Crocodile on the Sandbank (17 page)

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Authors: Elizabeth Peters

Tags: #Historical fiction, #Detective and mystery stories, #Mystery fiction, #Fiction, #General, #Mystery & Detective, #Women Sleuths, #Historical, #Suspense, #Crime & mystery, #Political, #Women detectives - Egypt, #Peabody, #Amelia (Fictious character), #Crime & Thriller, #Mummies, #Peabody, #Amelia (Fictitious character), #Egyptology, #Cairo (Egypt), #Mystery, #Detective, #Women detectives, #Emerson, #Radcliffe (Fictitious character), #Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, #Archaeologists' spouses, #Mystery & Detective - General, #Egypt, #Fiction - Mystery

BOOK: Crocodile on the Sandbank
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I go down with thee into the water
And come forth to thee again
With a red fish, which is— beautiful on my fingers.
"There is a break here. The lovers are by the water; a pond, or the
Nile. They— they disport themselves in the cool water."
"It doesn't have the ring of a love poem to me," Lucas said
skeptically. "If I offered a fish, red or white, to a lady of my
acquaintance as a love offering, she would not receive it graciously. A
diamond necklace would be more welcome."
Evelyn moved slightly in her chair. Walter went on, "This is certainly
a lover speaking. He is on one
side of the river—
The love of the sister is upon
yonder side;
A stretch of water is between
And a crocodile waiteth upon the sandbank.
But I go down into the water, I walk upon the flood;
My heart is brave upon the water
It is the love of her that makes me strong."
There was a brief silence when he stopped speaking. I don't know which
impressed me more— the
quaint charm of the lines or the expertness with
which the modest young man had deciphered them.
"Brilliant, Walter," I cried, forgetting propriety in my enthusiasm.
"How inspiring it is to realize that
noble human emotions are as
ancient as man himself."
"It seems to me not so much noble as foolhardy," said Lucas lazily.
"Any man who jumps into a river inhabited by crocodiles deserves to be
eaten up."
"The crocodile is a symbol," I said scornfully. "A symbol of the
dangers and difficulties any true lover would risk to win his
sweetheart."
"That is very clever, Miss Amelia," Walter said, smiling at me.
"Too clever," growled Emerson. "Attempting to read the minds of the
ancient Egyptians is a chancy business, Peabody. It is more likely
that the crocodile is a typical lover's extravagance— a boast that
sounds well, but that no man of sense would carry out."
I was about to reply when Evelyn fell into a fit of coughing.
"Well, well," Lucas said. "How happy I am that my little offering has
proved to be so interesting! But don't you think we ought to make plans
for tonight? The sun is almost down."
It was one of the most stunning sunsets I had ever beheld. The fine
dust in the atmosphere produces amazing conditions of light, such as
our hazy English air does not allow. There was something almost
threatening about the sunset that evening; great bands of blood-red and
royal purple, translucent blue like the glaze on ancient pottery, gold
and amber and copper streaks.
I asked Lucas whether his crew might not help us guard the camp, but he
shook his head.
"Evidently they met some of the villagers today. Your crew has also
been infected, Miss Amelia. I would not be surprised if all of them
fled."
"They cannot do that," I exclaimed. "I am paying them! Nor do I believe
that Reis Hassan would abandon his trust."
"He would have some excellent excuse," Lucas said cynically. "Adverse
winds, threatening weather— any excuse for mooring elsewhere."
I was aware, then, of someone beside me. Turning, I beheld Michael,
whom I had not seen all day.
"Sitt Hakim"— for so he always addressed me— "I must speak to you
alone."
"Certainly," I said, although I was surprised at his request and at his
interruption of our conversation.
"After dinner," Lucas said, giving the poor fellow a sharp look.
Michael shrank back, and Lucas added, "Michael, or whatever your name
is, you are not needed. My men will serve the meal. I promised them
they might return before dark. Miss
Peabody will speak with you later."
Michael obeyed, with a last pleading glance at me. As soon as he was
out of earshot I said, "Lucas,
I really cannot have you reprimanding my
servants!"
"My first name!" Lucas exclaimed, with a broad smile. "You have broken
down at last, Miss Amelia;
you have done me the honor of addressing me
as a friend. We must drink to that." And he refilled his wine glass.
"We— to use the word loosely— have drunk too much already," I retorted.
"As for Michael— "
"Good heavens, such a fuss over a servant," Lucas said contemptuously.
"I think I know what he wants to speak to you about, Miss Amelia, and
if I were you I should not be in a hurry to hear it."
He held up his glass as if admiring the sparkle of the liquid in the
fading light.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Lucas shrugged.
"Why, the fellow means to be off. My men tell me that he is in a
complete funk. It is to his babbling,
in no small measure, that I
attribute their cowardice. No doubt he will have some specious excuse
for leaving you, but leave you he will."
"I cannot believe it," Evelyn said firmly. "Michael is a fine man.
Loyal, devoted— "
"But a native," Lucas finished. "With a native's weaknesses."
"And you are quite familiar with the weaknesses of the— er— natives,"
Emerson put in. He had not spoken much; for once his grating purr, like
the throaty emanation of a very large, angry cat, did not offend my
ears.
"Human beings are much the same the world over," Lucas replied
negligently. "The ignorant always
have their superstitions and their
fondness for money."
"I bow to your superior knowledge," Emerson said. "I had been under the
impression that it was not
only the ignorant who are
corrupted by money."
"I cannot believe Michael will desert us," I said, putting an end to
the bickering. "I will speak to him later."
But later I was forced to admit, little as I liked it, that Lucas had
been right. Michael was nowhere to be found. At first, when he did not
seek me out, I assumed he had changed his mind about wanting to speak
to me. It was not until we began thinking of our plans for the night
that we realized he was missing. A search produced no trace of him.
Lucas's servants— a shabby-looking group if I had ever seen one—
had long
since departed, so we could not ask if they had seen him.
"He had not even the courage to make his excuses to you," Lucas said,
"Depend upon it, he has crept away."
Michael's defection left us in rather serious condition, I thought, but
when I expressed the idea, Lucas pooh-poohed my concern.
"We ought to get to our posts," he continued. "With all due respect to
your measures, I do not believe
you went about the business very
sensibly." "Let us hear your plans," said Emerson humbly. I could not
imagine what ailed the man. Except for brief outbursts of irony he
adopted an attitude of subservient meekness toward Lucas, a man
considerably his junior in age and certainly his inferior in
experience.
Nor could I believe that it was physical weakness that
curbed his tongue. Emerson would criticize Old Nick himself when that
individual came to bear him away as he lay dying.
"Very well," said Lucas, expanding visibly. "I see no reason to watch
the village. If your villain means to frighten you away he will come
here, and it is here that we must concentrate our forces. But we must
not show force. You frightened him away the other night— "
"Oh, do you think that is what happened?" Emerson asked seriously.
"Only look at the sequence. The first time he came he ventured as far
as the entrance to the ladies' residence and stood
there for some time, if Miss Amelia's evidence is to be believed— "
"It is," I said, snapping my teeth together.
"Certainty I did not mean.... Very well, then; on the next night, when
Evelyn saw him, we do not know how far he progressed. He may have come
no farther than the spot, down below, where she saw him. But on the
third occasion he was definitely wary; he never came onto the ledge at
all, and it was as if he knew you were awake and waiting for him."
Even in the dark I could sense Walter's increasing anger. The tone
Lucas adopted was really quite insufferable. I was not surprised when
the lad interrupted Lucas's lecture in a voice that shook with his
efforts at self-control.
"You mean to imply, Lord Ellesmere, that the miscreant saw Abdullah and
myself. I assure you— "
"No, no, my dear fellow," Lucas exclaimed. "I mean to imply that your
friend Mohammed was warned
in advance!"
There was a muffled exclamation from Emerson. It sounded to me as if he
were strangling on an oath
he did not dare speak aloud. Lucas took it
for an expression of chagrin, and he nodded graciously at the older man.
"Yes; Michael. I am convinced that he has been in league with the
villagers. No doubt they promised
him part of the loot."
"Loot!" Evelyn exclaimed, with unusual heat. "What reward could they
offer, when they are so poor
they cannot clothe their own children?"
"I see you have not reasoned it out," Lucas said complacently. "Perhaps
I can see more clearly because
I am removed from the terror that has
haunted you in recent days."
"Enlighten us," said Emerson, through his teeth. I saw them gleaming in
the dark, like the fangs of a wolf.
Lucas leaned back in his chair. He stretched out his long legs and
gazed admiringly at his boots. "I asked myself," he began, "what motive
these people could have for driving you away. Malice is not a
sufficient
explanation; they need the money you were paying them. Does not the
answer seem obvious to you? For generations these fellainn have been
robbing the tombs of their remote ancestors. Their discoveries fill the
antika shops of Cairo and Luxor, and you archaeologists are always
complaining that whenever you find
a tomb, the natives have been there
before you. I suggest that the villagers have recently discovered such
a tomb— a rich one, or they would not be so anxious to drive you away
before you can find it."
The explanation had occurred to me, of course. I had discarded it,
however, and now I voiced the objections aloud.
"That would mean that all the villagers are in league with Mohammed. I
do not believe that. If you had seen the trembling fear of the old
mayor— "
"You ladies always trust people," Lucas said. "These villagers are
congenital liars, Miss Amelia, and expert at dissimulation."
"If I really believed such a tomb existed, it would require an
earthquake to make me leave," said Emerson.
"Naturally," Lucas said cheerfully. "I feel the same. All the more
reason for catching our Mummy before he can do any serious damage."
"If your explanation is correct, my lord, catching the Mummy will not
solve the problem." It was Walter who spoke. "According to you, the
entire village knows that the Mummy is a fraud. Exposing him will
not
change their intention of forcing us to leave."
"But it will give us a hostage," Lucas explained tolerantly. "The
mayor's own son. We will force him to lead us to the tomb and then
dispatch a message back to Cairo for reinforcements. Also, once we have
exposed the supposed curse we may be able to enlist the crews of our
boats to help guard the tomb.
They consider the villagers savages; the
only thing they have in common is their superstitious terror of
the
dead."
"Another objection," I said. "If Michael is a traitor— though I
still find it hard to believe— he will have warned the village
of our plans for tonight. The Mummy again will be on his guard."
"What a splendidly logical mind you have," Lucas exclaimed. "That is
quite true; and it prompts my next suggestion. We must appear to be off
our guard, and we must offer the Mummy a lure, in order to entice it
into our clutches."
"What sort of lure?" Walter asked suspiciously.
"I had not thought," Lucas said negligently. "I have appeared to drink
more than I really have, in order to give the impression that I will
sleep heavily. I wish you two gentlemen had done the same, but
evidently you failed to follow my reasoning. Have you any suggestions,
along the lines I have indicated?"
Several suggestions were made. Walter offered to take up his post at
some distance, and then pretend to fall asleep. Emerson proposed to
stand out in the open and consume an entire bottle of wine, and then
collapse upon the sand as if overcome by intoxication. This last idea
was received with the silent contempt it deserved, and no oae spoke for
a time. Then Evelyn stirred,
"I mink there is only one object that may attract the creature to
venture close enough to be seized," she said. "I shall steal out for a
stroll after midnight. If I am far enough from the camp— "
The remainder of her sentence was drowned out by our cries of protest.
Lucas alone remained silent; when Walter's voice had died, he said
thoughtfully.
"But why not? There can be no danger; the villain only wants to catch
one of us alone in order to play some silly trick."
"Do you call this a silly trick?" Emerson asked, indicating his
bandaged shoulder. "You are mad, my lord, to consider such a thing.
Walter," he added sternly, "be quiet. Do not speak if you cannot speak
calmly."
"How can anyone speak calmly of such a thing?" Walter bellowed, in a
fair imitation of his brother's best roar.
"Under any circumstances it is an appalling idea; but remembering what
that swine Mohammed said, when we were in the village..."
He broke off, with a glance at Evelyn. "Lucas does not know that,
Walter," she said steadily. "But I do.
I overheard Amelia and Mr.
Emerson speaking of it. Surely that makes my plan more practical."
Walter sputtered speechlessly. Lucas of course demanded to know what we
were talking about. Seeing that Evelyn already knew the worst, I saw no
reason not to repeat the statement to Lucas, and I did so, adding,
"After all, Evelyn, you are being vain in assuming that the Mummy is
only interested in you. Mohammed looked at me when he spoke; and I mink
if you are going to take a stroll, I will make myself available also.
We will give him his choice of prey. Who knows, he may prefer a more
mature type of lady."
This time the outcry was dominated by Emerson's bull-like voice.
"Why, Emerson," I said. "Do you mean to suggest that the Mummy will not
be intrigued by me? You must not insult me."
"You are a fool, Peabody," said Emerson furiously. "And if you suppose
I am going to allow any such idiotic, imbecilic, stupid— "
The plot was arranged as I had suggested. As we discussed it, it became
more complex. By 'we,' I refer
to Evelyn, Lucas, and myself. Emerson's
contribution took the form of a low rumble rather like the sound of a
volcano about to erupt. Walter's tense silence was almost as
threatening. He took Evelyn's behavior as evidence of an understanding
between her and Lucas, and reacted accordingly; it was not at all
difficult to feign a quarrel, which was part of our plan, in case any
spy should be watching. We parted acrimoniously. Walter tried to make a
last protest, and Lucas responded by producing a pistol.
"I shall be within ten feet of Evelyn the entire time," he said in a
thrilling whisper, holding the gun so that no one outside our group
could see it. "I think our bandaged friend will be
deterred by the mere sight of this. If not, I have no scruples about
using it."
"And what about me?" I asked.
Emerson was unable to ignore the opportunity.
"God help the poor mummy who encounters you, Peabody," he said
bitterly. "We ought to supply it

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