Curse of the Kings

VI Ramadan

It was the time of Ramadan—the months of fasting and prayer. I learned that this was the most important event in the Mohammadan world and that the date varied because of the lunar reckoning of the calendar so that it was eleven days earlier each year. Tybalt, who was always restive at such times because they interfered with the progress of the work, told me that in thirty-three years Ramadan passed through all the seasons of the year successively; but originally it must have taken place during a hot season as the word ramada in Arabic means "hot."

It began with the rising of the new moon; and until the waning of that moon no food must be eaten between dawn and sunset. Few people were exempt from the rule, but babies and invalids were allowed to be fed. In the palace we tried to fall in with the rules and ate a good meal before dawn and another after sunset fortifying ourselves with herish, a loaf made with honey nuts and shredded coconut which was delicious—although one quickly grew tired of it—and we drank quantities of the refreshing and sustaining mint tea.

The aspect of the place changed with Ramadan. A quietness settled on the narrow streets. There were three days' holiday although the fast went on for twenty-eight and those three days were dedicated to prayer. Five times a day twenty shots were fired. This was the call to prayer. I was always filled with awe to see men and women stop whatever they were doing, bow their heads, clasp their hands and pay homage to Allah.

Ramadan meant that I saw more of Tybalt.

"One must never offend them on a religious issue," he told me. "But it's galling. I need these workers desperately at the moment." He went through some papers with me and then he put an arm about me and said: "You've been so patient, Judith, and I know it isn't quite what you expected, is it?"

"I had such absurdly romantic ideas. I imagined myself discovering the entry to a tomb, unearthing wonderful gems, discovering sarcophagi."

"Poor Judith. I'm afraid it doesn't work out like that. Is it any compensation if I tell you that you have been of enormous help to me?"

"It's the greatest consolation."

"Listen, Judith, I'm going to take you to the site, tonight. I'm going to show you something rather special."

"Then you have made a discovery! It is what you came for!"

"It's not as easy as that. What I do think is that we may be on the trail of something important. Maybe not. We could work for months following what appears to be a clue and find it leads to nothing. But that's the luck of the game. Few know of this, but I'm going to take you into the secret. We'll go down after sunset. Ramadan moon is nearly full, so there'll be enough light; and the place will be deserted."

"Tybalt, it's so exciting!"

He kissed me lightly. "I love your enthusiasm. I wish that your father had had you thoroughly trained so that I could have had you with me at critical moments."

"Perhaps I can learn."

"You're going to get a grounding tonight. You'll see."

"I can't wait."

"Not a word to anyone. They would think I was being indiscreet or such an uxorious husband that I was carried away by my wish to please my wife."

I felt dizzy with happiness. When I was with him I wondered how I could ever have doubted his sincerity.

He pressed me to him and said: "We'll slip away this evening."

The moon was high in the sky when we left the palace. What a beautiful night it was! The stars looked solid in the indigo velvet and no slight breeze stirred the air; it was not exactly hot but delightfully warm—a relief after the torrid heat of the days. Up in the sky instead of blazing white light which was the sun was the glory of Ramadan moon.

I felt like a conspirator, and that my companion in stealth should be Tybalt was a great joy to me.

We took one of the boats down the river and then an arabiya took us to the site.

Tybalt led me past the mounds of earth over the brown hard soil to an opening in the side of the hill. He slipped his arm through mine and said, "Tread warily."

I said excitedly, "You discovered this then, Tybalt?"

"No," he answered, "this tunnel was discovered by the previous expedition. My father opened this up." He took a lantern which was hanging on the wall and lighted it. Then I could see the tunnel which was some eight feet in height. I followed him and at the end of the tunnel were a few steps.

"Imagine! These steps were cut centuries ago!" I said.

"Two thousand years before the birth of Christ to be exact. Imagine how my father felt when he discovered this tunnel and the steps. But come on and you will see."

"How thrilled he must have been! This must have been a miraculous discovery."

"It led, as so many miraculous discoveries have led be-fore, to a tomb which was rifled probably three thousand years ago."

"So your father was the first to come here after three thousand years."

"That may well be. But he found little that was new. Give me your hand, Judith. He came through here into this chamber. Look at the walls," said Tybalt holding the lantern high. "See those symbols? That is the sacred beetle—the scarab—and the man with a ram's head is Amen Ra, the great Sun God."

"I recognized him and I am wearing my beetle at the moment. The one you gave me. It will preserve me, won't it, in my hour of danger?"

He stopped still and looked at me. In the light from the lantern he seemed almost a stranger.

"I doubt it, Judith," he said. Then his expression lightened and he went on: "Perhaps I can do that. I daresay I would manage as well as a beetle."

I shivered.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"Not exactly . . . but it is cool in here." I think I felt then as they say at home as though someone was walking over my grave.

Tybalt sensed this for he said: "It's so awe inspiring. We all feel that. The man who was buried here belonged to a world whose civilization had reached its zenith when in Britain men lived in caves and hunted for their food in the primeval forests."

"I feel as though I'm entering the underworld. Who was the man who was buried here ... or was it a woman?"

"We couldn't discover. There was so little left. The mummy itself had been rifled. The robbers must have known that often valuable jewels were concealed beneath the wrappings. All that my father found here when he reached the burial chamber was the sarcophagus, the mummy, which had been disturbed, and the soul house, which the thieves thought was of no value."

"I haven't seen a soul house," I said.

"I hope I will be able to show you one one day. It's a small model of a house usually with colonnades in white stone. It is meant to be the dwelling house of the soul after death and it is left in the tomb, so that when the Ka returns to its home after its journeyings it has a comfortable place in which to live."

"It's fascinating," I said. "I seem to gather fresh information every day."

We had come to another flight of steps.

"We must be deep in the mountainside," I said.

"Look at this," said Tybalt. "It is the most elaborate chamber as yet and it is a sort of anteroom to the one in which the sarcophagus was found."

"How grand it all is!"

"Yet the person buried here was no Pharaoh. A man of some wealth possibly, but the entrance to this tomb shows us that he was not of the highest rank."

"And this is the tomb which was excavated by your father."

"Months of hard work, expectation, and excitement, and this is what he found. That someone had been here before. We had opened up the mountainside, found the exact spot which led to the underground tunnel and when we found it ... Well, you can imagine our excitement, Judith. And then, just another empty tomb!"

"Then your father died."

"But he discovered something, Judith. I'm certain of it. That was why I came back. He wanted me to come back. I knew it. That was what he was trying to tell me. It could only mean one thing. He must have discovered that there was another tomb—the entrance to which is here somewhere."

"If it were, wouldn't you see it?"

"It could be cunningly concealed. We could find nothing here that led beyond this. But somewhere in this tomb, I felt sure, there was a vital clue. I may have found it. Look!

You see this slight unevenness in the ground. There could be something behind this wall. We are going to work on it ... keeping it as secret as we can. We may be wasting our time, but I don't think so."

"Do you think that because your father discovered this he was murdered?"

Tybalt shook his head. "That was a coincidence. It may have been the excitement which killed him. In any case, he died and because he had decided not to tell anyone, not even me, death caught up with him and there was no time."

"It seems strange that he should die at such a moment."

"Life is strange, Judith." He held the lantern and looked down at me. "How many of us know when our last moment has come."

I felt a sudden shiver of fear run down my spine.

I said: "What an eerie place this is."

"What do you expect of a tomb, Judith?"

"Even you look different here."

He put his free hand to my throat and touched it caressingly. "Different, Judith, how different?"

"Like someone I don't know everything about."

"But who does know everything about another person."

"Let's go," I said.

"You are cold." He was standing very close to me and I could feel his warm breath on my face. "What are you afraid of, Judith? Of the Curse of the Pharaohs, of the wrath of the gods, of me . . . ?"

"I'm not afraid," I lied. "I just want to be out in the air. It's oppressive in here."

"Judith . . ."

He stepped towards me. I couldn't understand myself. I sensed evil in this place. All my instincts were crying out for me to escape. Escape from what! This mystic aura of doom? From Tybalt!

I was about to speak but his hand was over my mouth.

"Listen," he whispered.

Then I heard it distinctly in the silence of this place . . . a light footfall.

"Someone is in the tomb," whispered Tybalt.

Tybalt released me. He stood very still listening.

"Who is there?" he called. His voice sounded strange and hollow, eerie, unnatural.

There was no answer.

"Keep close to me," said Tybalt. We mounted the staircase to the chamber, Tybalt holding the lantern high above his head, cautiously going step by step resisting the impulse to hurry, which might have been dangerous I supposed.

I followed at his heels. We went into the tunnel.

There was no one there.

As we passed through the door and stepped over the heaps of brown earth, the warm night air enveloped me with relief and a pleasure that was almost bliss.

My legs felt numb; my skin was damp and I was trembling visibly.

There was no one in sight.

Tybalt turned to me.

"Poor Judith, you look as if you've had a fright."

"It was rather alarming."

"Someone was in there."

"Perhaps it was one of your fellow workers."

"Why didn't he answer when I called?"

"He might have thought you would have been displeased with him for prowling about there at night."

"Come on," he said, "we'll get the arabiya, and go back to the palace."

Everything was normal now—the Nile with its strange beauty and its odors, the palace, and Tybalt.

I could not understand what had come over me in the depth of that tomb. Perhaps it was the strangeness of the atmosphere, the knowledge that three thousand years or so before a dead man had been laid there; perhaps there was something in the powers of these gods which could even make me afraid of Tybalt.

Afraid of Tybalt! The husband who had chosen me as his wife! But had he not chosen me rather suddenly—in fact, so unexpectedly that the aunts, who loved me dearly, had been apprehensive for me? I was a rich woman. I had to remember that. And Tabitha, what of Tabitha? I had seen her and Tybalt together now and then. They always seemed to be in earnest conversation. He discussed his work with her more than he did with me. I still lacked her knowledge and experience in spite of all my efforts. Tabitha had a husband . . .

There was evil in that tomb and it had planted these thoughts in my mind. Where was my usual common sense? Where was that trait in my character which had always looked for the challenge in life and been so ready to grasp it?

Idiot! I told myself. You're as foolish as Theodosia.

On the river side of the palace was a terrace and I liked to sit there watching the life of the Nile go by. I would find a spot in the shade—it was getting almost unbearably hot now—and idly watch. Very often one of the servants would bring me a glass of mint tea. I would sit there, sometimes alone, sometimes joined by some member of our party. I would watch the black clad women chattering together as they washed their clothes in the water; the river seemed to be the center of social life rather like the sales of work and the socials over which Dorcas and Alison used to preside in my youth. I would hear their excited voices and high-pitched laughter and wondered what they talked of. It was exciting when the dahabiyehs with their sails shaped like curved Oriental swords sailed by.

Ramadan moon had waned and now it was the time of the Little Bairam. Houses had been spring cleaned and I had seen rugs put on the flat roofs of the houses to dry in the sun. I had seen the slaughter of animals on those rooftops and I knew that this was part of a ritual, and that there would be feasting and salting of animals which were to be eaten throughout the year.

I was becoming immersed in the customs of Egypt and yet I could never grow used to its strangeness. ,

One late afternoon just as the palace was awaking after the siesta Hadrian came out and sat beside me.

"It seems ages since we've had one of our little chats," he said.

"Where have you been all the time?"

"Your husband is a hard taskmaster, Judith."

"It's necessary with slothful disciples like you."

"Who said I was slothful?"

"You must be or you wouldn't complain. You'd be all agog to get on as Tybalt is."

"He's the leader, my dear Judith. His will be the kudos when the great day comes."

"Nonsense. It will belong to you all. And when is the great day coming?"

"Ah, there's the rub. Who knows? This new venture may lead to nothing."

"The new venture?"

"Tybalt mentioned that he had told you or I should not have spoken of it."

"Oh yes, he showed me."

"Well, you know that we think we have a lead."

"Yes."

"Well, who shall say? And if we do find something tremendous, that is going to bring glory to the world of archaeology but little profit to us."

"Not still worried about money, Hadrian?"

"You can depend on my always being in that state."

"Then you are highly extravagant."

"I have certain vices."

"Couldn't you curb them?"

"I will try to, Judith."

"I'm glad of that. Hadrian, why did you become an archaeologist?"

"Because my uncle—your papa—ordained it."

"I don't believe you have any deep feeling for it."

"Oh, I'm interested. We can't all be fanatics, like some people I could name."

"Without the fanatics you wouldn't get very far."

"Did you know, by the way, that we are to have a visit from the Pasha?"

"No."

"He has sent word. A sort of edict. He will honor his palace with his presence."

"That will be interesting. I suppose I shall have to receive him ... or perhaps Tabitha."

"You flatter yourselves. In this world women are of small importance. You will sit with hands folded and eyes lowered, and speak when you are spoken to—a rather difficult feat for our Judith."

"I am not an Arab woman and I shall certainly not behave like one."

"I didn't think you would somehow, but when you're in Rome you do as the Romans do ... and I believe that is a rule for any place you might mention."

"When is the great man coming?"

"Very soon. I've no doubt you will be informed."

We talked for some time about the old days at Keverall Court.

"A closely knit community," he said. "Sabina and the parson, Theodosia and Evan, you and Tybalt. I am the odd man out."

"Why, you are one of the party and always will be."

"I'm one of the unlucky ones."

"Luck! That's not in our stars but in ourselves, so I've heard."

"I've heard it too and I'm sure both you and Shakespeare can't be wrong. Didn't I tell you I was one who never seized my opportunities."

"You could begin now."

He turned to me and his eyes were very serious.

"In certain circumstances I could." He leaned forward and patted my hand suddenly. "Good old Judith," he went on. "What a bully you were! Do you bully Tybalt? I'm sure you don't. Now I'm the sort of man who needs a bully in my life."

I was uneasy. Was this Hadrian's flippant way of telling me that in the past he had thought that he and I would be the ones to share our lives?

"You used to complain of me enough."

"It was a bitter sweet sort of complaint. Promise you won't stop bullying me, Judith."

"I'll be frank with you, as I always have been."

"That's what I want," he said.

From the minaret came the voice of the muezzin.

The women by the river stood up heads bowed; an old squatting beggar on the roadside tottered to his feet and stood in prayer.

We silently watched.

A subtle change had crept over the palace because the Pasha was coming. There was a growing tension in the kitchens where one heard excited voices; floors were washed with greater vigor than ever before; and brass was polished to look like gleaming gold. The servants lent to us by Hakim Pasha knew that the tolerant reign of the visitors was temporarily at an end.

Tybalt told me what we must expect.

"He is the governor of these parts, one might say. He owns most of the land. It is because he has lent us his palace that we are treated so well. He has made it easy for us to get our workmen, and they will know that to work well for us is to work well for the Pasha. So they dare do no other. He was of great assistance to my father. You will see that he comes like a great potentate."

"Shall we be able to entertain him in the manner to which he is accustomed?"

"We'll manage. After all we are entertaining him in his own palace and his servants will know what is expected. I remember when he came before it worked quite smoothly. That was about three weeks before my father's death."

"How fortunate that he is interested in archaeology."

"Oh there is no doubt of his interest. I remember my father's taking him on a tour of the site. He was completely fascinated by everything he saw. I expect I shall do the same."

"And what will my role be?"

"Just to behave naturally. He is a much traveled man and does not expect our customs to be the same as his. I think you will be amused by his visit. Tabitha will tell you about it. She will remember how he came here when my father was alive."

I asked Tabitha and she told me that they had been apprehensive but they need not have been for the Pasha had been goodness itself and as eager to please them as they to please him.

Tabitha and I had been to the souk, and as we were walking back to the palace, passing the hotel, we saw Hadrian and Terence Gelding sitting on the terrace there drinking with the man whom Theodosia and I had met in the Temple.

Hadrian hailed us and we joined them.

"This is Mr. Leopold Harding," said Hadrian. "Terence and I stopped here for some refreshment and as Mr. Harding knew who we were, he introduced himself."

"We have met already," I said.

"Indeed we have," replied Leopold Harding. "It was in the Temple when we were sightseeing."

"You two must be in need of refreshment," said Terence.

"I could do with the inevitable glass of mint tea," I replied.

Tabitha agreed that after our walk it would be welcome. We chatted while it was being brought.

Mr. Harding told us that he occasionally visited Egypt and he was very interested in the excavations because his business was involved with antiques. He bought and sold. "It's an interesting business," he assured us.

"It must be," replied Hadrian, "and you must be very knowledgeable."

"One has to be. It's so easy to get caught. The other day I was offered a small head—a flat carving in profile. At first it appeared to be of turquoise and lapis lazuli. It was so cleverly done that only an expert would have detected that it was not what it seemed."

"Are you interested in archaeology?" I asked.

"Only as an amateur, Lady Travers."

"That's all we are," I replied. "Don't you agree, Tabitha? I discovered that when I came out here."

"Mrs. Grey is more than that," said Terence.

"As for Judith," added Hadrian lightly, "she tries . . . she tries very hard."

Terence said gravely: "Both of these ladies do a great deal to help the party."

"You could say that we are amateurs with professional leanings," I added.

"Perhaps I'm in the same class," said Leopold Harding. "Handling objects—some of which are, most of the time wrongly, said to have come from the tombs of the Pharaohs —arouses an enormous interest. I wonder whether there is a chance of my being allowed to look round the excavations."

"There's nothing to stop your taking a drive along the Valley," Hadrian told him.

"All you would see," added Terence, "would be a few shacks containing tools, and men digging. A few heaps of rubble . . ."

"And Sir Tybalt has high hopes of discovering a hitherto undisturbed tomb, I believe."

"It's what all archaeologists who come here hope," replied Hadrian.

"Of course."

"It's going to be a long hard exercise," went on Hadrian. "I feel it in my bones that we are doomed to failure."

"Nonsense," retorted Terence sharply, and I added severely: "This is not a matter of bones but of hard work."

"They're a very reliable set of bones," insisted Hadrian. "And sheer hard work will not put a buried Pharaoh where there was none."

"I don't believe Tybalt could be mistaken," I said hotly.

"You are his doting wife," replied Hadrian.

I wanted to stop Hadrian's talking in this manner before a stranger so I said to change the subject: "Have you really dealt with articles which were discovered from tombs, Mr. Harding?"

"One can never really be sure," he answered. "You can imagine how legends attach to these things. The fact that an object may have been buried for the use of a Pharaoh three thousand years before Christ, gives it inestimable value. As a businessman I don't discourage rumors."

"So that's why you came to Egypt."

"I travel to many places, but Egypt is a particular treasure store. You must come along to my warehouse one day. It's very small, little more than a shed. I rent it when I'm here so that I can store my purchases until I can get them shipped to England."

"And how long shall you stay here?" I asked.

"I am never sure of my movements. I can be here today and gone tomorrow. If I hear of a promising object in Cairo or Alexandria I should be off to see it. It makes life interesting, and, like you, I'm elated when a find comes my way. I had a disappointment a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful plaque which could have come straight from the wall of a tomb—a painted scene showing a funeral procession. The coffin was being carried on the shoulders of four bearers, preceded and followed by servants carrying items of furniture—a bed, a stool, boxes and vessels, the whole inlaid with silver and lapis. A beautiful piece, but a copy of course. When I first saw it I was wild with excitement. Alas, it had been made about thirty years ago. It was beautiful but a fake."

"How disappointing for you!" I cried, and Hadrian told them the story of my finding the bronze shield.

"And that," he finished, "is why she is where she is today."

"It is clearly where she enjoys being," said Leopold Harding. "You must do me the honor of visiting my little store room. I haven't a great deal there but some of the pieces are interesting."

We said we should enjoy that and with an au revoir we left him sitting on the terrace of the hotel.

The Pasha had sent a message that he would dine with us on his way to one of his palaces and he hoped, while with us, to hear something of the progress which was being made in this wonderful task to which he had given his full support.

With Tabitha and Theodosia I watched his arrival from an upper room of the palace. It was a magnificent sight. He traveled in a carriage drawn by four beautiful white horses in which he made slow progress preceded by a train of camels, each of which had bells about its neck so that they tinkled as they walked. Some of the camels were laden with his luggage, polished boxes set with stones and placed on cloths edged with deep gold fringe.

He dismounted at the gates of the palace where Tybalt, with some of the senior members of the party, was there to greet him. He was then taken into the inner courtyard. where he was seated on a special chair which had been brought for him. The back rest of this chair was inlaid with semiprecious stones and while it might have been a trifle uncomfortable it was decidedly grand.

Several of the servants were waiting with sweetmeats, large cakes made of wheat and flour and honey fried together, and glasses of tea. Three glasses must be drunk by each—the first very sweet, the second even more so, and the third with mint. All the glasses were filled to the brim and it was a breach of etiquette to spill any of the tea. I don't know what would have happened to any of the servants who did so. Fortunately on that occasion none did.

Tabitha told me what was taking place as of course we, as women, were not admitted to this ceremony.

But, out of respect for our European customs, we were allowed to sit at table and I was even accorded a place beside the great Pasha.

His fat hands were a-glitter with gems; and it was fortunate that the gem-studded chair was brought in for him, for it was wide and he was very plump. He was clearly delighted with his reception and rather pleased to see the women. He studied us intently, his eyes lingering on us as though he were assessing our worthiness in that field which for him would be the only one suitable for women. I think we all passed—Tabitha for her beauty, no doubt, which was undeniable from any standards, Theodosia for her femininity, and myself? I certainly hadn't Tabitha's looks or Theodosia's fragile charm, but I did possess a vitality which neither of them had, and perhaps this appealed to the Pasha, for of the three he seemed most taken with me. I suppose I was more unlike an Eastern woman than any of them and the difference amused or interested him.

He spoke tolerable English, for as a high official he had often come into contact with our countrymen.

Dinner went on for several hours. The servants knew what should be offered and they were also aware of the enormity of our Pasha's appetite. Unfortunately we were expected to eat with him. Kebab was followed by kuftas; and I believe they had never during our stay been served with such carefully prepared aromatic sauces. I noticed the expressions of fear on the faces of the silent-footed servants as they proffered the food to their master. He was served first, as the guest, and I, next to him, was appalled by the large quantities which he ate. Being a woman I was not expected to take such large portions. I was sorry for the men.

The Pasha led the conversation. He spoke glowingly of our country, our Queen, and the boon that the Suez Canal had brought to Egyptian trade.

"Think of this great achievement," he said. "A canal one hundred miles in length flowing through Lake Timsah and the great Bitter Lakes—from Port Said to Suez. What an undertaking. Moreover it has brought the British in force to Egypt." His eyes glinted slyly. "And what could be a greater pleasure to all concerned. And what has happened since we had the canal? People come here as never before. You British . . . what a flair for trade, eh! Your Thomas Cook with his steamers up the Nile. Chartering them from our Khedive for the purpose. What a clever man, eh! And what good for Egypt! Now he has a steamer to go between Aswan and the Second Cataract. Such good business for Egypt and we owe it to your country."

I said that Egypt had so much to offer the discerning visitors in the remains of an ancient civilization which was one of the wonders of the world.

"And who knows what else may be discovered!" he said, his eyes alight with joy. "Let us hope Allah smiles on your endeavors."

Tybalt said that he and the members of the party could never adequately express their gratitude for all the help he had given them.

"Oh, it is well that I help. It is right that I should place my house at your disposal." He turned to me. "My ancestors have amassed great wealth and there is a story in the family of how we began to build up our fortunes. Would you like to hear how we began?"

"I should very much like to know," I told him.

"It will shock you. It is said that long, long ago we were tomb robbers I"

I laughed.

"That is the story that has been handed down for hundreds of years. A thousand years ago my ancestors robbed the tombs here and so became rich men. Now we must expiate the sins of our fathers by giving all the help possible to those who would open tombs for posterity."

"I hope one day the whole world will be as grateful to you as we of this party are," said Tybalt.

"So I continue to placate the gods," said the Pasha. "And for my family sign I take the head of Anubis who embalmed the body of Osiris when his wicked brother Set murdered him. Osiris rose again and I honor his sacred embalmer, and he gives my house its sign."

Conversation then turned to the matter which I was sure was uppermost in the Pasha's mind—the expedition.

"The good Sir Edward suffered a great tragedy," he said. "This gives me much unhappiness. But you, Sir Tybalt, will, I know, find what you seek."

"It is good of you to show such sympathy. I cannot express my gratitude."

The Pasha patted Tybalt's hand.

"You believe that you will find what you come to seek, eh?"

"It is what I am working for," replied Tybalt.

"And you will do it, with the help of your genies." He laughed. It was an expression I had heard often since arriving in Egypt.

"I shall hope my genies will give me his assistance."

"And then you will leave us, and take away with you these beautiful ladies."

He smiled at me and it was my turn to be patted by the plump ringed fingers. He bent towards me. "Why I could wish that you do not succeed."

"We should have to depart in any case," said Tybalt with a laugh.

"Then I should be tempted to find some means of keeping you here." The Pasha was waggish. "You think I could do it, eh?" he asked me.

"Why yes," I replied, "with the help of your genies."

There was a brief silence at the table. I guessed I had erred. However, the Pasha decided to be amused and he laughed, which was the sign for everyone including the servants to join in.

Then he talked to me about my impressions of the country and asked what I thought of the palace and if all the servants had pleased me.

We had quite an animated conversation and it was clear that although a few of my answers to the Pasha's questions might have been somewhat unconventional I had made a success.

There was some talk about the excavations in which I did not join. The Pasha having eaten a tremendous meal was nibbling a sweet rather like that which at home we called Turkish Delight. Here it was stuffed with savory nuts and was quite delicious, or would have been if one had not eaten such a large meal.

The Pasha was to continue his journey to another of his palaces by moonlight as it was too hot to travel by day and before he left he would be taken to the site by Tybalt on a rather ceremonious inspection.

While they were preparing to leave there was a heartrending scream from without and hurrying into the courtyard I saw one of the Pasha's servants writhing in agony.

I asked what had happened and heard that he had been bitten by a scorpion. We had been warned to be careful when near piles of stones for this was where scorpions lurked and their stings were poisonous. I had seen many a chameleon and lizard basking on the hot stones and the geckos came inside the palace, but I had not yet seen a scorpion.

The servant was surrounded by his fellows who were attending to him, but I shall never forget the terror in his face—whether for fear of the scorpion's sting or for calling attention to himself during the Pasha's visit.

Pasha or not I was going to see that the man had special attention. Before I had left England, Alison had supplied me with many homemade remedies which were good she insisted for all the dangers I might encounter in a hot dry land.

There was one which was an antidote to wasps, horseflies, and the occasional adder which we found in our Cornish countryside and although I doubted that our mild remedies would work very well on the poison of a scorpion I was determined to try.

So I brought my pot of ointment and as I applied it I noticed on the sufferer's arm that he had been branded with a sign I had noticed before. He immediately grew calmer, and I was sure that he thought there was some special healing power in that jar which I believed had at one time contained Dorcas's special mint jelly.

In any case the man was so sure that he would be cured by this foreign medicine that he seemed to be; and the dark eyes of his fellow servants regarded me with awe and wonder so that I felt like some Occidental witch doctor.

The Pasha, who had come to see me deal with his servant, nodded and smiled approvingly. He thanked me personally for what I had done.

Half an hour later they left and I watched their departure with Theodosia and Tabitha as I had their arrival. The Pasha walked to the boat which was waiting to take him upriver. The boatmen had decorated it with flags and flowers which they must have gathered, such as stork bill—a bright purple flower so called because when the petals fell and the center of the flower was exposed it had the appearance of a stork's bill—and the flame-colored flowers of the flamboyant tree. Many people had assembled to watch his progress and to call out their homage to him. It was clear that not only the servants of the palace but the fellaheen of the neighborhood lived in terror of the powerful Pasha.

Tabitha said: "It is exactly the same pattern as when he came here before. I think he was quite pleased with his reception and he has taken quite a fancy to you, Judith."

"He certainly smiled all the time," I replied, "but I noticed that the servants seemed just as terrified when he was smiling as when he was not. It may well be the custom to appear especially benign when you are about to be most venomous. What do we do now? May we retire or are we expected to be here to pay homage when they return from the site."

"He'll not come back here," said Tabitha. "His entourage will set forth and meet him upriver. From there I believe he will go the short distance to his night's destination."

"Then I shall go to bed," I said. "Placating Pashas can be an exhausting experience."

It was not until early morning that Tybalt came in. I awoke at once.

He sat on a chair and stretched his legs out before him.

"You must be tired," I said.

"I suppose so, but quite wakeful."

"That enormous meal you consumed and all that khoshaf I should have thought would have had a soporific effect."

"I willed myself to remain alert. I had to make sure that all went as it should and no offense be given."

"I hope I was adequate."

"So much so that I thought he was going to make me an offer for you. I believe he thought you would be an admirable addition to his harem."

"And I suppose had the offer been high enough and you could have commanded a tidy sum to be dedicated to your pursuits in the archaeological field you would have readily agreed to exchange me?"

"But of course," he said.

I giggled.

"Actually," I said, "I didn't quite trust all that benignancy."

"He was very interested in what we were doing and made a thorough examination of the site."

"Did you show him the new discovery?"

"It was necessary to do so. There had to be some explanation as to why we were working from inside those subterranean passages. It's impossible to keep these matters entirely secret. He was most interested, of course, and asked to be informed as soon as anything is revealed."

"Do you think that will be soon, Tybalt?"

"I don't know. We have found an indication that there is something beyond the walls of one of the chambers. Because of the inevitability of robbers attempting to break into the tombs it has been known for one burial chamber to be hidden behind another—the theory being that the robbers having found one tomb would believe that was all to be discovered and fail to find the more important site behind it. And if this should prove the case, the one which was being thus protected would doubtless be of a very important person indeed. I am convinced that this was what my father was aware of." Tybalt frowned. "There was one rather disturbing incident during the tour. You remember when I took you there we heard a footstep?"

"Yes, I do." It came back to me clearly: the rising of goosepimples on my flesh, the terror which had overtaken me.

"It happened again," said Tybalt. "I was certain that some unauthorized person or persons were somewhere there."

"Wouldn't you have seen them?"

"They could have avoided us."

"They might have been hiding in the deep pit over which that rather fragile wooden bridge has been put. Did the Pasha hear it?"

"He said nothing, but I fancy he was alert."

"He might have thought it was a member of the party."

"It was a small group of us who went into the tomb. Myself, the Pasha, Terence, Evan with the two servants without whom the Pasha never seems to stir."

"A sort of bodyguard?" I suggested.

"I suppose so."

"He might have felt he needed some protection from the gods since the family fortunes were built on tomb robbing."

"That's no doubt a legend."

"What happened to the young man who was stung by the scorpion?"

"He seems to have made a miraculous recovery, thanks to you. You'll have a reputation as a sorceress if you're not careful."

"What a success I am! The Pasha contemplates offering me a place in his harem, and I am possessed of strange powers which I keep enclosed in Dorcas's mint jelly jar. I can see I'm a wild success. I hope I find the same favor in the sight of my true wedded lord."

"I can give you complete assurance on that point."

"So much so that I may one day be allowed to share in your work?"

"You do, Judith."

"Letters! Accounts! I mean the real work."

"I was afraid of this," he said. "I knew you always imagined yourself being in the thick of everything. It can't be, Judith. Not yet."

"I'm too much of an amateur?"

"This is delicate work. We have to go cautiously. It won't always be so. You're learning so much."

"What of Tabitha?"

"What of her?"

"You seem often to talk of your work to her."

There was an almost imperceptible silence. Then he said: "She worked a great deal with my father."

"So she is something more than an amateur?"

"She has had some experience."

"Which I lack?"

"But which you will have in time."

"Can I get it if I am not allowed to participate?"

"You will be in time. You must try to understand."

"I'm trying, Tybalt."

"Be patient, my dearest."

When he used that term of endearment, which was rarely, my happiness overcame my frustration. If I was indeed his dearest I was content to wait. It was logical. Of course I could not come into this vast and intricate field and expect to take my place beside him.

"In time I can promise myself then?"

He kissed me and echoed: "In time."

"How long shall we be here?" I asked briskly.

"Are you tired of it already?"

"Indeed not. It grows more fascinating every day. I was thinking of Theodosia. She longs to go home."

"She should never have come."

"You mean Evan should have left her at home."

"She is too timid for an expedition of this sort. In any case, if she likes to go home she can at any time."

"And Evan?"

"Evan has his job to do here."

"I suppose he's an indispensable member of the community."

"He is indeed. He's a good archaeologist really—though inclined to theorize rather than practice."

"And you do both?"

"Of course."

"I knew it. I admire you, Tybalt, every bit as much as Pasha Hakim admired me."

I slept, but I doubt whether Tybalt did. I suspect he lay awake enjoying daydreams of the glory he was going to find when he broke through into the tomb which would have been left undisturbed—until he came—for three thousand years.

In the early morning Theodosia and I went into the souk. The heat was becoming intense. Theodosia suffered from it very much and her desire to go home was becoming an obsession as were her fears of bearing a child.

I did all I could to comfort her. I pointed out that people here probably went out into the fields and had their babies and then continued working straightaway. I had heard such tales.

This consoled her, but I knew she would never be reconciled until we were making plans to go home.

She was torn between her desire to go home or to stay with Evan.

"Where would you go?" I asked. "To Keverall Court and your mother?"

She grimaced. "Well, at least there wouldn't be this frightful heat; and Sabina would be there."

Sabina was going to have a baby too. That would be a comfort for her, of course. Sabina's reactions were quite different from Theodosia's according to her letters, in which she rambled in the same manner as she talked. It seemed that she was delighted and so was Oliver; and Dorcas and Alison were being wonders. "They seem to know everything about babies—although why they should is a bit of a puzzle, except, of course, that they had you when you were little and it seems to me, my dear Judith, that you were a unique baby. There was never one so bright, intelligent, beautiful, good, naughty (although your naughtiness was something to cluck over), all this according to your aunts, of course, and I don't believe a word of it!"

How this brought back Sabina and I must confess that I too felt a twinge of nostalgia for those flower-decorated banks with the ragged robin and star-of-Bethlehem and bluebells giving patriotic color to the green background and here and there the mauve of wild orchids. So different of course from this hot and arid land. I missed Dorcas and Alison and I should have loved to call in at the old rectory and listen to Sabina's chatter.

I looked up at the sky, brilliantly blue through the narrow slips between two rows of houses; and the smells and sights of the market caught me and held me in that fascination which never failed.

We went past the shop where Yasmin usually sat, her head bent low over her work, but on that morning she was not there. In her place sat a young boy; he was bending over the leather working laboriously.

We paused.

"Where is Yasmin today?" I asked.

He looked up and his eyes were immediately furtive. He shook his head.

"She's not ill?" I cried.

But he could not understand me.

"I daresay," I said to Theodosia, "she is taking a day off."

We passed on.

I was sorry that the soothsayer was seated on the pavement.

He looked up as we passed.

"Allah be with you," he murmured.

He looked so hopeful that I couldn't pass, particularly when I saw that the bowl in which payment was placed was empty.

I paused and threw something into the bowl and immediately realized my mistake. He was no beggar. He was a proud man who was plying his profession. I had paid, so I must have my fortune told.

So once again we sat on the mats beside him.

He shook his head and said: "The shadow grows big, my ladies."

"Oh yes," I replied lightly, "you told us about that before."

"It flies overhead like a bat, a big black bat."

"Sounds rather unpleasant," I said. He did not understand me but this was to comfort Theodosia.

"And my lady has been blessed. My lady is fertile. Go back to the green land, lady. There you will be safe."

Oh dear, I thought. This is the worst thing we could have done.

Theodosia rose from the mat and the soothsayer leaned towards me. His fingers like brown claws gripped my wrist.

"You great lady. You say Go and they will listen. The big bat is near."

I was looking down at his arm and there on it I saw the brand again—the head of the Jackal. It was similar to that of the man who had been bitten by the scorpion.

I said to him: "You tell me nothing but of this big bat who is hovering around. Is there nothing else?"

"Allah would be good to you. He offers much. Great joy, many sons and daughters, a big fine mansion, but in your green land. Not here. It is for you to say. The bat is very close now. It can be too late . . . for you . . . and for this lady."

I put more money in the bowl and thanked him.

Theodosia was trembling. I slipped my arm through hers.

"It's a pity we listened to that nonsense," I said. "He says the same to everybody."

"To everybody?"

"Yes, Tabitha has been given the bat treatment."

"Well, she is one of us, you see. It's threatening us all."

"Oh come, Theodosia, you're not going to tell me you believe all this. It's the sort of thing that's handed out to everybody."

"Why should he want to frighten us away?"

"Because we're strangers here."

"But we're strangers who have our fortunes told and buy certain things in the souk. They all seem very happy to see us here."

"Oh yes, but he thinks we want to be frightened. It makes it all the more exciting."

"Well, I don't want to be frightened."

"There's no need for you to be, Theodosia. Remember that."