The Hippopotamus Pool - Elizabeth Peters [55]
Her voice was calm, her hands steady; the colour had returned to her face. There was no danger of her falling into a faint at the sight of blood. ‘You might have a look at Ramses,’ I said.
Ramses sprang to his feet and backed away, clutching the torn remnants of his robe around him. ‘I do not require to be looked at,’ he said, the freezing dignity of the words somewhat marred by his blood-smeared face and torn garment. ‘I am perfectly capable of looking after myself should such be necessary, which it is not, since the only damage done was to my nasal appendage.’
‘Hmmm, yes,’ said Emerson, distracted by this candid admission. ‘I must show you how to defend yourself against that particular blow, Ramses. Your nose seems particularly –’
‘Not now, Emerson, for pity’s sake,’ I interrupted. ‘Leave him be, Nefret.’
Nefret had backed Ramses into a corner. ‘I only want to help him, Aunt Amelia. He is behaving like a silly little boy. I am quite accustomed to the sight of –’
‘Leave him be, I said. Bring the lamp over here, I cannot see to thread this needle. Ramses, wash your face and then tell me what happened.’
‘I was on guard, as Father instructed,’ Ramses explained. ‘I assumed he meant me to watch out for David. He had been following us all day.’
‘What?’ I cried.
‘He attempted to, as the saying is, lose himself in the crowd. The attempt was a failure, insofar as I was concerned. I believed it possible that he had been sent to spy on us by Abd el Hamed.’ Ramses completed his ablutions – more or less – modestly adjusted his robe, and squatted by the side of the bed, Arab fashion. ‘After I had extinguished my lamp, the cat Bastet and I took up a position by the window. The night was still, the air fresh and cool; my senses were at their keenest pitch, since I had been urged to retire long before the time to which I am accustomed. And may I remark, on that subject –’
‘No, you may not,’ I said, without looking up.
‘Yes, Mother. I sat, as I said, by my window, and although my mind was occupied with philosophical subjects, on which I would elaborate if I believed I would be allowed to do so, they did not interfere in the slightest with my concentration. It was the cat Bastet who warned me of the advent of an intruder, as I had anticipated she would, since her senses are keener than those of any human. A soft growl and a stiffening of the hairs along her spine alerted me. Before long I was rewarded by seeing a head appear over the gunwale. The head was followed by a body as the individual pulled himself up onto the deck, and it was then that I recognized David, for, though I had anticipated it would be he, I am not so rash as to leap to –’
‘Ramses,’ I said.
‘Yes, Mother. David – I knew him by his outline and by the way he moved – came creeping towards the cabins. I remained motionless, for I feared that precipitate action might enable him to elude me. As I waited for him to come within grasping range I was somewhat startled to observe another head appear, and another, bulkier, form climb over the gunwale. Faced, as I believed, with two opponents, I was considering my options when the second individual leaped forwards and I saw the moonlight glitter on an object in his raised hand. I saved David’s life,’ said Ramses, without false modesty, ‘for my cry of warning enabled him to twist aside, so that the knife glanced across his back instead of entering his heart.
‘I had expected the assailant would flee when he heard my voice, but he bent over David who had fallen to the deck, and struck again. I therefore jumped out the window and grappled with the fellow.’
‘Good heavens, Ramses,’ I exclaimed. ‘That was courageous but extremely foolish.’
Ramses concluded it would be advisable to revise the statement. ‘Er – the word “grapple” is not precisely accurate, Mother. The fellow managed to land one blow – on my nose, as you see – before I – uh – I kicked him.’
‘Where?’ Nefret inquired innocently.
‘Stop teasing him, Nefret,’ I ordered. ‘It was well done, Ramses. Ordinarily I would deplore any deviation