Din and Ell-rom were left alone to tackle the shelving units, which came with instructions that seemed to have been translated through several languages before reaching English.
"I think this diagram is upside down," Ell-rom said, turning the paper one way, then another.
Din studied it over his shoulder. "No, I think it's... actually, you might be right."
"Let me see." Fenella abandoned her unpacking to join them. "Oh, for Fates' sake. Look, ignore the diagram. It's obvious how these go together."
"Obvious to you, maybe," Din said. "Some of us like to follow instructions."
"Some of us overthink everything." She grabbed two pieces of the metal frame. "See? Tab A into Slot B. You don't need a doctorate to figure that out."
Jasmine joined their group. "I once tried to assemble a coffee table from IKEA and ended up with a modern art sculpture, but I'm willing to give it a try."
In the end, they somehow managed to figure out the shelving system.
The key, Fenella had said, was to have one person read the instructions aloud while everyone else ignored them and used common sense. Soon, they had a production line going—Din and Ell-rom assembling the frames, and the ladies attaching the shelves and adjusting the heights.
"Are you all packed for Egypt?" Jasmine asked as they worked.
"I haven't even thought about packing," Fenella admitted. "In fact, I don't own any luggage."
Din's hands stilled on the frame he was attaching. He'd been offering to take her shopping for weeks now, but she'd always found excuses—too busy at the bar, too tired, not in the mood. He'd begun to suspect it was less about time and more about her reluctance to venture outside the village again.
"You need luggage," Kyra said. "And clothes for the desert. It's hot during the day but can get cold at night."
"And comfortable shoes," Jasmine added. "Lots of walking on uneven ground if we're visiting archaeological sites."
Fenella sighed. "I guess I need to go shopping."
"I'll take you," Din offered. "Tomorrow? We could make a day of it."
He expected her to deflect again, to find another excuse. Instead, she nodded. "Yeah, okay. Tomorrow."
She didn't sound enthusiastic, but at least she'd said yes.
"It'll be fine," he said quietly. "We'll go to an upscale mall where there is zero chance of encountering Doomers or Revolutionary Guard terrorists."
She winced. "That's not a guarantee of safety. One of their targets was a large shopping mall. Remember?"
She was right about that.
"What about a Walmart or a Target?" Jasmine suggested. "It's not glamorous, and the merchandise is basic, but maybe that's better for a place like Egypt. The last thing we need is to look like rich tourists."
Fenella snorted. "Most of us can blend in, but Jacki, with her blond hair and translucent skin, is going to stick out like a sore thumb."
Jasmine shrugged. "She has bodyguards, and Kalugal can shroud her appearance to make her look like an ugly shrew. So, how about Walmart? Do you want to go?"
"Sure. I don't need anything fancy. Shoes, though, I'd rather buy something good."
"REI," Jasmine said with conviction. "Perhaps we should go there first. They have everything we need. Pricy, but then with the clan covering the expenses, we don't need to worry about that, right?"
"If you say so." Fenella sighed. "I don't care where we shop as long as it's out of the way." She shook her head. "I still can't wrap my head around how close this city came to a horrific bloodbath. That scumbag recognizing Soraya and Rana was like divine intervention."
"The Fates work in mysterious ways," Ell-rom said. "What seemed like misfortune became the key to saving many thousands of lives."
"Right." Fenella attached another shelf with more force than necessary, bending the metal. "Sorry about that." She straightened it back. "But I'd prefer if the Fates could work their mysteries to prevent crap like that from happening in the first place."
Din reached over and put his hand over hers. "We don't have to go if you're not ready. We can order from a catalog and pay for express delivery."
