The Hippopotamus Pool - Elizabeth Peters [54]
‘Don’t be a fool, Amelia,’ Emerson snarled. ‘That statement was Riccetti’s, and I don’t believe it for –’
He did not complete the sentence. The quiet of the night was rent by a piercing falsetto shriek. It was succeeded by the sounds of violent struggle, easily identifiable by me since I had become accustomed to them. It was not difficult to locate their source. We had landed as close to the dahabeeyah as Daoud could manage.
I observed that last detail as I leaped agilely out of the boat. The muddy bank was rather slippery; only the support of my trusty parasol prevented me from falling headlong. Emerson had not waited for me; he was already some distance ahead, covering the ground with great bounds. As he reached the foot of the gangplank a dark form rushed down it with such precipitation that Emerson, caught off balance, was sent sprawling.
I hesitated for a second, unable to decide whether to pursue the fugitive, assist my fallen spouse, or find out what had transpired on board. Another shrill cry from the deck decided me. Emerson regained his feet; dripping mud and cursing vehemently, he preceded me up the gangplank.
Someone had had the presence of mind to fetch a lamp. Nefret it was who held it; her hand was steady, though her face was as white as her nightdress. In its glow I beheld a scene like the conclusion of a stage melodrama. Blood spattered the deck and there were fallen bodies everywhere.
The cat Bastet sat beside one of the bodies, ears pricked and eyes glowing eerily. The body stirred and sat up.
Ramses’ nose was bleeding again. The galabeeyah he wore in lieu of a nightgown had been torn half off him, baring his thin shoulders. In his right hand he held a long knife.
I looked from my son to the unconscious form of Gertrude Marmaduke, and then to the third recumbent body. Blood blurred the features, but I recognized the ribs and the festering toe and the bruised shins.
‘Ramses!’ I cried. ‘What have you done now?’
V
The Fatal Fall of a Fellah
I BEG your pardon, Ramses,’ I said. ‘In the shock of the moment I spoke without thinking. I know, of course, that you would never be so uncivilized as to carry a knife or use it on a living creature.’
‘Your apology is noted and accepted, Mother. Though if truth were told –’
Emerson muffled him by pressing a cloth to his face. ‘Hold this in place, Ramses, it will stop the bleeding.’
I glanced sharply at Ramses. Only a dishevelled mop of curls and a pair of wide black eyes were visible over the cloth. The ‘truth’ he had been about to tell might have been a comment on my own habit of carrying a knife (a different matter altogether), or an admission of something I preferred not to hear, so I did not pursue it. Having observed that nose-bleed appeared to be the extent of his injuries, I turned my attention to the other boy, who was a far worse case.
Emerson had carried David to Ramses’ room and put him on the bed. I had been less tender of my third patient, slapping her cheeks until she recovered from her faint and then shoving her into her room and ordering her to remain there until I returned. Ramses’ cabin was uncomfortably crowded as it was, with five of us gathered round. Abdullah had arrived on the scene in time to see Emerson lift the limp, bleeding body of the boy. Though not a word had escaped his lips, he had followed us to the cabin and I had not had the heart to send him away. He had retreated to a corner where he stood like a stately statue, arms folded across his breast, face impassive.
‘How is he?’ Emerson inquired, bending over the bed.
‘He is, to employ the word in its literal sense, a bloody mess,’ I replied. ‘Malnourished, flea-bitten, bruised and dirty. His assailant’s knife inflicted two wounds. The one on his back is shallow, but this gash on his temple will require to be stitched up. I had better do it now while he is still in a swoon. Get a basin of clean water, Nefret, if you please.’
Quickly and efficiently she obeyed, emptying the bloody water into the slop jar and rinsing the basin before refilling it.