The Moses Legacy

Chapter 57

Mid-April was towards the end of the tourist season, at least for the southern Nile and the Valley of the Kings. Strictly speaking it was the tourist season all year round, but in the Luxor area, until late September, it would simply be too hot for the Western tourists.

Yes, they would still come and they would still take cruises on the Nile, but they would go with the luxury, air-conditioned vessels not the austere feluccas. Na’if’s father had been lucky to get that job – carrying that Western couple from the Esna Lock to Cairo. Normally the tourists just wanted a two-hour fun trip to get their feet wet, so to speak.

But now with the tourist season nearly over, it would be back to fishing. So now it was Na’if’s duty to clean out the boat and get it ready for a fishing voyage. He always hated this time of year. The tourist season was so much more fun. Not just because the money was better, but also because there was more to do. The tourists were always interesting people to talk to. They came from other lands where they did things differently and it was always fun to hear about foreign lands, and especially to meet the Western girls who showed their bodies in the way they dressed.

He wanted one day to go to the West. Maybe to study in one of their universities or colleges. He had heard that in the West you could study to be a reporter for a newspaper or learn how to play football like David Beckham. It would be nice to do that. If only his father had the money to send him.

It was while he was cleaning out the boat that he noticed something that must have fallen out of one of their pockets. It was a mobile phone, one of those big ones with a fancy display. It belonged to the man – Daniel. He remembered that now. He had two phones, but he never used them. And now he had lost one of them.

It was too late to give it back to him because they had left the boat and could be anywhere in Cairo. Besides, Daniel had two mobile phones; he had seen that. So why did he need both? It wasn’t really stealing because he hadn’t taken it, but merely found it. And he couldn’t give it back to the owner because the owner wasn’t there.

There was no point handing it in to the police. They would never be able to find the owner. So why couldn’t he keep it for himself?

He made up his mind in that moment that this was precisely what he would do.