The Great Regatta

Chapter Ten

The Secretary of the Cairo Yacht Club said to them:

'I think you should know that the route has been changed a little. The next stop is Kairouan and not Algiers. And then it's Edinburgh, of course.'

'Well, I'd be very surprised if they made it, say, Rabat instead of Edinburgh!' Blaise smiled.

'But why Kairouan?' Justin frowned.

'Because it's the ancient capital of Tunisia, and it's got interesting historic monuments,' Blaise said.

'Oh, all right, then,' Justin said.

'Now let's see Cairo?' Blaise asked. 'We are now in Fustat, and that's in the Old Town.'

'Splendid,' Justin said.

And they went away under the palms that surrounded the Cairo Yacht Club.

Blaise led them to see the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-Aas, built in the 7^th century, and the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, built in the 8^th century, and the splendid Mosque and University of al-Azhar, named after Fatima al-Zahraa - the daughter of the Prophet - the oldest university in the Islamic world, founded by Saladin himself, and the Citadel or Al-Qalaa of Saladin, with its magnificent mosques and Gawhira Palace, then the Blue Mosque, faced with blue tiles, the Alabaster Mosque, the house of al-Sehemy with its ornate façade - a fine example of the Islamic civil architecture, the ancient walls and gates of Cairo, the nilometer on the island of Rhoda, the Mosque and Madrasah of Al-Hassan, and the myriad of other ancient mosques and madrasahs of Cairo. Then Justin insisted he had to buy a new log, and so they went to a shop. When they were returning from the shop, they suddenly saw a man dragging a resisting girl. They followed him, and then he disappeared into a house.

Blaise went to the door of the house and tried to open it. It resisted both his pulling and an Alohomora charm.

'There must be a powerful Colloportus charm on it,' Blaise said. Then he concentrated on his wish to get into the house. Nothing happened.

'And it's got Anti-Apparition Wards on it too,' he said.

The four wizards stood by the wall, thinking hard.

'A familiar could get where a wizard can't,' the Hon. Evelyn then said. 'I could send Miranda...but what of it?'

'Fonsie isn't a great help here, too,' Justin said.

'It's a pity I had to leave Agrippa on board our ship,' Trevor said.

'I think I have an idea,' Blaise said with a gleam in his eyes. 'Macavity!'

'Yaow?' the cat asked.

'Get into the house and make as much uproar as possible,' Blaise commanded.

'Yaow!' the cat said, jumped from the ground to the top of the wall and then from the wall into the courtyard inside.

'Bonne chance!' Blaise said.

'Blaise, what is your plan?' Justin asked.

'You shall know soon,' Blaise said sphinxily.

Next they heard Macavity screaming belligerently at the top of his, very high, voice. And some time later the door of the house opened, and out went a party of men in turbans and cloaks, with their wands out, headed by a tall, powerfully-built man who floated the assailant of the girl after him. Macavity ran in front of the leader, his tail up. At seeing Blaise, the cat jumped into his hands.

'Is he yours?' the leader asked.

'Indeed.' Blaise smiled, patting his familiar.

'You have a very smart and brave cat, I have to say. He put a good fight!'

'He's a pure Kneazle.' Blaise explained.

'I thought so. And I have to thank you for your assistance to the law. I am the Chief Auror of this place, Faris al-Gamal,' the Arab said.

'I am Professor Blaise Zabini,' the teacher said.

'An old man next door heard the feline screams and alerted us, so we came to this house and saw the man and the resisting girl,' al-Gamal said. 'Your cat kept him busy while I Stunned him.'

'But why?' Justin said.

'Because the Prophet Mohammed was so fond of his cat Muezza that he held her in his hands while he was preaching in Mecca,' Blaise said. 'And in recognition of the Prophet's love to cats, they are free to enter mosques as they please, and to kill them is against the Islamic law. Right?'

'Absolutely right,' al-Gamal said.

'I didn't know that,' Justin said.

'I've read it in some book,' Blaise said modestly.

'And the cats are truly noble animals, as it is seen in your cat,' al-Gamal said, looking to Macavity with respect.

'That they are.' Blaise smiled. 'But what of the girl?'

'She's safe,' al-Gamal said. 'This was her spurned suitor, who was dissatisfied with the answer.'

'I see,' Blaise said. 'We couldn't get into the house, you see, and I sent Macavity then. He's got a special kind of voice, one that only the Oriental cats have.'

'Indeed.' Al-Gamal grinned. 'Macavity's his name?'

'Yes, after a cunning cat in a poem,' Blaise said.

'That shall be remembered,' al-Gamal said.

'I've been glad to help,' Blaise said.

The party of Aurors retired.

'Well!' Justin said.

'But it was you, Eve, who first thought of a familiar,' Blaise said.

'I'm sure you would figure it for yourself,' the Hon. Evelyn said.

'But I didn't. You did,' Blaise answered.

'Er, won't we go somewhere to eat?' the Hon. Evelyn said. 'Somethin' Egyptian, eh?'

'Why not?' Blaise said.

And they went to seek a tavern.

In a tavern called The Sweet Cloud Blaise said to his friends:

'They make very good coffee, but it is sweetened in the pot, so specify the amount of sugar when you'll be ordering it. There's ahwa sada - black coffee, there's ahwa mazboot - moderately sweetened, and there's ahwa ziyada - very sweet.'

'It's black coffee for me,' Justin said.

'I'll drink the moderately sweet,' Trevor said

'Same for me,' the Hon. Evelyn said.

'And I'll have it sweet,' Blaise said.

Blaise ordered the coffee for all four of them, and also something called bouzat haleeb and Umm Ali.

Umm Ali turned out to be a raisin cake soaked in milk and served hot, with almonds, hazelnuts, coconut flakes and cream. Bouzat haleeb was ice cream, but not like European ice cream - light, with mistika (Arabic gum) and rose water, stretching when spooned up.

'Great!' Justin said.

Then they went to sleep on board their ship.

The next day the waters of Nile carried them to the Mediterranean Sea. When they were in the open sea, Justin launched out and no amount of trying on Lord Avery's part could get him anywhere near Justin.

'You're in your element here, aren't you Cap?' Blaise smiled.

'That I am,' Justin said. 'Water is my element.'

They reached Kairouan very soon, a town situated on a little river near its confluence with the sea. They could see from the river a giant mosque and some very high and beautiful minarets. Justin said, dropping anchor:

'The next stop is Edinburgh, my friends!'