The Hippopotamus Pool - Elizabeth Peters [46]
‘It is a miracle it wasn’t stolen,’ Nefret exclaimed. ‘How could Mariette have been so stupid? Yet his is one of the great names of Egyptology.’
‘That sort of thing was only too common fifty years ago,’ Emerson answered. ‘Peabody would probably say one is obliged to give one’s predecessors credit for what they did accomplish, but how anyone, at any time, could have been so feeble-witted as to suppose that a group of indigent, illiterate workers could resist the temptation . . . Ah, well. The most interesting point about the queen’s coffin, and that of King Kamose, which was discovered under similar circumstances a few years earlier, is that both were found, not in proper tombs or tomb chambers, but buried under the rubble and loose scree at the base of these hills. Somewhere in this neighbourhood.’ He gestured. There was certainly no sign of any excavation; the same tumbled rock, the same bare brown slopes stretched out to right and left.
‘Thanks to Mariette’s ineptitude, we can only guess as to the exact location,’ Emerson went on. ‘The mummies and funerary equipment were still in the coffins. Why they were left here instead of being removed to a cache of royal mummies like the one at Deir el Bahri we will never know; but here they remained, safe and forgotten, for three thousand years. Until that moron Mariette –’
‘You have made your feelings about the gentleman quite clear, Emerson,’ I interrupted. ‘So you believe the original tombs must be close by?’
‘Not necessarily.’
‘Then why . . . No, don’t tell me. Should we not return to the boat and continue the discussion there?’
‘Nonsense, Peabody. It is only half past twelve.’
Further debate was halted by the approach of an individual on horseback. I was pleased, though not surprised, to recognize Howard Carter.
‘I thought it must be you passing by Deir el Bahri just now,’ he exclaimed, dismounting and shaking hands all round. ‘For I heard this morning that you had arrived. Since you did not stop, I set out to track you down.’
‘I am delighted that you did,’ I replied. ‘We were about to return to the dahabeeyah. Won’t you join us for luncheon?’
He was easily persuaded, and Nefret was even more easily persuaded to mount his horse. She had learned to ride the previous year and a pretty picture she made, her slim brown hands light on the reins and tendrils of red-gold hair curling over her temples. Howard insisted on walking alongside her, though I assured him it was unnecessary. Nefret had an uncanny rapport with animals of all species, including the human. Howard, who had only met her once before, was instantly at ease with her.
‘I took up my duties on January first,’ he explained, after I had congratulated him on his appointment. ‘But my new house is not yet ready, so M. Naville has most generously allowed me to stay at the expedition house of the Egypt Exploration Fund.’
‘Hmph,’ said Emerson, whose relations with M. Naville (like his relations with most archaeologists) were not of the most cordial. Before he could enlarge on his opinions of the gentleman I said, ‘It will be a great responsibility, Howard, and you will have a great deal to do.’
‘More than one man reasonably can, I fear,’ Howard admitted. ‘But M. Maspero was good enough to assure me that I have his full confidence and support. He has just been here, you know. What a pity you missed him by only a few days.’
‘Isn’t it,’ said Emerson.
‘The territory is enormous,’ I said. ‘And your duties include, I believe, not only conservation and protection of the monuments but excavation and supervision of other excavations.’
‘Not your excavations,’ Howard said with a smile. ‘You certainly do not require supervision from anyone, much less me. But please let me know if I can be of assistance in any way. Is it to be the Seventeenth Dynasty cemetery this season?’
The subject occupied us until we reached the Amelia, where Abdullah and Daoud left us. Emerson interrupted his lecture long enough to present Miss Marmaduke, who was waiting in the saloon. She had finished sorting Emerson’s papers and asked what she