What the River Knows

The next day, the Elephantine continues up the Nile. While Inez is hard at work scrubbing the deck, the wind scatters some important papers. She falls overboard trying to catch them. When a crocodile approaches her, Whit calls her by her first name and loses his ever-present flask diving in after her. He promises, “I won’t let anything happen to you” (146). Whit pulls Inez underwater out of the predator’s path, and he presses his mouth to hers so he can share his oxygen with her. Mr. Fincastle and his daughter shoot at the crocodile, and the man turns his rifle on Inez when the crew hauls her aboard. Whit explains that she’s Ricardo’s niece and vouches for her. Although Whit insists on taking her to her uncle at once, Inez calls him by his first name and tells him that she considers him a friend now. Ricardo wants Whit to take Inez back to Argentina, but he refuses and argues that “she’s earned the right to be on the team” (153). Her uncle agrees to let her join the search for Cleopatra’s tomb after Inez explains that she can sense objects touched by Cleopatra’s magic. Ricardo dismisses Inez and makes Whit give his word that he’ll respect that Inez is off-limits.

Inez urges herself to forget about her feelings for Whit and focus on uncovering what happened to her parents. When the young man stops by her cabin, he is superficial and flirtatious again. Inez joins her uncle and the rest of the excavation team for breakfast in the saloon. She learns that Mr. Fincastle is in charge of security and distrusts Ricardo. At his daughter’s insistence, Mr. Fincastle apologizes for aiming his gun at her. The Elephantine is headed for Philae, an island “famous for its legendary beauty and history” (164). Ricardo suggests that Inez can use her artistic skills to capture the temples they explore, and the idea thrills her. Mr. Fincastle protests, “A lady such as yourself isn’t used to the discomfort of rough travel” (167). However, Inez assures him that she will rise to the challenge.

Inez tells Ricardo that being in Egypt helps her hold on to her memories of her parents. He explains that his late wife, Zazi, suggested that he ask her parents to finance their archaeological work. Abdullah, the team’s expert on ancient Egypt, is Zazi’s brother. Ricardo mentions that Inez’s mother liked to play pranks on the team with “an old silk scarf that can shrink anything it can cover down to the size of a charm” (170). Lourdes was in charge of keeping the team’s records, but Ricardo refuses to tell Inez where the records are located. She accuses her uncle of lying to her and demands to know why he hired Mr. Fincastle when her parents hated weapons. He retorts that she didn’t know her parents. Inez demands answers about their disappearance, but he insists that they continue this discussion later when she’s calmer.

Inez finds Whit on the deck and asks him if he trusts her uncle. He answers that he doesn’t even trust his own parents, and Inez realizes that she doesn’t trust hers either. A storm shakes the boat, and Whit moves as if to comfort her but stops himself and tells her to go to her cabin. When Inez looks for her uncle below deck, she finds her mother’s diary among his things. In the final entry, Lourdes wrote that her brother bruised her in a fight and that she feared for her life: “I don’t know what I should do. He is my brother. But he is a murderer” (176). This convinces Inez that Ricardo killed her parents. She considers fleeing from the boat, but, realizing she would likely die in the storm, she decides to stay and learn the full truth of what befell her parents.

The narrative shifts to Whit’s perspective as he and the rest of the crew fight to keep the boat from capsizing. He briefly thinks of his promise to protect Inez and then reminds himself that he has a duty to a young woman back in England.

The narrative returns to Inez. She resolves to avenge her parents’ deaths. In the morning, Whit comes to her cabin, assures her that the Elephantine sustained no serious damage in the storm, and asks her to prepare to disembark at Aswan with uncharacteristic politeness. Mr. Fincastle and Isadora have another appointment, but the rest of the team heads to the Old Cataract Hotel to meet Abdullah and his granddaughter, Farida, who is a photographer. Abdullah decides that Inez deserves to know some of the details of their operation because of her parents’ deaths. He explains that he’s been excavating sites for over a decade “so that future generations can learn about [Egypt’s] history” (186). No one on the team is allowed to discuss their findings or take anything from the dig sites.

The narrative shifts to Whit, who goes to a brothel. He learns that Mr. Sterling is the patron of a woman named Blanche and bribes the madame to permit him a half hour with her. Even as Blanche begins to undress, Whit’s thoughts are on Inez. He covers the woman up with her robe and explains that he is after information.