The Truth Seeker, The Seer & The Heart E-Book

Lisa West

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 368

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

At the age of 8, Kyle is briefly transported back to Ancient Egypt after holding an enchanting amulet where he encounters a beautiful woman named Amira. From this experience, his love for archaeology develops and he meets Emma who, since the age of 5, has had strange visions of a young Egyptian girl who she speaks to in Arabic, which baffles her parents. The lives of Emma, Kyle and Amira, and the worlds of Ancient Egypt and the modern world are mysteriously intertwined as they grow from being children into adulthood. When Amira's spiteful and jealous brother puts her life in danger, can the power of the amulet and the time-travelling Truth Seeker and Her Heart help to save her life and future generations? And what part do the mysterious Knights of Ramla have to play as the puzzle unfolds?

Leseprobe

Imprint

All rights of distribution, also through movies, radio and television, photomechanical reproduction, sound carrier, electronic medium and reprinting in excerpts are reserved.

© 2024 novum publishing

ISBN print edition:978-3-99146-504-1

ISBN e-book: 978-3-99146-505-8

Editor:Vaughn Chambers

Cover photos:Roma74, Rainprel | Dreamstime.com

Cover design, layout & typesetting: novum publishing

www.novum-publishing.co.uk

Dedication

For my hubby, my penguin, my inspiration.

Chapter 1 – Kyle

1999 – Chamberlaine High,

Warwickshire, UK – Kyle, 8 years old

Itwas just an ordinary Tuesday.But for Kyle, it would be theday that set the course of hislife and started him on avery unusual adventure indeed.

The school hall was unusuallyquiet. The attention of the entire form was focused on the man taking centre stage at the front of the hall.

Professor Christopher O’Hare was regaling the students with storiesof his adventures as an archaeologist. He had a warm, booming voice. Standing at sixfeet tall, he had bronzed skin fromworking in the sun and sandy-coloured hair which tended toflop slightly onto his forehead. He had a friendly smile andknew how to tell a story.

He introduced himself by jauntily placing an Indiana Jones-style hat on his head, muchto the delight of the students.

He alternately had the children gasping in shock or awe at hisstories or laughing at someof the antics of his colleagues. Hispassion for his work as an archaeologist was contagious, sparking the children’s imagination at the wonderof the places he had visited.

Behind him was a white projector screen, which he filled withimages of maps of Egypt, and colourful photos of pyramids, temples, sarcophagi, and jewellery made from precious gems.

He told themabout the Kings and Queens of Egypt, and how the Egyptians lived andworked, and thrilled them with stories of rituals and magic.

On a table to his righton the stage, he had placed artefacts borrowed from museums andprivate collectors to show to the children.

Kyle listened with round eyes, straining his neck to seeover his school friend in front of him at what might be onthe table.

When the professor finished his presentation, he took questions from the students and askedif anyone wanted to look at any of the artefacts he had broughtwith him. Kyle’s arm shotup so fast it was a blur, andhe practically bounced in his seat hoping to be chosen. The professor laughed atthe number of hands in theair. ‘Unfortunately, I only have time to choose a few as Iam sure the teachers are hopingto get you back to class sometime this afternoon.’

The professor pointed ata few raised hands, and thenhe pointed at Kyle. Kyle could not believe he had chosen him; he pointedto himself, and, at the professor’s nod,he got out of his chair with a bounce.Bubbling with excitement, he made his way to the frontof the hall and up onto the stage.Kyle didn’t like to be the centre of attention, so it was noticeably clear how much the talk had interested him. He lookedat all the artefacts on the tablein wonder. Each piece had a white label underneath with typed information. There were small statues,coins, shards of pottery, and parchment with odd figures on, which the note stated were hieroglyphs.

In a glass-enclosed box, a necklace was shining at him. He had never seen anythinglike it before. Underneath, the writing said that itwas an amulet that had been made to protect the wearer. Kyle didn’t knowanything about jewellery, but he thought it was beautiful. The centrepieceheld a crystal called malachite, which was a stripy green colour. It was encased in what looked like an eye. According to the note, it was the Eyeof Horus. This was then surrounded bya flower. The note stated:

‘Malachite– Associated with Wisdom  Discernment.

Worn to promote prophetic visions and green being

aprotective colour.

The Eye of Horus– Egyptian symbol of protection.

Flower –Jasmine– For love and protection.’

The professor noticed Kyle wastransfixed by the artefacts,particularly the amulet. The otherchildren had gone back totheir seats and the hall was slowlyclearing as they made their way to their classes. Kyle hadn’t noticed; hewas so mesmerised by the amulet. Theprofessor came to a decision. He asked Kyle if he would like to look closer at the amulet. Kylelooked at him with round eyes and nodded. Smiling, theprofessor passed him a pair of soft whitegloves to wear to protect the amulet.

He put gloves on himself, lifted theclear case off the necklace, and removedit from its silk bed. He placedit into Kyle’s shaking hands. As Kyle looked at the amulet,he felt a tingling sensationmoving up his hands, into his arms, and then through his wholebody. As he looked up to question the professor, he felt dizzy. His peripheral vision grewhazy, so he closed his eyes. Whenthe dizziness stopped, heopened them again, but he was nolonger in his school hall. The sunwas shining brightly in his eyes,and he shielded them with one hand as they adjusted to the unexpected sunlight. As they adjusted,he looked around him. He could seea river to his right withwhat looked like plants of various sizes and types growing in plots.

To his left, dotted around, he couldsee houses, although none likehe had ever seen before. He blinked and looked up and nearly sworealoud with shock. Before his very, unbelieving, eyes, he was astonishedto see a pyramid, just like in the professor’s photos. His mouth hung openin complete surprise. He closed hiseyes, rubbed them, and lookedagain.

No, it was not his imagination, as there, in the background, dwarfing the landscape,was a pyramid. It didn’t look complete, as if it was still being built. He couldn’t help it;this time he did swear. Hewas interrupted from his swearing by a soft chuckle behind him, and, whirling around, he looked up at the most beautiful womanhe had ever seen.

She had kind, brown eyes and long dark hair, and she was wearing strange clothing which looked completely at home in her surroundings. Shehad a gentleness about her, and he felt as if she could lookdirectly into his soul. He caught his breath as, smiling at him, she reached out for the necklace that he hadforgotten he was holding. ‘You foundit,’ she said, smiling. He was passing the necklace toher when he felt the tingling start in his hands again.He wanted to shout, ‘NO!’ He wasn’tready to leave yet. But beforehe could do or say anything else,his vision blurred once more. Heclosed his eyes to combat thedizzy feeling, and when he opened them again, he found himself back in the school hall.

The professor looked questioningly at him, andhe found he was slightly out ofbreath and his head was buzzing. Quite urgently, he thrust the necklace backat the professor. ‘You ok lad?’ he asked.Was that a gleam in his eye? Didhe know what had happened? Before he had a chance tosay anything, the bell rang indicating he should be making his wayto class. He looked up and realisedthe hall was nearly empty of students.

‘Thank you, sir,’ hesaid, and was about to run off when the professor stopped him andpassed him a leaflet onarchaeologyalong with his businesscard.

‘If you have any questions,’ hesaid, indicating the leaflet and possibly the necklace, but Kyle couldnot be sure. Nodding his head, Kyleran down the aisle out of the hall. He stopped off in the bathroom and splashed water on his face. Feeling less dizzy, he made his wayto class.

He could barely concentrate for the rest of the day inschool. So many thoughts and questions were going through his head.Hadhe really been in Egypt, or had he been daydreaming? Who was the beautifulwoman and what was her connection to the amulet?So manyquestions. He looked up and noticed Mr Thompson looking at him questioningly. Realising he had been caught staring into space, he returned his attention to his textbook and tried toconcentrate on his schoolwork.

He knew one thing for certain. Hewanted to be an archaeologistwhen he grew up. He wanted to knowwho the woman was that he had seen. He … just wanted to know.

He could not wait to get home from school that day.As soon as the last bell of the dayrang, he grabbed his bag and ran outof the door. Waving goodbye to his mates, he cycled homeas quickly as he could.

Whenhe made it home, he abandoned his bike on the drive and opened the door, leaving it wide open. Then, thinking better of it,he turned around and banged the door shut. Dropping his school bagon the floor, he discarded his coat andshoes in the middle of thehallway where anyone could fall over them. Calling ‘Mum!’ at the top ofhis voice, he ran down the shorthallway into the kitchen, wherehe found not only his mum but alsohis dad. It was unusual for his dad to be home at this time of day, being a salesman, buthe had a long-distance journey tomorrow, so he had come home early in preparation. Kyle hadobviously caught his mum and dad kissing but chose not to notice, as hewas too excited to tell them abouthis day to stop and effect his usual retching motion at theview of them kissing.

He toldthem very excitedly about the professor who had visited the school.He told them about how he was an archaeologist, had brought cool stuff for them to look at, and told them some amazingstories of his adventures. ‘He was like Indiana Jones,’ Kyle said to his parents. He told them about the coolnecklace, and that he knew thathe wanted to be an archaeologist when hegrew up. Then, leaving them both startled,he ran out of the room. He ran backin to ask for a snack, grabbed his bag from the hallway, leaving his coat and shoes still inthe middle of the floor, and then ran up the stairs to his bedroom which he sharedwith his older brother.

He emptied hispockets of their contents, rubber bands, marbles, and tissues, ontohis dresser and was surprisedto see what looked likesand in the palm of his hand. Hecarefully tipped the sand from his hand into a discarded,but empty, sandwich bag to keep.

Back in the kitchen, hismum and dad looked at each other in the wake of his whirlwind entrance and exit and smiled. Thinking that by next week he would probablywant to be a footballer or astronaut, they thought nothing more of it.

Chapter 2 – Amira

‘Amira?’ Amira turned at the pressure of a hand on her shoulder. Dragging her eyes away from the spot where the boy had beenstanding just a moment ago, shelooked into the concernedeyes of her husband Abubakar.

‘Who were you talking to?’ he asked gently.

‘A boy,’ said Amira.‘He was standing just there.’ She gestured with her hand which washolding the amulet.

‘Where did you findit?’ said Abubakar.

‘The boy brought it to me,’ said Amira. ‘Hewas wearing the strangest clothes andshoes. He had pale skin andthe most startling blue eyes.He gave me my amulet and then hejust disappeared.’

‘Do you think hewas a vision?’ asked Abubakar.

Amira shook her head.‘A vision wouldn’t have been able to giveme this,’ she said, refastening the necklace around her neck. ‘Ithink the amulet brought him to me.’

‘I wonder why,’ said Abubakar.

‘I don’t know,’ said Amira. ‘But I have a feeling we will meet again.’

Abubakar gently took Amira’s hand, and they walked back into the house.

Chapter 3 – Emma

1996 – San Francisco, USA – Emma 5 years old

Chionewoke up with a start,her heart pounding in her chest. Something had disturbed her, but shewasn’t sure what. Listening carefully in the darkness, she heardit again. With a start she realised it was their daughter Emma.She shook her husband Matthew awake and they quickly got out of bed.

Putting on her dressing gown, she hurriedly left the room,with Matthew close behind. She made her way along the corridor to Emma’s bedroom and turned around to Matthew with concern on her face only to findthat he wasn’t there.

She wentinto Emma’s room and heard himenter behind her. She turned to himconfused. Understanding her unasked question, he waved his phone ather. Emma was having anothernightmare and was crying out in alanguage they didn’t recognise. ‘Brother, wakeup, brother, Baahir, wake up please you are frightening me, please, please wake up.’

Chione went to comfort her, butMatthew put a hand on her shoulderto stop her. She looked up athim in confusion and he placedhis fingers to her lips to silence her.Using his phone, he startedto record what Emma was saying.

It only took a few minutes, but listening to Emma in obvious distress and not doing anything was breaking her heart. Thinking enough was enough, she looked at Matthew, and with a gentle smile, he nodded his head, just asdistressed. Chione went to Emma whowas thrashing around in her bed andgently cradled her in her arms. ‘Emma, Emma, wake up sweetie, it’sok, it’s only a dream, mommy and daddy are here.’

Emma cried out again, ‘I will gofor help,’ she shouted.

‘Shhhhh Em, shhhhh now, it’s ok, I have you, you are safe.’ Chione gently rocked her until she relaxed in her arms. Emma eventually quietened and fellback into a restful sleep. Chione andMatthew watched her for a little while and then quietly left the room and made their way to the kitchen. Matthew put the kettle on,and they sat at the kitchen table.

‘I wonder what she was saying. She sounded so distressed.’

Matthew glanced over at her fromthe kitchen counter while he waitedfor the kettle to boil. ‘I don’tknow,’ he said. ‘At least we havea recording now. Perhaps we can finallyfind out.’

‘It could be Arabic,’ Chione said. ‘It sounds a little bit like how grandma spoke when I was little, and we visited her.It has been so long since Ihave heard it spoken, I amnot sure.’

Matthew placed a steamingcup of tea in front of Chione;she wrapped her hands around it, comforted by the heat. He sat down with his tea and replayed the recording on his phone.

‘I will speakto Mark our linguistic expert atthe museum when I go to work tomorrow. Hopefully, he can shed somelight,’ said Chione.

‘Good idea,’said Matthew. ‘Come on love, let’s takeour tea to bed.’

Chione gave him a watery smile, ‘Let’s justcheck on Emma first.’

Theywalked hand in hand to Emma’s room and were glad to findher sleeping deeply and restfully. Theyboth kissed her gently on the forehead and made their way back to the kitchen to get their tea. They settled back into bed and, after a while, with Chione in hisarms, Matthew tried to go backto sleep. They could not help but listen out in case Emma woke upagain but finally fell asleepthemselves.

Yawning, Chione wokeup the next morning determined to find Mark when she gotto work to see if she could find out what it was Emma was so frightened of.

Emmacame into the kitchen lookingsleepy but unaffected by her nightmare the night before. ‘Good morning sleepy head.’

Emma gave her a sleepy kiss on the cheek.‘I had a funny dream last night,’ she said.

‘Did you?’ said Chione. ‘Can you remember what itwas about?’

‘It’s a bit blurry,’ said Emma, ‘but I think itwas about a boy. He was hurt.He had hit his head on a rock,and I couldn’t wake him up. Thenyou and Daddy came into theroom, and I don’t remember any more.’

‘That’s ok Emma, sweetie. Nothing to worry about. It was just a dream.’ Smiling, she gave her daughter a hug and made hersome breakfast.

Later, Chione picked Emma up from school and they walked home. ‘Did youhave a nice day at school sweetie?’ asked Chione.

‘Yes Mommy,’ said Emma. ‘I painted apicture for you,’ she said, passing Chionea picture she had painted in art that day.

The picture was of a little girl planting some seeds in a vegetable patch. ‘Thankyou,’ she said, smiling ather daughter. ‘Who is this of? Is ita friend at school?’

‘NoMommy,’ giggled Emma, ‘It’sAmira. You know Amira Mommy?’

‘Amira? That’s an unusual name. Is it a new girl in thestreet?’ Emma hadn’t heard her asshe was happily skipping ahead towards home. Chione was sureshe had heard the name before, but she just couldn’t rememberwhere. She racked her braintrying to think of all the families in the street and whether anyof their daughters were calledAmira, but she couldn’t recall.

Shrugging her shoulders, she caught up withEmma and walked the rest ofthe way home. She helped Emma with her homework at thekitchen table and then started toprepare dinner. Chione then remembered Emma’s imaginary friend. She had walked in on Emmamany times talking to someone she couldn’t see. She even spoke inwhat Chione had thought wasa made-up language, but after Emma’s nightmare when she had shouted out in the same language,she had researched it by asking Mark at work and found it wasa form of Arabic.

‘Have youtold me about Amira before?’ Chione asked Emma. At Emma’s nod, shesaid, ‘Is Amira your homefriend? The friend youplay in your room with sometimes?’ Emma nodded again. ‘Can you tellme about her?’

Emma thoughtfor a moment, scrunching upher face in concentration. ‘She is from far away where it is hotand dusty. She wears funny clothing,’ she said, giggling. ‘But she thinks I wear funny clothes. She plants seeds to growfood. She is very smart and knows the names of lots of plants. She says she helps her daddy grow them. She has long dark hair andwears funny white clothes.’ Emma lost interest in the topic and went back to her drawing at the kitchen table.Chione decided to leave it for now and went back to cooking, but she decided to paymore attention when her daughter was playing in her room.

Chapter 4 – Amira

575 BC – Tara, Egypt – Amira, 5 years old

Amira woke up with a start, her heart pounding.It wasjust a dream, she told herself. Butshe knew that wasn’t true. Sheknew the difference by now, no matter how young she still was,between a dream, or even a nightmare, and one of her visions.

She heard raised voices andher mother crying in the other room. She shot out of her bed to listento what was going on.

It turnsout her brother had snuck out tosee his friends in the middleof the night. This wasn’tunusual, but it was now mid-morning, and he hadn’t come home yet.

It wasnot the safest place to be out at night and she could tell that her parents were worried. Sheknew she had to tell them hervision but hated the looks on theirfaces and wariness around her when her dreams come true.

She had seen her brother hurt andknew he needed help. Taking a deep breath,she walked into the livingroom and spoke. ‘Mother, Father,I know where Baahir is.’ Herparents looked at her with confusion, her mother with tears inher eyes, but they didn’t say anything.

She saw understanding dawn on Anipe’s face and, wiping her eyes,she gestured for Amira to come over to her. Amira walked across the room and her mother took the shawl from her shoulders and wrappedit around Amira. It wasn’t until then that Amira realised that she was shaking. Her visions always hadthat effect on her. She would wake shaking, feelingslightly sick and breathing heavily as if she had just been running.

Her mother rubbed herarms to warm and calm herand then sat her on her knee, cradling her in her arms. ‘Tell me what you saw,’ Anipesaid gently. Amira thought backon her dream. She recognised the place that she had seen Baahir lying. It was somewhere they had played before andsomewhere shehad followed him and hisfriends to when they snuck out.

It wasn’t far and she described thesetting and directions as bestshe could to her parents. She thought that Baahir had been on hisway home along the Nile bankand slipped. He had hit his head on arock and knocked himself out. She had seen blood near the bottom of his head but remembered him stillbreathing. It was cold out and she felt they needed to hurry. Amira wantedto take her parents tohim, but her father, Baniti, wouldn’t allow it.He recognised the setting that Amira had described and felthe would be able to find Baahir on his own.

Baniti left quicklywith a blanket and cloths, and salveto tend to the wound Amirahad described seeing, leaving Amira and Anipe waiting anxiously.

Anipe was keeping lookout at the window and saw Baniti approaching. She opened the door and Baniti walked through with Baahirin his arms. Baahir wasobviously still unconscious, and Baniti looked worried.

Baniti layBaahir on the bed and Anipe removed his damp clothes and dressed him inclean, warm clothes. Baniti slipped out of the door to fetch their neighbour Ramla, the local healer. Anipe put some water on the fire to boil to help Ramla tend to Baahir’s wounds. Ramla came quickly, although it was clear she had beenwoken up. Baniti walked over to Anipe and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze which wasmet with a watery smile. Ramla hada basket with her; when she lifted the cover, Amira could see thatit was filled with strips of clean cloth, pots, and bottlesof ointments, salves, and herbs. She unwrapped the bandage that Baniti had fashioned around Baahir’s head to staunch theblood.

When she had removed it, they wererelieved so see that the bleeding had slowed down and almost stopped. The water was ready andRamla asked Anipe to fill twobowls with it. Anipe broughtover the warm water and Ramla firstwashed her hands in one of thebowls and dried them on a towel that Anipe passed her. She thenadded a liquid from one of the manybottles in her basket to theother bowl. She cleaned the wound with a clean cloth and, afterapplying some of the salve, re-dressedthe wound.

Amira watched in fascination as Ramla worked with skilled efficiency, but also gentleness.The fact that Amira hadwatched everything she had done hadn’t escaped Ramla’s attention. She filed that information away fora later date and vowed to speak to Anipe when she next hadher alone. Ramla took a small pouchout of her basket and filled itwith a selection of herbs which shegave to Anipe with instructions to put them in water for Baahir to drink when he woke up.

She left confirmingshe would come back in afew hours to check on him, and ifhe stirred before then, to come andfetch her. Anipe hugged her friendwith gratitude. She told her that she would bring her vegetable soup and freshly bakedbread for her and her family’s supper as her payment and thanks. Amira could see that Ramla would have liked to refuse, but itwas their way. The small village looked out for each other and always respected the gifts that each could share.

Anipe was also a fine cook,so how could anyone say no toher food. Ramla smiled and said she looked forward to it and that hermouth was already watering at thethought. She left quietlyand Amira sat by Baahir’s bed towatch him and held his hand gently.

Anipe cleaned up and sat on the other side of Baahir anddid the same. They looked at each other across the bed withunderstandingand, bowing their heads,they shared a prayer that Baahir would wake soon and that he wouldbe well again.

Amira hadfallen asleep in the chair, slumpedover slightly onto the bed. A groan and then a gentle squeeze of herhand woke her from her slumber. She looked up and rubbed the sleep fromher eyes. She was delighted tosee her brother’s eyes open. ‘Baahir,’ Anipe said, kissing his hand. Baahirtried to lift his headoff the pillow and, with a groan, letit fall back down again. ‘Slowly,’Anipe said.

‘My head hurtsMother,’ said Baahir. ‘What happened?’

‘You fell and hit your head,’ said their mother. ‘You have beenunconscious for a while. You had us worried. I’ll get you something to help.’Their mother filled a cup with water and stirred in the herbs that Ramla had left them.

Lifting Baahir gently into a sitting position, she placedthe cup to his lips. ‘Drink slowly,’she said, ‘It may be bitter, but you needto drink it all. It will help.’Baahir took a sip and screwed uphis face. He tried to push thecup away, but Anipe wasinsistent. ‘Drink it all son, it will help.’ Baahir did as hewas told, at times tryingnot to retch but managingto drink it all down. Anipethen brought him fresh water todrink, which he drank in great gulpsdespite being told to drink slowly.Seeing that this had tired him, shesettled him gently onto the pillow. At Anipe’s nod, Amira left to let Ramlaknow that Baahir was awake.

Ramla came with her basket againand checked Baahir’s pulse. Shealso asked him to follow her finger with his eyes, and satisfied with what she found, she said he couldsleep again for a while and that shewould be back to check on himin an hour and re-dress his wound.Baahir slept and let the herbs dotheir work.

Ramla checked Baahir’s wound again later that day and decided he needed some stitches, of which he tried to protest loudly. She hushed him and said that once she puther salve on his wound, he wouldn’t feel athing. He looked dubious but let her. Anipe held his hand through the whole thingand Amira was amazed tosee that he didn’t even flinch when the needle entered his flesh. Again, Amira watched fascinatedand didn’t feelsqueamishat all atthe sight of the needle piercing flesh just as it would a piece of material.

Ramla checked on Baahirover the next few days, cleaning hiswound and checking his stitches aswell as his pulse, temperature, and eyesight. She asked Baahir questionssuch as his name and age, and hismother and father’s names. She asked him if he had a headache anddouble vision. She seemed happywith his replies and each time left herbs for Baahir to drink tohelp with headaches and potentialfever. Baahir turned green at themention of the herbs but, seeing howthey helped his head to stop hurting, grudgingly swallowed the bitter potion.

After watching Ramla for a few days, Amiraasked her what she was checking for, and Ramla gently explained she was checking for infectionsand whether the knock to the head had left any after-effects to Baahir’s brain.

Ramla checked on Baahir over thenext few days and was happy that he could leave his bed for gentlewalks to check his balance.Pleased with the results, she allowed him toincrease his walks until he seemed like his old self. He wasto keep his cut dry and tokeep applying the salve thatshe gave him. After about seven weeksshe was happy that thewound had healed and removed thestitches. Baahir soon returned to good health and went about his days as normal.

Baniti and Anipe never told him about Amira’s dream and that itwas because of her that he wasfound and saved. Anipe knew he would ridicule Amira over it andwouldn’t be grateful. Amira was relieved and the matter was soon forgotten.

Chapter 5 – Amira

Amira grew up in Tara, which was one of the few villages remaining in Egypt. The land was fed by the Nile River, itslifeblood, making the earth very fertile. As Egypt evolved, villages slowly disappeared making way for bigger towns and cities. Amira’s fatherBaniti inherited his land fromhis father and when their neighbours hadmoved to already populated bigger towns, Baniti bought their land.

As farming evolved, Baniti evolved his landand crops too. He irrigated his land so that it was rare that he was affected by droughts. Over the years their farm grew insize and their land provided foodfor their table in the form ofvegetables, fruits, and herbs. Later itbrought money as they sold the produce that they grew at the local market. They also transported crates to the neighbouringareas by boat, depending on the amount of crop they had produced that year.

When Khnurn, his wife Femi, and son Abubakar arrived in their village, Baniti and Khnurn decided to joinforces. Baniti lost some ofhis profits due to the cost of shipping from their village to thesurrounding towns and Khnurnimported the goods that he sold. They felt that it would benefit them both to join forces, andsoon Baniti would own his very own shipwhich he calledEgyptianSwift.

Baniti kept experimenting with his land and Khnurn was always bringing him seeds and cuttingsfrom far and wide. He would alsobring news of any innovations as theyhappened, and thanks to theirjoint venture, they were able tosell produce to towns further afield. They made good business partners and became loyal friends.

Amira helped her father Baniti with the harvest and hermother Anipe to prepare meals, and as she grew older, her father would sometimes take her on themerchant ships, which alwaysfelt like an adventure.

Amira started to help her parents onthe market stall too selling their produce. The markets were alwaysloud and bustling with merchants calling their wares. The air would always bethick with smells of herbs and spices and her eyes would grow round in wonder at the sight of beautiful silks and precious gems.

She hadbegun tounderstandthat herpropheticdreams were considered a giftto many in Egypt. Her mother worried for her safety and,mostly, kept her gift quiet to protecther. Anipe called them herspecialdreams. She always knew by Amira’s face in the morningsif she had had one of these special dreamsand would ask her to tell her about it. If the dream was about someone they knew, she would have aquiet word and they would just dropby, unexpectedly of course,the next day. Anipe would ask Amira to tell them what shehad seen. They would always leave an offering ofwhatever they could manage. Vegetablesor herbs for the dinner table, piecesof cloth, grains, or spices, and evenseeds for planting. Anipe would always refuse, but they always managed to forgetto take their offering with them.

Anipe worriedthat word would spread of Amira’s gift, but their village was a close-knit community and veryprotective of each other. Sometimes these dreams were happy messages, suchas a long-awaited baby, or helped someone find something preciousthey had lost. However, sometimes they were sad, and Amira always left it up toAnipe whether the person was tobe told or not. If it were adeath for instance and telling them wouldn’t change anything but justcause distress, she didn’t want toworry them sooner. Sometimes it was a hard decision to make. Sometimes Amira’s dreams were of anaccident on one of the merchant vessels orin the market. Anipe always kept an eye out when attendingtheir market stall and if she wereable to intervene, she would.

One night, Amira dreamt that she wasat the market, and she saw a display ofmasonry jugs collapse and a small child passing at the timewas crushed under the load and badly hurt. Two days later Anipe wasat the market tending thestall and saw a precariously packedstall of masonry jugs. She politely offered to help the old man whoran the store to restack them,so they were safer. He thanked her profusely. His son normally stacked thestall but was unable to be therethat day to help. With his arthritic hands, he found it quite difficult on his own. So,they both hoped that this was one incident they had managed to prevent.

Other incidents were out of their handsand Anipe tried to teach Amira to let these go as she couldn’t stop everything, but she could see thetoll that they took on Amira.Anipe always held Amira when she cried at the injustice of seeing what she could not help toprevent.

Ramla had noticed Amira’s interest in the work that she did and offered to teach her about herbs and how to make potions sothat she could help people. Amira learnt so much from Ramla over the years. She taughther about herbs and flowers and howto use them for healing, whether as tinctures, potions, balms, or antiseptics, both topical and taken in food or water. She taughther crystal therapy and how to usethe gemstones topically or as essences. Notonly that, but she also helped Amira to hone her gift of sight.

It was usual for a girl oftwelve to be married, but Amira wasn’t ready and instead agreed to be astudent in herbal medicine, working with Ramla, who wasone of their town’s priestesses. As this hadbeen her wish from the moment, she hadwatched Ramla look after her brother when he was hurt, Amira wasvery happy with how things turned out.

Working with Ramla, Amira found that she could have waking dreams when holdingsomething personal from the personbeing read for or about. She foundthat these were generated from a strong emotion. Readings like thistended to leave her energy drained andRamla helped her regain this with oneof her potions. They decided, though, that she would only do these types ofreadings in emergencies.

When Baahir turned fourteen, he splithis time between the farm and working aboard a ship delivering merchandise to towns along the Nile River.Amira stayed with her mother to work on the farm andto produce her healing potions.

Once she had gained knowledgeand was confident in her herbology, people started to visit her at home to barter for potions for various maladies, even for finding love and mending a broken heart. Shealso sold them on their marketstall and her father started toadd them to his crates to beshipped to the surrounding towns. This brought in a good income and Amira was happy to help her mother and father have a better life. When Banitiand Khnurn joined forces and theirbusiness venture grew, they made sure that Amira kept her money,which she hid carefully for herfuture or put towards anything shewanted to buy. Her first gift was forher mother. She found somebeautiful silk at the market and made her a scarf. Anipe loved that scarf and said it made her feel beautiful.

Amira soonhad repeat customers who had ailing health and barteredfor her potions. They would purchasethese from her father and then he would deliver the potion to them the next time he was intheir town.

At the age of fourteen, much to Amira’s delight, Baniti allowed her to accompany him and her brother Baahir to some of the local towns where shecould sell her herbs and potions in person. She dried and hung her own herbs and sold them likethis after discussing ailments withthe clientele. She also sold her potionsand balms. Her father set herup a little tent at the end oftheir stall so she could talk inprivate with her customers. Most of her customers were women and she would also offer crystal healing to some of her clients. She was always selective and gota feeling from her customers before she offered this treatment.

On one of these excursions, shewas resting in her tenthaving completed a treatment when the flap was pulled backand the most stunning women Amira had ever seen walked in. She was dressed in beautiful garments ofsilk. Her long dark hairwas shiny, and she had the most startling green eyes surroundedby charcoal eyeliner.

Sheasked Amira’s name and, after confirmation, nodded her head and entered the tent fully. She didn’t giveher name, but Amira could seethat she was a lady of standing.She had the most beautiful necklace around her neck withturquoise and lapis lazuli. ‘My friend advised me to seek your help. She promised that she would let me know when you wereback in the area so thatI could come to visit.’ She took a deep breath. ‘My husband and I desperately want a childyou see. Sadly, I miscarried atthe beginning of last year and haven’t been able to conceive since.’The lady had a cultured voiceand Amira could see the sadness in her. ‘My husband has paid for the best doctors, and I have been poked and prodded, and followedall their instructions, but to noavail. I fear I am unable to give myhusband a child. Our marriage didn’t start as a love match butto align our families’ wealth. We quickly fell in love and thought children would come intime. We are now under a lot of pressure to produce an heir asmy husband’s father is in poorhealth and wants to see a grandchild before it is too late.’

AsAmira looked closer at the lady,she could see the sorrow and the strain of the situation in her face,under the carefully appliedmakeup. The lady held herself very regallywith her spine straight and her hands gently cupped in front of her. ‘Idon’t know if you can help me,’ she said. ‘I think that my husband would probably laugh at me being here. No offence, but he would wonderwhat you could offer overthe best physicians in the country. My nurse was a healer and I have much respect for her andfor her knowledge. It was her thatrecommended you. Do you think you can help?’ the ladyfinished in a rush.

‘Wouldyou like to sit?’ said Amira,gesturing to the silk padded cushion on the floor. She smiled apologetically as she didn’thave a chair to offer her. The lady gracefully sank onto the cushion infront of Amira and, as if allher poise had left her, she brokeinto noisy sobs. Amira took her hand gently until she was ableto control herself once more.

‘That isa good start towards healing,’ she said gently. ‘Holding all that indoes not help.’ The lady smiled awatery smile at Amira and then opened a purse that she carried withher and restored her appearance.

When she had regained her poise, she once again looked Amira in the eye.‘I feel lighter,’ she said, with aslight smile. She looked likeshe wanted to apologise for her lackof control, but Amira sensed that she wasn’t sure how to begin. Amira felt that she wasn’t a person who hadto apologise for herself in life.

Amira gently nodded her head to acknowledge what the lady was unable to express. The lady seemed to relax slightly and nodded back. ‘Do you have something Icould hold? Something thatyou wear often and means a lot to you. If you have something ofyour husband’s as well, that would be useful.’

The lady had come prepared it seemed. She first took the necklace from around her neck. ‘This was my husband’s grandmothers, and he gave this to me whenhe proposed. I have worn it everyday since.’ She then opened herbag and took out a ring. It was quitechunky, and judging from the size, it belonged to a man. ‘T