The Hippopotamus Pool - Elizabeth Peters [45]
Admiring the symmetry of his form and wondering where the devil he had lost his hat, I paid little heed to the monotonous cadences of Ramses’ voice. He was riding beside Nefret. They appeared to be back on friendly terms, probably because Nefret was so anxious to learn that she was willing to put up with Ramses’ condescending lecture. I did not doubt, however, that he would pay for that condescension in due course. Women have their little methods.
The sun was high overhead by the time we stopped, and I began to wonder whether I would get any luncheon that day. I feared not. Emerson’s narrowed eyes had the intent sapphirine glitter that indicated he was hot on some archaeological trail from which it would take more than food to distract him. I persuaded him to let the others rest for a while – he would have disdained such a suggestion on his own account – and passed round the canteen of cold tea that hung from my belt.
There was little shade. The hills of Drah Abu’l Naga are not precipitous cliffs like certain other sections of the Theban mountains, but ascend more gently to a summit some five hundred feet above the plain. The rugged slopes are pockmarked with dark openings, the entrances to tombs now empty and long abandoned, many filled with rubble and drifted sand. Pale ribbons of paths wind back and forth and up and down, clearly visible against the darker buff of the rock. Emerson shaded his eyes with his hand.
‘Those columns south of here belong to the temple of King Sethos I, Nefret. We’ll have a look at it another day; there are some features of interest, but it is much later in date than the period with which we are presently concerned. And there’ – he pointed towards the place where the hill sloped down to the desert plain – ‘beyond that spur is the road to the Valley of the Kings.’
‘Shall we go there?’ Nefret asked eagerly. ‘I have never seen the royal tombs.’
‘Not today.’
I managed to suppress a sigh of relief. I was beginning to be very hungry, and a few sips of tea had not gone far to assuage my thirst.
Emerson took a wad of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. It appeared to be a rough map or plan, and we crowded round him, awaiting explanations. Instead of offering them Emerson said, ‘Hmph,’ and walked away.
We trailed after him, Abdullah towing the donkeys. After a short time Emerson stopped. ‘Hmph,’ he said again.
‘Emerson, do stop grunting and exposit,’ I exclaimed.
‘Hmph?’ Emerson stared blankly at me. He went on, as if talking to himself. ‘There is no proper map. Why the devil doesn’t someone make one?’
‘Emerson!’
‘You needn’t shout, Peabody, my hearing is excellent,’ Emerson said reproachfully. ‘I am trying to locate the spot in which Mariette found the coffin of Queen Ahhotep. Impossible, I fear, since that bloody idiot –’
‘The lady who owned the beautiful jewellery?’ Nefret asked. ‘Was it in her coffin?’
She knew it had been, she was only trying to get Emerson back on track, and I must admit she succeeded better than I might have done.
‘Quite right, my dear. You know the story, of course?’ Without waiting for her to answer he proceeded to tell it. ‘It really is one of the most curious incidents in archaeological history. Mariette, that bloody – oh, very well, Peabody; I admit the fellow deserves the credit of founding the Antiquities Department, but the fact is he was more concerned with impressing noble visitors than conducting a proper dig. He was swanking around in Cairo when his unsupervised workmen came across the coffin, with the mummy and the jewellery. Even when he was notified of the discovery he didn’t start for Luxor; he wrote a letter, the damned fool, and by the time it arrived, the local governor had got his hands on the coffin and opened it. The mummy was probably in poor condition, like others of the period, so the governor simply pitched the bones and bandages and sent the jewellery off to the Khedive in Cairo. By that time it had finally dawned on Mariette that he might be missing something; he managed to intercept the boat and rescue the jewellery.