're a little young to be spending your summer in backwater Egypt."
Reaching for the pencil case I was still holding, she smiled. "I could say the same thing for you."
"True," I said laughing. As an afterthought, I continued, "Would you happen to be heading over to Nafil's excavation site?"
With a snort, Kestrel moved to sit on the edge of a crumbling wall. "How'd you guess? My dad's friends with the doctor, and he invited me to come observe while he worked on the site this summer. Same for you?"
"Almost," I said, sitting next to her. "My Uncle is good friends with him and he's working on the site, translating hieroglyphics, and my sister and I came along."
"So we're heading the same way then?"
She fished her glasses back you of her bag, but before I could respond, a loud "BOO!" sent us half falling, half tripping off of the wall.
I turned around to see Sadie stepping through a demolished section of the wall, her brown, blonde hair pulled up, away from her face; her black combat boots slightly dusty.
"Hey, Cart, if you two are done flirting, you wanna get goin before Uncle Amos thinks we died of heatstroke or something?" Shaking her bottle at me saying goodbye, she walked away without waiting for an answer, followed by the sound of a gum bubble popping.
Kestrel looked at me, trying not to laugh. "I'm gonna take a wild guess, and say that's you sister."
With a sigh, we started walking. "How'd you guess?"
