O Jerusalem - Laurie R. King [0]
Laurie R. King
MARY RUSSELL-SHERLOCK HOLMES 05
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A 3S digital back-up edition 1.0
click for scan notes and proofing history
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Contents
EDITOR’S REMARKS
AUTHOR’S PROLOGUE
|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|
|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|23|24|25|26|27|28|
|EPILOGUE|
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Other Mystery Novels by Laurie R. King
Mary Russell Novels
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
A Monstrous Regiment of Women
A Letter of Mary
The Moor
Kate Martinelli Novels
A Grave Talent
To Play the Fool
With Child
and
A Darker Place
0 Jerusalem
A Bantam Book/June 1999
All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999 by Laurie R. King.
Book design by Laurie Jewell. Map by Jackie Aher.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address: Bantam Books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
King, Laurie R. O Jerusalem : a Mary Russell novel / by Laurie R. King.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-553-11093-4
I. Title.
PS3561.14813015 1999
813'.54—dc21 98-56124
CIP
Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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For Dorothy Nicholl,
and in memory of Donald,
with love and with gratitude
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Arabic Words and Phrases
abayya a robe worn over a long skirt or loose trousers and shirt
afreet a demon or troublesome imp
agahl a heavy ropelike wrap that holds the kuffiyah on the head
aleikum es-salaam a greeting (response to salaam aleikum)
bakshish a payment, tip, bribe, or donation
burkah a concealing woman’s garment
effendi an honorary address
fellah/fellahin peasant, countryman
firengi a foreigner, a “Frank”
Ghor the low-lying Jordan River valley
imam Muslim religious leader
insh’allah a saying: if it is God’s will
kuffiyah a loose headcloth
laban a drink of sour milk or diluted yogurt
maalesh a saying: oh, well…
muezzin the man who calls the faithful to prayer from a mosque
mukhtar headman of a village
mullah a Muslim religious leader
narghile a water pipe
saj curved sheet of steel used to cook flat bread over a fire
salaam aleikum a greeting: peace be with you
sitt Mrs, Madam
souk or suq bazaar
wadi water-cut valley, often dry but for sudden floods
wallah! an expression of surprise: by God!
ya walud an expression of greeting or to call attention
A Note About Chapter Headings
Baedeker’s guide to Palestine and Syria , 1912 edition
The Muqaddimah (Preface and Book One) of the sweeping History written by the brilliant fourteenth-century Islamic scholar Ibn Khaldûn. These quotations have been reworded slightly for the sake of brevity by the present editor.
Helen Waddell, The Desert Fathers
The Holy Qur’an
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If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its cunning.
PSALM 137:5
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EDITOR’S REMARKS
^ »
The story that follows is a chapter in the life of Mary Russell, whose hand-written manuscripts I was sent some years ago (along with a puzzling collection of other objects, most of which have their explanations within the manuscripts themselves). The present volume, however, is published out of sequence, as it describes events that took place in 1919, during the period of the story I transcribed and published as The Beekeeper’s Apprentice . The Russell/Holmes saga has now reached 1923 with The Moor; yet in the current work, O Jerusalem , Russell is still little more than the great detective’s apprentice.
There are two reasons for this break in the proper order. One is simply