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“Is this what you were hoping for?”
Tío Ricardo looked down, the lower half of his face near covered by his thick, grizzly beard. His hazel eyes widened as he took my painting into his weathered hands. I’d captured the massive columns, the ghosts of the vibrant colors decorating the capitals, the hieroglyphics etched into the stone. Hours had passed as I painted, but I barely noticed.
“These are lovely,” he said, beaming.
A compliment at last—I ought to note the date on the pages. My uncle noticed the rest of the crew and team eyeing the journal curiously, and to my astonishment, he passed it around. Isadora held it first and she pored over the drawings.
“Why, these are extraordinary! I couldn’t draw a straight line even if someone offered me a kingdom. You’ll have to teach me, Inez.”
“It only takes practice,” I said.
“Nonsense,” she said. “If that were true, I would be able to sew and I’m afraid I still can’t.”
I smiled and she handed the journal to her father. Mr. Fincastle barely glanced at it, but Abdullah marveled at the detail and I felt a swell of pride in my chest. I sat up straighter and fought a blush. When the notebook reached Whit, he handed it to someone on the digging crew without looking, sipping from his cup.
“I observed the making of it,” Whit explained to Abdullah’s astonishment.
“Speaking of which,” Tío Ricardo said. “Inez, I’d like you to sketch and draw the interior of the temple of Isis this time.”
“I look forward to it.”
“Whitford will be with you.”
“He’ll only distract me,” I said, keeping my voice nonchalant and calm. I couldn’t handle another encounter with Whit. “I work faster without someone hovering over my shoulder, anyway. I promise I’ll be safe and won’t come out until I’ve finished.”
“Still, I’d feel better if Whitford were with you,” my uncle said, frowning.
I couldn’t keep my eyes from flicking in his direction. He stared mutely into his mug, the corners of his mouth crimped. His distaste of being in my company was all too clear.
“I’ll join you,” Isadora said suddenly, looking between us.
I threw her a grateful smile.
“You’ll get dusty,” Mr. Fincastle said.
Isadora gave a dainty shrug. “I daresay no one will mind my dirty hem.”
“I certainly won’t,” I said. “I’mincrediblyhappy to haveyourcompany.”
If I hadn’t been looking in his direction, I would have missed his quick eye roll. But he tightened his hold on the cup, his fingers turning white.
My uncle glanced at me pointedly. “You’ll let me know of any developments?”
I fought hard to keep my expression bland as I lied straight to his face. “Of course, Tío.”
Isadora assessed us with a speculative gleam in her eyes. Intuition flickered sharply. I might have fooled my uncle, but possibly not her. She had observed the tension between me and Whit, coming to my rescue. She had somehow known I had lied to my uncle. Isadora collected information while she remained a mystery to me. It suddenly dawned on me that I was making myself vulnerable.
If I weren’t more careful, she could discover the biggest secret I kept.
CAPÍTULO VEINTITRÉS
Whit stayed outside with the digging crew, working alongside them, while Abdullah and Tío Ricardo shouted instructions, their hands as dirty as everyone else’s. They all worked in cohesion, speaking to the long years between them, seeming to understand one another without talking. Gunpowder disappeared down into the tunnels under Trajan’s Kiosk, along with shovels and pickaxes. Isadora and I cleaned up after the morning meal, washing plates and cups in a big luggage trunk brimming with soapy water. Once the dishes were done, we flipped the lid closed. When I opened it again, the old water was replaced by fresh, clean water. A marvel out here in the desert.
I wished I could fit inside for baths.
Isadora must have felt the same because I caught her looking longingly at the trunk, too. But she looked prim and neat, her hair perfectly braided and coiled high over her head. You’d never know she’d spent the night in a makeshift tent with crumbling walls and a tarp stretched over her head.
“Shall we?” she asked, gesturing toward the temple of Isis.
