The Falcon at the Portal - Elizabeth Peters [30]
“I agree, sir,” Ramses said.
“Oh, you do, do you? May I ask why? And,” Emerson added, “I beg you will not repeat your mother’s fatuous and inaccurate assessment of that swine’s character.”
“No, sir. A man who can imitate an elderly American lady and a foppish young English nobleman would never have assumed such a clumsy disguise as this one. He would have appeared as Howard Carter or Wallis Budge—or you.”
THREE
Drawing my sword, I ran the fellow through the arm. He ran off squealing and dripping blood. The girl knelt at my feet. “Allah bless you, Effendi” she whispered, pressing her lips to my dusty boots. Gently I raised her …
We arrived at Alexandria before sunrise, but owing to the inevitable procrastination that prevails in the East, it was after luncheon before passengers and baggage were disembarked. The quay was aswarm with local merchants, all of them pushing and shoving and shouting at the top of their lungs. Even the most importunate gave way before Emerson, who strode along like a pharaoh. I will not be accused of boasting, I believe, if I say that by now we were known to most Egyptians, and those who did not know us were soon apprised of our identities by the hails of greeting: Marhaba, Sitt Hakim! Salaam aleikhum, O Father of Curses! It is Nur Misur, the Light of Egypt, who has returned! Welcome, Brother of Demons …
That, I regret to say, is my son’s Egyptian soubriquet. He was greeted thus familiarly by beggars,
cutpurses, and procurers, and he appeared to know all of them by their names.
I had raised my parasol, since the sun’s rays were strong, so I did not observe an approaching individual until a soft expletive from Ramses made me look up. Though the individual was only of medium height, the resplendent uniform of an officer of the Egyptian Army (which has been compared by unkind persons to that of a Viennese bandmaster) and his arrogant stride made him seem taller. His features, which I had once thought bore a certain resemblance to my own, were partially obscured by a particularly oversized example of a military mustache. Mustache, hair, and eyebrows had been bleached to a sickly brown, and his face was red with sunburn.
He was almost upon us before Emerson saw him. Astonishment stifled my husband’s speech for a strategic moment.
“Why, Percy,” I said. “What the devil are you doing here?”
My least favorite nephew whipped off his fez and bowed. With an engaging smile he indicated the gold braid, the epaulets, the sword, the sash, and the rows of gilded buttons. “As you see, my dear Aunt Amelia, I have joined the Egyptian Army. I hoped you would not have heard of it; I wanted to surprise you.”
The express train from Alexandria to Cairo takes over three hours, but Emerson was still swearing when it pulled into the Central Station. Percy had not detained us long; he had explained that he had been seconded to “Alex” on a special mission of great importance and that he had been unable to resist the temptation to be among the first to welcome us. He was obviously aching to be asked about the nature of his mission, so he could look mysterious and important. None of us obliged him.
“I wonder if he’s been temporarily assigned to the Alexandria police or the CID,” Ramses mused. “Russell has been ordered to stop the import of hashish and cannabis, and he will need additional personnel if he’s to have any hope of success.”
“Damn and blast!” said Emerson. Ramses’s suggestion succeeded in catching his attention, however, and he gave over general swearing for specific comment. “Hmmm. Additional manpower won’t do Russell any good, there are too many miles of coastline to cover. What he needs is an informant who is working for one of the big men like Abd el-Quadir el-Gailani, and who can give him advance warning of a delivery.”
“Obviously,” said Ramses.
His father shot him a critical look. “I strictly forbid it, Ramses. I need you on the dig.”
“I hadn’t intended—” Ramses began.
“I should hope not!” Nefret exclaimed. “Our primary aim is to find that damned forger. Let Percy