He Shall Thunder in the Sky - Elizabeth Peters [99]
Ramses had slowed almost to a stop in order to give the driver of a particularly stubborn camel time to drag it out of our path. A pack of ragged urchins now hung from both doors, exchanging comments with Ramses and paying compliments to Nefret. The compliments had, I admit, a certain financial element. “O beautiful lady, whose eyes are like the sky, have pity on a poor starving . . .”
Ramses made a remark in Arabic that I pretended not to hear, and the assailants withdrew, grinning appreciatively.
The motorcar had to be left on the Beit el Kadi, since it could not enter the winding ways that surround the picturesque sprawl of the Khan el Khalili. Emerson helped me out and started off without so much as a backward look; he assumed, probably correctly, that none of the local vagabonds would dare touch an object belonging to him. Ramses lingered briefly to speak to a man who had come out from under the open veranda on the east side of the square. Something passed from hand to hand, and the fellow nodded, grinning. Goodness, what a nasty suspicious mind the boy has, I thought.
He must have got it from me.
“Wait a moment,” I said, tugging at Emerson. “We should all stay together.”
“What? Oh, yes, of course.” He turned. “Get hold of Nefret, Ramses, and hurry up.”
“Yes, sir.”
The archway on the east side of the square leads into the narrow lanes of the Hasaneyn quarter and to one of the entrances to the Khan el Khalili. Emerson led the way through this maze without a pause or a false step, despite the increasing darkness. The old houses have enclosed balconies jutting out from the upper stories, almost bridging the narrow street. This made the lanes pleasantly cool during the day and dark as pitch during the night. There are seldom any windows on the lower floors of these houses, and the only illumination came from an occasional lantern hanging over the doorway of a considerate householder.
“Didn’t you bring your electric torch?” I asked, thankful that I was wearing stout shoes instead of low slippers.
“Do you really want to see what you just stepped into?” Emerson inquired. “Hang on to me, my dear, we are almost there.”
The restaurant was near the Mosque of Huseyn opposite the eastern entrance to the Khan el Khalili. Mr. Bassam, the proprietor, rushed to embrace us and heap reproaches on our heads. All these weeks we had been in Cairo and we had not visited his place! Every night he had hoped to entertain us, every night he had prepared our favorite dishes! He began to enumerate these.
“It is as God pleases,” said Emerson, cutting him off. “We are here now, Bassam, so bring out the food. We are all hungry.”
As it turned out, this was the one night Mr. Bassam had not prepared food in advance. He had quite given us up. After all, we had been in Cairo . . .
“Anything you have, then,” Emerson said. “The sooner the better.”
First a table had to be placed for us at the very front of the restaurant, near the door. This suited me very well. It also suited Mr. Bassam, who wanted such distinguished customers to be seen. He even dusted off the chairs with a towel. I hoped it was not the same one he used to wipe the dishes, but decided I would feel happier if I did not ask.
“And what will she have?” he inquired, as Ramses put Seshat down on a chair.
“She is omnivorous,” Nefret said gravely, in English.
“Ah? Ah! Yes, I will prepare—uh—it at once.”
“Don’t tease him, Nefret,” I scolded. Seshat sat up and inspected the top of the table. Finding nothing of interest there except a few crumbs, she jumped down onto the floor.
“Put her on the lead, Ramses, and tell her she must stay on the chair,” I instructed. “I don’t want her going out on the street to eat vermin.”
“She eats mice all the time,” said Emerson, as Ramses returned the cat to her chair and began searching his pockets—a token demonstration, as I well knew, for I had forgotten to mention the lead and he would never have thought of it himself. The collar was primarily for purposes of identification; it bore our name and Seshat’s.
“They are