The Queen's Eye by Jane Alden

Author:Jane Alden [Alden, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781954213845
Amazon: B0CXZTKGGR
Goodreads: 213651655
Publisher: Desert Palm Press
Published: 2024-05-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

AFTER DINNER IN THE hotel dining room, we went into the lounge. Cass wanted a brandy. A few other hotel guests chatted quietly in groups of twos and threes. We passed an attractive youngish woman sitting alone reading a book, Egyptian Gods from Anubis to Zenenet. Clever. We found a table in the corner. Cass sipped her brandy while I leaned on my elbows and fought dozing off.

“Excuse me. Dr. Stillwell?” It was the young woman with the book. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.” She stuck out her hand. “Olympia Shaunessy. I’m a huge fan. I followed your search for Hatshepsut from your first articles in the journals to the news of her discovery.”

This fan probably read the snarky editorial replies to Cass’s early journal articles when the establishment was dismissing her theories about Hatshepsut as pages out of a pulp fiction novel.

“Olympia Shaunessy?”

“Yes, I know it’s a mouthful. My mother was from Crete and my father was from Dublin. Call me Pia.” She glanced at the empty chair.

Cass nodded at me. “This is my assistant, Ari Morgan.”

I wished she’d use some title other than assistant, but what would it be? Colleague? Partner? Girlfriend?

Pia offered her hand to me. She cleared her throat and looked at the empty seat again.

Cass pulled out the chair. “Join us.” She nodded at Pia’s book. “You’re interested in Egyptian gods?”

“Oh, I’m sort of an amateur armchair archeologist. I hesitate to even say that to you. Mostly I study other people’s work I read about in books. I suspect trained archaeologists have nothing but disdain for amateurs.”

“Many do, but where would we be without untrained amateurs such as Lord Carnarvon and Theodore Davis? I’ve observed that breakthroughs have more to do with passion, luck, and persistence than training. Training does improve dig techniques, but they are better learned on-site than in a classroom.”

Pia relaxed into her chair a little and marked her place in her book. “My passion lies in research. Digging through obscure writings in the stacks of New York City Public Library and the archives of MOMA. This is my first ever in-person visit to a real site. I’ve splurged on this trip to Luxor to study firsthand the wall paintings in Senenmut’s tomb where you found Hatshepsut.”

Cass patted my hand. “Yes, we found her. Hatshepsut’s beloved counselor Senenmut hid her in his own unfinished tomb. He saved her mummy from the wrath of her stepson, but I suspect you’re interested in something different in Senenmut’s tomb, the painting of the Minoan tribute processional.”

“Yes, how did you know the painting is my interest?”

“You mentioned your connection with Crete. The tomb painting is the oldest evidence we have so far of a trade connection between ancient Greece and Egypt.”

Pia clapped her hands. Her green eyes teared up with emotion. “Yes. Seeing the procession of Cretan warriors in honor of Hatshepsut was such a thrill. I sensed the connection between my roots and this ancient place that no picture in a book could have provided.

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