Guardian of the Horizon - Elizabeth Peters [0]
OF THE HORIZON
Elizabeth Peters
To Chuck
aka Charles E. Roberts, owner of several of the world’s
greatest bookstores, to whom I owe many hours of good
talk, good gin, and friendship of the highest order
Contents
Editor’s Note
One
When we left Egypt in the spring of 1907, I…
Two
“What shall we do about David?” Ramses asked.
Three
Emerson claimed the boots were too tight. They were certainly…
Four
The government steamers take two days to cover the stretch…
Five
“You aren’t going to wash the damned camels, are you?”
Six
Ramses couldn’t get the image out of his mind: Nefret,…
Seven
Newbold did not come out of his hut to bid…
Eight
“It’s my fault,” Ramses said, eyes downcast and jaw set.
Nine
That afternoon’s explorations brought home to me how limited our…
Ten
“You did not know!” Emerson bellowed. “Don’t tell me you…
Eleven
After Emerson had placed me upon my couch he anxiously…
Twelve
As soon as Zekare and his entourage left, Emerson charged…
Thirteen
My optimism received a hard blow when we entered our…
Fourteen
Cheers from the plaza below drew us all to the…
Note to the Reader
Acknowledgments
About the Author
By Elizabeth Peters
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Editor’s Note
Just when the Editor believed she was nearing the end of her arduous task of editing the Emerson papers, a new lot of them turned up. They include most of the journals from the so-called missing years, plus miscellaneous letters, newspaper clippings, recipes, lists, receipts, and several unpublished articles. The circumstances under which this discovery was made need not be discussed here. Suffice it to say that Mrs. Emerson’s heirs are no longer threatening legal proceedings and have reached a tentative agreement with the Editor that allows her to produce this volume. It is based on Mrs. Emerson’s journal for the 1907–08 season, and thus immediately follows the events described in the journal published as The Ape Who Guards the Balance. The Editor’s reasons for selecting this particular volume are twofold: first, she was dying to know what happened when the Emersons returned to the Lost Oasis; second, up to this time she had only one journal for the years between 1907 and 1914, a period of great importance in the professional, political, and emotional history of various family members. It is hoped that eventually this gap will be filled in; and the Reader may rest assured that astonishing revelations remain to be disclosed.
As before, the Editor has included relevant portions of Manuscript H, written by Ramses Emerson. It seems unlikely that Mrs. Emerson ever read this manuscript, which Ramses seems to have abandoned shortly after the birth of his children (any parent can understand why). One other set of documents provided useful information—the letters herein designated as Letter Collection C. They were found in a separate bundle. Obviously they never reached the persons to whom they were addressed, but were collected by Mrs. Emerson after the events to which they refer, for reasons which should be evident to any intelligent Reader.
One
When we left Egypt in the spring of 1907, I felt like a defeated general who has retreated to lick his wounds (if I may be permitted a somewhat inelegant but expressive metaphor). Our archaeological season had experienced the usual ups and downs—kidnapping, murderous attacks, and the like—to which I was well accustomed. But that year disasters of an unprecented scope had befallen us.
The worst was the death of our dear old friend Abdullah, who had been foreman of our excavations for many years. He had died as he would have wished, in a glorious gesture of sacrifice, but that was small consolation to those of us who had learned to love him. It was hard to imagine continuing our work without him.
If we continued it. My spouse, Radcliffe Emerson, is without doubt the preeminent Egyptologist of this or any other era. To say that Emerson (who prefers to be addressed by that name) has the most explosive temper of anyone I