The Hippopotamus Pool - Elizabeth Peters [64]
‘Quite right, too,’ Emerson remarked, watching me replace the bottle of laudanum on the table. ‘Er – Peabody –’
‘Take the bottle, by all means, Emerson.’
‘I would rather you did it, Peabody. Just don’t overdo it, eh? We want to ensure Miss Marmaduke will sleep well tonight, not be in a stupor for several days. And, Ramses . . .’
‘Yes, Father?’
‘Dismiss the idea at once. I strictly forbid it.’
‘But Father, if Nefret is awake when we leave, she will insist on accompanying us tonight! You surely do not mean to allow a female . . .’ He stopped with a gulp and an apprehensive look at me. ‘A young female, a girl, in fact –’
‘That decision is your mother’s,’ said Emerson. ‘But I believe I know what she will say.’
‘Quite, Emerson. Young she may be, and female, but despite those frightful handicaps she has demonstrated her ability to take care of herself – and others.’ It was a low blow; Ramses did not like to be reminded of the time Nefret had rescued him from danger, but I felt he needed to be put in his place. Ignoring his reproachful look, I went on, ‘She is one of us.’
‘All for one and one for all,’ Emerson agreed cheerfully. ‘You may as well give it up, Ramses, I have been trying for years to keep your mother out of these affairs and I have never once succeeded. Nefret is of the same breed, I believe. So, Peabody, you will make sure Miss Marmaduke sleeps soundly tonight?’
‘If you believe it to be necessary. She customarily retires early.’
‘I want to be certain she goes early to her bed and stays in it.’ Emerson fingered the cleft in his chin. ‘She may be as silly and harmless as she appears, but the fact remains that it was she who approached us instead of the other way round. Not that we had reason to suspect anything at the time.’
‘No; but the situation has changed and I agreed we should take no chances. When do you want to leave?’
‘As soon after nightfall as is possible. They will do the same; they have a long night’s work ahead of them.’
I finished sponging David off and covered him with a light sheet. ‘You really think that the thieves will return to the tomb tonight?’
‘If they do not, we have lost nothing,’ Emerson replied. ‘But there is a good chance they will believe my claim that I know the location and they will want to remove as much as they can before we get to work. We have been bustling busily back and forth, Peabody, threatening people and stirring things up; I might have learned the truth from any one of a number of sources.’
‘It was a most ingenious idea, Father,’ Ramses said in his most patronizing manner. ‘Mother, if you have other things to do I will sit with David for a while.’
I thanked him. But I took the bottle of laudanum with me.
Since time was of the essence I did not wait to put the laudanum in Miss Marmaduke’s coffee, as I had originally intended. I selected a rich burgundy to accompany the meal; the sticky black liquid dissolved quite well and the wine was dark enough to hide the colour. Miss Marmaduke was not enough of a connoisseur to know that one should never serve Burgundy with chicken, but she certainly enjoyed it. I had to support her when she rose from the table, with incoherent apologies for her extraordinary fatigue.
Our preparations had been made. Daoud and Selim were to accompany us, while Abdullah remained at the dahabeeyah on guard. He did not like being left behind, but if we ran into trouble we wanted younger, more agile men to assist us. We gathered on deck waiting for Daoud to return from his scouting expedition. Our departure must be unobserved.
‘Now is it clear?’ Emerson said softly. ‘They will come by one of two paths – over the mountain path from the direction of Deir el Bahri, or along the base of the hill from the north. Ramses, you and Nefret and Daoud will cover the northern route. Remember, you are not to interfere in any way. Keep out of sight and well behind them. Once they have entered the tomb, mark the location and come to join us. We will be –’
‘I am as familiar with the terrain