Obvious Enchantment

Chapter One Egypt Though the ground was hard and sharp, Ingrid knelt in the dirt. The dry surface layer, lifted by the afternoon wind, dusted her damp skin. She brushed the hair from her eyes, streaking her cheek with brown, looked up at the farmer who stood above her and placed her hands flat on the earth. "This is no good for farming," she said. "It's very, very old." The farmer's face was stubbornly blank. He did not want to understand. She began digging, jagged bits of rock tearing at her fingertips. Soon she found something. Holding up a shard, she smiled. "You see, antiquities. Good for tourists. Good for money." The farmer squatted and reached for the shard. After studying it, he threw it down and shook his head. "This was a palace," Ingrid said, retrieving the shard. "A place where kings lived. Pharaohs." The farmer motioned toward the north. "Giza," he said resolutely. "Kings in Giza." "Giza is where they died. They lived here." "Giza tourists. No here," the farmer said, waving a brown hand over the soil. "No here." At a distance, a donkey stood in calm resignation, one hoof slightly raised. As the farmer approached, it opened a mournful eye. The donkey was hitched to a crude plow with rusted blades that cut into the earth as the animal again plodded forward in the heat. Ingrid walked back to the jeep. "He won't listen," she said. "I think it's because I'm a woman." "It's because he's a Fellahin," Louis said. "They've been doing this for three thousand years." "Like you, the Fellahin are impressed only by Giza." Ingrid chewed a fingernail and watched the farmer push an uneven row into the soil. "Damn." She got out of the jeep and stalked across the barren field. The farmer had turned the plow to start the next row when Ingrid stood in front of him. "You understand maat? It's very bad maat to plant here. Your crop will fail. You have a family? They will get sick. Malaria. Maybe they will die." The farmer stared at her through the donkey's ears. Then he clicked with his tongue, urging it on. "Wait," Ingrid said. "Just wait. I can get money for you, money instead of farming. How much money for this whole field of crops? How much for one year of crops?" "Much money." "How much?" she insisted. "Enough for donkey." He pointed at his harnessed animal. "Two donkey." "Two donkeys. Just wait, then. Do you understand? No more today. Tomorrow I will bring you money for two donkeys." The farmer nodded, and Ingrid was content for the moment to leave it at that. Louis was waiting in the jeep. "I need to get back to Cairo," she told him. "I've promised him two donkeys' worth of piastres. How much is a donkey worth, anyway?" "Why are you doing this?" Louis said, starting up the jeep. "You leave in two days." "Wait." Ingrid held him back. "I want to see if he starts again." They sat with the motor idling until the farmer led the donkey to a stand of tall grass into which he folded himself as the donkey began to graze. "He's gone to sleep." "He's dreaming about how with two more donkeys he'll be able to plow the field three times as fast," Louis said. "We're going to have to dig after sunset. I need to find something tonight." "You will get a bad reputation with the Fellahin." "I already have a bad reputation with the Fellahin. But I have a feeling about this place. I could at least mark it for future work." Louis' eyes traveled across the plot of land. "I know mudbricMalarkey, Tucker is the author of 'Obvious Enchantment' with ISBN 9780375504099 and ISBN 0375504095.