HL50 Prompt - Sand
Summary: Set between ‘The Messenger’ and ‘The Ransom of Richard Redstone’, Richie has decided to take a little vacation…
De-Nile
The jeep bounced along the desert road, a pre-dawn chill pervading the brightening sky. They had been travelling most of the night, and Methos hoped they would reach their destination in time. Richie was starting to feel carsick from the bumpy road and unchanging scenery.
“It’s just sand, everywhere is sand.”
“This is the cradle of civilisation, brat. Show a bit more respect.” As they rounded the final bend, the sun rose over lake Nasser, bathing the four gigantic statues in an amber glow, making them appear golden. Richie stood up in the jeep and stared, much like Sam Neill at the beginning of Jurassic Park.
“Whoa.” He said, awed.
“Welcome to Abu Simbel Richie.”
Methos had been in Cairo to hear an old friend speak at an Egyptology conference. Richie had been there to see the sights, and by some strange coincidence they had both ended up in the same hotel. Chatting over beers one evening, Richie had told him that he was strangely unimpressed by the pyramids.
“I expected them to be…bigger, I guess.”
“Honestly, Americans. Always want everything supersize. They are the only one of the Seven Wonders that remains standing, a marvel of human engineering, so accurately placed that modern laser technology can’t do better, and you want them bigger.”
“Okay, okay! Sorry, I forgot, you were probably here when they built them weren’t you?”
“Actually…No, I wasn’t, but I do know more about this place than any guide.” Methos smirked.
“Then you show me around. Teach this cynical American the meaning of the word awesome.”
“That cynicism isn’t American, it’s Generation X”
“Well, can you do it or not? I bet you can’t.”
“How much?” Methos grinned. He had intended to turn the brat down flat, but the conference was finishing tomorrow, and this little distraction would amuse him for a week or two.
And so the two travelled around Egypt, Methos taking Richie to as many sites of interest as he could think of. They visited the usual tourist places like Karnak and the Valley of the Kings, as well as less well known places like the city of Amarna and a few that nobody else alive knew the existence of. Richie murmured all the right things, and seemed genuinely interested, but he still expressed a little disappointment.
“It’s just not quite what I expected, you know?” Methos shook his head at Richie’s terminal ignorance, but then he had a flash of inspiration, and knew just where to take him next. That was how they ended up at Abu Simbel.
“It’s amazing. This is what I expected.” Richie said as he gazed up at the colossal features of Ramesses II. Methos grinned, it didn’t matter how jaded a person was, Abu Simbel was guaranteed to strike awe.
“Just wait until you see inside.” Methos said with a chuckle.