He Shall Thunder in the Sky - Elizabeth Peters [134]
Nefret’s lips curved. “I’ve always wanted to.”
That smile aroused certain forebodings, which I felt obliged to express. “You must abandon your girlish, romantic notions about Sethos. Don’t try to outwit him. Just get him there—I suggest Shepheard’s—so that I can have a good long look at him. Of course I will be disguised.”
“Ah,” said Nefret. “Disguised. How?”
“Leave that to me. I hear that wretched dog barking. It must be Emerson and Ramses. Are we agreed?”
“I will do anything you ask, Aunt Amelia. Anything. If this will help . . .” She let the sentence trail off into silence.
“I knew I could count on you. Pray do not mention our little scheme.”
“Aren’t you going to tell the Professor, at least?”
“That will depend on . . . Ah, there you are, my dears. Did you enjoy your evening out? We have accomplished a great deal of work while you were amusing yourselves.”
By rousting us out at the crack of dawn, Emerson managed to get in several hours at the site before he left to attend his meeting with General Maxwell. He had repeated to me what Ramses had told him about his conversation with David; nothing new had been learned, but at least I had the comfort of knowing that as of ten o’clock last night, David was still alive and well.
It was not comfort enough. Every passing day increased the danger, and I was all the more determined to put an end to the nasty business. Having worked out a course of action which I felt certain would achieve this goal, I was able to concentrate more or less successfully on our archaeological activities. With Emerson gone, I was the person in charge. I explained my intentions to Nefret, Ramses, and Selim. I never had to explain anything to Daoud, since he always did exactly what I told him to do.
“No one admires Emerson’s methodology more than I, but in my opinion we have been dawdling over this mastaba longer than we ought. Selim, I want that second chamber completely cleared today.”
Ramses said, “Mother—”
Selim said, “But, Sitt Hakim—”
Nefret grinned.
Her grin vanished when I went on, raising my voice loud enough to silence Ramses and Selim. “Nefret and I will both examine the fill. Ramses, you can help Selim label the baskets as they are filled. Make certain you identify the precise square and level from which each is taken. In that way—”
“I believe, Mother, that Selim and I are both familiar with the technique,” Ramses said. His eyebrows had taken on a remarkable angle.
Selim’s beard parted just a slit. “Yes, Sitt Hakim.”
I smiled at Daoud, whose large countenance bore its customary expression of placid affability. “Then let us get at it!”
I daresay my words spurred them all to even greater energy. Daoud kept the Deucaville cars moving. Nefret and I sifted basket after basket, finding very little. Since I wanted to impress Emerson with our efficiency, I kept everyone at it till long past the hour at which we ordinarily stopped for luncheon. Not until Ramses came to join us did a belated realization of other responsibilities strike me.
He had, of course, misplaced his hat. Though he feels the heat less than most, his luxuriant black locks had tightened into curls, and his wet shirt stuck rather too closely to his chest and shoulders. The well-developed muscles it molded were somewhat asymmetrical, despite my effort to reduce the size of the bandages. I could only hope Nefret’s eyes were not as keen as mine. She had not commented on Ramses’s recent habit of always wearing a shirt on the dig.
“We’ve come across something rather interesting,” he announced. “You will need to get photographs, Nefret.”
She jumped up, her face brightening, and Ramses offered me his hand to help me rise. I would have waved it away, but truth compels me to admit I was a trifle stiff. Sitting in the same position for several hours has that effect even on a woman in excellent physical condition.
The chamber had been emptied almost to floor level. There were some fine reliefs and another false door, but that was not what caught my eye. Beyond the south wall the men had exposed