Imhotep (14 page)

Brian
ached to try one, but he needed some place safe to practice.  He didn’t
want to fall into the same water where those huge crocodiles lived.

On the
other side of the village, he had found grape arbors and beyond them orchards
of fig and olive trees and gardens with onions, radishes, and cucumbers. 
There were other plants he’d never seen before and open fields of something he
thought was wheat, but it looked shorter and darker than the wheat he
remembered from his childhood drives through the farms of southern
Pennsylvania.

There
were pathways everywhere, too many for Brian to explore each one.  First
he followed the ones that looked most traveled and then he tried some that looked
like they were little used.

A few
stopped at the edge of the oasis, ending where the scruffy grass gave way to
sand.  Brian stood there, peering off into the unending emptiness,
wondering why a path to this spot even existed.  Others ended with a view
toward a rocky area that rose from the desert near the horizon.  There was
nothing for comparison, so Brian couldn’t tell if the outcropping was a mile
away or twenty miles away.

Two of
the pathways ended by larger mud-brick homes where Brian and Pahket were
greeted warmly and offered food by the families who lived there.

Throughout
the two days Brian saw nothing electronic: no televisions, radios, telephones
or even light bulbs.  Near the end of the second day it struck him that
either everyone had perfect vision or no one had good health insurance or, and,
this worried him so much that he tried not to think about it, glasses didn’t
exist.

While
he was unsuccessful in finding Diane, the time he spent with Pahket was useful
as he began to learn more of the language. 

Pahket
was an enthusiastic teacher.  At first she couldn’t understand how Brian
could not know the language that everyone in her universe spoke, but once she
understood that he didn’t know even the simple words for walking or tree or
crocodile, she was eager to teach him.

And
Brian, who had had trouble remembering the signals his third base coach flashed
during baseball games, found that because there was no other way to
communicate, his attention was more focused and he began to learn the language
quickly.

But
when he used his new-found skill to ask Pahket about Diane, she only smiled and
said that Diane was with Yunet.

“Where
is Yunet?” he asked.

Pahket
only smiled and answered with a shrug.

Although
he was worried about Diane, there was nothing at To-She that gave any sign that
they were in danger; he had been pampered since their arrival. 

Each
morning Pahket greeted him in his room, bathed him and took him to
breakfast.  In the middle of the afternoon, when the heat of the desert
began to penetrate the shade of the oasis, she led him back to his temple room
where she and two servants bathed him again and then massaged him until he fell
asleep.  During the first massage, Pahket had gently brushed her hand
against his penis, which responded by rising to her touch.  Embarrassed,
Brian had firmly moved her hand away from his groin.  She had moved on to
his legs, but each day she made the unspoken offer again.

He had
continued to turn her away, but as he grew more comfortable with her he
wondered how much longer he would refuse.  Her nudity no longer surprised
him, and he saw that everyone here had a different attitude about sex and was
more comfortable with their bodies.

Once
while walking by the orchards, they had come across a couple who were energetically
and loudly enjoying sex outside in the shade of a date palm grove.

The
man grunted with each insistent thrust and the woman echoed him with a
high-pitched squeal.  The woman saw Pahket and Brian watching them and
responded with a wide smile and a louder squeal, spurring her partner on to a
faster rhythm.

Pahket
had put one hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh and with the other hand
pulled Brian down the path.  Away from the noise of the couple’s
lovemaking, Pahket had taught Brian the words to describe what they had just
seen.  She had laughed while imitating the man’s movements and the woman’s
high-pitched moan.

Brian
was amazed at the comfort Pahket showed about sex, delighted at the humor in
her risqué impersonation and he felt an undeniable desire for her, which he had
to hide by turning away.

O
n the morning of the third day, Brian’s
routine changed.

When
Pahket woke him, she brought a change of clothing.  The kilt she wrapped
around him after his morning bath was so thin it was almost transparent; its
linen belt was wider and embroidered with pale blue threads.  He had gone
barefoot for two days, but now she brought him white sandals.

Instead
of the wide swaths of protective dark kohl under his eyes, Pahket carefully
painted his eyelids themselves with a lighter, green kohl.  He balked when
she began to spread lipstick on him, wiping the red ochre away with the back of
his hand.  She tried again and he shook his head and put his hand over his
mouth.

The
two servant girls looked alarmed, but Pahket remained calm.

“You
must wear this, Netjer Brian.  Djefi has returned and has asked to see
you.  Please, let me do this.”

Reluctantly
he removed his hand.

She
leaned forward, her expression serious and intent.  Brian pursed his lips,
trying to provide as large a target as possible.  When the servant girls
tittered, Pahket turned to scold them, but she caught something in their eyes
and turned back in time to see Brian winking at them, his mouth a wide grin.

“I do
this for you, Pahket,” Brian said in Egyptian when he saw the disappointment in
Pahket’s eyes.  He added in English, “But I shouldn’t wear lipstick for
ole Boss Hogg, don’t want to get him too excited.”

D
jefi was seated under an awning of palm
branches in the large courtyard.  Beside him stood a muscled, hard-looking
guard Brian had not seen before at To-She.  The guard held the shaft of a
long spear; its tip rising higher than his head.  He was naked except for
a dirty linen belt into which he had tucked a long knife with a chipped blade.

Two
young boys, one holding a ceramic jar, stood on the other side of Djefi. The
boys watched Brian with open curiosity as Pahket led him to the edge of the
awning where she stopped and bowed to Djefi.

“Welcome
home, First Prophet,” she said.

Djefi
dismissed her with a fluttering wave of his fat hand.

During
the journey from Ineb-Hedj to To-She, Djefi had thought a great deal about
Brian and Diane, but was unable to decide if they were truly gods appearing in
Kemet at this time of unrest or simply very strange outlanders.

It
seemed unlikely that it was coincidence that they had appeared at the very
moment when Kanakht and Waja-Hur were ensnaring him in their plot to
assassinate King Djoser.  Had the gods arrived to warn me away from the
plot or to help me succeed?  Were they a reminder of my divine duties as
First Prophet to Sobek, an inspiration to spread Sobek’s cult beyond
To-She?  Or were they called here by Djoser, divine as he claimed and able
to summon gods to his aid?

“I
hope you’ll forgive me if I remain seated, Netjer Brian.  It has been a
long journey from Ineb-Hedj.  The river is so low, as I’m sure you’re very
aware,” Djefi said.

Brian
understood some of what Djefi said, but he was more alerted by the setting and
body language.  Djefi was not the quivering, sweating ‘Boss Hogg’ Brian
had mocked at the tomb of Kanakht.  He was relaxed and clearly in
charge. 

The
armed man beside him stood attentively on the balls of his feet, ready to move
quickly.  When the guard turned his head to look at the two young boys on
the other side of Djefi, Brian saw that he was missing his right ear. 
Jagged scars on his bare chest, were evidence of a history of knife fights.

“Greetings,
Djefi,” Brian said in Egyptian, nodding his head in welcome.  “I am an
honored guest.”

“Ahh,
he speaks our language now,” Djefi said.

“He is
learning, First Prophet,” Pahket said.

Djefi
turned his head toward her, his eyes slowly leaving Brian to rest on Pahket.

“And
what else has he been doing?”

“He
looks for Netjret Diane constantly.  He asks questions.”

“About?”

“Everything. 
About the lake, about the orchards, about you.  Sometimes he says names
and asks if I know them.  He asks about places I do not know.”

Djefi
raised his eyebrows.

“New
York, Cairo, Iraq, America,” she said, repeating the sounds she had memorized.

Djefi
fluttered his hand again, dismissing the nonsense.  Then he asked, “Has he
said how to make the river rise?”

She
shook her head.

“Has
he talked about King Djoser or Vizier Kanakht?”

Pahket
shook her head.

“Or Waja-Hur?”
Djefi added.

“No,
First Prophet.”

Djefi
turned from her and looked at Brian.  He didn’t know what to make of this
large, pale man - or god - standing patiently before him.  His
shoulders and arms were larger and stronger looking than anyone Djefi had ever
seen.  He had seemed insulting and arrogant at Kanakht’s tomb, but now he
seemed patient and civilized.

Djefi
turned back to Pahket. “What do you think about him?”

Pahket
was prepared for this question.  When Bakr had arrived with Brian and
Diane he had told Yunet that Djefi had found two gods at the tomb of
Kanakht.  Djefi wanted them to be quietly cared for and watched to try to
discover why they were here.

When
Yunet had decided to take Diane to her home on the far side of the fig orchard,
she had told Pahket to stay with Brian.  Pahket was instructed to answer
Brian’s questions and to allow him to go anywhere he wanted, except to Yunet’s
home.  She also was to listen to him and watch him for clues about who he
was and why he was here.

“I
think he is lost, First Prophet, almost more than lost.  He seems sad at
times, confused at others.  Everything I show him seems new and different
to him.”

Djefi
squinted at her and looked back at Brian.

“How
can a god be ‘more than lost’?” he said to himself.  He motioned one of
the boys forward and took from him the ceramic jar of beer.  He drank and
belched.  The other boy came forward with a linen cloth and dabbed at
Djefi’s lips.

“So,
Pahket, is he a god?”

Pahket
looked at the ground, unable to meet Djefi’s eyes as she answered.  “I do
not know, First Prophet, I have never met a god.  But he is unlike other
men.  He is both gentle and powerful.  He seems to have boundless
energy, but he conserves himself.  I am not wise, First Prophet, but he is
different than other men, I think.”

Brian
followed some of the conversation, picking out words here and there.  He
knew they were talking about him and he was frustrated that he couldn’t speak
their language enough to ask them questions and find out where he was.

He had
spent three days spinning his wheels.  Although Pahket had been kind, she
really had not been helpful about answering the only two questions that
mattered: ‘Where was Diane?’ and ‘How could they get home?’

Djefi
had had time to contact the authorities, to arrange for someone to come and get
them.  But instead he sat here interrogating Pahket.

Djefi
had sunk into a reverie, trying to decide what to do next.  He needed to
leave To-She to attend a ceremony at Iunu, but he didn’t want to leave without
resolving the question of who Brian and Diane really were.

Brian
surprised him from his thoughts by stepping forward and asking in Egyptian,
“Where is Diane?”

”She
is my guest,” Djefi answered.  “She is safe.”

“I
want to see her,” Brian said.

Djefi
had met with Yunet before Brian had been brought to him.  She had told him
that Diane was angry with Brian and that she had obeyed Diane’s wishes to be
kept away from him.

She
hadn’t told Djefi about the nights when Diane cried herself to sleep and Yunet
took her in her arms and held her until the tears stopped.  She hadn’t
told him that she caressed the beautiful goddess’ red hair while she slept or
that she thrilled to the touch of Diane’s delicate arms and legs when she
massaged her in the hot afternoons.  And she hadn’t told him about the
flecks of gold she saw in the strange green eyes of the goddess or of the
softness of her hands or the curl of her lips when she smiled.

She
had told Djefi that Diane was angry with the god Brian and that the goddess,
for Yunet was sure that Diane was a goddess, would bring greatness to the great
god Sobek once she had regained her serenity.

Djefi
had heard the unspoken emotion in Yunet’s voice, and so had Siamun.