Ancient World 02 - Raiders of the Nile (10 page)

“Why should I pay them?”

I shrugged. “It’s not my place, Tafhapy, to say what this woman is worth to you—”

“You misunderstand, Gordianus. Why should I pay ransom for a woman who…”

Tafhapy’s voice trailed away. From his resting place beneath the lemon tree at the far corner of the garden, Djet had risen to his feet to greet someone—a woman, to judge by her general outline. So deep was the shade in that part of the garden that I could not see her face at all, only her silhouette. The woman turned away from Djet and walked toward us, keeping to the shade of a leafy bower. As she drew near, a bit of sunlight penetrated the leaves to strike her face, and I saw that it was—

“Bethesda!” I whispered, my heart skipping a beat. I dropped the papyrus and rose from my chair.

But as the woman moved from the shadows into the light, I saw that I was mistaken. My heart turned to lead.

“As I was saying,” Tafhapy continued, “why should I pay ransom for a woman who was never kidnapped?”

Rising from his chair, he took Axiothea’s hands in his and gave her a kiss on the forehead. They smiled at each other for a long moment, then Axiothea sat in the chair next to mine.

“Sit, Gordianus,” said Tafhapy.

I did so, gripping the armrests to steady myself.

“Did you not come to my house earlier today, asking to see Axiothea? Here she is.”

I glanced at her, but had to look away. Her resemblance to Bethesda had amused me when I first met her, and delighted me in my dreams. Now it brought me pain to look at her. Yet my eyes were drawn to look at her again, and then I could not look away.

By what magic of the gods does a certain human face, that face and no other, become so important to us, the focus of our deepest longings, the answer to all questions? To gaze upon that face, and no other, is to find stillness in the midst of chaos, contentment in the midst of despair, pleasure in the midst of whatever pain and confusion life may throw at us. Axiothea’s face was very nearly that face—almost, but not quite. Looking at her, I felt many things at once, and my thoughts became a jumble.

Axiothea leaned toward me and put her hand on my arm. I looked at Tafhapy, thinking he might be displeased by her show of affection, however mild, but his demeanor remained aloof. If anything, he seemed to approve of Axiothea’s compassionate gesture.

“Why did you send Djet to fetch me?” I whispered.

“Answer my question first. Why did you want to see Axiothea? Did you have a question for her?”

“Yes.”

“Ask it now.”

I looked into her eyes. Curiously, they were the part of her that least resembled Bethesda; never could I have mistaken the eyes of one for the other. Looking into Axiothea’s eyes, I was able to maintain my composure.

“When did you last see Bethesda? How did you come to be parted? Do you know what’s become of her?”

“I last saw Bethesda in the market on the waterfront. She said she needed to relieve herself. She knew where to find the public latrina. I offered to go with her, but she insisted there was no need. While she was gone, Djet appeared, sent by his master to find me. Tafhapy had watched our performance, sitting in his litter. When the king’s soldiers arrived, his own bodyguards formed a cordon around him, so that he didn’t see the escape of the mime troupe, and had no idea what had happened to us. He was terribly worried about me. I couldn’t leave him in suspense. I had to go to him.”

“So you left Bethesda behind?”

“Not at once. I waited for her—for a while—but at last I went off with Djet. You and Melmak and the rest were only a short distance away, and the market was full of people. I never imagined that any harm would come to her. I certainly never imagined that…”

She reached down to retrieve the scrap of papyrus I had dropped and handed it back to me.

“They say they captured me, Gordianus, yet here I sit. When the first message was left on the doorstep a few days ago, Tafhapy didn’t tell me about it. But he did insist that I stay here at the house, thinking to protect me from these deluded kidnappers while he tried to figure out who they were and what they were up to. To keep me from leaving, the sweetheart plied me with every indulgence. I thought he was merely doting on me! But today, when this second ransom note arrived, he showed it to me, along with the first. I found the messages as baffling as he did—until I realized what must have happened. The kidnappers must have had some idea of what I look like and where they might find me; perhaps they even knew I was dressed in green. But the woman they came upon was Bethesda. Thinking she was me, they ran off with her. They sent the first message to Tafhapy, believing they had me in their power. The second message indicates that, as of today, they’re still holding Bethesda, thinking she’s me.”

“Unless…” My tongue turned to stone and refused to utter the thought.

Axiothea lowered her eyes. “Yes, I thought of that. What if … what if they killed the girl they thought to be me, and they lie when they say their captive is still alive. Yes, that’s possible, but—”

“But not likely,” said Tafhapy. “Kidnapping is quite common these days. People of property must deal with such unpleasantness on a regular basis. But almost always, certain rules apply.”

“Rules?” I said.

“Yes. First and foremost is that the hostage is kept alive and well—indeed, often pampered, as if he or she were a sacred cat in a temple—and returned unharmed after the money is paid. It’s the way this sort of thing is done. Only a very stupid or very careless kidnapper would kill his hostage—especially if the man he dared to extort was me.”

Axiothea smiled. “Tafhapy the Terrible, they call him.”

“Who calls him that?” I asked.

“Anyone who dares to cross me!” said Tafhapy. “I suspect this girl called Bethesda is being kept alive and well by her captors, who thought she was Axiothea when they abducted her, and continue to think so.”

“Bethesda is deliberately passing for Axiothea?” I said.

“Why not? This girl looks like Axiothea, does she not? And if she’s even half as clever as Axiothea, she will have figured out what’s happened and realized it’s to her advantage to go along with her captors’ mistake. Quite likely she’s being held in some degree of comfort, given the high value they attach to their prize. Perhaps the girl is living in better circumstances than she’s used to. She may even be enjoying herself. If she’s being coddled enough, she may even prefer the company of these brigands, as opposed to being your captive.”

“
My
captive?”

“Isn’t every slave a captive, strictly speaking, no matter how mild her master?”

I was torn by powerful emotions—distress at the likelihood that Bethesda had been kidnapped in Axiothea’s stead, relief that Tafhapy believed she was safe, then more distress at his suggestion that she might actually be enjoying the separation that was causing me such misery.

“What am I to do?” I muttered.

“Go after her, of course,” said Tafhapy.

“What?”

“Go after her and get her back. That is, if you’re as smitten with the girl as you appear to be.”

“Smitten? Of course, I’m upset. Bethesda is my property. She’s been stolen from me. They had no right—”

“Ah, so this is a matter of honor and justice,” Tafhapy said. “Whatever your motivations, if you want the girl, you must find some way to get her back. Can you pay the sort of ransom these bandits are likely to demand?”

I shook my head. “I don’t suppose … that you…”

“That
I
might pay the ransom?” Tafhapy threw back his head and laughed.

“Perhaps … perhaps you could communicate with the kidnappers, and let them know that they’ve taken the wrong person. Once they know Bethesda is merely a poor man’s slave, they’ll understand what she’s worth, and I might be able to buy her back.”

“And how would that be to my advantage? As long as these men think they’re holding Axiothea, they’ll leave the real Axiothea alone. Against my better judgment—because Axiothea insisted I do so—I’ve done you the favor of telling you what’s become of your slave, Gordianus. I didn’t owe you even that much.”

“But how am I to find her?”

“Ah, with that I may be able to help you. When I was trying to make sense of that first, nonsensical ransom demand, I did some asking around, and I think I know which culprits are involved. No others, at this particular time, would dare to engage in such a risky enterprise, aimed at a person as powerful as myself. All signs indicate that we are dealing with the gang of the Cuckoo’s Child.”

“The Cuckoo’s Child?”

“That is what they call their leader. They are a particularly brazen gang of cutthroats who operate from a base somewhere in the Nile Delta. No ship travels up or down any of the river’s many branches, and no party traverses the land routes across the Delta, without fear of encountering these raiders. Until recently, their operations have been confined to the Delta, and here in Alexandria we had nothing to fear from them. But as King Ptolemy’s hold on the city has weakened, bandits and rebels everywhere in Egypt have been emboldened. The Delta has become a lawless place.” He shook his head. “Now even Tafhapy, minding his own business in his house in Alexandria, is targeted to pay ransom for a kidnapping. This can only be the work of the Cuckoo’s Child and his gang.”

Where had I recently heard the phrase “cuckoo’s child”? It had been in the mime show, in reference to a fictitious bastard brother of the king, but that seemed to have no relevance at the moment. “Who is this Cuckoo’s Child you speak of? Why do they call him that, and what’s his real name? And how did he become the head of such a gang?”

“Ah, those are very good questions, Gordianus, to which King Ptolemy and his agents would very much like the answers. As far as I know, no one outside the gang knows the real name of the Cuckoo’s Child. These bandits take an oath, upon pain of death, never to reveal the true name of their leader, or that of any other member.” He smiled. “Perhaps you can find the answers to your questions from the Cuckoo’s Child himself, when you track him down and ask for the return of your slave.”

“Are you making fun of me, Tafhapy?”

His smile faded. “No, I am not. Though I may appear aloof to your misery, Gordianus, I, too, know the power of the heart’s desire, even over the strongest of men.” He glanced at Axiothea. “True, it was Axiothea who insisted that I bring you here, from a desire to help her new friends, you and this girl Bethesda. But I, too, wish you the blessings of Fortuna, if that Roman goddess will deign to influence the outcome of such a peculiar enterprise—the retrieval of a slave kidnapped by mistake.”

I shook my head. “The Delta is enormous, or so I’ve been told.”

“It is indeed,” said Tafhapy.

“Is it not a settled region, with villages and farms and roads?”

“Many areas are settled, yes. And there are roads that cross the Delta, with ferries to carry travelers and their camels across the many waterways, from one stretch of road to the next. But many parts of the Delta are wild and uncharted, and have been so since the time of the pharaohs. As it nears the sea, the Nile splits into countless channels, creating countless islands, large and small. Maps of the Delta are meaningless, because overnight a storm or a flood can change water to land, or land to water. There are marshes that no horse or camel can pass, tracts of quicksand that have swallowed whole armies without a trace, swamps and lagoons thick with man-eating crocodiles. Vast expanses are totally flat, covered with thick, scrubby vegetation, and devoid of landmarks, so that even the most experienced guides become hopelessly lost. These inhospitable regions of the Delta have long been a haven for all sorts of miscreants and misfits—criminal gangs, escaped slaves, deserters from the army and ex-soldiers fallen on hard times, outcast courtiers and even exiled members of the royal family. The most desperate men in all Egypt live in the Delta. They do as they please with impunity, beyond the reach of any law.”

“Surely no man in his right mind would venture into such a place,” I said.

“Surely not,” agreed Tafhapy.

I thought about this. Could I be described as a man in his right mind? Not since Bethesda’s disappearance. “If some fool were to go there, how would he find this gang of the Cuckoo’s Child?”

“The easternmost branch of the Nile is called the Pelusian. The westernmost, nearest to Alexandria, is called the Canopic. Between them, along with countless smaller waterways, are the five other major branches of the Delta. My informants believe they know on which of these branches, and approximately how close to the sea, the Cuckoo’s Child has established his latest stronghold—the Cuckoo’s Nest, it’s called. Should some fool decide to make the journey, I can provide more detailed directions.”

I swallowed hard. “But … what if Bethesda is being held not in the Delta, but here in Alexandria? For all we know, she may be only a stone’s throw from this house.”

“Unlikely,” said Tafhapy. “That’s not how these kidnappers operate. They will have taken her to the place where they feel most secure and where she will have the least chance of escape: the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

I considered everything he had told me. “If I should try to find this place, I’ll need to stall for time. These kidnappers must be made to think there’s still a chance they’ll receive a ransom. If you could lead them on, Tafhapy … if you could reply to their latest message, and to any others that may come … make them believe you’re willing to pay—”

“No, Gordianus. I thought I made myself clear: there will be no communication whatsoever between me and these brigands. Even so, I don’t think they’ll dispose of this girl too quickly. In kidnappings of this sort, it’s quite common for negotiations to drag on for months. The kidnappers will be patient. But from me, they will receive no response. This concerns your property. I’ve turned the matter over to you. I leave it entirely in your hands.”

“But I can’t take on a gang of brigands single-handed!”

“Hire bodyguards.”

“With what? I have no money.”

“Then
get
some money, Gordianus!” Tafhapy grunted, growing impatient. “Or simply get yourself a new slave girl.”