The Eye of Horus (22 page)

“Ramose awaits you in his pleasure garden,” he mumbled for my ears only. “Bastet has him by the balls and begins to squeeze.” We dropped back from the others, pretending a nonchalance neither of us felt. “He sends Aset away but not to the priestesses of Hathor. She goes to the harem of a rich noble instead.” My heart leaped into my throat, making me gasp for breath, but when I turned to question him he shook his head, warning me off. Then he disappeared into the crowd, probably to keep watch on Aset.

I found Ramose staring into his lotus pond. He has changed little over the years, though it would not show had his hair gone pure white. The same can be said of his true motives, which is why I trust him no more now than I did before.

“Do you have a friend you would trust with all you possess, Senakhtenre, even your life?” he asked when I drew near.

I learned long ago to be wary of priests who sidle up to a subject, wrapping their true meaning in a veil of innuendo or mystery, so I told him what he already knew. “I have been fortunate, indeed, my lord, for my father was such a friend to me. And Mena.”

“To think I once believed I knew all there was to know about you!” He shook his head, but his eyes crinkled at the corners, as if he made light of his own naïveté. “I do not try to trick you into tripping over your own tongue, Tenre. It is only that I must find the answer to a question. The right answer. For what I decide here and now will weigh heavily
in the decision of Osiris and his judges, when my time comes to face them.” He turned to me. “The question is, can I trust you with a treasure that is dearer to me than all the gold in Nubia, no matter what direction the wind may blow in the months ahead?”

“Probably not,” I replied, for I would use whatever riches he entrusted to me to protect his daughter, even from him. “I am like any other man, my lord, in some ways stronger than others but in other ways weaker than most.”

“Sometimes,
sunu
, I see too much of you in my daughter,” he mumbled under his breath. “She, too, knows how to disarm with honesty.”

“I beg your forgiveness if I gave offense.” My deviousness lacks the refinement that comes with practice, while repentance is a well-worn habit.

He shook his head. “It is just that, in a world filled with self-seeking men, you become a master of obfuscation simply by speaking the truth. Perhaps one day before the water of our time in this world runs out, you and I will have the luxury of engaging in a real battle of wits. For now I must be content with the evidence before my eyes—my daughter, who I trust above all others … even my god.” I could not have uttered a word had my life depended on it. “I, too, have a friend like your father,” he continued. “He is old now, yet he loves me still, and I him. So Aset will become his Second Wife—”

“But she has not yet begun her monthly flow,” I protested, raising my voice over the sudden pounding in my ears, for I cared little if my skull should split open if only the gods would allow me to live long enough to find another way.

“That is of no importance to him, and I do what I must to keep her safe. After the episode with the old Nubian—” He raised his hand to forestall any more objections. “It is done. The contract has been signed.” I wanted to rip the tongue from his mouth. “You have served her well, my friend.” He looked me in the eyes. “You are that, Tenre, are you not?”

I knew then that we had arrived at the crux of the matter. “I
have tried to be, though I admit there were times when I went against your instructions. But not what I believed to be your true intent—that I keep her ka whole as well as her body.”

His mouth relaxed in a wry smile. “Thank Amen I was right about one thing at least.” Again he held my eyes. “What I ask of you now could cost you dearly, Tenre. More perhaps than you are willing to give. If so, I will not question your decision, but will do all I can to help you rise to the top rung of the ladder, if that is your wish.”

“Then cease torturing me and get to it.”

“The friend I send her to is both generous and wise, but he is old. Aset must disappear for a while, yet I cannot bear to coop her up with his unmarried daughter and two sisters, who are simple at best. Could she go to your house in town once her presence in Uzahor’s harem has been established?” The words began to flow from him like water from an upended shaduf. “Surely Merit could change her appearance so no one would be the wiser, perhaps by cutting her hair like that of an apprentice?”

“Or the man who manages my dispensary,” I suggested, falling in with his plan. “What about Pagosh? And Merit.”

“They will take up residence in her husband’s villa. Aset must appear there from time to time, so her husband can show her to his friends, but her dowry will be available to you through his factor. Use it to add a room to your house, hire servants, or whatever you require. Ipwet and her son would take up service in your household, I am sure.” So he already knew that Aset befriended his workers.

“Pagosh has agreed?”

“It was his idea. See that Tuli stays inside your walls and then she will, too.” He seemed intent on plugging whatever holes I might find in his plan.

“Won’t her new husband object to such an arrangement?”

Ramose shook his head. “He does this for me, no other reason.” I was skeptical, but I had no other choice, so I followed him to his big house, where he motioned me through
the door ahead of him. “Pagosh was to bring her to my library.”

Aset jumped up as we entered the room, as if she had been caught doing something she was not supposed to. Which she had. “Tenre! I thought you went—?”

“We have been discussing your schooling,” Ramose told her. “But let Pagosh bring us a cool drink first. Then we will talk.”

“I will help him,” she volunteered, and ran after him. She had slipped on a short tunic, which did not hide her juicestained ankles.

When they returned Ramose told her what she needed to know and no more. “But why do I have to be Uzahor’s wife?” she protested.

“Because your lady mother says it is time. And to put you under his protection by law, in case something should happen to me.”

“But if Tuli can come with me to Tenre’s, why not Paga and Merit?”

“So everyone thinks you remain with Uzahor.” Pagosh never said a word, though I suspect his heart was in tatters. “You leave tomorrow, and will stay there until the tongues of the gossips find a new tale to wag about.”

When she glanced at me, it was all I could do to nod. “Then I better help Merit pack our things, if we are to be ready when Re-Horakhte appears.”

“As you wish,” Ramose agreed, “but first I must have your word that you will do as Tenre says in all things, not just your studies.”

“Only if he will answer my questions as before.” I recognized that for what it was, a brave face to hide her fear.

Ramose nodded. “Also you will speak to no one of this.”

“I have to tell Tuli so he will understand why he must stay within Tenre’s walls.”

A smile lit Ramose’s blue eyes. “Tuli, but no one else.” He went down on one knee. “Come here.” Aset went to him
and clasped her arms around his neck. “I will miss you, my little Nile goose,” he murmured into her hair. “Now leave us in peace.”

“That is all?” she asked, as he set her away. “Did you not see my feet?”

“I noticed, just as you intended.” I saw the smile he tried to hide. So did Aset.

Later Pagosh told me Ramose took pleasure in informing Nefertiti that it was her history of consorting with the priests of Aten that tainted their daughter, making it impossible to find any man willing to accept Aset as more than a minor wife.

“But the bitch is not done. She must be sure the High Priest will deny Horemheb the throne, and cannot wait until the old Pharaoh’s clock runs dry. That means Paranefer will be next.”

I begin to understand Pagosh’s constant state of restrained fury, since I, too, taste the bitterness of a truth I have long denied—my own helplessness. Not to prevent the disasters decreed by the gods, but by mortal men … and one woman.

Kate hit the city limits of Houston around four-thirty and let several exits go by before she took one, then followed the access road until she came to a service station. The pay phone was set out away from the pumps, so she steered straight for it, turned off the motor, and dug in her purse for a coin. Then she rolled down the window so that Sam could stick his nose out and told him to “stay.” By the time she punched in the number at the clinic, her heart had jumped into her throat.

“Imaging Center.”

“This is Kate McKinnon. Is Dr.—”

“Can you hold please, Miss McKinnon?” Kate assumed the receptionist had someone on another line. If Max was tied up, she’d just leave a message, then get a map and cruise around on her own, maybe find a motel where they would allow dogs.

“Kate?” He sounded out of breath. “Are you all right? Where the hell have you been?”

“What? Sorry, the traffic is kind of noisy.” He repeated it, louder. “Oh. Northern New Mexico, the Red Land. That’s what the Egyptians called the desert. It seemed appropriate at the time.”

“I called your house every couple of hours until Christmas Eve. Then I tried Cleo, figured you were over there. But I couldn’t get her until Christmas Day. Why didn’t you come here like we planned?”

“I’m here now.”

A stunned silence. “Where?”

“Uh, wait a minute.” She leaned away from the phone so that she could see the street sign. “Corner of Voss and Eye-Ten.”

“Why the hell didn’t you say so?” he exploded.

“I thought I’d better call, see if you were even in town.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes. Fifteen at most. Don’t move, okay?”

“Yes, except, well, is it all right if I let Sam out of the car to—you know?”

“Not funny, Mac.” He hung up and Kate went back to her car, snapped Sam’s leash to his collar, and let him drag her toward a patch of tired grass.

“Can you believe this weather?” she commented to Sam. “Feels like we’re on a different planet from that windy mesa where we almost froze to death. But he didn’t sound too happy, so when Max gets here we better be on our best behavior. Otherwise it’ll be back on the road for us … unless I decide to stick around long enough to look for a job. Might as well, since I’m here, if I can think of some way to keep anyone from contacting my last employer.”

It seemed only a few minutes before she heard the squeal of tires and looked around to see a gray Mercedes brake to a stop about twenty feet away. Sam started barking as the driver’s door swung open, then lunged at the leash with the strength of his namesake. Kate let go and he tore off, too excited to slow down before crashing into Max’s legs.

“Okay, boy, take it easy,” Max said as he ruffled the dog’s fur, then let Sam kiss him on the chin while he grabbed for the leash.

Kate stayed where she was, trying to read his face as he came toward her. When he was still a couple of feet away, he stopped and just looked at her. Then, in what couldn’t have been a practiced greeting, he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. It wasn’t the breezy cheek-to-cheek embrace she’d seen at museum fund-raisers, but a real, honest-to-God
hug—as if he needed to confirm physically what his eyes were telling him. She knew then that something had changed between them, even if she wasn’t sure how or what that might mean.

“I haven’t had a decent sleep in days,” Max confessed. “Kept seeing a little red car mashed flat between a couple of eighteen-wheelers.” He stepped back then, to confront her. “I know you don’t owe me anything, but—”

“Yes, I do,” she whispered.

“I didn’t mean the scan.”

“Neither did I.” What she owed him was an explanation. The truth, even if it hurt. It had taken a couple of days for the anger and humiliation to dissipate under the vast expanse of blue sky and red cliffs, eroded by eons of time, and for her to realize that she had reacted like a child, without considering anyone but herself. “I wasn’t thinking very straight. I was angry, mostly at myself. Felt guilty.”

“Why, for God’s sake?”

“For letting us both down—you and me. This isn’t the first time I’ve failed at something I really cared about.” Admitting it was a risk she now felt compelled to take, a kind of vow she had made to herself … and Sam. “Before, it always helped to get away and be alone for a while, to try to get things back on an even keel. Except this time I wasn’t really alone. Sam and I spent three whole days up on a mesa without any other human beings in sight. It was
so
clean up there, under that vast expanse of unsullied blue with fresh snow all around us. And still. A quiet so profound it made you wonder if you’d gone deaf. Except I have reason to know I’m not.” His eyes never left her face, even with Sam tugging on the leash. “I don’t mean to make it sound like an epiphany or anything, but something happened while I was on that mesa. Maybe it was just the place, but I guess—like Camus said—‘in the depth of winter I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer.’ Anyway, Sam and I decided to come on to Houston even if it was a couple of days late.”

A smile started in his eyes as he lifted a hand to skim away the strand of hair blown across her eyes by the balmy Gulf breeze. “I’ve got a fenced yard full of squirrels for Sam, a case of red wine laid in especially for you, and a freezer loaded with steaks. I might even let you wear your old sweats if you promise not to make a habit of it. No strings attached.”

Without warning, her eyelids began to burn with incipient tears, and she reached for a joking reply. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

The smile reached his lips. “Sam can ride with me if he wants.”

Kate followed him through a residential section, then past a neighborhood shopping center and the Rice stadium. A couple of blocks farther on, Max turned into a street canopied by huge live-oak trees, obviously one of the older—and better—parts of town. When he turned into the driveway of a Tudor half-timber with a peaked roof, Kate realized she’d been expecting something less traditional or at least not so formal.

A gate to one side of the house swung open, and she followed him back to a three-car garage with living quarters above it. Max was out of his car even before she stopped, and then Sam was racing across the grass in hot pursuit of a gray squirrel. She took it all in at a glance—the tall pines and shrubs edging the backyard, the solid wood fence that acted as a noise filter, and the fenced-in tennis court. What caught and held her eyes, though, was the swimming pool with a lily pond at one end, set at a slightly higher level so that a thin stream of water would trickle into the pool.

“Lilies are sort of a hobby,” Max explained as she moved toward the purple-blue buds jutting up from the spreading flat circles of dark green. “That particular color is a hybrid I’ve been experimenting with for a couple of years.”

Kate just nodded, accepting that some things were simply meant to be. Tashat. And now Max’s fascination with the plant the Egyptians called a lotus. One with blue flowers.
The color of the sky. Azure, a word derived from lapis lazuli, the blue stone prized by pharaohs and commoners alike.

He waited until she had her fill of looking, then led her toward the back door. “This is the kitchen,” he explained unnecessarily, “but we could cook outside tonight if you want. You might even want to take advantage of the weather to take a dip and get the kinks out. The water’s heated, but January can be pretty unpredictable.” That he sought refuge in the weather at least told her he wasn’t used to inviting a woman to stay at his house.

As she followed him up the stairs, he even swung around to apologize for how dark the house was, because of all the trees. “That’s why I thought you’d prefer the yellow bedroom.” Two windows looked out over the backyard, reflecting light onto the opposite wall of built-in closets and drawers. An arched opening beyond the queen-size bed revealed a mirrored dressing alcove and bathroom, also bright yellow.

“Nice,” she commented, wondering why, if he thought the house was dark, he hadn’t replaced the old-fashioned windows with floor-to-ceiling glass. Certainly he could afford to, judging by the neighborhood and that new Mercedes. Imaging machines weren’t cheap, but with scans costing four to six hundred dollars a pop they quickly paid themselves out, especially in a group practice. And anything to do with the brain commanded the highest fees, which probably put him in the multihundred-thousand-dollar income bracket. Like a teenager suddenly aware that she’s dressed all wrong, Kate felt acutely out of place, which only brought home how little she really knew about Maxwell Cavanaugh.

“The house belonged to my parents. I moved into the apartment above the garage when I came back from Ann Arbor. My father had died several years before and my mother was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, so I wanted to be close. After she died I just stayed on.” He shrugged. “It’s convenient to my office and the Medical Center.” As if that explained everything, he turned to leave.
“I can loan you a T-shirt and shorts if you didn’t bring a suit.”

“I did, in case I got lucky on a motel with an indoor pool.”

After a few laps in the pool followed by a relaxing bath in the yellow tub, Kate joined Max on the patio, where Sam lay stretched out with his head on his paws, keeping one eye on the fire. “What can I do to help?”

“The coals are just about ready, and I’m almost through with the salad. Don’t want to overdo on the lettuce.” The corners of his eyes crinkled with humor. “Think it’s too cool to eat outside?”

“Not for me.” She followed him to the kitchen, accepted the place mats and silverware he handed her, and carried them out to the glass-topped patio table. Max followed her with glasses and a bottle of wine, then spread the coals and laid the steaks on the grill. Afterward he settled into the lounge chair next to hers and for a minute they sipped and exchanged comments about the wine, but Kate could feel him waiting.

“Did you talk to Dave?” she asked, wanting to get it over with.

He nodded. “Paranoid bastard claimed you and Cleo were trying to make him look the fool. I told him he was doing a damned good job of that on his own and didn’t need any help from you or anyone else. I also called him an ass for letting his ego blind him to what he had and he ought to be down on his knees begging you to come back.”

“You actually said that?” He nodded without looking at her and drank some wine, as if he were embarrassed.

Kate was trying not to dwell on what might have been, but the sense that she’d failed was still there—one more disappointment she would have to learn to live with even if it hadn’t paralyzed her as it always did before. She began to talk, and in the end gave him a blow-by-blow description of everything that had happened. Max listened without comment until she finished, then got up to turn on the lights in
the pool. “What a jerk!” he muttered as he went to check the steaks, then sat back down on the side of his lounge chair, facing her. “Did you get any pictures of the finished head?”

She nodded. “I haven’t stopped long enough to get them developed, but I took an entire roll, from the front, back, and in profile, with different wigs. One short and curly, the other long with tiny braids like those two wooden figures in the museum, from the same period. Isis and Hennuttab, daughters of the Sun King.”

“I thought Akhenaten’s daughters—”

“Not Akhenaten. His father, Amenhotep the Third, Egypt’s Dazzling Sun. How I wish you could have seen her.” She hesitated. “I think someone
did
try to kill Tashat, Max, but not for the reason Cleo dreamed up. Only she didn’t die right away, maybe because of that other
sunu,
the one who’s walking beside her on the road to eternity.”

“Could be. I doubt she would have lived long enough for primary callus to form without someone at least trying to treat her.”

“A physician back then was supposed to examine the patient and consult his handbook before pronouncing his verdict, to treat or not to treat. If the outcome looked hopeless, he was to do nothing. He also wasn’t supposed to deviate from the teachings of the medical scrolls, and could be called before the Bureau of Pharaoh’s Physicians for malpractice if he did. Maybe this physician put himself in double jeopardy, first by deciding to treat her at all, and then by
how
he treated her, if it wasn’t in the scrolls. The question is, did punishment ever include death?”

Max forked the T-bones onto a platter and motioned her toward the table. Once seated he cut the tails off both steaks and set them aside for Sam. Then, while she helped herself to salad, he refilled their glasses. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do next?”

“Look for a job.” She gave Sam an affectionate smile. “Have to keep the ravening beast supplied with crunch.”

“I ran into a professor at UT a week or so ago who’s looking for someone to do illustrations for a textbook. Houston is bulging at the seams with medical schools and hospitals, but not illustrators like you. He was complaining about how all anybody can do now is computer-generated stuff. I could give him a call, see if he’s still looking.”

“It’s nice of you to offer, Max, but I didn’t come here to impose—”

“Look, let’s get something straight. An orthopedic surgeon I know needs a medical illustrator and you happen to be one of the best. Maybe
the
best. For me to call and ask if he’s found anyone yet is no big deal. And just because I can give you some names to contact about a job doesn’t mean I’m trying to push you into anything. Maybe you just need time to think. Whatever you decide is fine with me, and I’m going to do what I need to whether you’re here or not. So you can forget about imposing. You can’t leave Sam cooped up in some flea-bitten motel, so stay here as long as you want or need to. Got that?” He waited for her to nod.

“Okay. So what are we going to do about Tashat?”

For the past three months Kate’s every thought had been driven by the need to rescue Tashat from oblivion—to somehow make it matter that she had ever lived. To do that she needed to find out not only who she was but what happened to her. And why. So she hadn’t really failed, she just wasn’t finished.