The Curse of the Pharaohs - Elizabeth Peters [43]
Karl let out a grunt. Lady Baskerville’s face turned muddy gray. But Milverton’s reaction was the most dramatic. With a queer soft sigh he folded at the knees and fell to the ground in a dead faint.
III
“It means nothing,” I said, some time later, as Emerson and I again prepared to retire. “I told you the young man was not fully recovered; the shock and excitement were too much for him.”
Emerson was standing on a chair trying to get the mosquito netting back in place. He had irritably refused my suggestion that I call one of the servants to do the job.
“I am surprised at you, Amelia,” he grunted. “I made sure you would take that faint as a sign of guilt.”
“Don’t be absurd. Armadale is the murderer; I have insisted on that all along. Now we know he is still alive, and in the area.”
“We know nothing of the kind. Hassan is perfectly capable of imagining the spirits of Ramses One through Twelve, simultaneously. Forget it and come to bed.”
He descended from the chair. To my astonishment I saw that he had the netting in place. Emerson is constantly displaying talents I never knew he had. So I did as he suggested.
CHAPTER
Six
DESPITE our disturbed night we were awake before daylight. It was a glorious morning. To breathe the air was like drinking chilled white wine. When the sun lifted in majesty over the horizon the western cliffs blushed rosy red in welcome. Larks rose singing to greet the dawn, and all objects shone with a luster that made them appear newly washed—a most deceptive appearance, I might add, since cleanliness is not a conspicuous characteristic of the inhabitants of Upper Egypt or their belongings.
By sunrise we were riding across the plain, through fields of waving barley and ripening vegetables. It was necessary to carry a certain amount of gear with us, so we took this route rather than the shorter, more difficult path over the cliffs. Following us in a ragged but cheerful procession were our loyal men from Aziyeh. I felt quite like a general of a small army; when my rising spirits demanded an outlet I turned in my saddle and raised my arm with a shout of “Huzzah!” to which our troop responded with a cheer and Emerson with a snarl of “Don’t make an ass of yourself, Amelia.”
Abdullah marched at the head of his men, his vigorous stride and keen brown face belying his years. We encountered the usual morning crowd—women in long brown gulabeeyahs carrying naked children, donkeys almost hidden under their loads of brushwood, haughty camels and their drivers, peasants with rakes and hoes setting out for the fields. Abdullah, who has a fine voice, struck up a song. The men joined in the chorus, and I heard a note of defiance in the way they sang. The watchers muttered and nudged one another. Though no one offered a hostile gesture, I was glad when we left the cultivated land and entered the narrow opening in the cliffs. The towering rocks that guard the entrance had been shaped by wind and water into weird suggestions of watchful statues, though the very idea of water in that now desolate place seems fantastic. The pale limestone walls and chalky ground are as lifeless as the icy wastes of the north.
As we entered the Valley proper we saw that a large crowd had assembled near our tomb. My eye was caught by one man, conspicuous by his unusual height and heavy farageeyeh, the outer robe worn chiefly by men of the learned professions. His arms folded, his wiry black beard jutting out, he stood alone; the others, jostling and shoving one another, had left a respectful space around him. His green turban proclaimed him a descendant of the Prophet; his stern face and fixed, deep-set eyes gave the impression of a forceful and commanding personality.
“That is the local holy man,” Karl said. “I feel I must warn you, Professor, that he has been hostile to—”
“Unnecessary,” Emerson replied. “Be silent and keep out of the way.”
Dismounting, he turned to face the imam. For a moment the two confronted one another in silence. I confess I had seldom seen two more impressive men. They seemed to transcend