Guardian of the Horizon - Elizabeth Peters [29]
Emerson claimed the boots were too tight. They were certainly tighter than the old pair, which had been battered into shapelessness by several seasons of hard usage. The bootmaker assured him the fit was perfect and I reminded him that new boots are always a trifle stiff, and we had a little discussion.
We then proceeded to the umbrella maker (Emerson limping ostentatiously). I always purchase my parasols at the same shop; the manager has become accustomed to my requirements, which were, I admit, somewhat unusual: a heavy steel shaft and a sharpened tip. For all-round utility, nothing beats a good stout parasol. It serves as a sunshade, a walking stick, and if necessary a weapon. Persons bent on mischief do not expect to be struck by a lady with a parasol. This, as I hardly need point out, gives the lady the advantage of surprise. An additional advantage was the superstitious awe with which some Egyptians regarded the implement. Daoud’s tales (a few of them true) had woven an aura of magic about the parasol, and in some quarters it was only necessary for me to brandish it in order to cow an adversary.
That afternoon the parasol served a more conventional purpose, for the sun was hot. Emerson refused its shade and removed himself to a little distance to avoid being prodded by the spokes, so we were forced to converse in shouts to be heard over the bustle of the street. A good deal of the noise was occasioned by animals. There were a few motorcars in Cairo, but most of the traffic was four-footed—horses pulling cabs, donkeys pulling carts, camels heavily laden with everything from sacks of grain to packing cases, and complaining bitterly, as is a camel’s wont. Choked by dust, and miserably warm in the proper garments I had assumed, I finally furled the parasol and poked Emerson, who had stopped to chat with one of the dirtiest individuals I had ever beheld and who had slung round his neck a tray of the most dubious scarabs I had ever seen.
“Let us take a cab, Emerson.”
“What for?” Emerson demanded. The dirty peddler salaamed and handed me one of the scarabs. It appeared to have been chipped out of a chunk of limestone by a person whose artistic taste was as impaired as his eyesight. I handed it back to him. Emerson, who had removed his coat and lost his hat, studied me more closely. “A bit warm, are you? Why are you wearing those confounded tight-fitting clothes?”
“Because I chose to do so.”
“Ah,” said Emerson, recognizing a certain tone in my voice. “In that case….”
He handed over a few coins—in exchange for information received, I supposed, since he refused to accept a scarab—bade the peddler an effusive farewell, and hailed a cab.
“What did your unwashed friend have to say that was so interesting?” I asked.
Emerson pushed the parasol out of his way and settled himself on the seat next to me. “He asked why we were going to the Sudan instead of remaining in a civilized country.”
“Good Gad, does every beggar in Cairo know?”
“We made no secret of that part of our plan,” Emerson reminded me. “Even if we had, the supplies we’ve been collecting would tell the tale. Especially the money. One doesn’t carry that amount of coinage about unless one is going into a remote region.” He hesitated for a moment. “However, he also inquired whether we were looking for gold.”
“Oh dear,” I said in dismay. “I don’t like that at all, Emerson. What put such a notion into his head?”
Emerson fingered the cleft in his chin. “People. ‘People are saying.’ The usual sort of vague speculation. It may not mean anything, Peabody. ‘People’ have lurid imaginations, especially where we are concerned. Archaeologists have always been suspect, my dear. It is difficult for ‘people’ to understand why they waste time looking for broken scraps instead of treasure.”
Upon reaching the Amelia I would have hastened to change had not Mahmud the steward intercepted us and informed us that Ramses requested that we join him in the saloon immediately.
“He’s back already, is he?” Emerson inquired. “Is Nur Misur with him?”
(“Light of Egypt” was Nefret’s