The Golden One - Elizabeth Peters [174]
“Your pardon, Sitt Hakim,” he said, starting.
I repeated the suggestion. He nodded obediently, and got Esin to go with him by requesting the details of her daring escape from her father’s house. “Such courage,” I heard him say, as they left the room. “Such cleverness!”
Sethos turned from the cabinet, the bottle in one hand and the corkscrew in the other. “Report,” he said curtly.
“The town’s quiet,” Sir Edward said. “Less damage than I had expected. The house is guarded by several soldiers and they’re scouring the countryside looking for you people. According to the worthy citizens of Khan Yunus, you simply vanished into thin air, like the djinn you are reputed to be. The military hasn’t accepted that, though.” He took the glass Sethos handed him and went on, “They haven’t made up their minds whether you were abducted by force or went off on your own, for purposes of your own. Either way, they want you.”
Ramses took the bottle from Sethos, who had neglected the rest of us in his concern for his aide, and poured wine for Nefret and me.
“What about Gaza?” Sethos asked.
“The place is shut up tighter than a prison.” Sir Edward sipped his wine appreciatively. “I made contact with one of our lads—Hassan. He’d just got back from an attempt to enter the city by his usual route, but what he saw made him veer off. They’re stopping everyone.”
“Shutting the barn door after the horse is stolen,” I said with a smile.
“Ha,” said Emerson, motioning Ramses to fill his glass. “Any news of Sahin Pasha?”
Sir Edward shook his head, and Sethos said, “It will take them a while to decide how to deal with him. The most sensible course of action would be to execute him and announce he’d been assassinated by the vile British.”
“That was your plan, then,” I said. “To make him appear guilty of treason.”
“I didn’t have a plan when I started out,” Sethos said snappishly. “My orders were to remove him—pleasant little euphemism, isn’t it? One learns to take advantage of unexpected events. We were damned lucky. All of us.”
“It took more than luck,” Ramses said grudgingly. His uncle gave him a mocking bow.
“Selim can’t keep the girl away for long,” I said. “And I certainly don’t want her to know her father may be under arrest and facing death. We must decide what we are going to do with her.”
“Quite right, Amelia,” said my brother-in-law. “You’ll have to take her back to Cairo, and the sooner, the better. The sooner you are all back in Cairo, the better.”
“What about you?” I asked. “And Sir Edward?”
“Don’t concern yourself about us. As soon as it’s light I want you all to return to Khan Yunus. That will stop them searching the whole damned neighborhood and finding this place, which wouldn’t be convenient for me. Make your preparations to leave Khan Yunus and get the hell away. You’ll have to come up with some story to explain the girl. The military mustn’t know who she is, or take her from you.”
“As if I would leave a girl of eighteen with a troop of soldiers,” I said with a sniff. “What do we do with her when we reach Cairo?”
“Take her to an address I will give you.” He glanced at Ramses. “Memorize it; don’t write it down.”
“That’s it, then,” said Emerson, hearing Selim and Esin returning. “You have nothing more to tell us?”
Sethos made sure we had no chance to ask for more. After a scratch meal he went off with Sir Edward, instructing us to get our gear together and be ready for an early departure. We did not see him again until morning.
It was still dark when we gathered in the courtyard, with only the light of our torches to guide our steps. The horses were waiting.
“Good-bye,” said Sethos. “A safe journey.”
He shook Emerson’s hand and mine. “When will we see you again?” I asked.
“When you least expect me, Amelia dear. That’s my trademark.” He smiled at me. “You’ll hear from me soon, I promise. Good-bye, Nefret. Try and keep Ramses out of mischief.