Sunrise on the Mediterranean by Suzanne Frank Read Free Book Online

same RaEm. Franklin was deceased before Cheftu was even born. Her words still made no
     sense. Apparently she didn’t realize that Cheftu was also a time traveler. How else would he recognize the word
city
in English? How else would he understand her English?
    “What magic he had.” She sighed. “So powerful.” Cheftu was fairly certain science was the cause, but to RaEm magic was the
     only explanation. “Apparently his magic did not die with him?”
    “No. It lives in the streets, on the boats that sail the Nile. It is a magic that anyone can hold in their hand.”
    Cheftu frowned into the darkness. “This magic has been given to everyone?”
    “No. Well, yes and no,” she said, sounding confused. “Through the TV I learned all about it. The TV uses it, too.” The confusion
     faded from her voice, replaced by RaEm-style arrogance. “
I
could control lightning if I wanted to.”
    Cheftu refrained from asking about the tee-vee. He’d heard Chloe mention it occasionally, though with her it was usually in
     a derisive tone. His beloved did not seem as appreciative of her century as RaEm was. Nor had she ever mentioned this story
     of a bird flying into the heavens with a key and unlocking lightning. It made no sense. There was a missing element here,
     he was sure of it. What interpretation would be so apparent to Chloe? He wanted to ask her, to hold her while she thought,
     to touch her while she spoke. Aii,
Chloe, where are you?
“What else about Chloe’s world fascinated you?” he asked.
    “Rameses,” RaEm said promptly around her full mouth. “Serve me some more sushi and I’ll tell you.”
    Because this was as close as RaEm came to being pleasant, Cheftu handed her another slab of fish. All that was left were scales
     and head. Should he try to catch another? But it was night now, they needed to rest. Tomorrow he would get more food and ask
     the oracular stones what they should do to survive—he didn’t want to reveal them to RaEm.
    Chances of rescue were limited to the miraculous. It was wintertime; no one sailed the Aegean now. The waters were deadly.
     Everyone from Odysseus to Saint Paul had tales of woe from trying to cross in this season. How many more had shipwrecked and
     been forgotten?
    He looked out at the limitless sea. Was Chloe out there somewhere? They’d always found each other, though this time Cheftu
     feared it would be more challenging. RaEm was in the skin Chloe had been wearing. So what did his beloved look like? Apparently
     the two women had traded bodies again, leaving RaEm with him and Chloe in 1996—Cheftu still felt a little awed at the date—on
     the stretch of sand where RaEm claimed she’d been strolling.
    Except Cheftu knew RaEm. It had been her natal day. He doubted her celebration had been walking alone on a stretch of sand.
     She was lying to him, a reaction that was as natural and common to her as breathing. Nothing she said was to be trusted. Nothing.
    “Rameses was glorious!” RaEm gushed. Again her voice was filled with excitement. Perhaps modern times had been the making
     of RaEm. Was he judging her too harshly?
    He bit back telling her that he had heard of Rameses— she obviously didn’t realize Cheftu was from her future, from Chloe’s
     past, that according to Chloe Cheftu’s real name was well-known in her world. He knew of Rameses. Indeed, in his own century
     Cheftu had walked through many a temple the smiling pharaoh had built.
    RaEm’s voice was warm. “Many reigns after Pharaoh Hatshepsut, life! health! prosperity! there was a pharaoh named Rameses,”
     she explained.
“Aii
, Cheftu, he was such a man, so magnificent! Egypt was magnificent with him! He built a huge temple before the Second Cataract,
     where he paid homage to his wife. In Chloe’s childhood, the Nile was redirected, so that it wouldn’t hurt the temple Rameses
     had built, the Abu Simbel.”
    Cheftu froze. “They redirected the Nile?”
    “Yep. They took this huge