Children Of The Storm Part 11

There was authority in that aged voice, despite its tremulous pitch. Justin pouted, like the child he was mentally if not physically. His actual age I would have judged to be approximately fourteen. His mental age was not so easy to determine. His vocabulary and ease of speech were sometimes fairly advanced. It was his social and emotional adjustment that seemed not quite normal. His manners were quite engaging, and I was sorry to have to disappoint him; but aside from the inconvenience, I did not wish to be responsible for the boy.

"Oh, very well," Justin said. "I will come and visit you another day. Where do you live?"

"That would be nice," Nefret said, tactfully avoiding an answer. "But now we must get back to work. Good-bye."

It took them some time to get themselves away; looking up from my work periodically, I caught glimpses of Justin's bright head as he darted to and fro, and heard his attendant's voice pleading with him to come. Then I saw them no more. It was getting on toward midday by then, and I reminded Emerson he had promised to send Walter back to the house for the afternoon. One look at Walter halted any objections my spouse might have made; he had not complained nor faltered in his tasks, but he was red with sunburn and staggering with fatigue. Emerson did not even complain when I sent Ramses with him. The rest of us settled down in the little shelter I had erected in the shadow of the temple walls and opened our picnic baskets.

Most of the tourists had also sought repose and refreshment, at Cook's Rest House or at their hotels. A welcome quiet descended upon the valley-quiet, that is, except for Emerson's voice, lecturing. I let him talk, since it would have been difficult to stop him. I had been a little concerned about Lia, but she had kept up well. David was the same as he had always been, lean and lithe and enthusiastic. As soon as he had wolfed down a few sandwiches he jumped up and declared he wanted to have a closer look at some of the reliefs of the Ptolemaic temple.

"Look all you like, but don't get too interested," said Emerson. "Vandergelt has some scheme of copying the tomb paintings. The tomb of Sennedjem . . ."

His voice trailed off. He was looking at the hill, where the crumbling remains of small brick pyramids and little chapels marked the site of the village cemetery. Slowly and deliberately he put down his half-eaten chicken leg and got to his feet.

"What is it?" I asked. "What do you-"

Emerson was on his way, running and leaping over the broken ground toward the hill. A very loud "h.e.l.l and d.a.m.nation" was the only response to my question. Then I looked up and saw what had prompted his action. High above were two figures, moving slowly along one of the paths that crossed the slope. I recognized, as Emerson must have done, the brown tweeds and slender form of the boy Justin, followed by his bulkier shadow.

"Good heavens," Nefret exclaimed. "Is that Justin? He shouldn't be up there."

"Emerson reached the same conclusion and, as you see, he is acting upon it with his customary prompt.i.tude," I replied. "I had better go along too, in case a woman's soothing presence proves necessary. The rest of you stay here."

Nefret had half risen. She nodded in agreement, though her brow was furrowed. "Be careful, Mother."

I felt sure a soothing presence would be necessary-not, in this case, because of a premonition or foreboding, but because I was only too familiar with my husband's character and habits. I knew I could never catch Emerson up, but I went as fast as I dared, and I uttered a few low-voiced expletives of my own as I hurried along. Had the boy eluded his grandmother, or had he persuaded her to go on without him? Ordinarily I would not have been concerned, for the path, though steep in some places, was not beyond the skill of an ordinary healthy young lad. A slip and a tumble could result in serious injury, however, and I doubted that Francois could act promptly and effectively enough if Justin had another of his seizures. Neither of them was accustomed to terrain like this.

I was on the lower slope when Emerson reached the pair. His voice rolled like thunder. "What the devil do you mean, letting the boy attempt this? Come with me, Justin."

As I could have told Emerson, and would have, had I been closer, it was precisely the wrong approach. Emerson compounded it by taking peremptory hold of the lad. His grasp, affected by anxiety, was heavy, but not so painful as to explain Justin's reaction. He let out a thin high-pitched scream, and began to writhe and twist, trying to pull away.

I doubt that any admonitions of mine could have prevented the accident; in any case, I was too out of breath to shout. I was still ten feet away when Francois grabbed Justin by the shoulders and tugged at him. Emerson held on. The boy's head flopped back and forth and his hat fell off. He was still writhing and screaming. Francois let him go and caught Emerson by the throat. The three became a Laoc.o.o.n-like group of intertwined bodies and flailing limbs. Emerson broke away, realizing, as he later explained, that the combat was likely to injure the boy; but as he stepped back he fell headlong and rolled down the slope in an avalanche of broken stones.

Crying out in alarm, the others of our party ran toward the foot of the hill, with Selim in the lead. A quick look showed me that Emerson was standing up, despite the attempts of the others to restrain him. A string of expletives and complaints, loudly uttered, a.s.sured me that his vocal powers at least were unimpaired. Anxious as I was to lend my a.s.sistance, I did not feel I could leave the boy. However, he had come out of his fit and was calmly brus.h.i.+ng himself off. He gave me a puzzled smile.

"What has happened to Mr. Emerson?" he inquired innocently.

"He fell," I replied. "I think your attendant tripped him."

"Shame on you, Francois," Justin exclaimed. "You should not have done that. It was wrong."

"He was hurting you," the fellow muttered.

"Was he? I don't think so; he seems to be a very kind man. I hope he is not injured."

"So do I," I said, giving Francois a long hard look.

It would have been impossible for Francois to look harmless, but he did appear somewhat subdued. "It was an accident," he mumbled. "I did not mean to harm him. But no one touches the young master."

"I am going to touch him now," I said firmly. "Take my hand, Justin, and we will go down together. Stay well back, Francois, we don't want another accident, do we?"

The boy slipped his hand confidingly into mine and let me lead him back down the path. He was a few inches taller than I, but slimmer. The brief violent interlude had been forgotten; his countenance was, if anything, complacent.

"You should not have gone up there, Justin," I said.

"I wanted to see the tombs."

"That could be even more dangerous than the path. Some of the shafts are open; a tumble into one of them would hurt you badly. Promise me you will not go there again."

"Can I see the temple, then? It is a temple to Hathor. She is a beautiful G.o.ddess, like the other Mrs. Emerson. Does she ever come there?"

With a slight shock I realized he was not speaking of Nefret.

"No, I don't think she does, Justin."

"The dragoman said she does. On the night of the full moon. He has seen her and so have some of his friends."

I promised myself a word with that gentleman. He had no business putting such notions into the boy's head. It might be advisable to have a word with Mrs. Fitzroyce as well. How could she entrust her young grandson to a villainous character like Francois? Devoted he undoubtedly was, but his judgment left something to be desired. In some ways he was as deficient in sense as Justin.

Emerson came stalking to meet us. Fearing that he might renew the combat, I interposed my person between him and Francois.

"Well, you are a sight," I said, inspecting him. "Another s.h.i.+rt . . . not only your s.h.i.+rt this time, you have torn the knees out of your trousers."

"Better my trousers than my head," said Emerson. "As you see, my dear, I am relatively unscathed. Is the boy all right?"

Justin shrank back. "He is bleeding. I don't like blood."

Fearing, from the boy's alarmed expression, that he was in danger of falling into another fit, I forced a laugh.

"He is not badly hurt, Justin."

"Not a bit of it," said Emerson heartily. "In a tumble of that sort, the trick is to s.h.i.+eld one's head, and roll, rather than-"

"We don't need a lecture on tumbling, Emerson," I interrupted. "Come to the shelter and let Nefret disinfect those cuts. Justin, go home at once. Do you have transportation?"

I directed the question at Francois, but it was Justin who answered. "Our horses are waiting. I ride very well. But I don't want to go yet. I want to stay with the pretty Mrs. Emerson."

"You must do as you are told. Francois-"

"Yes, madame. We will go now. I regret . . ."

"Hmmm," said Emerson, fixing him with a steady stare. "It is lucky for you that you didn't try your tricks on a less-er-athletic individual."

"It is my duty to protect the young master," Francois muttered sullenly.

"If you injure someone in the course of your duty, you will be dismissed and possibly imprisoned," said Emerson. "I promise you that. Control your temper, as I am controlling mine. Only the boy's presence prevents me from teaching you a lesson you would not soon forget."

Emerson really was controlling himself quite well, but in my opinion he ought to have omitted the last sentence. It was meant as a challenge and it was understood as such. Francois's scarred face twisted and he gave Emerson a hostile look.

"Go now," I said sharply.

I sent David with them to locate their horses. When he returned, he reported that they had departed, and that Justin's naive boast was not greatly exaggerated. "He handles a horse well. And he has excellent manners. He thanked me nicely. How did you become acquainted with an odd pair like that?"

Emerson, twitching impatiently under Nefret's attempts to bandage a few of the deeper scratches on his arms and knees, said, "She's always getting involved with lame ducks and hapless lovers."

"It was Ramses who got involved this time," I retorted. "The poor lad had one of his fits on the corniche in Luxor, and Ramses-quite understandably-misunderstood Francois's efforts to restrain him. He is too young to be a lover, hapless or otherwise."

"I don't know about that," Lia said with a knowing smile. "He could hardly take his eyes off Nefret. Boys of that age sometimes develop violent attachments."

"There isn't a sc.r.a.p of violence in the lad," I said. "And he thinks of Nefret as a G.o.ddess-Hathor, perhaps. He seems to have got it into his poor confused head that she manifests herself here in her temple."

Selim, who was waiting for instructions, looked up. "He is not the only one to think so, Sitt Hakim. Two of the men of Gurneh say they have seen a white lady, veiled and crowned with gold, standing before the temple."

The description struck a chord of unpleasant familiarity. "Why didn't you tell me about this, Selim?" I demanded.

Selim shrugged. "Such tales are common, they spread quickly among superst.i.tious persons. The men prowled here after nightfall, looking for something to steal; they saw a moonbeam or a shadow and wished to make themselves important by telling lies . . ."

His eyes moved from my frowning face to that of Emerson, and widened in sudden comprehension. "Are you thinking of the woman in Cairo? Surely it is only a coincidence. This was a vision, a dream, a lie."

"My grandfather might have said that the old G.o.ds still linger in their holy places, for those who have eyes to see," David said. "It would make a good subject for one of my popular romantic paintings: the temple ruins by night, dim shapes in the darkness, and between the pylons, s.h.i.+ning in her own light, the veiled and crowned G.o.ddess . . ."

"Well, it is cursed unlikely that one of the old G.o.ds would pop up in a Cairo tenement," I said. "You are right, Selim, it is only a coincidence."

"Are you going to tell Ramses about Hathor?" Nefret asked.

I said in surprise, "If the subject arises. Why not?"

"Because he will want to see for himself. What if-"

"Nonsense," I said firmly. "You are too sensible to talk of 'what ifs.' Has everyone finished eating?"

"Back to work," Emerson exclaimed, jumping up. "That little episode cost us over an hour."

"Goodness, yes," I said, looking at my watch. "You had better run along, David."

"Run along where?" Emerson demanded indignantly. "I need him to-"

"I promised Cyrus he could have David during the afternoons. We will see you at the house at teatime, David."

Emerson's jaw set. "And you, Emerson, ought to change your clothing," I went on. "You are even more unkempt than usual."

"I am not modeling proper archaeological attire for the admiration of the cursed tourists," Emerson declared.

David left, and Nefret very kindly offered to give me a hand with my sifting, for the rubbish heap had piled up. She seemed somewhat pensive. After a long silence she spoke.

"That fellow Francois does not seem a suitable attendant for a boy like Justin. Should we speak to his grandmother?"

"Emerson would call both of us interfering busybodies."

"That has never deterred you from interfering."

"Certainly not. I am the judge of my own conscience and my own behavior. That idea had occurred to me," I admitted, picking a small piece of broken pottery out of the sieve and setting it aside. "But interference might do more harm than good. Old people are set in their ways and dislike criticism. And, to be fair, we don't know what is wrong with the boy. He is a strange mixture of innocence and savoir faire, of reasoned discourse followed by unexpected non sequiturs."

Nefret sat back on her heels and wiped her perspiring forehead with her sleeve. "Some of his symptoms are characteristic of grand mal seizures. Most epileptics are of normal, even superior, intelligence, however. He seems childish for his age. Of course I am no authority on mental disorders. I've always wanted to study the subject."

"In addition to surgery and gynecology? My dear girl, you have enough to do-your husband and children, the hospital-to say nothing of Emerson dragging you out to the dig every day."

I had meant it as sympathetic commendation, but she did not return my smile. "I've done almost nothing at the hospital for two years, Mother. It's in good hands, but sometimes I miss it. As for the clinic I meant to open here in Luxor . . . Well, you know what's happened to that."

"You have your instruments and ample s.p.a.ce for consulting and operating rooms," I said. "Now that the children are older, there is no reason why you cannot proceed with your plan for a clinic."

"I've become very rusty, Mother. Like some of my instruments! All I've done is a.s.sist at a few difficult births and set a bone or two."

"All the more reason to hone your skills again. I had no idea you felt that way, Nefret. You ought to have confided in me. I will take steps immediately to have the rooms made ready."

Her brow cleared and she let out one of her musical chuckles. "Mother, you are incomparable. I didn't mean to complain. Please don't trouble yourself. You have enough to do managing the rest of the family!"

"Compared with managing Emerson, it will be a pleasure," I a.s.sured her.

I CANNOT IMAGINE HOW I missed the signs. Excuses do not become me, so I will not mention that I had been extremely busy making the arrangements for Nefret's clinic. I had had such a scheme in mind when I had the house built, so the s.p.a.ce had been provided-three smallish but adequate rooms, set off from the rest of the house, with a separate entrance. They had lain dusty and unoccupied for two years, so every surface had to be scrubbed, whitewashed, and disinfected before the necessary furnis.h.i.+ngs could be installed. We were able to obtain basic supplies from the chemists in Luxor, and I suggested the names of several girls whom I considered possible candidates for the position of nursing a.s.sistant.

Nefret had already settled on someone. "Kadija's granddaughter Nisrin came round as soon as she heard about the clinic. She has always been interested in nursing and Kadija has taught her a great deal."

"Ah, yes, I remember her. A pleasant but rather-er-plain young woman."

"She's only fourteen, and already betrothed," Nefret said, with the bite in her voice that marked her disapproval of the Egyptian custom of early marriages.

"You mean to 'rescue' another one, do you?"

"If she does as well as I expect and wants to continue-yes. It's her father who is set on the marriage, but if Daoud and Kadija back me up, he'll have to give in."

Since Daoud was putty in Nefret's hands and Kadija was one of her greatest friends and admirers, I did not doubt they would back her up. I interviewed the girl myself. Nisrin had, for some reason, always been rather shy of me, but I managed to overcome her diffidence and concluded that she would do.

What with one thing and another . . . Suffice it to say that I did miss the ominous signs, so that the disaster came upon me with the violence of a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky.

Later, I realized that Emerson had been behaving oddly for several days. I attributed his fits of preoccupation to concern about his confounded stratigraphy, which was proving to be more complicated than he had expected. His unusual interest in the post could have been explained by his concern for his half-brother; there had been as yet no reply to our telegrams. Selim, who, as I later discovered, had been in on the plot all along, was wise enough to keep out of my way. Not until I went looking for him one afternoon did I realize I had not set eyes on him all day. I went immediately to Emerson.

"Where is Selim? I want to ask him about-"

"Yes, yes," said Emerson, in a strange, high-pitched voice. "I know where he is."

"Emerson, what is the matter with you?"

Emerson's bronzed countenance widened into a broad, terrifying grin. "I have a surprise for you, Peabody."

"Tell me," I implored in a voice that resisted my attempts to keep it steady. "Do not leave me in suspense. What-"

"No, no, I will show you. I will show everyone!" He took out his watch, glanced at it, and then raised his voice to the shout that could be heard throughout the West Bank. "We are closing down for the day! Everybody come with me!"

And not another word would he say. It was early afternoon; the cessation of work at such an hour was unheard of. Bewildered, and, in my case, exceedingly apprehensive, we mounted our steeds and set out for the house. I asked Ramses, I asked Nefret, I asked Lia; one and all claimed to be as ignorant as I.