“Add?” asked David.
“Ancient Deity Digest, it is the newspaper of the ancients. I will tell you all about it one day, Dad.”
“See,” said Cairo, “I tell you they not crocodiles, they Sobeks.”
“We have to get you out of here, it is not safe for you to be here.”
“That is the understatement of understatements, Sobek,” said Alex, as he looked around the bulk of him and counted before continuing. “What are nine Sobeks doing here?”
“Would you believe me if I told you this was The Sobek Retreat Health Spar, and we are all here on holiday?” The response was four definite noes. “Not for one moment did I think that you would, but you have to admit it was worth a try. We need to get you all out of here, but you cannot tell anyone that you have seen us.”
“Hold on a minute,” said Alex. “When I asked Gadeem if you could help us locate the six sacred scuta from a single Nile crocodile, he told me that you could not, yet you are here. So, why have we been risking our lives?”
“Because Gadeem is correct, as he always is. No Sobek could help you in your quest.”
“Why?”
“If you live, you will find out soon enough.”
“Great,” said Kate, “you are starting to sound like Dr Margretti.”
“I would rather sound like Gadeem, as he is the great man behind a great pharaoh. Whatever you hear, whatever you see, you must trust him. Now, what was your plan before you came across us here?”
“To get food and water,” said Cairo.
Whilst they quickly ate and drank they explained their plan to warn Ramses. The Sobeks nodded and told them to stick with their plan, though they forcefully reiterated that they should tell nobody of seeing them. This was agreed, and very soon afterward Kate, Alex, Cairo and David were each looking at quite a different desert to the one they had left. Then, it had been nothing more than a vast expanse, devoid of everything except sand. Now, as they looked out into the distance, there was a sprawling army occupying a large area.
“They must be the armies of Ay and Merenptah, and they are setting up camp,” said Alex as he looked for points of reference. From the position of the sun, the shadow it cast, and the time of day he thought that it was, he deduced their position. “The camp appears to be directly east of Crocodilopolis, which makes perfect sense. If they are east of us, it would also make them north of any tunnel from Amarna, though it would have to be a very long tunnel, as Amarna is a quite way from here.”
“Are you having doubts about your tunnel idea?
“No, not at all, Kate, just thinking out loud,” said Alex with confidence.
“Then, could you do your thinking a little quieter, as it is causing me to worry?”
“Nothing to worry about,” confirmed Alex, “as the siting of their camp is the perfect place from which to set the trap. The tunnel has to leave from the south of Crocodilopolis and head southeast from there.”
“So,” said Kate with renewed attitude, “according to your plan all we have to do is to get a long way south of Crocodilopolis, in the scorching heat of the desert and without any cover. We must do this without any of the massed army over there seeing us, then simply stop Ramses before he and his army cross the line of the tunnel, if indeed there is any tunnel. Great plan, one of your best!”
“Back soon,” said Cairo.
“I hope your attitude has not scared him off,” said David as a light-hearted rebuke. It was clear to both Kate and Alex that he was really suffering.
“Sorry, Dad.”
“It’s not me you need to be apologising to.”
Kate struggled to find an apology for Alex, so he helped her out. “Don’t worry, David, it’s just banter between friends.” Kate half smiled at him, but Alex was happy with this, as even he could not see how they could reach Ramses in time, even if they could take the direct route. For them not be seen by the soldiers, they would have to take a very long detour.
Cairo returned with four camels, four hanks of rope and four thick woven mats. He had walked back between the camels, as he did not want any soldier watching to see him. This way it would look as though the camels were going for a wander. Camels did that sort of thing. After relieving themselves and a roll in the sand they would return to the camp. However, these camels would not.
“What use are those!” said Kate, full of attitude. She was frustrated. Anyone who took the time to get to know her, and few did, would know that as her frustration increased, so did her attitude.
Cairo looked dejected. He was about to let go of the camels before David stopped him. He spoke on with an easy-going air. “I’m curious, why the rope and mats? Are they magic carpets?”
“Yes,” said Cairo, but he said no more, as he saw the look in Kate’s eyes, and it was not friendly.
David had also noticed. “Don’t say anything, Kate. Now, Cairo, tell me of your plan.”
He started off nervously, but very soon they were all congratulating him, even Kate. He fully understood that their only chance of intercepting Ramses and the others would be if they could take the direct route. Camels with riders would be stopped, whereas wandering camels without riders were a normal occurrence. This is where the mats and ropes came in. The ropes would be used to attach a mat behind each of the four camels, who would then drag these behind them. Kate, Alex, Cairo and David would each lay as flat as possible on their chosen mat, and unless the camels went too close to the army encampment, all anybody would notice was four camels wandering in the desert. The direction the lead camel took would be the direction all the camels took. Any change in direction needed nothing more than a jerk on the appropriate rope.
Alex was pleased that Kate was so in favour of Cairo’s brilliant plan, otherwise his appropriate use of the word ‘jerk’ would have prompted an inappropriate use of said word, which none of them would have wanted to hear.
They were soon each gripping onto the front edge of their thick carpet, as the camels moved briskly in the right direction. Camels did not run, they just walked fast, Cairo had told them. He had taken the lead camel, because having grown up in a village full of working camels, he knew how to motivate them.
Sooner than any of them could have hoped for, they had left Ay and Merenptah’s soldiers well behind and were now surrounded by nothing except desert. After a few more minutes of being bounced around, a dark line appeared on the horizon.
“That must be Ramses’ army,” shouted Alex first to Kate and then to David, who were all well behind Cairo.
By way of confirmation Cairo looked back and shouted, “Ramses’ army ahead.”
Chapter 36
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Loitering Within Tent
There was no stopping Kate, once the camels had come to a halt a few metres in front of Ramses. She marched towards the great man, fists clenched, as she shouted, “My dad needs a hospital right now! I demand that he is taken back to Luxor for treatment in a modern hospital,” to which Kate just had to add “right now!” for the second time. Once, she might have got away with it, twice, there was no way.
“Firstly, young lady, it is not you who gives the orders around here.” Ramses was not to be messed about with, not today of all days. He spoke, or rather bellowed, from the back of his chariot. “Detain her, gag her, and make sure she speaks to nobody. I shall deal with her later, for her insolence.” He gave orders to the charioteers around him. With the exception of Nakhtifi they peeled off and went amongst the troops. Ramses had sent the message that they would make camp here for the night and they should prepare for battle tomorrow.
Alex had been amazed at how a simple hand gesture, from Ramses alone, had brought an entire army to an instant halt. He was now so used to Kate’s outbursts that they were to him as water was to a duck’s back, unless she resorted to physical violence, which she did all too often.
He was far more shocked at how Ramses had responded. Upon scanning up and down the rows of troops, Alex became concerned. What had initially appear
ed to be a massive army, which spread for many hundreds of metres both to his left and his right, was not. Close up, he could see that the line was in fact only a few soldiers deep. He had seen far more troops than this, when Ramses and Nakhtifi had gone to battle Merenptah in the Valley of the Bees. He went to say something, though upon seeing Ramses put a thumb under his chin and wipe his fingers across his mouth, he got the message and did not speak.
“You must all dine with Nakhtifi and me tonight. Now go with Gadeem and get cleaned up.”
“What’s going on,” Alex was going to ask, but he only got as far as “What” before Gadeem interrupted him.
“What is for dinner tonight? Of course you must be starved. Ramses has brought his favourite chef along, so you will be spoiled for choice.” Gadeem had said this in a much louder voice than he needed to, before looking back at Cairo and David. “Do keep up, you two dawdlers.”
They did not have to wait for long before Ramses’ battle tent, canvas palace as the soldiers called it, was erected. Once inside, they were amazed. This was no ordinary tent, he really had brought with him a miniature palace. It had everything, and everything it had was opulent. The boys washed and changed, whilst David was attended to by Ramses’ personal physician. The treatment caused much mirth between Alex and Cairo, as all it boiled down to was a wash, change and a large piece of raw steak being placed over his eye.
David sat up and dangled his feet from the high bed, one hand holding the steak in place. “Where do you think they have taken Kate? I’m worried about her, as Ramses seemed to be really annoyed.”
“I think he just had to stop her from talking,” said Alex, as he scanned the room to make sure she was nowhere near. “Rather him than me, as the wrath of Kate is not to be taken lightly.”
“What was that about the ‘wrath of Kate’?” asked a washed and changed Kate as she entered the tent with Gadeem.
It was a further fifteen minutes before the mobile palace was fully equipped.
Ramses entered. “Quiet,” he bellowed, as everyone went to speak at once. “Now, David, let me look at that jaw of yours.” He placed his thumb and forefinger either side of David’s jaw. Without hesitation he yanked the jaw downwards, then to his right. David screamed and dropped the steak.
Gadeem was obviously aware of what Ramses was going to do, having seen him do it many times over the centuries. He had restrained Kate whilst telling her in no uncertain terms to be quiet, because she was already in enough trouble.
After the initial shock and pain, David was now thanking Ramses. His jaw no longer clicked, and the pain was subsiding. His eye looked awful, but it was his jaw which had been painful.
A trumpet fanfare caused them to turn to face the way Ramses was looking. They watched the white, golden edged drapes being pulled apart. Nakhtifi entered, followed by two Thoths, Thoth R and the new Thoth N, who could not have looked happier. Alex felt good.
There was a further fanfare as Rose and Bast walked in.
“Right, now we are all here,” said Ramses, “shall we sit and talk of battle tomorrow? We attack at dawn.” This was all said far too loudly and in an overly theatrical way. He continued in the same vein. Nakhtifi, Gadeem, Rose and Bast each put a finger to their lips, so that everyone knew not to speak. “We have no option on a dead flat desert, except to attack them straight on. As is usual in these circumstances, I shall directly address the great leader of their army and acknowledge him as such.” Ramses went on and on, he praised the warlock, spoke of worries of his possible defeat against such a worthy opponent. He also made a big thing about pride not letting him run from battle, even if defeat was inevitable. Kate had gone to speak on two occasions, but the judicious placement of Gadeem’s hand prevented her outbursts.
There was a further fanfare, though this time it sounded quite different. It was greeted by a cheer that echoed around the camp. “Dinner is served,” said Gadeem. “Let me check that the craptors are in place.” He stuck his head through a small gap in the tent. It came back in twice as fast as it had ventured out. “What have I told your guards about not tying up craptors there? We need to be able to check who is around without getting our heads bitten off.”
“Then don’t get too close to Kate either,” thought Alex. Whilst rolling around the floor in agony, he wondered how the hell Kate had read his mind. He was soon back on his feet, though this time he made sure that he had Gadeem, Bast and Rose between him and Kate.
“Okay, less of the thumping and more of the listening Kate. You are no longer a child.”
“Yes, Dad.” Even though David had admonished her, she got a real buzz out of being able to call him ‘dad’.
“What is it with all the theatricals, Ramses?” asked Alex.
“You tell him, Gadeem, as I need to enjoy this glass of wine. Do you know it was a birth present to my father on the day that I was born? Sadly, I only have three hundred bottles left. Have you seen the colour? Isn’t that the most perfect red you have ever seen?” He swirled the contents of his glass.
Even though Kate, Alex and Cairo wondered if he had finally flipped, they could not deny that as the light caught the swirling contents, it was indeed a wonderful red.
“Never mind Ramses, he is always like this the night before a battle,” said Gadeem quite quietly, as he faced away from the great man. “Now,” he said in a more normal tone, “we must hear what you have found out. Were you able to get hold of the six sacred scuta from a single Nile crocodile?” They looked to the floor as none of them could look Gadeem in the eye. “I gather that you did not. Oh, well, then we cannot rely on magic to defeat the warlock. We shall just have to rely on Ramses’ charm.”
“That you can always rely on,” said Ramses, as Thoth refilled his glass.
“So, I shall ask you in the hope of an answer: What is it with all the theatricals, Gadeem?” asked Alex.
He beckoned for Kate, Alex, Cairo and David to come in close. He spoke to them in hushed tones whilst the others made all the noises associated with usual conversation. The adventurers told Gadeem of their concerns over a possible tunnel and an attack from behind as they advanced in the morning. Gadeem, in turn, told them about Bast intercepting a message from one of Ramses’ personal guards. It was destined for the warlock. Nobody knew who the traitorous guard was, but tonight he would have to flee their camp, so they would know soon. The theatricals were to ensure that the warlock received the message that Ramses wanted to meet him as equals, something which would play well to his ego.
“The warlock’s or Ramses’?” asked Kate.
“That was uncalled for,” said David.
“Sorry, Dad.” Kate really did not mind saying ‘sorry’ when it was followed by ‘dad’. She actually wanted to hear it said over and over again.
“Without having the magic ready, I fail to understand what we can use to defeat the warlock,” said Gadeem. “All I know is that we must try.”
Cairo started to tell of seeing the Sobeks, but Kate stopped him. Alex saw by the reaction, or, more correctly, the lack of any reaction on the face of Gadeem, that he was all too aware of their presence. Something was going on, something they were not being told of.
It was during dinner that Bast was called to step out of the palatial tent. She returned in less than a minute. “We were correct, it was Bordin.”
“Who or what is Bordin?”
“I shall tell you, Kate,” said Ramses, “he is craptor meat.”
They realised that he was the leak. “So,” said Alex, as he pushed his unfinished plate to one side, much to the pleasure of Cairo, “the warlock will now know that you only have, what is it, a third of your army here?”
“Actually, it is only a fifth of our combined armies.” Nakhtifi said this with the largest smirk on his face. “I sat with Bordin earlier whilst I explained that the rest of our armies will be arriving after dark. We chatted like we have often done. He asked me why they were arriving later. I simply told him that it was because if someone was spyi
ng on us, they would report to the warlock of our lack of numbers. He could not look me in the eye. That was when I was fairly convinced that he was working for the warlock. Now we know for certain”
“Well, I am glad to hear that the rest of your armies will be arriving soon.” Alex watched as Nakhtifi looked to Ramses, who turned to look at Gadeem, before they both ended up looking at Gadeem. “The rest of your armies are not coming, are they?”
“No, Alex, they are not.”
“Why, Gadeem, why not?”
“Do you trust me to plan for battle?” Gadeem looked Alex straight into his eyes as he asked this. He was pleased to see the nod he had wanted to see.
It was a while later as Kate was telling Ramses and Nakhtifi how wonderful it was to have a father, that Alex took Gadeem to one side. “You know that there are Sobeks here, nine of them. So, that is nine pharaohs who are involved with this. I need to know what is going on.”
“You do not, Alex,” said Bast, which made him jump, because he had been unaware that she had been standing behind him. “You already know what is going on. You have worked it out, or worked enough out to have a good idea. Whatever you do, do not confide in Kate or Cairo.”
“Why not, they can be trusted.”
“It is not about trust, and you know that, Alex. It is about giving the correct reactions to what is going on. Tomorrow we are relying on the natural reactions of Kate and Cairo if we are to pull this off.”
“What are you all whispering about over there?” called out Kate.
Calmly Bast replied: “Alex was wondering why I am called Bast, when his father and many academics call me Bastet. I have just told him that despite what he may think, I do know my own name.” Kate laughed and flicked her hand as if to say ‘stupid boy’.
Kate could not remember falling asleep and neither could the boys, but they had. Rose gently woke them one by one. David’s eye was nowhere near as swollen as the night before, though it was still a very dark mauve and remained stubbornly closed. He claimed to feel much better, and he probably did, though he was still in no fit state to go into battle. Breakfast was on the table in front of them, though there was no sign of Ramses.
Luxor Lost and Found Page 29
