Curse of the Kings (24 page)

I leaped out of bed and put on the pair of embossed leather slippers I had bought from Yasmin and wrapped a dressing gown about me.

We went along to the room Theodosia shared with Evan. She was lying on her back staring up at the ceiling.

I went over and sat down beside the bed. Tabitha sat on the other side.

hat on earth happened, Theodosia?

had an awful dream. The soothsayer was there and there was something in black robes like a great bird with a man face. It was the angel of death and it had come for some of us.

t was that old fortuneteller,I said to Tabitha. e shouldn have listened to him. He was just trying to frighten us.

hat did he say?asked Tabitha.

e talked a lot of nonsense about the angel of death hovering over us.

overing over whom?

he whole party, I imagine, waiting to pounce on which ever one he fancied. Theodosia took it all too seriously.

ou shouldn, Theodosia,said Tabitha. hey do it all the time. And I don mind betting that he said Allah was giving you a choice.

hat exactly what he did say.

e probably envious of someone who is working for us. This often happens. When we were here last there was a man who was uttering evil prophecies all the time. We discovered that his greatest enemy was earning more working on the site than he was himself. It was pure envy.

This seemed to comfort Theodosia. shall be glad,she said, hen theye found what they want and we can go home.

hese surroundings grow on you,prophesied Tabitha.

eople often feel like that at first. I mean those who are not actually involved in the work.

She began to talk as she used to when I visited her at Giza House and so interesting was she that Theodosia was considerably calmed. She told us how last time she had been here she had seen the celebration of Maulid-el-Nabi which was the birthday of Mohammed.

he stalls looked so lovely in the souks,she explained. ost of them were decorated with dolls made of white sugar and wrapped in paper which looked like dresses. There were processions through the streets and people carried banners on which were inscribed verses from the Koran. The minarets were lit up at night and it was a wonderful sight. They looked like rings of light up in the sky. There were singers in the streets singing praises to Allah and tale tellers who were surrounded by people of all ages to whom they related stories which had been handed down through the ages.

She went on to describe these occasions and as she talked I noticed Theodosia eyelids dropping. Poor Theodosia, she was exhausted by her nightmare I

he asleep,I whispered to Tabitha.

hen let go,she replied.

Outside the door she paused and looked at me. re you sleepy?she asked.

o,I told her.

ome to my room for a chat.

I followed her. Her room was beautiful. There were shutters at the window, and she opened these wider to let in the warm night air. look down on a courtyard,she said. t quite beautiful. Cacti grow down there and there are bitter apple trees. They are one of the most useful plants in Egypt. The seeds are used to add flavor to all sorts of dishes and if the fruit is boiled the liquid which is produced makes goatskin watertight.

ou are very knowledgeable, Tabitha.

on forget Ie been here before, and if youe vitally interested, you do pick up a great deal.

She turned from the window and lighted a few candles.

hey will probably attract insects,she said, ut we need a little light. Now tell me, Judith, does all this come up to expectations?

n many ways, yes.

ut not all?

ell, I thought I should probably have more work to do helping

t a very skilled occupation. At the moment it is mainly workmen who are needed.

nd if they really did find a hitherto undiscovered tomb I suppose I should not be allowed near it.

t would be such a find. Only the experts would be allowed to touch anything. But Tybalt was telling me how well you look after his papers and that you are a great help in many ways.

I felt suddenly resentful that Tybalt should discuss me with her, and then I was ashamed.

She seemed to sense my feelings for she said quickly: ybalt does confide in me now and then. It because I such a friend of the family. You are of the family now and because of this I was saying to Tybalt that you should know the truth.

he truth!I cried.

bout me,she said.

hat should I know about you?I asked.

hat only Tybalt and his father knew in their household. When I came to live with them and took the post of companion to Sir Edward wife, we thought it best that I should be known as a widow. But that is not the case. I have a husband, Judith.

ut where is he?

e is in a mental home.

h I see. I sorry.

ou will remember that I had a sudden call before we left.

hen you and Tybalt came back together.

es, as I had to come back to London we met there and traveled down to Cornwall together. I had had a call because my husband had taken a sudden turn for the worse.

e died?I asked.

A hopeless expression came into her eyes which were large, brooding and very beautiful in the candlelight.

e recovered,she said.

t must be a great anxiety for you.

perpetual anxiety.

ou do not visit him often?

e does not know me. It is futile. It brings no pleasure to him and only great unhappiness to me. He is well cared for, in the best possible hands. It is all I can do.

sorry,I said.

She brightened. ell, they say we all have our crosses to bear. Mine has been a heavy one. But there are compensations. Since I came into the Travers household I have been happier than I ever dreamed of being.

hope you will continue to be.

She smiled rather sadly. thought you ought to know the truth, Judith, now that you are a Travers.

hank you for telling me. Was it always so, from the time you married him? You cannot have been married so many years. You are very young.

am thirty,she said. was married at eighteen. It was a marriage arranged for me. I was without fortune. My people thought it was a great chance for me because my husband was wealthy compared with my family. Even at the time of our marriage he was a dipsomaniac, incurable they said. It grew steadily worse and when he became violent he was put away. I had met Sir Edward when he lectured on archaeology to amateurs and we became friendly.

Then he offered me this post in his household as companion to his wife. It was a great help to me.

ow very tragic.

Her eyes were fixed on me. ut no life is all tragedy, is it? Ie had days of happiness, weeks of it ever since. But it is one of life rules that nothing remains on the same level or at the same depth. Change is inevitable.

glad you told me.

nd I knew you would be sympathetic.

ou will stay with us?

s long as I am allowed to.

hen that will be as long as you wish.

She came to me then and kissed me on the forehead. I was moved by the gesture; and as I drew away from her I saw the brooch at her throat. It was a scarab in lapis lazuli.

see you have a scarab brooch.

es, it supposed to be a protection against evil spirits. It was given to me by a friend when I first came to Egypt

hich was the last expedition, wasn it, the fatal one?

She nodded.

t wasn very lucky on that occasion,I said.

She did not answer but I saw her fingers were trembling as she touched the brooch.

suppose I should go to bed now,I said. wonder when they will come back from the site?

hat something of which you can be sure. I glad I told you. I didn think it was right that I should deceive you.

I went back to my room. Tybalt was not back.

I could not sleep. I lay in bed thinking of Tabitha. Memories from the past intruded into my mind. I remembered walking over to Giza House when I was a companion to Lady Bodrean and seeing Tabitha and Tybalt at the piano together. I thought of their arriving home together after she had been called away; and echoes from Nanny Tester revelations kept coming back to me.

I wondered who had given her the scarab brooch. Was it Tybalt?

Then a horrible thought crept into my mind. Suppose Tabitha had been free, would Tybalt have married me?

A few days later Theodosia and I visited the Temple, taking a donkey-drawn carriage and rattling on our way over the sandy soil. Here had been the ancient city of Thebes, the center of a civilization which had crumbled away leaving only the great burial chambers of long dead Pharaohs to give an indication of the splendor of those days.

Although the Temple was open to the sky it was cooler within the shadows of those tall pillars than without. We examined with wonder the lavishly carved pillars each capped with buds and calyxes. It fascinated us both to study the carvings on the pillars and to recognize some of the Pharaohs depicted there with the gods to whom they were making sacrifices.

Wandering among the pillars we came face to face with a man. He was clearly European and I thought he was a tourist who had, like ourselves, come to inspect this renowned Temple.

It was natural on such an occasion that he should speak to us and he said, ood morning.His eyes were a tawny color like so much of the stone we saw in Egypt and his skin was tanned to a pale brown. He wore a panama hat pulled down over his eyes as a shield against the sun.

We were pleased because he was English.

hat a fascinating spot,he said. o you live here?

o. Wee with a party of archaeologists working on a site in the Valley. Are you visiting?

n a way. I a merchant and my business brings me here now and then. But I am very interested to hear that you are with the archaeology party.

y husband is leading the expedition,I said proudly.

hen you must be Lady Travers.

am. Do you know my husband?

e heard of him, of course. He very well known in his field.

nd you are interested in that field?

ery. My business is buying and selling objets drt. I staying at the hotel not far from the Chephro Palace.

t comfortable, I hope.

ery adequate,he replied. He lifted his hat. e may meet again.

Then he left us and we continued our examination of the pillars.

In due course we returned to our arabiya. As we started away we saw the man who had spoken to us getting into his.

e seemed very pleasant,said Theodosia.

Next morning Theodosia did not feel well enough to get up; but by midday she was better. We sat on the terrace overlooking the Nile and talked desultorily.

After a while she said to me: udith, I think I may be going to have a baby.

I turned to her excitedly. hy! that wonderful news.

A frown puckered her brow. hat what people always say. But they don have to have the babies, do they?

h, it uncomfortable for a while but think of the reward.

ancy having a baby here.

ell, you wouldn, would you? You go home. Besides, if youe not sure, it must be months away.

ometimes I feel we shall be here forever.

h, Theodosia, what an ideal Itl be a few months at the most.

ut suppose they don find this whatever it is theye looking for.

ell, theyl have to go home. This is a very costly business. I sure that if they don succeed in due course, theyl know they aren going to and then we shall all leave.

ut suppose

hat a worrier you are. Of course itl be all right. And it wonderful news. You ought to be dancing for joy.

h youe so capable, Judith.She began to laugh. t funny really. I Mamma daughter and you know how she manages everyone. You think I be like her.

he may manage everyone, but such people don always know how to manage their own affairs.

amma thought she did. And your mother was Lavinia, who was probably very meek. I ought to have been like you and you like me.

ell, never mind about that now. Youl be all right.

frightened, Judith. It since wee been here. I wish we could go home. I just long to see the rain. There no green here and I want to be among normal men and women.

I laughed at her. asmin would think the people in the souk were more normal than us, I do assure you. It a simple matter of geography. Youe just a bit homesick, Theodosia.

ow I wish Evan would lecture in the university and not do this sort of thing.

o doubt he will when this is over. Now, Theodosia, youe got to stop worrying. This is the most marvelous news.

But she did continue to fret; and when it was affirmed that she was indeed pregnant, I could see that this caused her some concern.

VI Ramadan

It was the time of Ramadanhe months of fasting and prayer. I learned that this was the most important event in the Mohammadan world and that the date varied because of the lunar reckoning of the calendar so that it was eleven days earlier each year. Tybalt, who was always restive at such times because they interfered with the progress of the work, told me that in thirty-three years Ramadan passed through all the seasons of the year successively; but originally it must have taken place during a hot season as the word ramada in Arabic means ot.

It began with the rising of the new moon; and until the waning of that moon no food must be eaten between dawn and sunset. Few people were exempt from the rule, but babies and invalids were allowed to be fed. In the palace we tried to fall in with the rules and ate a good meal before dawn and another after sunset fortifying ourselves with herish, a loaf made with honey nuts and shredded coconut which was deliciouslthough one quickly grew tired of itnd we drank quantities of the refreshing and sustaining mint tea.

The aspect of the place changed with Ramadan. A quietness settled on the narrow streets. There were three daysholiday although the fast went on for twenty-eight and those three days were dedicated to prayer. Five times a day twenty shots were fired. This was the call to prayer. I was always filled with awe to see men and women stop whatever they were doing, bow their heads, clasp their hands and pay homage to Allah.