He Shall Thunder in the Sky - Elizabeth Peters [105]
She came walking out of the dark, her steps dragging a little, her head turning. Emerson’s chair went over with a crash. When she saw him running toward her she swayed forward into his outstretched arms, and he caught her to his breast.
“Thank heaven,” I whispered.
Ramses said, “And there, by God, is the confounded cat! How the hell did she—”
“Don’t swear,” I said.
Nefret would not let Emerson carry her and she refused to go home. “Not until after I’ve had something to drink,” she declared, settling into the chair Ramses held for her. “My throat is as dry as dust.”
“Nervousness,” said her brother, snapping his fingers to summon the waiter.
“Don’t be so supercilious. Are you going to claim you weren’t nervous about me?”
“I was nervous about what you might do to him,” Ramses said.
Nefret glanced pointedly at the litter of cigarette ends on the ground beside him. Her face was smudged with dust and cobwebs, and her loosened hair had been tied back with a crumpled bit of fabric I recognized as the scarf she had lent Seshat for a lead. The cat sat down next to her chair and began grooming herself.
Emerson began, “What did he—”
“Let me tell it,” Nefret said. She drank thirstily from the glass of tea the waiter had brought. We were the only customers left; it was long past the time when such places normally close, but no one would have had the audacity to mention this inconvenience to any of us.
“He didn’t hurt me,” she said, with a reassuring smile at Emerson. “After I had convinced him I wasn’t going to run away he only held my arm, to guide me. I tried to question him, but every time I spoke he hissed at me. To keep quiet, I mean. I also tried to keep track of where he was taking me, but it was hopeless; you know how the lanes wind and turn. When he finally stopped I knew we must be outside the danger area, because he seemed calmer. So I asked him who the big fish was—”
“For the love of God, Nefret, you ought not have risked it,” Emerson exclaimed. “Er—did he tell you?”
“He laughed and said something rude about women. That they were only good for two things, and that he expected me to supply one of them. He meant money, Professor,” she added quickly. Emerson’s face had gone purple. “I said I would get it first thing tomorrow and that we would meet him as we had promised. Then he said I was free to go, unless I wanted . . . That was when Seshat bit him.”
Ramses reached down and rubbed the cat’s head. “She was following you the whole time?”
“She must have been. I heard sounds, but I assumed it was rats. I had intended to ask him where the devil I was, but he left in rather a hurry, and it took me a while to get my bearings. Finally I decided I had better follow Seshat, who kept pushing at me, and she led me here.”
Emerson was no longer purple, he was an odd shade of grayish lavender. “He asked you . . . if you wanted . . .”
“Asked,” Nefret emphasized. “He was fairly blunt about it, but he didn’t insist. Especially after Seshat bit him. Now, Professor, promise you won’t lose your temper with him when you go to meet him. It is vitally important that we come to an agreement. Oh, curse it, I oughtn’t have told you!”
“Lose my temper?” Emerson repeated. “I never lose my temper.”
“You will deliver the money?”
“Certainly.”
“And keep your promise to give him time to get away?”
“Of course.”
Ramses, who had remained pensively silent, now remarked, “Shall I get the motorcar and bring it round?”
“We may as well all go,” Nefret said. “I am perfectly capable of walking that short distance. Professor?”
“Hmph,” said Emerson. “What? Oh. Yes.”
We paid the sleepy proprietor of the café lavishly and saw the lights go out as we started along the street. Emerson had his arm round Nefret and she leaned against him. Ramses and I followed; he had lifted the cat onto his shoulder. I stroked the animal’s sleek flanks and she responded with a soft purr.
“We will have to think of a suitable reward for her,” I said.
“Rewarding a cat is a waste of time. They think they deserve the best whatever they do.”
“Her behavior was extraordinary,