“But for how long, we can’t be sure,” Moses added.
“You?” Shabaka asked.
“Only that there are too many ifs and possibilities. I’m still trying to make sense of it all.”
“What do you mean?” Moses asked.
“Well, not to frighten you too much, but the walking dead is apparently possible. Then there is also a mysterious illness that eats flesh. Well maybe not eat it, but causes it to fall from the bone. And if it is that, then, yes, we are looking at another plague.” The man watching them had an astonished look on his face as Neti continued. “I haven’t ruled out a curse either, both funerary or benign, just as I have not ruled out whether it is something restricted to a family.”
“Sounds like you covered everything.” Shabaka said.
“I should check with some of the local priests, find out if they have any spells or chants that could cause it. It is possibly an old spell.”
“Sounds a bit like we’re chasing cats’ tails,” Moses said.
“What about the sister? You guys saw her, anything concerning?”
“Our eavesdropper here is her husband,” Moses said pointing to the man. “But we weren’t allowed to speak to her.”
Neti looked at the man, “Why not?”
“‘Why not,’ she asks?” he replied in astonishment. Then his tone changed, “Because she is my wife and I will not allow it, especially to someone connected to her brothers.”
“I do not understand your anger,” Neti said. “We only wanted to ask her some questions about her brothers, something that can help us understand what happened to them.”
“They got their comeuppance, simple as that. Those two useless oafs only bring trouble when they don’t demand of her to pay their debts. I say good riddance.”
“That may be so,” Moses said, “but we need to determine if the manner in which they died poses any danger to people they have come into contact with.”
“My wife has not had any contact with them for several seasons.”
“We…” Neti halted for a moment and shook her head. “I think they may have gotten the condition during their travels and that your wife may also have been exposed to it. We really need to speak with her.”
The man looked between them, seemingly hesitant. “If the Pharaoh can trust you with his matters then I guess I should as well. But I warn you, I will not have my wife involved in any travels.”
“So you will allow us to speak with her?” Neti keenly asked.
The man looked at her, his gaze intense. “You may speak with her,” he said pointing to Neti. “But in my presence.”
Neti smiled, “Thank you. Can I speak with her now?”
“She’s at home. You can come back with me.”
Shabaka shot up at that, professing a firm “No!” This caused both Neti and the man to look at him. “She does not leave the city without one of us present.”
The man looked at Shabaka, nodding. “As is only proper. A lone woman entering a man’s home without a male escort would question her honor. You may accompany her as well, however you may not address my wife.”
Moses frowned at that. “But you are not Hebrew.”
“You need not be Hebrew to follow such laws,” the man said.
“Now we have to go all that way again,” Moses moaned.
“I will go with Neti,” Shabaka said. “You can go to the palace and collect the chariot, it will make the return easier.”
“What!” Moses exclaimed. “The only horses I can drive are yours, and they were left in Nubia.”
“Well then, you won’t have a problem, seeing as my father returned them with the last tillage. Bring one of the mejay with you. It would ease our return.”
Neti thoroughly enjoyed the walk as they returned to the farmhouse. The farmer and her discussed his planned crops and she queried him about various herbs that were grown outside Thebes. The man thus became pleasant on the way, willingly sharing methods and practices with her, so much so that any antagonism she had sensed before their departure had dissipated.
On their arrival at the home, three children ran towards him, two boys and a girl, although they hesitated in their approach when they saw Neti and Shabaka.
“He was here earlier today,” the eldest boy said pointing to Shabaka.
“Yes, they are to speak with your mother. Where is she?”
“Inside, with the baby.”
The girl looked at Neti but said nothing. She also did not smile in response to Neti’s smile.
The farmer entered the house and called to his wife. Within moments she appeared with a footbath and towels. She welcomed them and washed their feet, offering them another bath for their hands before inviting them to sit on the reed mat.
The young girl disappeared for several moments but then reappeared with an urn, the youngest following her with cups.
“My husband does not believe in wine for women,” the woman said, indicating the urn before pouring. “This is a juice we make for the children. It is a mixture of fruit water and herbs.”
She handed Neti a glass, then Shabaka. The three children keenly took a cup each and quickly drank the contents. “They will drink the entire pitcher if given the chance.”
Neti brought the cup to her nose. It smelled inviting and she took a tentative sip. It was sweeter than she had imagined, causing her to smile at the little girl. “Just what I need after the long road.” The little girl beamed and sat down next to her mother.
Neti looked at the woman. “Isha is it not?” The woman nodded. “Your husband has said that I can ask you some questions regarding Kaliph and Xaron.”
“What have they done this time?” Isha asked, agitation evident in her voice.
Neti brought her hands together. “That was what I was hoping you could help us with.”
“I told the two men earlier that I wanted nothing to do with this, that I will also not be held accountable for my brothers’ debts. I have had enough of them.”
Neti calmly continued. “I know nothing of their debts and that is not why we are here. We are here because you might be in danger.”
“How so?” Isha asked. “Who did they anger this time?”
“I do not know. That was why I was hoping you could help us.”
“I avoid them as much as I can. All of my life they have only brought me trouble.” She looked at her husband and continued, “My husband got both of them respectable jobs and instructed the foremen that the two should not have days off at the same time because they get into all kinds of mischief together.”
Neti looked towards Shabaka, who nodded, indicating that he had made note of that.
“My partner will look into that. But I need to know who they would meet up with if given similar off days or what they would do.”
“They are trouble. Even as boys, they were always stealing fruit and stuff when we passed through cities.”
“You are of nomadic origin?” Neti asked.
Isha looked at her, hesitant, uncertain, but then shook her head. “Not really.” She looked towards her husband, then back at Neti. “My mother…” she began but then noticeably swallowed. “My mother was raped before her wedding. Because of that, the man her parents had accepted wanted nothing more to do with her. She was considered dirty, tainted. Her family abandoned her. They pushed her aside because she was no longer considered pure, no longer worthy of being called their daughter. I am the child that resulted from that,” the woman softly said. “And my mother had difficulty finding work because I was so small. Phezi found us…well, their caravan found us. He was weeping within because his wife had died in childbirth and the boy would not drink camel’s milk. He took in my mother and I. My mother was a wet nurse for Kaliph and we traveled with them to where the women remain with the children. I knew no different and to many, Kaliph was my brother.”
“A breast bother,” Neti said.
Isha nodded. “Xaron, however, is my half brother. Phezi, once Kaliph was weaned, took
my mother as his bride and lay with her as a man does with a woman. Xaron was born from this and is brother to both Kaliph and I. Because of their ways, my mother kept a constant eye over me so that when I was considered old enough, my mother left me with her youngest sister on passing through Thebes. It was through her that I met my husband.”
“So you are not really their sister,” Neti stated rather than asked.
“I am to Xaron,” Isha said.
“No, I mean by blood, by father’s blood.”
Isha shook her head, “It was just something we always kept silent about.”
“It could also mean that you may not be affected. That is, if whatever killed them came from their father,” Neti said and noticed the husband’s sigh of relief.
“What are you talking about? Kaliph and Xaron are dead?”
Neti nodded, reaching for her hand. “Sorry, we should have told you.”
The woman looked at the ground. “Then I killed them.”
“What?” Neti asked confused. Shabaka shifted to stand but resettled when Neti looked his way, even the woman’s husband was shocked.
“My mother always told me to be careful, that it was not right.”
“Careful of what?” Neti asked.
“As a child, I would often wish them away. She always told me that I should not wish for such things. But I had spent so many troublesome seasons with them, that wishing them dead became something I did everyday. I know it was wrong and that I should not have done it.”
Neti shook her head and reached for the woman’s hand. “I do not think you are responsible. It is normal to wish one’s problems away. But I do not think it would have been enough to kill them. So unless you provided something for them to eat or drink, it is unlikely that you killed them.”
“Then how did they die?”
“Xaron was with friends who claimed he just dropped to the ground dead,” Neti said, then turned to look at Shabaka. “I’m not certain how Kaliph died, but his body was found in the same manner.”
The woman nodded. “I have not spoken with them since my daughter’s birth, when they threatened to hurt her. It is so strange, I always wanted it but it still feels wrong.” She then looked at Neti. “Why are you looking into this? They were not important people…unless they have stolen something.”
“That is why we need to know who they would talk with, who they would see during their time off.”
The woman remained silent for some time before she spoke. “I don’t know where they could be. I haven’t seen or spoken to any of them since I left the caravan. But Kaliph and Xaron have two older brothers. They are full brothers to Kaliph, and then there are two uncles as well.”
“No women?” Neti asked surprised.
Isha shook her head. “There is a home where the women remain with the children. The older boys travel with the caravan, but not the women.”
“But you did,” Neti said.
“Only when they went to the cities to trade. The men claimed that we slowed them down too much.”
“So we are back to the start,” Shabaka said. “We will need to talk to their friends again.”
“If their friends are like them, they will not say anything,” Isha said. “They will not draw attention to themselves.”
“It could explain why they remained at the house when Xaron died,” Neti said.
“Almost like they have something bigger to hide and don’t want us looking around,” Shabaka said.
Neti looked at the woman. “Thank you, you have been most helpful.”
She then turned to Shabaka. “We will have to plan a trip to Memphis. There are too many similarities here to what I learned from the Keeper of the Truth.
Chapter Seven
Neti was convinced she spent more time on barks than any other person in Thebes. She looked out over the water and was immensely grateful that she did not take ill when traveling by bark. She looked towards Seota, whose appearance was still pale as she remained close to the side of the bark. For the entire trip on the river the young girl had been ill, so much so that it had weakened her.
Out of necessity, one of them had to remain in Thebes to maintain a presence for the Pharaoh. Moses had been the obvious choice, since he had sufficient knowledge of bodies to pursue any matters on his own until their return. Neti had thought it worthwhile for Seota to accompany them, to give the young girl an opportunity of experiencing another city without any apprehensions as to the reason therefore.
Seota had matured substantially during her time in Thebes. Even so, she appeared to withdraw into herself the farther from Thebes they progressed. So much so, that by their second day aboard the bark Neti had come to regret her decision. Her only consolation was that they would reach Memphis before sunset.
Releasing a heavy sigh, she looked into the distance again. Initially, she had enjoyed their travels on the bark, but as of late they had become more bothersome. The lack of privacy and space were two of the things that irritated her the most. Especially since Shabaka had, on two occasions, needed to reprimand some of the oarsmen for the unwanted attention they had bestowed upon Seota. Neti knew that many men would soon consider her of age, but, like her own parents, she felt that the decision should be the Seota’s when it came time to decide whom she would take as a husband.
“You seem to be somewhere else,” Shabaka said as he came to sit besides her.
Neti nodded at Seota. “I just hope she doesn’t die before we actually make it to Memphis.”
Shabaka looked towards the girl. “I doubt it. One can only be sick until your stomach is empty.”
“That is the problem. She had not eaten anything today and yet she looks almost gray.”
“We will look for a hebron when we reach Memphis. A good meal and a proper night’s rest and she will be on her feet again.”
“I hope so,” Neti said.
Shabaka looked at her questioningly, but remained silent.
Their arrival in Memphis was without incident and the owner of the local hebron was more than willing to put them up for the evening, but only after noting their sashes.
“Has there been trouble lately?” Shabaka asked as the man led them towards their rooms.
“There have been some, shall I say, unwelcome visitors as of late,” the owner replied, pushing a cloth covering the doorway out of the way. “This room will be for the women,” he said, gesturing inside.
The room was bare except for a few pillows scattered on the floor and two grass bed-mats. “I will have my wife bring you some blankets.”
“Thank you,” Neti said, and indicated to Seota that she was to enter.
“Do you want me to call for a healer? She looks really ill.”
“The trip on the bark did not agree with her,” Shabaka said, causing the man to look at him.
“Ah, yes, I forget. Most travelers travel here by donkey or foot. But you, being with the Pharaoh, would have access to barks.”
“You mentioned unwelcome visitors earlier,” Neti started and then pointed to the room, “…and you seem overly aware of our ill companion.”
The man hesitantly looked between them, asking instead, “Why have you come here?”
The question had Shabaka rise to his full height before answering, “It is no place of yours to question the reason for our presence.”
The man held up his hands. “I mean no offence. It is just strange that you are here, now, I mean after everything that has happened recently.”
Shabaka looked towards Neti, who spoke, “Why would our arrival here be strange?”
The man shifted before again answering with a question, “You are prefects of the Pharaoh, yes?”
“Yes, we are,” Neti answered, for a moment glancing at Shabaka.
A sigh of relief came from the man, causing both Neti and Shabaka to frown.
“There have been unwelcome visitors in the city. Men of the desert one could say. Their skins are dark, not like yours,” the man said pointing to Shabaka. “M
ore thick, like browned leather. They call themselves traders but the type of trading they do is not welcome, and many became ill after bartering with them.”
“What type of trading do they do?”
“There were all sorts of goods: beads and necklaces for women, swords and daggers for men. Things that left many in awe. But they would eat and drink at beerhouses without payment, and when people started looking for them to request payment, they had left.”
Shabaka looked at Neti, who nodded in response to his unasked question.
“And they have since left?”
“Like thieves in the night.”
“And you have no idea where they could be going?”
The man shook his head. “But wherever they are going, they will soon outlive their welcome.”
“Why the interest in our companion?” Neti asked.
The man snorted. “A few of the men were ill on arrival. The healers saw to them but it was unlike anything I have ever seen.”
“Explain,” Shabaka instructed.
“There were pink patches on their skin, like the skin was raw, and they stank as if they had not bathed in weeks.”
“Did they die?” Neti asked.
The man shook his head. “No. The healers used a restorative oil on them. It seemed to help. Actually, now that I think of it, they left as soon as their ills were better.”
“So their actual reason for coming to Memphis was to seek treatment?” Neti said to no one in particular. She then turned her attention to the man. “And they did not perhaps mention where they had been?”
The man shook his head, “They only said that they were desert dwellers.”
“Where there any women with them?”
The man thought for a moment, and then shook his head. “Not that I can remember, but these desert dwellers leave their women in the desert. They do not like for others to look upon them.”
Neti nodded. “And these people have taken advantage of your hospitality as well?”
The man shook his head. “No, but we talk between each other, warn each other of such people.”
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