Amelia Peabody Omnibus 1-4 (99 page)

We returned to the sitting room. The cat Bastet was sitting on top of Emerson’s papers. Emerson absently lifted her up whenever he added a finished sheet to the pile. The lion cub was chewing on Emerson’s bootlace. As I entered, the front door opened and Ramses appeared. He had got into the habit of spending the evening with Abdullah and the other men from Aziyeh, in order to practise his Arabic, as he claimed. I had reservations about this, but felt sure Abdullah would prevent the men from adding too extensively to Ramses’ collection of colloquialisms. I was pleased that he got on well with them. Abdullah
said
they enjoyed his company. I suppose he could hardly say anything else.

‘Time for bed, Ramses,’ I said.

‘Yes, Mama.’ He unwound the cub’s leash from the legs of the table and those of his father. ‘I will walk de lion and den retire.’

‘You don’t believe you can train that creature as you would a dog, do you?’ I asked, in mingled amusement and exasperation.

‘De experiment has never been tried, to my knowledge, Mama. I consider it wort’ a try.’

‘Oh, very well. Put the lion in its cage before you get into bed. Make sure the shutter is tightly fastened – ’

‘Yes, Mama. Mama?’

‘What is it, Ramses?’

He stood holding the leash, his grave dark eyes fixed on my face. ‘I would like to say, Mama, dat I am fully cognisant of your support and forbearance regarding de lion. I will endeavour to discover some way of proving my gratitude.’

‘Please don’t,’ I exclaimed. ‘I appreciate your remarks, Ramses, but you can best express your gratitude by being a good little boy and obeying your mama’s orders.’

‘Yes, Mama. Good night, Mama. Good night, John. Good night, de cat Bastet. Good night, Papa.’

‘Good night, my dearest boy,’ Emerson replied. ‘Sleep well.’

After Ramses had gone and John had carried the tray of pottery shards to the storeroom, Emerson put down his pen and looked reproachfully at me. ‘Amelia, that was a very manly and loving apology you received from Ramses.’

‘It did not sound like an apology to me,’ I replied. ‘And when Ramses offers to do something for me, my blood runs cold in anticipation.’

Emerson threw down his pen. ‘Curse it, Amelia, I don’t understand you. Heaven knows you are an excellent mother – ’

‘I try to be, Emerson.’

‘You are, my dear, you are. Ramses does you credit. But can’t you be more – more – ’

‘More what, Emerson?’

‘More affectionate? You are always snapping at the boy.’

‘I am not a demonstrative person, Emerson.’

‘I have reason to know better,’ said Emerson, giving me a meaningful look.

‘That is a different matter altogether. Naturally I am fond of Ramses, but I will never be one of those doting mamas who allow maternal affection to blind them to the flaws of character and behaviour demonstrated by a child.’

John returned at this point in the discussion. ‘Madam,’ he exclaimed, ‘there is a great ’uge mummy case in the courtyard. What shall I do with it?’

‘It must be the baroness’s mummy case,’ I said. ‘I suppose M. de Morgan’s men simply dropped it and left. How vexatious! What shall we do with it, Emerson?’

‘Throw the cursed thing out,’ Emerson replied, returning to his writing.

‘We will put it with the others,’ I said. ‘Come along, John, I will unlock the storeroom.’

The moon had not yet risen, but the varnished surface of the mummy case glimmered darkly in the brilliant starlight. I unlocked the door and John hoisted the coffin into his arms, as effortlessly as if it had been an empty paper shell. I was reminded of that Italian mountebank Belzoni, a former circus strongman who had turned to archaeology. He had been one of the first to excavate in Egypt, but his methods could hardly be called scientific, for among other sins he had employed gunpowder to blast his way into closed pyramids.

The storeroom was full of coffins and we had to shift several of them to find a place for the newcomer. It would have been more practical, perhaps, to open another room, but I always like to keep objects of the same type together. When the thing had been stowed away, John said, ‘Would you be wanting me to go to spy on Brother ’amid now, madam?’

I gave him the disguise I had procured for him. Abdullah’s spare robe barely reached his shins, and the boots showing under the hem of the garment looked rather peculiar. John offered to remove them, but I decided against it. His feet were not hardened like those of the Egyptians, and if he trod on something sharp and painful he might let out a cry that would alert Hamid to his presence. I wound the turban around his head and then stood back to study the effect.

It was not convincing. However, we had done the best we could. I sent John on his way and returned to Emerson. He was curious as to why John had retired so early, but I was able to distract him without difficulty.

It seemed as if I had slept for only a few hours (which was in fact the case) when I was awakened by a furious pounding at the door. For once I was not impeded by a mosquito netting. At that season, in the desert, the noxious insects do not present a problem. Springing from the bed, I seized my parasol and assumed a posture of defence. Then I recognised the voice that was calling my name.

Emerson was swearing and flailing around in the bed when I flung the door open. The first streaks of dawn warmed the sky, but the courtyard was still deep in shadow. Yet there was no mistaking the large form that confronted me. Even if I had not recognised John’s voice, I would have recognised his shape. That shape was, however, oddly distorted, and after a moment I realised that he held a smaller, slighter body closely clasped in his arms.

‘Who the devil have you got there?’ I asked, forgetting my usual adherence to proper language in my surprise.

‘Sister Charity, madam,’ said John.

‘Will you please ask him to let me down, ma’am?’ the girl asked faintly. ‘I am not injured, but Brother John insists – ’

‘Don’t move, either of you,’ I interrupted. ‘This is a most unprecedented situation, and before I can assess it properly I must have light.’ A vehement curse from the direction of the nuptial couch reminded me of something I had momentarily overlooked and I added quickly, ‘Emerson, pray remain recumbent and wrapped in the blanket. There is a lady present.’

‘Curse it, curse it, curse it,’ Emerson cried passionately. ‘Amelia – ’

‘Yes, my dear, I have the matter well in hand,’ I replied soothingly. ‘Just a moment till I light the lamp… There. Now we will see what is going on.’

First I made certain Emerson was not in a state that would cause embarrassment to him or to anyone else. Only his head protruded from the sheet he had wrapped around himself. The expression on his face did his handsome features no justice.

John’s turban had come unwound and hung down his back. His once snowy robe was ripped half off, the tattered remnants were blackened by what I first took to be dried blood. A closer examination proved that the stains were those of smoke and charring. His face was equally smudged, but the broad smile on his lips and the steady beam of his blue eyes assured me he had taken no hurt.

The girl was also dishevelled but unmarked by fire. Her mousy brown hair tumbled over her shoulders and her face was flushed with excitement and embarrassment as she struggled to free herself from the brawny arms that clasped her. Her feet were bare. She wore a garment of voluminous cut and dismal colour, dark blue or black, that covered her from the base of her throat to her ankles. It had long tight sleeves. A nightcap dangled from her neck by its strings.

‘Please, ma’am, tell him to put me down,’ she gasped.

‘All in due time,’ I assured her. ‘Now, John, you may tell me what has happened.’

‘There was a fire, madam.’

‘I deduced as much, John. Where was the fire?’

It is expedient to summarize John’s statement, which had to be extracted from him sentence by sentence. He had been hiding among the palms near the chapel when he had seen a tongue of flame rise from behind that edifice. His cries had aroused the men, and with their assistance he had succeeded in quenching the conflagration before it did much damage. No help had come from the village; indeed the place had remained suspiciously dark and silent, though the shouts of the missionaries must have been heard. A search of the area revealed no sign of the arsonist. The fire had been deliberately set, getting its start in a pile of dry branches and palm fronds heaped against the foundation of the little church. Once the flames were extinguished, John had seized the girl and carried her off.

‘What the devil for?’ cried Emerson, from the bed.

‘To bring her to Mrs Emerson, of course,’ John replied, his eyes widening.

Emerson subsided with a curse. ‘Of course. Everyone brings everything to Mrs Emerson. Lions, mummy cases, miscellaneous young ladies – ’

‘And quite right, too,’ I said. ‘Pay no attention to Professor Emerson, my dear Miss Charity. He would welcome you with the kindness that is his most conspicuous characteristic were he not a trifle out of sorts because – ’

‘I beg you will not explain, Amelia,’ said my husband in tones of freezing disapproval. ‘Er – hem. I am not objecting to the presence of Miss Charity, but to the invasion that will inevitably follow. Would it be too much to ask, Amelia, that the young person be removed so that I may assume my trousers? A man is at a decided disadvantage when he receives irate brothers and indignant lovers wrapped in a sheet.’

My dear Emerson was himself again, and I was happy to accede to this reasonable request. ‘Certainly, my dear,’ I replied. ‘John, take the young lady to your room.’

The girl shrieked and resumed her struggles. ‘It is the only room fit for habitation that is presently available,’ I explained, somewhat irritated at this excessive display of sensibility. ‘Wait a moment until I find my slippers and I will accompany you. Curse it, where are they?’

‘Madam!’ John exclaimed.

‘You will excuse my language,’ I said, kneeling to look under the bed. ‘Ah, here they are. Just as I suspected – Ramses has let the lion in the room, after I strictly forbade it.’

‘Lion?’ Charity gasped. ‘Did you say …’

‘You see how they are chewed. I told that child … Dear me, I believe the girl has fainted. Just as well. Take her along, John, I will follow.’

The ensuing hour was a period of unprecedented confusion, but I recall it without chagrin; I rise to my true powers in periods of confusion. Ramses had been awakened by the noise. He and the cat and the lion followed us to John’s room, spouting questions (in the case of Ramses) and attacking the tatters of John’s robe (in the case of the lion). I ordered all three back to Ramses’ room, and after John had placed the girl on his cot, directed him to withdraw to the same location. The only one who refused to obey was the cat Bastet. Squatting on the floor by the bed, she watched interestedly as I sought to restore Charity to her senses.

As soon as she recovered she insisted, almost hysterically, upon leaving the room. Apparently the very idea of being in a young man’s bedchamber in her nightgown was indelicate. I had ascertained that she was unharmed, so I gave in to her foolish insistence, and when we reached the parlour she became calmer.

The expected invasion had not yet occurred, but I felt sure Emerson was right; the outraged brother would come in search of his sister, and Brother David would undoubtedly be with him, though Emerson’s designation of the latter as Charity’s lover was only another example of Emerson’s failure to comprehend the subtler currents of the human heart. I decided I had better take advantage of this opportunity to talk with the girl alone, and I got straight to the point.

‘You must not be angry with John, Miss Charity. His action was precipitate and thoughtless, but his motives were of the best. His only concern was for your safety.’

‘I see that now.’ The girl brushed the waving locks from her face. ‘But it was a terrifying experience – the shouting, and the flames – then to be seized like that, without warning… I have never – it is the first time a man …’

‘I daresay. You have missed a great many things, Miss Charity. Most ill-advised, in my opinion. But never mind that. Don’t you like John?’

‘He is very kind,’ the girl said slowly. ‘But very, very
large.’

‘But that can be an advantage, don’t you think?’ Charity stared at me in bewilderment, and I went on, ‘No, you would not know: But let me assure you, as a respectable married woman, that the combination of physical strength and moral sensibility, combined with tenderness of heart, is exactly what is wanted in a husband. The combination is rare, I confess, but when one encounters it – ’

‘Tactful as always, Amelia,’ said a voice from the doorway.

‘Ah, there you are, Emerson. I was just explaining to Miss Charity – ’

‘I heard you.’ Emerson came into the room, buttoning his shirt. ‘Your tactics rather resemble those of a battering ram, my dear. Why don’t you make the tea and leave the poor girl alone?’

‘The tea is ready. But, Emerson – ’

‘Please, Amelia. I believe I hear the approach of the invasion I mentioned, and if I don’t have my tea before I face it …’

The girl had shrunk down into her chair, her arms clutching her body and her face averted, though Emerson politely refrained from looking at her. When the strident accents of Brother Ezekiel were heard she looked as if she were trying to squeeze her body into the framework of the chair.

Emerson hastily gulped his tea, and I went to the door to see whom the visitor was addressing. As I might have expected, it was Ramses.

‘I told you to stay in your room,’ I said.

‘You told me to go to my room, but you did not say to stay dere. Seeing dis person approaching, I felt it would be advisable for someone to meet him in order to – ’

‘Talks a blue streak, don’t he?’ Brother Ezekiel slid clumsily off his donkey and fixed Ramses with a critical stare. ‘Sonny, don’t you know children should be seen and not heard?’

‘No, I don’t,’ Ramses replied. ‘Dat is to say, sir, I have heard dat sentiment expressed more den once, but it is no more dan an opinion and it is not based on sound t’eories of – ’