The Moses Legacy

Chapter 55

‘We can’t go by bus,’ Gabrielle was saying. ‘They’ll catch us at the checkpoints.’

‘There are checkpoints at the borders too,’ Daniel replied. ‘Any way you look at it we’re going to have to cross a border checkpoint. But I’d’ve thought that with the buses it wouldn’t be as intense as it is at the airports.’

They were in a cafe by the Nile in a small village outside Cairo, discussing their next move.

‘You have to understand, Daniel, that with the bus it isn’t just one checkpoint. It can be any number. In some ways it’s worse than an airport because at an airport you go through passport control and then you’re through. They only look at your passport when boarding to match it up to your boarding pass. But with the bus, because it stops at several places on the way, there are several checkpoints. And a checkpoint can be wherever an Egyptian army commander chooses to put one.’

‘Well, there’s no way we can use the airport. They’re bound to be watching that.’

‘Okay, so let’s say we find a way of getting to one of the borders. Why does it have to be the Israeli border? Wouldn’t that be the one they watch most closely?’

‘You tell me, Gaby. Do you think the security will be more lax at the Gaza border? Or the Libyan border?’

‘We could try and make it to Jordan.’

‘We could. But we’d still have to get to Taba in Sinai – even if we wanted to make it across to Aqaba. And besides… it’s Israel that we need to get to.’

‘Why?’

‘Because we need to talk to the Samaritans.’

‘The Samaritans?’

‘Yes.’

‘Why in God’s name do you want to talk to them?’

‘Because I want to show them those copies of the papyri that we took from Mansoor’s office. The one that appeared to be written by Ay, whom you think – we think – may have been Ephraim, the son of Joseph.’

‘Why do you want to show it to them?’

‘Because I think they may be able to shed some light on it.’

‘Would you care to elaborate?’

‘You remember what it said? The author expressed his wish that his bones be returned to Mount Gerizim?’

‘Yes, and you said that the valley nearby is the traditional resting place of Joseph and his sons.’

‘Yes. But the thing is, although the valley nearby has that tradition, the mountain itself has no major significance to the Jews. But it is regarded as the most sacred place in the world to the Samaritans. They even claim that it was the place where Abraham, the Israelite patriarch, was going to sacrifice his son Isaac, until an angel stopped him. And they also claim that it was the site where God told the Israelites to build the temple.’

‘But how do you propose to get their co-operation? Are you just going to go up to their leaders, as a complete stranger, and flash this copy of the papyrus and tell them that you’ve translated it and ask them to share their secrets with you?’

‘Basically, yes.’

‘Great. So now all we’ve got to do is get there.’

‘If we can make it to Taba, I have a plan for getting to Israel. But it’s risky.’

‘It’s also going to be risky getting to Taba, with all those checkpoints in the Sinai Desert.’

‘Daniel!’

They both spun round at the familiar voice.

‘My old friend. How are you?’

It was Walid. He was smiling that constant smile of his. Daniel just wished he hadn’t called his name out loud.

‘I’m fine,’ said Daniel, signalling Walid to join them at the table, preferring to converse with him in muted voices than shouting across a distance of a few feet.

Walid switched to Arabic. ‘Have you solved your problems?’

Daniel hesitated. Walid was trustworthy, but Daniel wasn’t sure how ongoing the duty of silence was. Technically he was no longer in Walid’s ‘tent’.

‘I need to get to Taba,’ Daniel explained.

‘You can go by bus across Sinai,’ Walid explained. ‘Or you can fly to Sharm and then drive north from there. Or you can even drive from here. But it is a long journey.’

Daniel wasn’t worried about the length of the trip, only about the prospect of having to show documentation when he hired a car.

‘We need to get there quietly… without anyone noticing.’

He was about to say that he and Gabrielle had lost their passports, but he didn’t want to lie to Walid again. It would be dishonourable, and honour was a very important thing in local culture.

‘We can’t hire a car, because we daren’t identify ourselves. It could lead to problems. But if you know someone who can drive us… we are ready to pay good money.’

Walid thought for a few seconds. ‘I do not know anyone who can drive you, but I know a group of Bedouin who are going that way on camels.’