Chapter 16

"Baba! Wake up! It's morning!"

The cheerful voice was not what Tim wanted to hear.

"Baba! Wake up!"

Nor was that cheerful voice. It couldn't be morning yet. It just couldn't be.

Too late, he realized the fallacy of ignoring the cheerful voices. Suddenly, there was an earthquake on his bed and Tim sat up to find his two children jumping up and down excitedly.

"We're going to see pyramids today!" Salma said.

"Pyramids! Pyramids!" Jonathan said, following her lead.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Tim said. "We can't see the pyramids until your uncle comes to get us. It's only..." He groaned. "...six a.m. here in Egypt. We have lots of time."

"Can we swim, Baba?" Salma asked.

"No, the pool won't be open yet," Tim said. "We'll just have to entertain ourselves in our room."

"Can we go outside now?" Salma asked.

Tim tried to ignore the anxiety that thought gave him at the moment. But at least in this case, he knew that he'd have been leery about just wandering around a city of 10 million people in a country where he barely knew the language with his young children no matter what.

"No, we're going to wait until Ahmed comes," Zahara said. "For now, we will go and buy postcards from the lobby and write messages for our friends. All right?"

Salma clapped her hands excitedly and didn't make any protest about getting dressed. When they were ready, Zahara smiled.

"Tim, you can stay here and get ready and I'll take Jonathan and Salma downstairs."

"Okay," Tim said. He was ambivalent about that but he wasn't going to start getting overprotective while they were still in the hotel. He mustered up a smile and gestured for them to go.

The door closed and he took a deep breath and then decided he would shower while he was alone in the room.

He took two steps toward the bathroom and there was a knock on the door.

Tim hesitated and then walked cautiously to the door and looked through the peephole. He sighed with relief and opened it.

"Sorry to disturb you, Agent McGee."

"No, that's fine. Come in."

Tim stepped back and let in one of his guards. It was one of the guards who had been here in advance and looked like a native Egyptian. Even his name fit (if it was his real name), Mohamed El-Gamal.

"Is something wrong?" Tim asked.

"No. Now, that you're in the country, we wanted to make sure there was nothing that had changed as far as your schedule goes. I realize that you can't control traffic or weather, but as far as you know?"

"To my knowledge nothing has changed. Ahmed will be coming in a few hours to take us to the pyramids and we'll spend most of the day there."

"All right. If you can, keep us apprised of any changes."

"I will."

"Thank you."

"No. Thank you. I know that guarding me isn't anyone's preference, and I do appreciate it."

Mohamed smiled a little and just nodded, neither confirming nor denying what Tim said. Then, he left the room. Tim stood there for a moment and then decided to go back to what he'd been doing before and he showered before everyone got back. Zahara took long enough that Tim was out of the bathroom and Zahara showered while he sat with the kids and wrote on the postcards and decided who would get which card in the mail (probably after they got back from their trip since the postal service in Egypt tended to be unreliable at times).

By the time Zahara was out of the bathroom, they could go down and have breakfast. They had the choice of some American and European items, but there was also some traditional Egyptian items as well. Tim and Zahara both got the Egyptian dishes to try and they made Jonathan and Salma try a little bit, but they didn't insist that they have it all. Pastries were appreciated by the whole family. Then, it was back up to the room to get their stuff. They had meal bags and plenty of water for their trip. Ahmed was going to come up to their room when it was time to go.

While they waited, Tim started showing Salma the map of all the amazing things they'd be seeing. Jonathan listened for a few minutes but he lost interest when there were no pictures.

Finally, there was a knock at the door and Zahara opened it, letting in Ahmed.

"The car is outside," he said abruptly. "Are you ready to go?"

"Absolutely," Tim said. "Jonathan, we're going to see the pyramids now."

"Yea!" Jonathan said and clapped his hands. He ran over and, to Tim's surprise, grabbed Ahmed's hand. "Uncle Ahmed, let's go see the pyramids, min fadlak!"

Ahmed looked just as surprised at Jonathan's sudden desire to be with his uncle as Tim felt, but then, he smiled and let Jonathan hold his hand.

"Very well. We will go."

Jonathan had to run along side Ahmed, but he kept up as best he could and Ahmed did slow down his pace. Salma took hold of both Tim and Zahara's hands as they left the room.

When they got out of the hotel, their car was right there.

"To the Giza plateau?" the driver asked cheerily.

"Yes," Ahmed said. Then, he looked at Tim. "I will pay."

"You don't have to, Ahmed. You're already giving up a day's work to do this," Tim said.

"You are family," Ahmed said, almost sternly...as usual.

Zahara took Tim's hand and squeezed it gently. He looked at her and she smiled and leaned forward.

"Thank you, Ahmed," she said. "It is very kind of you."

Tim squeezed her hand back to show he understood that he shouldn't keep protesting.

"Baba, I don't see pyramids!" Jonathan said.

Tim smiled. "It will take some time, Jonathan. Just wait."

The driver took them to the entrance and they got out. Ahmed had actually purchased tickets in advance which let them get in more quickly. Then, they started to walk along a road that would lead them to the pyramids. Jonathan got tired pretty quickly and, again to Tim's surprise, he tugged on Ahmed's hand.

"Uncle Ahmed, carry me, min fadlak?" he asked.

"Oh, Ahmed, you don't have to do that," Tim said quickly.

But Ahmed got a strange look on his face and then he knelt down in front of Jonathan.

"Would you like to ride on my shoulders, ibn ukht?"

Jonathan clapped his hands and nodded. "Na'am, Khālī!"

Before Tim could say anything else, Ahmed had picked Jonathan up and swung him onto his shoulders where Jonathan sat, looking very pleased. Tim looked at Zahara and raised an eyebrow. She looked a little surprised but she smiled and leaned in close to him.

"I think he is remembering when our father was home with us. He grew up much faster than I did," she said softly.

Tim smiled at that. Then, he looked at Salma. "Do you want a ride, too?" he asked.

"No, Baba," Salma said. "I will walk." She nodded firmly, but she took hold of his hand.

Together, they made their way through the crowds at the entrance and continued toward the pyramids.

"Look, Baba! Pyramids!" Jonathan shouted out, pointing.

Sure enough, as they walked up the hill, the pyramids were slowly coming into view. Tim smiled as Salma began to pull on his hand, wanting to go faster to see them up close. They were walking along a road and Tim thought that they should have had the driver take them all the way in, but at the same time, there was something special about this gradual view they were getting. The closer they got, the bigger the pyramids became. It was obvious that Khufu's pyramid was the largest by far. Khafre's pyramid and Menkaure's pyramid just couldn't hold a candle to the towering height of Khufu's pyramid as they got closer. They could start to see the individual blocks that made up these massive structures.

"Baba, it's like Jonathan's Legos!" Salma said, sounding awed. "Lots of Legos."

Zahara laughed. "These are not plastic, Salma. They are rocks."

Salma's eyes were wide.

"How do they lift big rocks?"

"We don't know everything," Tim said, "but it took a lot of people to build the pyramids."

"Why, Baba?" Salma asked. "What are they for?"

"A king was buried in them," Zahara said. "He was a special person."

"Wow." Salma's brow furrowed and then she looked at Tim. "Baba, will you be in a pyramid when you die?"

Tim laughed. "No, Salma. I'm not a king."

"But you are special."

"Not all special people are buried in pyramids," Tim said. "Even in Egypt, many kings were buried other places."

"Oh."

They took in the amazing sights of the Giza plateau, walking around all the pyramids, taking loads of pictures. Then, they walked over to the Sphinx.

"What is it, Baba?" Salma asked.

"It's called the Sphinx."

"Sphinx," Salma said slowly, sounding out the word. "What is it?"

"A lion with the head of a person."

"Why?" Salma asked, looking perplexed.

"It is to show power," Ahmed said. "Lions are strong and the kings would want to seem as strong as lions."

"I strong like a lion!" Jonathan announced from Ahmed's shoulders.

"Were there real ones?" Salma asked.

Tim smiled. "No, Salma. It's just a statue."

"Oh. Okay." She looked at Ahmed. "Khālī, would you take a picture of us with the Sphinx, min fadlak?"

Ahmed nodded and lifted Jonathan down. He protested a little bit, but then ran over to stand by his parents and his sister. Ahmed took some pictures of them with the Sphinx looming behind them. Then, he gave the camera back to Zahara. Jonathan didn't ask to get back on Ahmed's shoulders, but he ran back over to him and took his hand, as they continued to walk around the Sphinx.

"Look, Khālī!" Jonathan said, pointing. "The tail! It has a tail!"

Salma leaned over and looked as well. "Baba, look! He's right! There is a tail!"

They all looked over the edge and down to the backside of the Sphinx and saw the tail that curled around the back.

"It doesn't quite look finished, does it," Tim said.

"It's thousands of years old," Zahara said. "Do you think it would stay whole?"

"No, of course not, but it doesn't look like it ever was whole." He looked over at Ahmed. "Do you know, Ahmed?"

"I do not. There are many people who study the structures here, but I am not sure," he said. He walked over beside Tim and looked at the statue for a long while. "I think you are correct. I think it was not finished. Compared with other statues I have seen, this seems... rough."

"I think you both are forgetting that it has been outside for thousands of years," Zahara said with a smile. "It is amazing to see this, though. Do you think the Egyptians knew it would last so long?"

Ahmed gave one of his rare smiles. "I think that was their plan, but they may not have believed it."

Zahara laughed.

"Well, we've seen these pyramids and..." Tim checked his watch. "...it's about time for lunch. Who's hungry?"

"Me! Me, Baba!" Jonathan said.

"Me, too!" Salma said.

"All right. Ahmed, do you know of anywhere close by that will have something we can get quick?"

"Yes. There are a few places we can get food quickly. Have you had hawawshi?"

"No. Well, I haven't," Tim said.

Zahara also shook her head. "No, is it like anything we had in Melilla?"

"It is meat roasted in dough."

"I'm okay with that," Tim said.

So they left the pyramids and let Ahmed lead them to a street vendor selling hawawshi. They had Salma and Jonathan share one. They used their own bottled water to drink and ate as they walked back to where the driver was waiting for them.

"Where to next?" the driver asked.

"Saqqara," Ahmed said. "The Step Pyramid."

"Of course."

They finished their lunch in the car during the seven-mile ride to one of the oldest structures in Egypt and the oldest pyramid in the world.

When they arrived, Ahmed had again got them tickets in advance. And again, Jonathan was on his shoulders. They walked through the colonnades and there was the Step Pyramid. The area was more level than the plateau where the other pyramids had been. And the Step Pyramid was very different in appearance. Instead of the smooth sides of the Giza pyramids, the Step Pyramid was a series of stacked mastaba tombs, giving the appearance of steps.

"Why is it not like the other pyramids?" Salma asked.

"Because it's older," Tim said. "They were still figuring out what to do."

The main focus of this tour was the pyramid itself. There were other structures and foundations but with two young children with short attention spans, they focused on the larger structure that they could appreciate. They walked all around it, enjoying the fact that the recent renovations were complete. There were seven individual mastaba tombs stacked on top of each other, but the king was still buried in the ground, unlike in the Giza plateau.

"Those are big steps, Baba," Salma said. "Who could walk on them?"

"No one is supposed to walk on them," Zahara said, laughing. "They just look like steps."

"Oh."

"Khālī, you walk on the steps?" Jonathan asked, Ahmed.

Ahmed actually laughed. "No, Jonathan," he said. "No one walks on those steps."

Tim pulled out the brochure they'd got. "It's the oldest pyramid built, and this pyramid is what led to the Giza pyramids being built. Djoser wanted it to be different when he had his tomb built."

"It's the same color as the sand," Salma said. "Why?"

"It's made of the same things."

"What is sand?" Jonathan asked.

"Sand is little tiny rocks," Tim said.

"Rocks?"

"Yes."

"Limestone, here," Ahmed added.

They walked around the pyramid and into the long colonnade. The columns were not in a good state of preservation, but they were nearly 5,000 years old. Then, they went to the space set aside for the Sed festival.

"What is here?" Salma asked.

"This is the place for the king to perform the Sed festival," Ahmed said.

"What is it?" Tim asked.

"The king would show his power by running. This would be in the thirtieth year of his reign," Ahmed said. "Djoser did not live that long and many others did not, but they would still present themselves with space for the Sed festival and would say they had done it."

"How far did he run?" Salma asked.

"Around the palace."

"Is that like when you say I have to run around the house three times?" Salma asked.

Tim laughed.

"No, that is because you have too much energy," Zahara said. "This was to prove that they could still be king."

"Oh."

They walked back out to where they could see the pyramid again.

"It's so big," Salma said.

"Yes, it is."

"Baba, can we get something to show us the pyramids when we go home?"

"You want to get some souvenirs?"

"Yes! Can we?"

"We should, Tim," Zahara said. "We will just have be prepared to haggle."

"I'm not very good at haggling," Tim said.

"Then, you may practice. Tomorrow, we will go to the Souq and you will practice," Ahmed said.

"Oh, dear," Tim said, smiling to show he wasn't serious.

"For now, it is getting late and we should go back to your hotel," Ahmed said. "You can eat there."

"Good idea," Tim said over the groans of his kids.

"And perhaps we can swim when we get back to the hotel," Zahara said.

"Yea!" both children said, clapping their hands.

They wended their way back to the entrance and to their waiting driver. Ahmed lifted Jonathan back to the ground and they all piled inside for the ride back to the hotel. When they arrived, they all got out and Ahmed prepared to leave.

"Ahmed," Tim said as Zahara ushered Salma and Jonathan inside.

Ahmed stopped and turned.

"Thank you for carrying Jonathan around so much today. It let him enjoy things a lot more because he could see better."

Ahmed smiled and nodded. "It was no great weight to carry your son." He paused. "Do you know where the people here are?"

Tim understood what he meant, and he appreciated that Ahmed didn't make what he meant explicit.

"Yes. Always."

"This is necessary?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel safe with them?"

Tim smiled a little ruefully. "Sometimes. Not always."

Ahmed nodded.

"I will see you in the morning."

"All right. Thank you again."

Ahmed simply nodded once more and then walked away down the street. Tim looked around once and saw his guards. Then, he went inside the hotel and joined his family in the room.

"Okay, it's not too late to go swimming. So do you want to swim first and then eat or eat first and then swim?" he asked.

"Swim! Swim! Swim!" Salma chanted.

"Okay, okay. You okay with that, Zahara?"

"Yes. I will look at the menu and see what we can have sent to our room for dinner while you swim."

"Okay."

Salma and Jonathan got into their swimming suits and Tim did the same... only with a t-shirt on. Then, they went out to the pool. The pool at the hotel had a section for kids and so they spent their time in that part rather than in the deeper lap pool. Tim watched Salma and Jonathan like a hawk as they played but tried to make sure that he let them have fun. They had fun for about half an hour before they decided they were hungry. So even though it hadn't been very long, Tim was okay with going back up to the room.

They decided to get pizza just one night. Tim felt like it might be cheating to do that but at the same time, they'd already tried some traditional Egyptian food. It was okay to have something else once or twice. So they had dinner and some eclairs for dessert but then, the kids were down for the count, very tired after the full day, plus no nap, plus the change in time zone.

Tim felt the same.

Salma and Jonathan were asleep in seconds and then Tim and Zahara lay together in bed.

"Did you have fun today, Tim?" Zahara asked softly.

"Yeah, I did."

"Good. Did you worry?"

Tim smiled a little. "Yeah, I did."

Zahara curled up close to him.

"I am right here."

"I know."

Tim held her close and they both fell asleep.