The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog - Elizabeth Peters [97]
Emerson slowed his steps and allowed Cyrus to catch him up. They made an amusing contrast, Cyrus in his immaculate white linen suit and solar topi, his lean cheeks closely shaved and his goatee as precisely barbered as the artificial beards worn by Egyptian pharaohs; Emerson in creased coat and trousers, his shirt open at the neck, his boots scuffed and dusty, his uncovered black head shining in the sunlight. The cat was much better groomed.
“May I inquire whom you are hiring, and for what purpose?” Emerson inquired politely.
“Allow me to surprise you,” Cyrus replied with equal politeness.
As soon as we arrived at the site, Cyrus took his recruits aside and began lecturing them in ungrammatical but effective Arabic. It was not long before the results became apparent. Construction is quick and easy in Egypt, where the most common building material is mud, formed into sun-dried bricks or used as mortar over a foundation of reeds. The architectural techniques are equally simple, and have been employed since time immemorial. It does not require complex equipment to design a square flat-roofed house with a door and a few ventilation slits high up under the eaves. Wide windows are not an advantage in that climate; they admit heat rather than air, and allow the entrance of creatures with whom one would not care to share living quarters.
Emerson ostentatiously ignored the furious activity going on a short distance away, busying himself with a preliminary survey and plan of the area, nor did he refer to it immediately when we stopped for a spot of lunch. Accepting a plate from Bertha, who had appointed herself cook’s helper, he spoke to her for the first time that day.
“Sit down and eat. Who told you to wait on us?”
“It was her own idea,” I said, knowing full well whom he suspected of having given the order. “And I agree with her, that under the present circumstances anonymity is to be preferred to the equality of station I would otherwise insist upon.”
“Hmph,” said Emerson. Taking this for what it was—a tacit admission of the wisdom of my decision—Bertha quietly withdrew.
Cyrus watched her retreating form with narrowed eyes. I had passed on to him the information, such as it was, Bertha had given me the night before. Now he said, “I still don’t trust the darned woman. I want her watched day and night. I want her inside four walls where nobody can get at her without making a racket.”
“Ah, it is a prison you are building,” Emerson said, gesturing toward the rising walls.
“Cut it out, Emerson, I’m getting tired of your sarcasm. These darned tents aren’t my idea of a proper headquarters; canvas walls won’t keep out scorpions or sand fleas, much less thieves. If you won’t spend the nights on the dahabeeyah—”
“Wherever did you get that idea?” Emerson asked.
“From you, you stubborn, bullheaded—”
“Language, Vandergelt! There are ladies present. You must have misunderstood me.” He rose. “But go ahead and build your expedition house if you like. The rest of us have work to do. Charles—René—Abdullah—”
So we spent the next three nights on the dahabeeyah. Emerson’s experienced eye had been right again; the bricks in the hollow were the foundations of houses—one house, at least— for by the end of the third day the men had uncovered most of it and found part of a thick enclosure wall that must have surrounded the entire area.
Evening social activities were negligible; the two young men were so exhausted they kept slumping forward onto the table during dinner, and sought their beds immediately thereafter. Cyrus avoided me, explaining ingenuously that Emerson had him in such a temper he could not speak civilly even to me. Emerson locked himself in his room and Bertha was locked into hers. I was, of course, perfectly fit and ready for any interesting activity that presented itself, so for me the evenings were extremely tedious—not even an attempted burglary or armed attack to break the monotony.
I was therefore delighted when Cyrus joined me in the saloon on the third evening, looking very elegant