Swept Away (30 page)

“Yeah, he's a real prince.”

“In any case, if you don't mind, I'm very eager to get this part of my Egyptian experience over with and behind me. Come on, Ella, let's
go, please
.”

“It's a little early for our flight,” Ella said frowning at the clock on the bedside table. “Did you pack for me too?”

“I did. There wasn't much. I really want to go early. The sooner I'm at the airport, the sooner I'm on the airplane and the sooner I'm out of this godforsaken country.”

“Sure, Maddie. No problem. Let's go.”

In the elevator on the way to the lobby, Maddie took Ella's hand. “I hope you know how grateful I am to you, Ella,” she said. “I'm not sure I've acted like it, but you saved my life and I know it. Some day, when there's a little more distance between me and Cairo, I want to tell you all about it. Okay?”

Ella squeezed her hand. “You're gonna be fine, Maddie,” she said. “You're tough. You'll look back one day and this will all just be a fleabite.”

Maddie took a long withering sigh and tried to smile. “I'm not sure it'll ever be that,” she said. “But I'll weather it.”

After they paid their bill and stood out in front of the hotel, Ella asked the doorman to hail two taxis for them.

Maddie frowned. “What's going on?”

“There's just something I need to do,” Ella said. “You'll be fine. I will be right behind you, probably no more than thirty minutes and we've got plenty of time.”

“Where are you going?”

Ella could see Maddie was becoming agitated and she worried that all her brave talk was about to crumble and they would be pushing the flight back yet another day.

“I saw this thing yesterday at the bazaar that I want to get Rowan, you know, a souvenir.”

“What in the world?”

“It's called the Book of the Dead. Have you ever heard of anything like that?”

Maddie stared at her like she'd lost her mind.

“Yeah, I know it's kind of creepy. Personally, I was thinking more along the lines of a refrigerator magnet but when I saw this thing it just kind of called to me, you know?”

Maddie shook her head as she watched the doorman put all their bags in her taxi.

“Look, Maddie,” Ella said, shaking her friend's arm to try to ground her, “if it looks like I'm going to cut it close, just go ahead and board the airplane, okay?”

“Do you expect to be that late?” Maddie looked panicked but there was a grim determination in her voice. Ella could see Maddie's eagerness to leave Cairo was warring with her insecurity about being separated from Ella for an hour.

“No, not at all,” Ella said. “I'm just saying don't worry if you don't see me at first. I promise I'll
be
there.”

N
ine hours
later when Maddie landed in Atlanta, she thought she had sufficiently recovered her nerves until she saw the look on Ella's fiancé's face as he approached her in the receiving line at the international terminal. Watching him look at her, and then look quickly behind her, knowing who he was hoping to see, knowing who he would not see…was enough to make anyone start weeping again.

Ready to read more about Ella's adventures in 1920 Cairo?

Click here to go to Book 2,
Carried Away.

And here for Book 3,
Stolen Away
.