The robust man led the four of them back towards his house and up onto his dusty terrace and swung his front door open. First, there was the big-screened door which screeched open, and then the wooden front door followed, pinning it to the wall. Alex entered, and Femi paused on the porch for a moment. Carter rolled his eyes and pushed her forwards, and she stumbled through the doorway against her own free will. She quickly straightened herself out and looked around. It was a kitchen. Dark, and rather empty, with a wooden table in the middle and three chairs around it. Pots and pans hung from a wooden utensil rack and a number of dirty cups and plates were piled up in the sink. It looked like a modern day kitchen that had been deeply neglected and forgotten, and left in the darkness to turn into something much more... dingy. There was a long, wide window that stretched across the back of the kitchen and filled the room with enough light for everyone to see their way around. Femi felt rather trapped inside it. However, not all was at loss; her nose caught scent of the most delicious, tempting scent she had ever smelt in her life. Salty, meats, cream, spices - everything and anything that made her stomach growl in hunger!

Femi blushed and placed her hand across her stomach with embarrassment. However, Carter's stomach suddenly let out one of its own ravenous squeals, and so did Jonathan's. The man who owned the house turned around from the other side of the table and looked out at his guests. They were obviously starving.

"You're just in luck, my friends!" He laughed.

The man walked across the room and bent over to observe what Femi suddenly recognised to be a cauldron hanging over a small fireplace. He took a thick cloth in his hands before lifting up the black lid and swirling around the silver spoon to mix the substance. He then unhooked the small, iron bucket and brought it out onto the table. He sighed in success and threw the cloth on the side, and then went off to collect some plates. Femi and the others watched the thick steam rise up from within the body of the cauldron. It was teasing them. Taunting them. They were famished. Femi gripped the red bag anxiously in her hands whilst keeping her excited eyes upon the black pot. How much longer was she going to be tortured like this?

The sound of plates clattering answered her desperate question. Fives plates skidded across the table and stopped in random places next to each other. Femi looked up at the man, and he smiled, holding five spoons up.

"Chicken stew. My favourite." He announced.

He slowly set out the plates and spoons in their rightful places and ushered Femi and the others to sit down. He then began scooping spoonfuls of stew out onto their plates according to their directions.

Femi smiled tenderly up at him "Thank you for your hospitality, Mr"-- She paused, not knowing his name.

"Just call me Erk." He told her.

"Erk... well, thank you. We haven't eaten a proper meal in a while." She sighed.

"No need to thank me, young lady. I'd be nothing but a scoundrel if I refused good friends a bite to eat - ain't that right, young Alex." He chuckled.

Alex nodded and presented a half-smile through his vigorous chewing. Erk laughed again and finally filled his own plate with enough stew to fill his large stomach. He snatched up the cloth that he had previously used and wrapped it around the handle of the cauldron again. With a little sigh, he heaved it up from the table and set it down next to the sink just behind him. He then brought up a small, wooden stool from under the table and sat down on it in front of his steaming plate.

"Mmm" Carter mumbled "This is delicious."

Erk chuckle and twirled his spoon in his fingers "Made it myself, from my own bred chickens. I never thought it would be so easy, what with having left the City and suddenly finding myself in the middle of some foreign desert."

He chuckled to himself again and began scooping up his stew and loading it into his mouth. Femi was just as engrossed in her food, now. Alex couldn't help glancing up every now and then, however, and noticing how Femi was still upholding her manners at the table. He knew she was just as starving as the rest of them. So why did she care so much about remaining neat and tidy? He would never figure that woman out. Not even if he wished it with the Sadem Trah on raising the Pharaoh's Army from the dead.

"How's your dad, Alex? Still getting himself into trouble as usual?" Erk chuckled with his mouth half-full.

Femi glanced over at Alex at hearing this. Alex stared down at his plate for an extra few seconds that told her he wasn't soft upon the topic. But nonetheless, he still looked up and shook his head.

"You wouldn't recognise him now." He replied.

"You were just a little tyke last time I saw or heard from him. I have to say, it was quite a shock when you suddenly landed on my front lawn in a plane." Erk laughed, looking around at all of them.

Alex sniggered softly "Yeah, sorry about that Erk. Didn't mean to get your gun all prepared for nothing."

"Nah - no worries, kiddo. My gun always likes a bit of excitement every now and then, don't they all?" Erk shrugged.

"Bloody right they do." Jonathan muttered under his breath, thinking back over the past few days of having been constantly shot at.

"What is it you do for a living out here, Mr. Erk?" Femi curiously asked.

Now, she was genuinely trying to make conversation. After all, she had just abruptly arrived upon his land without any notice, and was now eating his food, inside his warm home... It was a sign of appreciation, and respect.

"I work over at the Water Mill. 'Bout ten miles out from here" He explained gladly "Kinda' place like this survives on fresh water. Without it, no crops, no cattle, no nothing."

Femi nodded "How long have you been living here then?"

"Three years now. Not long." He carelessly answered.

Femi raised her eyebrows "Three years? You've settled so quickly. I have to say, my brother and I only just arrived in our City four years ago, and sometimes, I dare say it still feels like I'm a complete stranger."

Alex looked up for a moment and watched Femi and Erk. They had only just met, and already, Femi was beginning a deep conversation that even Alex couldn't create. This girl obviously had a knick for conversations.

"Well, you see, I'm afraid I don't really have much choice but to settle myself down and accept it. I wouldn't be here if I had a choice." Erk sighed.

Femi frowned lightly and glanced over at Alex questionably. She wasn't sure whether to press the subject any further. Alex quickly lowered his gaze in a hope that Femi hadn't seen him watching her. She hadn't. He was safe.

"I'm sure it must be wonderful living here in Turkey" Femi cautiously continued, pausing to take some more stew "What with the peace, and the delightful weather."

"Yeah... it can be." Erk agreed fairly.

He shot Femi a little smile and nodded. She returned a polite smile of her own and then went back to eating the delicious stew. It had the right amount of every ingredient. It felt like she hadn't eaten for years. Jonathan and Carter were behaving like starved puppies with no manners whatsoever, scooping new spoonfuls into their mouths before they could even finish chewing the last amount. Femi shook her head faintly and tried to ignore her embarrassing brother.

Erk looked up again "You folks should stay here tonight, wherever you're going. I've got three spare rooms - I'm sure you and your lady friend here would find it a breath of fresh air to finally have a bed to sh"--

Alex quickly dropped his spoon down onto his plate to interrupt Erk with a small 'cling' before he could finish the rest of his sentence. Femi stared down at her own plate with blushing cheeks. The two of them both knew exactly what Erk was going to suggest. Jonathan and Carter glanced up at the three of them and quickly continued to pack their mouths with food to stop themselves laughing. It was a rather awkwardly amusing moment, after all.

"We can't stay, Erk" Alex sighed "We came to ask for your help."

Erk raised his eyebrows and looked back and forth from Femi and Alex cluelessly. Had he said something? She looked utterly humiliated, whilst he just looked... impatient. What was so wrong about offering an already made couple to sleep in the same bed together? Heh - must have had 'bedroom problems'. Erk cleared his throat at thinking this and shifted comfortably in his seat.

"And what help would that be, son?" He asked.

Alex looked up at him with serious eyes "We need to get to... Egypt."

Carter and Jonathan stopped stuffing their faces for a moment to watch the scene unfolding before them. Erk gently set his spoon down on his plate and leant back in his chair. He stared thoughtfully at Alex.

"Do you now..." He muttered.

Alex nodded and glanced around at Femi and the other two "We need to get there as soon as possible. We're willing to pay."

Erk looked around at the others. He seemed very introvert at that moment. Very withdrawn. Very curious, however.

"We would really appreciate your help right now, Mr. Erk" Femi sighed tenderly "We've...-- our journey so far hasn't been as easy as we had hoped it to be... the situation is... serious. We're willing to pay whatever fees necessary."

Alex glanced at Femi, as she did him. Their eyes met and Femi felt her cheeks flush again. She looked back to Erk as though it had never happened, although the butterflies in her stomach were saying otherwise. Erk's nearly-finished comment had really disrupted her relaxation.

"Yeah..." Erk groaned in a stretch, holding his hands out before him "I'm sure you are."

He then rose up to his feet all of a sudden and cracked his neck left and right. Carter gulped, and Jonathan gripped his plate protectively. Femi pushed away her embarrassment and looked over at Alex nervously. Had she said the wrong thing??

"I can help you" Erk announced, making everyone's eyes twinkle "But you won't be the only folks riding on that boat, know what I'm saying? There'll be a few more."

Alex gave a nod "That's fine. We've got no problem with sharing."

"The next boat leaves at 8, though, so you're going to be stuck here for the rest of the day." Erk added.

Femi's heart sank. The longer they were delayed, the more time they were wasting in returning the Diamond Heart to its rightful place, and saving her father. That's all the wanted. For her father to be safe... yeah, that and the existence of the world to continue, but still!

Femi sighed quietly and looked down at her half-empty plate again. Alex glanced at her, hearing the depressed breath escape her tender lips.

"I'm sure we'll survive." He replied, keeping his eyes on Femi.

Femi felt a pair of eyes watching her and slowly lifted her gaze. They immediately met with Alex's over the table, and stayed there. No butterflies. No cheeks blushing. It was just... a deep stare.

"Blimey" Jonathan suddenly gasped, interrupting the odd moment "Stuck in the middle of a Turkish desert... No drinks... no gambling... no women. How the hell do you survive, Erk, old chap??"

Femi closed her eyes and released a half-amused, half-aggravated sigh which turned into a short chuckle. Alex rolled his eyes at his pathetic uncle and rubbed the back of his neck. Erk, however, found his comment ultimately wonderful and started laughing thunderously.

"You're right, buddy! I have no god-damned idea!" Erk bellowed.

Jonathan and Carter jumped in their seats with surprise. He had such a loud voice! Erk shook his head in entertainment and picked up his plate. He scraped the remains of his food into the sink and turned the taps on to wash it all away.

"There's nothing to do around here during the day. I'm going to be working out back on the fences, so you can just wander around and find something to amuse yourselves. There's got to be something, right?" He joked.

Alex glanced over at Femi a few more times before accepting that she wasn't going to look at him again. For some reason, he just wanted to make sure. Instead, he gave a light cough and looked over at Erk.

"Yeah - sure, you know, I think I'll give you a hand with those fences if you want some." He offered.

Erk clapped his hands together "The more the merrier, I say. Whenever you're ready."

Alex glanced back down at his plate of almost fully-devoured stew and nodded "I'm ready."

He stood up with Erk, and Erk nodded to him. He looked back down at the other three and waved his hand out, producing a little smile.

"Have as much as you like. Just leave the stuff where it is, and I'll clear it later. Feel free to explore the grounds." He explained.

Femi, Carter and Jonathan all nodded in understanding and watched Erk turn to leave. Alex leant over the table before following had pointed at his uncle with a stern mist in his eyes.

"And unc, try not to do anything stupid." He sighed.

He leant off from the table and left his uncle in a sarcastically offended silence. Alex walked out of the kitchen, and Femi watched him go. When he was finally out of sight, she looked back down at Carter and Jonathan. They all sat in a soft silence whilst trying to ingest what was going on, and what they had ahead of them for the rest of the day. Jonathan finally blinked and turned to look at Carter with a scrunched expression of confusion.

"...'Anything stupid'?" He repeated "What's he trying to say??"

Carter shrugged cluelessly, and Jonathan did the same. Femi rolled her eyes with a light sigh and leant back in her seat. Just as Alex was about to walk back into the living room, Erk appeared in his path, carrying a folding of clothes in his hands.

"I almost forgot about you, little miss." He chuckled.

He stepped back into the room and looked over at Femi, shrugging softly. Alex raised an eyebrow and waited curiously.

"They aren't much, but I'm sure you'd prefer these rather than that ratty old gown you've got on. I got 'em from a friend of mine, back in England..." Erk told Femi; there seemed to be more to that story than he had given away.

Femi looked down at herself and pouted slightly. He was right. She was still wearing the dressing gown that she had left Moss' in. It was covered in dry mud and there was a little rip near the bottom of it. She needed some clothes, desperately. Erk set the clothes on the table and then nodded to Femi.

"Thank you, Mr. Erk." Femi said, smiling.

He smiled in slight flattery and nodded "You're most welcome" He turned back to Alex and winked "Let's get to work then, son."

He walked past Alex and into the living room; this time, he didn't return. Femi pulled the clothes towards her and held them up in front to see what they were; a sleeveless, white blouse with frills around the neck, and a straight, formal skirt that came down to roughly just below the knees, and had a long, feminine slit up the side of the left leg.

Femi blushed "Oh..."

Alex smirked at her unsure reaction "What's the problem?"

"Problem?" Femi repeated, and lifted her chin proudly "There is no problem. Everything's fine.

Alex raised a rude eyebrow "It's a miracle."

Femi dropped her hands to the table and gasped up at Alex. How rude! Alex winked cockily and vanished through the living room doorway before Femi could get a word in to defend herself. She growled angrily and, shaking her head, sat back in her seat to sulk. He was so... so... hopelessly predictable.

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Hi there! Yeah, so, I'm getting a little concerned upon the length of my story. I have a feeling that people are going to see '23 Episodes' and get completely put off - and there's still several more to come! I would be so grateful if someone could give me some feedback on their opinion concerning this issue. I don't know whether to cut down my idea of how many more episodes I'll be writing, or just to continue on as I had planned. I'm new here, so I don't know what people are looking for really. Thank you anyway! Gwen.