they came out alongside the river again. An island, separated from the mainland only by a narrow channel, lay directly opposite. Ash told her it was called Rhoda, pointing out the landmarks and telling her little pieces of history. Ruby nodded dutifully. They had been walking for a long time and the sky was already fading from blue to pale grey. There were more feluccas with their sails like birds’ wings on the water.
‘It’s time I went back,’ she said.
They turned north, walking towards the Tahrir Bridge. When they reached the place where Ash had left the bike, lights were beginning to twinkle on the bridges and the buildings across the river. The sunset sky was streaked with gold and pale green.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Ruby sighed.
Ash took her arm. ‘I have an idea. A special, very special Cairo view, just for you. You have to tell a small lie, but I think you can do that?’
She gave him a warning look. ‘Maybe.’
He was marching her through the torrent of traffic and through a gateway into some gardens. A huge hotel with hundreds of balconies and lit-up windows loomed over them, and a line of shiny cars snaked up to the doors.
‘You stay in places like this?’
‘I have done,’ she admitted.
‘So you know what to do.’
As the revolving door disgorged them into a glass-and-marble lobby, a doorman in a tarboosh and white baggy trousers worn with a sash and a red waistcoat stepped in front of them.
‘I am staying in the hotel. Room 806,’ Ruby said firmly.
‘Good evening,’ he murmured and stepped back again.
Heads up, they walked past the brocade armchairs and the fountain to the lifts. Ash was chuckling.
‘Are we nicking something?’ she demanded as the lift doors closed.
‘What is that?’
‘Stealing.’
‘Of course not. A view is free, belonging to everyone.’
They swept up to the top floor and stepped out into a mirrored lobby. There was a murmur of voices, tinkling piano music and glasses.
‘Please close your eyes,’ Ash ordered.
He took her hand and led her from carpet to paving. They were outside again, with a breeze fanning Ruby’s face. A little spasm of fear ran down her spine as she wondered how close the edge was.
‘You are safe,’ Ash breathed in her ear. He steered her a few more steps, then halted. ‘Now, open.’
She looked. They were in a garden on the roof of the hotel. Below them, far below, was the dusk-blue higgledy-piggledy mass of Cairo. Lights shone in the crowded tower blocks, chains of traffic lights blinked and neon signs flashed all the way to the western horizon. The sun had set but the sky was blazing gold and orange.
‘Do you see?’ Ash murmured. His arm was round her shoulders, she could smell his skin.
‘Yes.’ She thought he meant just the view. But then, at the exact point where the dusty glitter of the city met the fiery sky, she saw three sharp triangular cut-outs pasted against the glow. ‘Oh.’
Ruby leaned forward, hands on the rooftop rail, taking in her first glimpse of the Pyramids. They looked so close, almost part of the city itself. It made her think of how these buildings and domes and streets had crept from the banks of the Nile all the way out into the desert. She had always imagined the Pyramids surrounded by empty seas of sand, but seeing them like this made them seem even stranger and more unreal.
‘You like it?’
‘Yes. I like it very much.’
The sky was fading. The pianist in the rooftop bar played more loudly and guests in evening dress drifted out to look at the view.
‘We have to go,’ Ash muttered. A man in a black tailcoat headed briskly towards them.
‘Hello.’ Ruby grinned at him.
‘I am afraid this is a private party, Madam.’
‘Sorry. Lost our way. We’re just leaving.’
As they reached the lobby a waiter carrying a silver tray of drinks passed them and with a smooth movement, flashing him a smile at the same time, Ruby helped herself to a tall glass. In the lift, they leaned back against the padded wall. The glass was beaded with condensation, decorated with a straw and mint and rattling with chunks of ice. She handed it with a flourish to Ash. He gave it a longing stare and then the day’s thirst overcame him. He sucked down two-thirds of the Coca-Cola with a single swallow, then politely handed the glass back to Ruby.
‘No. It’s all for you,’ she told him.
Outside again, it was night-time. Darkness descended here like a curtain falling.
Hand in hand, Ruby and Ash walked back to the bike. She felt quite comfortable this time, sitting close up to Ash with her arms tight round his waist, as they swooped through the traffic on the way home.
He stopped where Nafouz had drawn up in the taxi, only forty-eight hours ago.
‘Thank you for a nice day,’ Ruby said, realising with a shock just how long she had been out.
He touched her cheek with his fingers.
‘I will come again?’
‘Yeah. I mean yes, I’d like you to.’
‘I am your Cairo boyfriend?’
When Nafouz made the same suggestion she had laughed at him. But Ash’s wanting to set out the terms in this way made Ruby feel modest, and also shy in a way that she hadn’t done since she was twelve.
‘If you want to be.’ I am blushing, she realised.
He leaned over and kissed her in the same tentative way. As if she might break.
‘How will I hear from you?’ she asked.
His eyes widened. ‘I will be here. I find you.’
‘See you, then.’
She rapped hard on the sun-blistered door of Iris’s house, and heard Ash accelerating away.
The door swung open.
At the sight of her Mamdooh moved fast. He propelled Ruby into the house and locked the door, dropping the key out of sight in the pocket of his galabiyeh.
‘Miss. You have been away many hours.’
‘Sorry. I …’
‘Sorry not good enough. You make Mum-reese worry, Auntie worry, and myself.’
He was breathless with anger.
‘I
