Fourth of June,

Made it to Cairo. Unbearably hot, more people than I’ve seen in a long time. T lost his bags, or they were stolen. We are catching a train that will take us further south. Tried some of the street food, I don’t remember what it was called. It was had paper-like crust wrapped around a dry paste of fruit and nuts. Very sweet. T didn’t care for it. He never cares for anything.

Sixth of June,

The train has stopped. Sand over the tracks. An older couple has died in their cabin of heatstroke. The workers seem very upset by this. I have seen them praying at dawn out on the dunes. The pink sky framing their dancing silhouettes looks like something from an old picture book I had as a girl. T hasn’t taken his nose out of his book. I offered to help with the digging, they seemed to think I was joking. Hopefully we will be on our way again in a day or two.

Ninth of June,

The journey took longer than expected but we have finally arrived at the excavation site. T and I have moved into our tents, he is predictable displeased with the size of his. I could hardy wait to get underground, but the workers are still shoring up the structure. It won’t be safe for another two days. Time to take notes and make my drawings.

Tenth of June,

Disaster. The structure caved in at the mouth, a worker is dead and three more are trapped inside. Everyone is digging. I am going to help.

Eleventh of June,

Still digging. We cannot hear them.

Twelfth of June,

We found another way in, T pointed out a sink in the sand some ways off the original opening. We tried digging there and had some luck. It’s like a maze down there, still haven’t found our way to the original entrance from the inside. Shouting for them hasn’t helped. The foreman thinks they had some water so they should last another day if we’re lucky. We must find them.

Thirteenth of June,

I have devised a method of navigating the maze. We have dyed four ropes using my paints, a misuse I can live with. Four teams entered the passage each with a rope, which are all anchored at the entrance. I volunteered to go but T forbade it. They have been gone just over an hour now, it must be magnificent in there.

Fifteenth of June,

No one returned. We tugged at the ropes and found no resistance. The foreman sent in more men to follow each rope, they didn’t come back either. T thinks the inside might be constantly caving in, the workers think something else. They pray morning and night now, and won’t near the entrance at all. The foreman has spent all day arguing with them. He assures me we will make progress soon. The men who were lost first are certainly dead, with 21 now missing, we will need more help to excavate. T won’t send for more workers until we know if it’s safe. He thinks we might have better luck at another entrance, if we can find one.

Sixteenth of June,

We decided to pull out one of the ropes, it wasn’t at all damaged. T is confused, if it was a cave-in the rope would have been stuck or come free with some fraying. It looks new if a bit dusty. The foreman wants to send this crew away and bring in an all-new team. That would take well over a week, and more money of course. I don’t mind, but T has his hand over his purse. He’s arguing with the men now. I’m going to sneak into the entrance while they’re busy. I won’t go far, but I need to see it.

Day one, presumably seventeenth of June,

I followed the blue rope and lost my way. There are colorful ropes everywhere, all tangled and braided together. It shouldn’t be possible, they look identical to our own, but who could have put them here? I couldn’t have been very far in when I made the mistake. I must not have noticed the rope split. There was only one, now there are hundreds, so thick I’ve had to cut through them in places. Running out of food and water, I am determined not to be afraid. I can solve this. Onwards now, that is all. Wish me luck.