The Seventh Scroll tes-2

by Wilbur Smith

  brown with age the flowers. Through the and the stain of the juices from

  soft folds they saw once again the gleam of gold.

  standing on either side of the coffin, Nicholas and Royan peeled back

  the linen mesh. It crackled softly and but as it came tore like tissue

  paper und their fingers, away they both involuntarily gasped with

  wonder as the as only fraction ask of Pharaoh was revealed. It death-

  man, but it was a perfect ally larger than the head of a it. Pharaoh's

  features had been pre, image in every deta ty in this extraordinary work

  of art.

  served for all eterni ed in silent wonder into the obsidian and rock

  They star crystal eyes of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh gazed back at them sadly,

  almost accusingly it was a long time before either of them could summon

  the head thecourag6 and presumption to lift it away from did so, they

  found further of the mummy. But when the

  evidence that in antiquity the body of the king and that of his general,

  Tanus, had been changed. The mummy that lay before them was obviously

  too large for the coffin that contained it. It had been partially

  unwrapped, and cramped into the interior.

  "A royal mummy would have had hundreds of charrns and amulets placed

  beneath the wrappings," Royan whispered . "This is the plainly dressed

  corpse of a nobleman and not that of the king."

  Nicholas gently lifted the inner layer of bandage away from the dead

  head and a thick coil- of braided hair was revealed.

  "The portraits of Pharaoh Mamose on the walls of the arcade show that

  his head hair was dyed with henna," Nicholas murmured. "Look at this."

  The braid was the colour of the winter grasses of the African savannah,

  gold and silver.

  "There can be no doubt now. This is the body of Tanus. The friend of

  Taita and the lover of the queen."

  "Yes," Royan agreed, her eyes soft with tears. "He is the true father of

  Lostris's son, who became in his time the Pharaoh Tamose and the

  forefather of a great line of kings.

  So this is the man whose blood runs through the history of ancient

  Egypt."

  "In his way he was as great as any Pharaoh," Nicholas said quietly.

  t was Royan who roused herself first. "The river!'

  aT

  she cried, with a razor edge to her voice. "We cannot let all this go

  again, when the river rises."

  "Neither can we hope to save all of it. There is too much. A great mass

  of treasure. Our time here has almost run out, so we must pick out the

  most beautiful and important pieces and pack them into the crates. Lord

  alo'the knows if we even have time for that."

  So they worked in a frenzy in the short time that was left to them. They

  could not even think about saving the eapons, the statues and the

  murals, the furniture and the banqueting. utensils and the wardrobes of

  costumes. The great golden chariot must stand where it had stood for

  four thousand years, They removed the golden death'mask from over

  Tanus's head, but they left his mummy in the innermost of the golden

  coffins. Then Nicholas sent for Mai Metemma. The old abbot came with

  twenty of his monks to receive the lie of the ancient saint that he had

  been promised holy re as his reward. Reverentially, chanting deep and

  slow, they bore Tanus's coffin away to its new resting place in the

  maqdas of the monastery. ect,"

  "At least the old hero will be treated with resP Royan said softly. Then

  she looked around the tomb. "We cannot leave the site like this, with

  the coffins thrown Royan protested. "it looks as about and the lids

  discarded, though grave-robbers have been at work here."

  "Grave-robbers is exactly what we are." Nicholas smiled at her.

  tly, "and we

  "No, we are archaeologists," she denied ho must try to act like it." ing

  coffins one within So they replaced the six remain the other, laid them

  back in the great sarcophagus, and finally replaced the massive stone

  lid. Only then did Royan allow them to begin selecting and packing the

  treasures they would take with them.

  The death'mask was without any doubt the premier item in the entire

  tomb. it fitted neatly into one of the the wooden ushabd of Taita laid

  alongside it, crates, with until it was firmly secured, Royan packed

  with Styrofoarn waterproof wax crayon: "Mask & scribbled on the lid in

  Taita Ushabti'.

  Their final selection was, perforce, hurried and superof the cedarwood

  official. They could not rip open every one chests that were piled high

  in the alcoves of the arcade.

  The painted and gilded chests themselves were priceless artefacts, and

  should be treated with respect. So they allowed themselves to be guided

  by the illustrations on the lid of each. They discovered immediately

  that these were indeed an accurate inventory and catalogue of the

  contents. In the chest which showed Pharaoh decked in the blue war

  crown, they found the actual crown laid on gilded leather pillows that

  had been moulded to fit it exactly and to protect it.

  Even in the short time left to them they became almost surfeited by the

  magnificence of the items they uncovered as they selected and opened the

  cedarwood chests. Not only the blue crown, but the red and white crown

  of the kingdoms united was there, and the splendid Nemes crown, all

  three in such a miraculous state of preservation that they might have

  been lifted from Pharaoh's brow that morning.

  From the very outset it had to be a prerequisite that any artefact must

  be small enough to fit into one of the ammunition crates. If it were too

  large, no matter what its value or historical significance, then it had

  to be rejected and left in the tomb. Fortunately, many of the cedarwood

  chests containing the royal jewellery fitted snugly into the metal

  crates, so that not only the contents but also the chests themselves

  could be saved. However, the larger items, the crowns and the huge

  jewelled gold pectoral medallions, had to be repacked.

  As the ammunition crates were filled, they carried them down and stacked

  them on the landing outside the sealed doorway, ready to be carried out.

  Including the.

  crates that contained the eight statuettes of the gods from the long

  gallery, they had packed and catalogued forty-eight crates when they

  heard Sapper's unmistakable accents floating up the staircase.

  "Major, where the hell are yOU7 YOU can't bugger about hairy arse out

  in here any longer. Come on, man! Get you of here. The river is in full

  spate, and the dam is going to burst at any minute."

  Sapper came bounding up the staircase, but even he stopped in wonder and

  awe as he looked for the first time pon the splendours of the funeral

  arcade of Pharaoh Mamose. It took some minutes for him to recover from

  the shock and to revert to his old prosaic self again.

  "I mean it, major! It's a matter of minutes, not hours.

  That ruddy dam is going to go. Apart from that, Mek is fighting in the

  hills at the head of the chasm. You can hear the gunfire even at the

  bottom of the cliff in Taita's pool.

  4 Al You and Royan have to ge
t out and fast, I kid you nod'

  "Okay, Sapper. We are on our way. Get back to the chamber at the bottom

  of those stairs. You saw those ammunition crates down there?" Sapper

  nodded, and Nicholas went on quickly, "Have the men lug those crates out

  of here. Get them down to the monastery. I want you to supervise that

  part of it. We will follow you down the trail with the rest of them."

  "Don't mess around, major. Your life isn't worth a pile of old junk like

  this. Get moving now."

  "Get on with it, Sapper. But don't let Royan hear you call it a pile of

  old junk. You could be in really serious trouble."

  Sapper shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn. you." He turned and started

  back down the staircase.

  "You know where the boats are stashed, Nicholas shouted after him. "If

  you get there before me, get them inflated and the crates lashed down.

  We will be right behind you."

  The moment Sapper was gone, Nicholas raced back

  down the arcade to where Royan was still at work in the treasury.

  "That's it!" he shouted at her. "No more time. Let's get out."

  "Nicky, we can't leave this-'

  "Oud' He grabbed her arm. "We are getting out now.

  Unless you want to share Tanus's tomb with him on a permanent basis."

  "Can't I just-'

  "No, you crazy woman! Now! The dam will go at any moment."

  She'broke away from him, snatched up some handfuls of left-over

  jewellery from the open chest at her feet, and began stuffing them into

  her pockets.

  "I can't leave these."

  He seized her around the waist and swung her over his shoulder. "I told

  you I meant it," he said grimly, and ran with her down the arcade.

  "Nicky! Put me down." She kicked with outrage, but he continued running

  down into the chamber at the foot of the staircase.

  Hansith and his men were carrying the last few packed ammunition crates

  up the staircase on the far side of the chamber. They balanced the

  crates easily on their heads and went up the steps with alacrity.

  Here Nicholas set Royan down on her own feet again, "Will you promise to

  behave now? We aren't playing games.

  This is deadly serious - I mean deadly, if we get trapped down here."

  "I know." She looked contrite. "I just couldn't bear to leave the rest

  of it."

  "Enough of that. Let's go." Nicholas grabbed her hand and dragged her

  after him. After the first few steps she shook her hand free and started

  to run in earnest, outstripping him and reaching the top of the

  staircase a few paces ahead of him.

  Even under their burdens the porters were making good time. Caught up in

  the long hurrying column, Nicholas and Royan wound their way back

  through the maze, grateful for the signposts at each corner, and made it

  down the central staircase into the ruined long gallery without taking a

  wrong turning. Sapper was waiting for them at the ruins of the sealed

  doorway, and grunted with he porters.

  relief when he saw them amongst I thought I told you to go on ahead and

  get the boats ready,'Nicholas shouted at him.

  "Couldn't trust you not to be bloody stupid." Sapper looked miserable.

  "Wanted to make sure you didn't hang about in there."

  "I am touched, Sapper."Nicholas punched his shoulder, and then they ran

  down the approach tunnel and clattered over the bridge across the

  sink-hole.

  "Where is MeV Nicholas panted at Sapper's back as he jogged in front of

  him. "Have you seen Tessayr

  "Tessay is back. She had a nasty experience. She was in a terrible mess.

  Seems she got badly knocked about."

  "What has happened to her?" Nicholas was appalled.

  "Where is she?"

  "It looks like she fell into the hands of von Schiller's gorillas and

  they beat the hell out of her. Mek's men are taking her down to the

  monastery. She will wait for us at the boats."

  "Thank God for that," Nicholas muttered, and then louder, "What about

  MeV

  "He is trying to hold off Nogo's attack. I have been hearing rifle fire

  and grenades and mortar shells all morning. He too is going to fall back

  and wait for us at the boats."

  They ran the last few yards down the tunnel ankle, deep in slush and

  water, and at last crawled over the wall of the coffer dam on to the

  rocky ledge around Taita's pool. Nicholas looked up to see Hansith's

  porters scrambling up the bamboo scaffolding ladder towards the top of

  the cliff, each of them hauling up one of the ammunition crates.

  At that moment he caught a sound that he recognized instantly. He cocked

  his head to listen and then told Royan grimly, "Gunfire! Mek is fighting

  it out, but it's pretty darned close."

  "My bag!" Royan started towards her thatched shelter at the foot of the

  cliff. "I must get my kit., "You won't need your make-up or your

  pyjamas, and I've got your passport." He seized her arm and turned her

  back towards the foot of the ladder. "In fact the only thing you need

  now is plenty of space between you and Colonel Nogo. Come along, Royan!'

  They swarmed up the bamboo scaffolding and when they reached the cliff

  top Royan was surprised to discover that, although the earth was wet

  underfoot from the recent rain squalls, the sun was high and hot. She

  had lost all sense of time in the cold, gloomy passages of the tomb, and

  now she held up her face to the sunlight and drank it in gratefully for

  a moment while Nicholas checked the porters and made certain that they

  were all out of the chasm.

  Sapper set off at the head of the column along the trail through the

  thorn forest, with the file of porters strung out behind him. Nicholas

  and Royan waited until all the men were on the pathway before they

  themselves brought up the rear of the column. The sound of the fighting

  was frighteningly close now. It seemed to be almost at the brink of the

  chasm close behind them, less than half a mile away.

  The crackle of automatic fire gave a spring and a lift to the feet of

  the porters, and the entire party raced back through the forest to reach

  the main trail down to the monastery before they were cut off by Nogo's

  advance.

  Before they reached the junction of the paths, they ran into a party of

  stretcher-bearers carrying a litter. They too were headed down towards

  the monastery. Nicholas thought the person they were carrying was one of

  the wounded guerrillas of Mek's force. But even when he caught up with

  them it took a moment for him to recognize Tessay's swollen and burned

  face.

  "Tessay!" He stooped over her. "Who did this to you?" She looked up at

  him with the huge dark eyes of a wounded child, and told him in halting,

  broken words.

  "Helm!" Nicholas blurted. "I' love to get my hands on that bastard." At

  that moment Royan caught up with them, and she let out a small cry of

  horror as she saw Tessay's face. Then immediately she took charge of

  her.

  tcher'bearers Nicholas spoke quickly to one of the stre from he

  recognized.

  wh

  "Mezra, what is happening out there?"

  "Nogo moved a force in from the east of the gorge
.

  They outflanked us, and we are pulling out, This is not our kind of

  fighting."

  "I know," Nicholas remarked grimly. "Guerrillas must

  "Where is Mek Nimmur?" keep moving.

  "He is retreating down the eastern bank of the chasm." As Mezra replied,

  they heard a renewed outburst of firing behind them. "That is him!"

  Mezra nodded. "Nogo is pushing him hard."

  "What are your orders?"

  "To take Lady Sun to the boats and wait for Mek Nimmur there."

  "Good! Nicholas told him. "We will go with you."

  he jet Ranger was flying low, hugging the contours Of the land, never

  cresting the high ground. Helm knew that Mek Nimmur's shufta were armed

  with RPGs, rocket-launchers. In the hands of a trained man, these were

  deadly weapons against a slow-flying, unarmoured aircraft such as the

  jet Ranger.

  The pilot's defence was to use the terrain as cover, weaving and

  twisting up the valleys so as to deny the racketeers a clear shot.

  Although the rain clouds were slumping down the into the Abbay gorge,

  the helicopter was escarpmen keeping well below them. However, the

  sudden squalls of wind rocked the machine dangerously and splatterings;

  of heavy raindrops rattled against the windshield. The pilot sat forward

  in the seat, leaning against his shoulder-straps as he concentrated on

  this dangerous low flying in these unpleasant conditions. Helm sat in

  the right'hand seat, beside the pilot. Von Schiller and Nahoot Guddabi

  were together in the rear passenger seat, both of them craning nervously

  to peer out of the side windows as the heavily wooded slopes of the

  valley streamed past, seemingly close enough to touch.

  Every few minutes the radio crackled into life, and they could hear the

  terse transmissions of Nogo's men on the ground calling for mortar

  support or reporting objectives attained. The pilot translated the radio

  gabble for them, twisting round in his seat to tell von Schiller, "There

  is a sharp fire-fight going on along the top of the chasm, but the

  shufta are on the run. Nogo is handling his force well. They have just

  dislodged a strong force from the hillside to the east of us," he

  pointed out of the left hand port, "and they are hammering the shufta

  with mortars as they run."

  "Have they reached the spot in the chasm where Quenton-Harper was

  working?"

  "It isn't clear. All a bit confused." The pilot listened to the next