Soldier of Sidon

We wrestled. Baginu sprang on my back while I was grappling Aahmes, but I threw him off, knocked Aahmes down with him, and threw him into the water.

He is a poor swimmer. Although our ship was sailing no faster than an old man walks, he could not catch up. I dived in, got my arm around his neck, and pulled him near enough the side for his friends to help us up.

When I was back on board, gasping and smelling of the river, I declared that I was exhausted from my long swim and could not continue. Since that was the case, I said, Aahmes was our champion until we wrestled again. Everyone argued against this, saying I was champion. I silenced them all and forced them to accept Aahmes.

Afterward I made Uraeus follow me into the hold so that we might speak without being overheard by the others. I apologized for sending him away and asked where he had been.

"Down here, master, hunting rats."

I commended him, saying I knew they did great damage.

"You had dismissed me, master. I obeyed, as I always obey. But when the wrestling began, I was afraid it might turn to fighting."

"I will always dismiss you when Myt-ser'eu and I wish to be alone." Because Uraeus looked so despondent at that, I added, "It's no reflection on you. I'd dismiss Aahmes-or anyone-as readily."

"Thank you, master. I will strive not to intrude."

"That's good." I patted his shoulder, which might have been supple leather.

"I am quiet, unobtrusive. Often you do not know that I am with you."

"But ready to serve whenever I need you."

"Exactly, master. Exactly."

Looking at him-at his eyes, particularly-I could not imagine that I would ever have selected such a servant in the slave market. He seems a small man of middle years and looks strong, but his face and silence are forbidding. His eyes are hard and cold. "Where did I buy you?" I asked, adding, "I forget very quickly, as you probably know."

"You did not buy me, master. I was given to you by my old master, Sesostris."

"He must be a good friend indeed," I said, "to part with such a valuable gift. Did I do him some service?"

Uraeus shook his head. He has an odd, swaying way of doing it. "You did him no service, master, but he likes you and has helped you in many ways, of which I was-" He paused, his head cocked to listen. "That was a rat, master. I have marked the place. I will come back for it when you sleep."

From the hatch above someone called, "Is anybody down there? I thought I heard voices."

"Yes," I said loudly. "We are."

"Ah! Lucius-Latro."

Uraeus leaned toward me, his hiss softer than ever. "This is Qanju's scribe, master. Be wary!"

He is young and a hand's breadth below me in height; he has a shaved head and intelligent eyes.

"There you are," he said, and came to join Uraeus and me. "I've been looking for you to congratulate you. Everyone says the wrestling was well worth seeing, and you're the best of all. My master and I had work to do and missed it, but the sailors and the women can never praise you enough."

I did not know how to answer; but Uraeus said, "My master is quick and strong. I only hope he is watchful as well." Clearly that was meant as an added warning to me.

"He is a soldier, of course," the scribe said, "but then they were all soldiers. Some of our sailors said they were sorry, at first, that they had not been invited to take part; but when they saw you wrestle Baginu and Aahmes, they were glad they hadn't been. Would you like to hear all they said?"

I said I would rather we spoke of something else.

"Easily done, because I want to ask a question. Have you been down here long?"

"I haven't," I said, "but Uraeus was down here alone earlier."

"You didn't happen to see the cat, did you? Or the phantom woman?"

I said we had not, and added that I had thought they had been driven out by priests, something Myt-ser'eu had told me earlier.

"So did we." The scribe sat down. "This is a sensitive matter for me, you understand."

I admitted I did not.

"I was the one who suggested we stop at the tomb-temple of Sesostris when the problem first surfaced." The scribe cleared his throat. "I'm a priest myself. You need not remind me of that. But I'm not skilled in exorcism and own no storied wand. I thought it better to go there and have everything done properly, and my master agreed."

"Qanju?" I asked.

"Yes, of course. As a priest I took part in the exorcism. A small part, but a part. We'd rehearsed exorcism in the House of Life when I was younger, but this was my first experience of the actual rite and I very much hoped that it would be successful."

I said, "But it wasn't." It seemed safe.

"No, it-no. Last night…We were ashore. Do you remember that, Lucius?"

I said I did, though I did not.

"I caught a glimpse, more than a glimpse, really, of a-of a cat. An enormous cat, you understand. Very, very big. And black. Naturally I wondered."

"All cats are black at night," I said.

"No doubt." The scribe laughed. "No doubt at all. But still…Well, I began asking questions, and one of the sailors said he'd seen the woman not long ago. It wasn't Neht-nefret or Myt-ser'eu. He seemed quite certain of it. Another woman of about the same age, quite beautiful, wearing a lot of jewelry."

"He didn't speak to her?"

The scribe shook his head. "He was frightened, I'm sure. Perhaps he was simply frightened of her-I would be, I think. Perhaps he knew the cat would appear to protect her if he threatened her."

I said, "Could he have known that?"

"I don't see why not. The sailors aren't exactly open with me, and one of them might have tried it and not told us."

"You know it," I said, "or you wouldn't have spoken as you did. Did it happen to you?"

The scribe shook his head. "My master told me. I wasn't sure they were linked, the woman and the cat. But he says they are. When he says something like that, he knows. He says the cat is with her, invisible, until she's threatened. It shows itself then so that she can escape."

Uraeus whispered, "It ca

"I suppose not." The scribe shrugged. "There is a man who comes to the White Wall often who has a trained baboon, a big male. It will attack on command, or if it sees its master being attacked. He takes it with him whenever he goes out. But when he's at home it's locked in its cage."

I said, "Not an invisible baboon."

"No. One of the ordinary baboons who worship Ra. You say you haven't seen the cat down here, or the woman?"

"No. Not this time, at least. I suppose I could have been down here earlier, seen them, and forgotten it."

"I doubt it. You saw them both earlier, and described them to Qanju and me. You said the cat was large, half again as large as most cats."

I asked whether I had been afraid of it.

"I don't know. I doubt it. But the cat I saw was much larger than that. It must have been every bit as tall as a greyhound at the shoulder, with a tail as long as my arm." The scribe paused, biting his lips. "Sometimes unsuccessful exorcisms just make things worse. I was taught that in the House of Life, too; I'd almost forgotten it."

He paused to clear his throat. "Where did you get Uraeus, Latro?"

"My friend Sesostris gave him to me," I said.

"I-see. I don't like quizzing you like this, Latro. We've always been friends, and I'd like to stay friends. Do you happen to recall my name?"

Uraeus whispered it behind me, and I said, "You are Holy Thotmaktef."

"Right. I'm sorry to have troubled you." He spoke to my slave. "Uraeus, were you a slave in the temple of Sesostris up to the time we tied up there?"

Uraeus whispered, "Should I answer, master? I do not advise it."

"Yes," I said, "this time."

"I was not," he told the scribe.

"Where were you?"