Soul and Shadow (15 page)

"
Thank you. You are very good to me; you have always been very good. I cannot allow you to be hurt at any cost. That is why I must warn you, even though
"
—my voice does not want to leave my throat, but I force it to go on—
"
even though it is like cutting out my own heart to tell you. O, Kahotep, you are in danger! You must see that my—that Kamenwati is banished from Dendera.
"

His look is sharp.
"
What are you telling me, Amisi? What has the scribe done?
"

Slowly and painfully, I relate my story. I see shock, outrage, sympathy, and anger in Kahotep
'
s face. He does not speak for a while when I am finished, just pats my shoulder and stares into the distance. At last, his eyes meet mine again.

"
Amisihathor,
"
he says,
"
you must leave your home immediately. You are not safe there. Bring any valuables that you possess here to the temple. We will explain that you are staying to have your dreams interpreted.
"
I had forgotten in the chaos that this was the original reason for my visit today.
"
Go now, before the scribe can know of it. When you return, we will talk further. Sennenmut will escort you. You have been very brave, but you will need to keep up your courage. Much depends on it. Do you understand?
"

I nod tearfully. There is a mute appeal in my eyes, which Kahotep recognizes.
"
I promise I will not take any action before we speak again. And whatever happens, I will care for you. You have accomplished maat and are a thousand times more worthy than the evil scribe. He does not deserve to have Amun-Ra shine upon him. Go with Hathor and Horus, little one. I will see you soon.
"

He summons the dwarf to accompany me. I begin the journey back to the house like one in a bad dream. Can my life really have changed so completely since I walked on this road such a short time ago? It seems impossible. And yet I am returning a different woman. The former Amisihathor has died, and I do not know what kind of life this new one faces.

Chapter Eighteen

Luckily, work kept me occupied the next day. I was so busy that it was time to go home before I realized it.
"
Come on, I
'
ll take you out for a drink,
"
Katy offered as she shut down her computer.
"
Take pity on a girl who
'
s all alone tonight.
"

I knew that it was me she was taking pity on. She must think that Kent was gone for good. Why, oh why hadn
'
t he called me? I fought not to get sucked into that black hole again.

"
Thanks, Katy, but I
'
m going to stay behind until I can talk to Dr. Briggs. I haven
'
t seen him since we had coffee this morning, and all he could focus on then was his paper. I really want to show him the sketches I
'
ve done.
"

"
Okay,
"
she shrugged.
"
Give me a call later and tell me what he thinks.
"

"
Will do,
"
I promised.

I was regretting my decision half an hour later when the building seemed empty and there was still no sign of Briggs. I knew he wouldn
'
t leave without locking up his office, and the door was still ajar. At last, I went in to see if he had left any indication of his whereabouts.

He must have been called away in a hurry, because the top drawer of his desk was sticking out. I glanced into it idly, and for a moment my heart seemed to stop beating. It took my brain a second to catch up to my instinctive reaction. For lying there was an ivory scarab with outstretched wings.

Even before I picked it up to look, I knew what it was going to say. Turning it over, I read the words,
'
Sweetness to the flower of Hathor.
'

"
What are you doing?
"

A voice recalled me to the here and now. It was abrupt and angry. Dr. Briggs had entered the room and he moved quickly to take the scarab away from me.
"
That
'
s a very valuable piece, Lily,
"
he snapped.
"
I never expected to find you going through my desk and bothering things.
"

"
I
'
m sorry,
"
I said.
"
I didn
'
t mean to. The drawer was open and it caught my eye. It was so beautiful. I just didn
'
t think. I only wanted to look at it.
"

"
Well, you shouldn
'
t have.
"
He eyed me with suspicion.
"
It
'
s late. Why are you here at all?
"

I pointed to the papers I had put down on his desk.
"
I brought some of my sketches to show you. I was anxious to see what you thought. You weren
'
t in earlier, so when I saw that your office was still open, I waited. I thought you might have left a note or something. I
'
m really very sorry,
"
I repeated lamely.
"
I didn
'
t intend to pry. I
'
ll go now.
"

I picked up the drawings hastily, preparing to flee. But Briggs reached the door before I did and shut it.
"
Sit, Lily,
"
he said.
"
Since you
'
ve gone to so much trouble, let
'
s have a look at your work.
"

I fought to act normally, but had the horrible feeling that I wasn
'
t being successful. I could hear my own voice scraping against the dryness in my throat.
"
Don
'
t you think tomorrow would be better? It
'
s late, and I
'
ve upset you. Anyway, I
'
m meeting someone soon. So—
"

He stared at me, unblinking, his glasses seeming to magnify the ominous intensity of his gaze.
"
No, Lily. I insist. We need to have a talk now.
"

I tried to tell myself that nothing was wrong. It was a coincidence. I was overwrought because of all that was happening to me. Scarabs were very common. There could have been others with the same inscription. It couldn
'
t possibly be the one in my vision. There was no way that Dr. Briggs...But there was and it screamed at me even as I tried to argue against it. He had dated Cassandra Allingham. And Cassandra Allingham had been there when Amisihathor
'
s tomb was opened. Wayward, beautiful, irresponsible Cassandra, who resented all the attention her parents devoted to Egyptology.

It wouldn
'
t have been too difficult to remove some small pieces and smuggle them out. No one would have suspected the young daughter of the esteemed archaeologists who had given so much to the Egyptian Museum. A double victory for her, spiting her parents and pleasing her lover. Perhaps it had even been his idea. Was that how he had financed his career?

I didn
'
t want to believe it. However, I knew in my heart who the scarab had belonged to. I could tell as soon as I saw it. And the way that Briggs was looking at me now as I mechanically took a chair sent shivers down my spine.

"
The sketches, Lily,
"
he said.

I handed them over. He viewed each one, lingering on the courtyard scene. Then, with a sudden, violent movement that made me jump, he bunched it up and threw it to the floor.

"
Blackmail is a very ugly activity,
"
he said between clenched teeth.
"
Not to mention a dangerous one.
"

Is that what he thought I was doing? Surprise made my voice sound indignant.
"
What do you mean?
"

"
Oh, come on. It
'
s too late to play the innocent now. You get cozy with the Allingham family. Sketches are
accidentally
left on your desk that show me you know what items from the tomb looked like, with those earrings right on top. I offer you a deal illustrating one of my books, but that isn
'
t enough for you. Now you come by with another drawing of an object that just happens to be in my desk drawer, which has always been kept under lock and key.
"

"
But I—
"

"
Not very subtle, Lily. I get the message.
"

"
What message?
"

"
You
know
.
"
He glared at me, his eyes narrowing.
"
So what exactly do you want? It obviously can
'
t be for the truth to come out. That would hurt Dame Ursula and your new boyfriend as much as it would me. And you
'
d never be able to prove anything. So I
'
m warning you.
"
He took a step closer and I cringed.
"
Take the book deal and be satisfied. With that and the Allingham connection, you
'
ll be sitting pretty. Don
'
t get too greedy, or you could spoil it all.
"

I was appalled. I had worked for this man for the past year, I had been proud of his prestige, and I had respected him. Now he was confessing to something I hadn
'
t even imagined, but he didn
'
t seem to feel any remorse. He was tarring me with his own brush as well. It stung to find that anyone could think of me as that kind of person. Nor did I appreciate being threatened. But I no longer knew whom I was dealing with, and I had to be careful.

"
I was never looking for trouble, Dr. Briggs,
"
I said.
"
I don
'
t want Ursula or Kent to be hurt. But you should give back anything you still have from the tomb. The artifacts belong in Egypt, along with the rest of Amisihathor
'
s things. No one has to know where they came from. You of all people realize how important it is to have each and every artifact carefully studied.
"

"
That
'
s the party line, of course,
"
he said with disdain.
"
But there are much more important things. Why should this work be shunted off to sit on a shelf in some museum where there are so many objects they can
'
t possibly all be displayed and appreciated
properly? These items were made for a purpose, and I have given that purpose back to them. I know their value and I treasure them each day. Their creators would approve.
"

"
But they belong to the country of Egypt. They
'
re part of the heritage of all mankind.
"

"
Well, I
'
m a part of mankind, aren
'
t I?
"
He gave me a strange smile.
"
Most people could care less about our heritage. And why should a government thirty-five centuries later have a claim on something created by an individual who never dreamed they would exist? Was there a will that bequeathed it to them? I don
'
t think so.
"

"
Why not?
"
I demanded.
"
Why shouldn
'
t they be returned to their country of origin?
"

He snorted with derision.
"
The Egyptians robbed their own tombs from antiquity to the present day, destroying and plundering for profit. I have treated my finds with the respect and reverence that they deserve. I have utilized their power for the glory of ancient Egypt, not the satisfaction of some petty officials trying to rake in money from the tourist trade.
"

"
It
'
s how things are done,
"
I said.
"
Egypt will want them back.
"

"'
Give us back our treasures,
'"
he mocked.
"'
We had nothing to do with creating them, certainly did not preserve them, but we want them all here now, just so the world has to pay to come and see them.
'"

"
But they belong in Egypt.
"

"
No, Lily, they do
not
belong in Egypt. I am their guardian now, and I will never give them up.
"

The convoluted logic he had invented to justify what was plain and simple theft stunned me. In an academic of his stature, it was even more reprehensible. But I could see that I wouldn
'
t get anywhere by contradicting him. All I wanted now was to escape. I felt overwhelmed, unable to deal with this sudden betrayal. I needed time to think.

In what I hoped was a reasonable voice, I said,
"
Obviously I can
'
t force you to do anything. You
'
re absolutely right. It had to be Cassandra who gave you those artifacts, and no one wants her family to be dragged into this. It would destroy them. So I won
'
t say anything. Kent is too important to me.
"

"
Very sensible of you, Lily. You hang onto that ticket, and there
'
s no telling how far you can ride.
"
He took the sketches and put them into his desk.
"
And watch what you draw more carefully, understand?
"

"
I understand.
"
I stood up and walked towards the door.
"
Goodnight, Professor Briggs.
"

"
Goodbye, Lily.
"

I held my breath until I was out of the office. Then I practically ran into the main hallway. There were few people about at this hour to notice my strange behavior. A woman sharing the elevator with me did ask if I was all right. I must have been as white as a sheet.