The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog - Elizabeth Peters [156]
How could I sleep? My brain teemed with confusion. I had managed to hobble to the dressing table, not because the contemplation of my own features gave me any pleasure, but because I cogitate more efficiently when in an upright position.
As Cyrus carried me to my room I had taken the opportunity of questioning him about the conversation I had overheard— or, to be more precise, overseen. “I was just trying to talk some sense into him, my dear,” was the reply. “He was heading back to the desert when we caught up with him; wanted to have another look at the body of the dog, he said. Don’t worry, he’s thought better of it.”
Would it were so! But I had my doubts. I had never been able to talk sense into Emerson so easily.
Additional food for thought had been provided by the letters I found waiting. Cyrus’s messenger, hearing of our imminent return from the wadi, had delivered them to my room. I postponed the pleasure of reading Ramses’s latest epistle until after I had read the others, for I had no reason to suppose it would ease my mind.
A brief note from Howard Carter in Luxor informed me that the town was swarming with journalists who pursued him and our other friends demanding interviews. “I was in the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak yesterday,” he wrote, “when a head popped out from behind one of the columns and a voice shouted, ‘Is it true, Mr. Carter, that Mrs. Emerson broke two of her umbrellas during the rescue of her husband?’ I shouted back a denial, of course, but prepare yourself, Mrs. E., for the worst excesses of journalistic fiction. I expect, however, you are accustomed to that.”
Messages from friends in Cairo reported equally infuriating assaults and even more insulting rumors. The letter from Sir Evelyn Baring’s secretary—to which he had added a solicitous (and obviously bewildered) note in his own hand—held more comfort. It had been impossible to locate in such a short time all the individuals on the list I had sent, but investigations were proceeding, and as I studied the annotations that had been made I began to wonder if my theory might not be in error after all. Those former enemies of ours who had been incarcerated were still in their cells. Ahmet the Louse had turned up in the Thames some months earlier. I was not surprised; a user of and dealer in opium does not have a long life expectancy. That left … I counted … six. There was no guarantee that all six of them were not on our trail, but the reduction of the numbers gave me an illogical sense of encouragement.
It could not be put off any longer. With a sigh, I opened Ramses’s letter.
Dearest Mama and Papa, I have come to the conclusion that my talents lie in the intellectual rather than the physical sphere, for the present at least. It is some consolation to realize that my physical inadequacies will improve to some extent through the natural process of time—or to put it in more colloquial terms, when I grow up. I dare not hope I will ever attain the degree of strength and ferocity that distinguishes Papa; however, what natural talents I possess can be increased by constant exercise and the practice of particular skills. I have already begun this regimen and intend to continue it.
An icy chill seized my limbs. I was unable to cherish any delusions concerning the kind of skills Ramses had in mind. Most of them involved the propulsion of sharp or explosive missiles. It was probably just as well that there was no whiskey in the room and that my foot was too sore to enable me to go as far as the saloon. Like Cyrus, I was beginning to understand how an individual can be driven to drink.
I forced myself to go on reading, wondering when, if ever, Ramses would get to the point.
I must confess, since honesty is a virtue Mama has always attempted to instill in me (though there are times when I suspect it does more harm than good), that I was not the sole originator of the scheme which will, I hope, offer a solution to our present difficulties. The inspiration came from an unexpected source. I have encountered several