Imhotep (38 page)

“How
long has the temple stood here?” Imhotep asked.  “Longer than our lives,
longer than your father’s life, longer than King Djoser’s life will be. 
The gift is to the temple, to Khnum.  The temple will hold the land when
memories can no longer recall you and me.”

“Yes,”
Sekhmire said, “but we are here now and this gift will help my father
now.  Now, when threats are building around the king, now when even his
closest adviser is plotting against him, now when the people of Kemet are
worried and angry, now when the king needs his guards more than ever.”

Sekhmire
stood and wiped his hands on his kilt. 

“I
cannot be bribed, Imhotep.  I do not think King Djoser would attempt it,
but you are an outlander.  I do not know you.  I think you have
planted ideas in the king’s mind.  If you can do that to the king, then I
do not believe you should be trusted.”

Imhotep
stood beside Sekhmire and crossed his arms.  He looked out across the
river and saw a bird dive into the water and come up with a fish wriggling in
its beak.  The water level, he saw, was the same as the day before and the
day before that.

“Yes,
I was an outlander,” Imhotep said. “But my spirit has become one with Kemet.”

“Sekhmire,
I know that trust isn’t bought with words,” Imhotep said.  “I agree with
you.  I understand that you don’t know me, and you have no reason to trust
me.  So watch what I do, listen to what I say and then decide.  I had
no feelings about the Two Lands before I came here, but I have grown to love
it, even as much as you do.

“As
far as buying your loyalty.  I think we all follow our hearts.  I
don’t think your heart is filled with gold.  But if you do follow the
shine of gold, then your loyalty can’t be bought, only rented.  And then
only until someone else has more money to pay.  I don’t think you and I are
like that.

“And
anyhow,” he said, reaching out and squeezing Sekhmire’s arm, “we can’t eat
gold, can we?”

L
ight was fading from the western sky as
Brian stood on the east bank of the river, and looked across at the temple of
Kom Ombo, its gleaming white pillars rising from high on a bluff overlooking
the water.  Tama said Diane was there and that Djefi would not be; he
would be heading north, back to Khmunu. 

But
Siamun was there.

T
wo days walk north of Kom Ombo, Samut, a messenger
sent by Tama, jogged along the dusty road trying to catch Brian.  Tama had
sent him on the errand as soon as Meryt’s message had arrived confirming
Hetephernebti’s suspicions that Kanakht was plotting to kill King Djoser. 
She was sure that Djefi was one of the plotters, which made Kom Ombo, Djefi’s
new temple, the most dangerous place within the Two Lands.

B
rian walked closer to the water’s edge,
looking for a boatman or one of those small reed boats he had been dying to
try.  He found one pulled up on the riverbank almost directly across the
river from the temple.

He
noted where it was and then returned to the road to get his donkey.  After
night fell, he would tether the donkey to a tree, cross the river in the reed
boat and find Diane.  If she was willing to come with him, then they would
re-cross the river, get the donkey and head back to Waset where he would hide
with Tama while waiting for Tim.

If
Diane refused to go with him, then he would leave, knowing that it was her
decision to stay here.

Either
way he would be free: Free to see what life would be like here with Tama or
free to find Tim and return to his time.  He wasn’t sure what he would do,
but he couldn’t abandon Diane alone in this ancient, alien land without
offering her one last chance to leave with him. 

He
needed to be sure she understood what the decision to stay meant and that she
was making it freely.

H
e was only a few feet from shore when he
tipped over the reed boat and splashed heavily into the water.  When he
resurfaced, he saw the boat bobbing beside him.  He pulled himself back
onto it and lay flat on his stomach using his hands to paddle across the weak
current, trying hard not to think about crocodiles.

A few
minutes later, sighing with relief that he hadn't been attacked by crocodiles,
Brian pulled the boat up on the western bank a short distance from some other
boats that were tied to wooden posts.  A dirt pathway led up the side of
the steep cliff.

He
shook himself, spraying water from his hands and arms.  Listening for a
moment, he heard nothing. The slow flowing river behind him was silent. No
frogs, no night birds, not even the empty rustle of the reeds along the bank
disturbed the quiet.

Looking
back across the river at the town, he saw a few fluttering lights from carried
torches, but no sounds floated across the river. 

Ahead
of him, the path disappeared into the darkness as it rose along the side of the
cliff. 

Stone
steps were cut into the cliff near the top of the pathway.  When Brian
reached them he hesitated and listened again.  There was no sound of
footsteps or voices.  As his head cleared the top of the step, he saw the
flat plateau, paved in stone with large unfinished pillars off to his left and
several small stone buildings across the stone courtyard.

Near
the biggest pillars, a large circular hole was cut into the stone floor.

Brian
took the last few steps and hurried crossed the open plaza to the pillars,
stepping behind one to hide.

A
gently sloping ramp led down into the circular hole, which was swallowed by the
darkness.  As Brian stood over it he felt a light air pull on his ankles,
drawing toward the opening.

Stepping
around the hole, he walked to the first stone building.

The
temple was obviously still being built.  He saw now that there were small
mud buildings out beyond the stone paving, shelter for the workers.  The
stone buildings would be the apartments for the priests who would live here
once the temple was completed.  Now they were the obvious place for Diane
and Yunet to be living.

He
paused by the first building and listened.  After a moment he almost
started to laugh at himself.  He felt like a secret agent.  “Bond,
James Bond,” he thought.

Tama
and Hetephernebti had frightened him with stories about Djefi and he knew first
hand that Siamun was mean, but really, he wondered, what was he afraid
of?  There were no guns here, no ninjas in black outfits with gleaming,
curved swords.  The worst that would happen is Siamun would find him and
mouth off.  He really was more afraid of Diane and what she would say.

As he
stepped inside the first building, an unnoticed shadow moved behind him.

It was
darker inside.  As he waited for his eyes to adjust he realized that he
smelled perfumed oil.  Soon he could see two forms lying under a thin blanket
on a low bed.  Even in the dim light, he recognized the size and shape of
Diane’s body.  He walked to the bed and knelt by her.

It
took him a moment to realize what looked so strange about her: her head was not
shaved.  He had grown used to seeing shaved heads on everyone except young
boys who wore a short ponytail pulled off one side of the head.  At formal
gatherings the women wore long, black wigs, but most of the time their heads
were bare.

He
softly brushed her hair and whispered her name.

He glanced
at Yunet, her back was turned to them, her breathing deep and regular.  He
remembered how she had walked up to them so long ago when they had first
arrived at To-She after the long camel ride across the desert.  She had
been so exotically beautiful.  But then she had ignored him and hidden
away with Diane while he was left to wander To-She and worry.

He
gripped Diane’s shoulder and shook her gently, saying her name louder. 
She had always been a deep sleeper, hard to wake, even in the morning with the
smell of brewing coffee.

She
stirred and pulled her shoulder away from him.  He leaned closer and
putting his mouth close to her ear, he whispered her name again. 

“Diane,
it’s me, Brian.  Wake up.  We have to talk.”

Her
eyes fluttered open and then closed again. 

“Brian,”
she said in her sleep.

He
shook her again.  “Come on, babe, wake up.”

Her
eyes opened again, blinking and unfocused.  Then she saw him and sat
up.  Her face, so calm and relaxed in her sleep, took on an angry edge as
soon as she saw him.  He felt his heart sink.

“How
are you?” he asked.  “I’ve been looking for you, following you, ever since
we got separated at Khmunu.  Are you all right?”

She
looked puzzled, then her face returned to its angry mask. 

“We
didn’t get separated.  You went off with that Ma’at woman.  You left
the boat at night and told Djefi you were staying there.  You abandoned
me.  You son of a bitch.”

Brian
didn't know what to say. He had gone off to look for Tama, but he hadn't meant
to abandon Diane.

“No,
that’s not true.  I mean, I did leave the boat, but it was a trick. 
Djefi tried to have me killed, Diane.  A man came on the boat and said I
was supposed to go to the town, and then three men followed me and attacked
me.  I was lucky to get away.”

“Supposed
to go into town?”

“OK, I
was going to meet Tama, but, Diane, let's not fight. I came here to help you.”

She
folded her arms and stared at him, waiting. But listening. He felt a glimmer of
hope.

“I met
Tim,” he saw her confusion.  “Oh, you don’t know about him.  OK, this
guy named Tim followed us here.  He thinks he can help us get back to our
time.  Do you want to come with me?”

“Back
to our time?”

“Yes,
look, I know it sounds unreal, but Tim says we're five thousand years in the
past. Think about it. We haven't seen any televisions, my cell phone doesn't
work. No airplanes flying overhead.

“We're
in ancient Egypt.  This isn’t some Disneyland resort.  This is the
real thing.  It’s crazy and it doesn’t make sense.  But it’s
true.  There isn’t any law here, no malls, no doctors, no way to get back
to our homes. Hell, America won't be discovered for thousands of years.

“This
is real.  It’s serious.  We don’t belong here.”

He ran
out of breath and watched her in the dim light, waiting for her response.

With a
small shake of her head, she said, “No, Brian.  You think I don’t belong
here.” She gathered strength as the words came, whispered but riding an edge of
anger. 

“First
off, I don't believe you. I think that you ran off to that woman and now you're
finished with her and you think you can come back and snap your fingers and
I'll go with you.

“You
left me in the desert, racing camels with Bakr.  Then you left me at
Khmunu.  Now you’re done playing and I’m supposed to just leave with you
because now, all of a sudden, it’s too dangerous here.”

Brian
thought he heard something outside.  He cocked his head to look at the
doorway.  The darkness, the strange feel of this temple, Diane’s harsh
words, together they made his skin creep.

“I
know where we are, Brian, I’m not stupid.  I mean, I don’t know, like,
what year it is, they don’t number them like we do.  I know it’s different
here.”

He
shook his head.  “No, it’s not just different.  It’s dangerous. 
They look at life differently here.  You might think you understand, Diane,
but believe me, you don’t.”

“Like
you’re the expert all of a sudden.”

He
sighed heavily.  Nothing was going right.  “I’m sorry, Diane. 
Look, I’m not going to tell you what to do . . . ”

“That’s
right, you’re not.”

“ . .
.  but if you want to leave, I’ll help you.  And you might think I’m
exaggerating, but I can’t stay here, in this temple, any longer.  We need
to leave before it gets light, before anyone finds us.  If they catch us
they won’t let us go.”

“What
do you mean, ‘us’? Yunet and I do what we want.  You’re not rescuing me,
Brian.  She already rescued me.  From you.  You dragged me here,
ignored me when we were on those damn camels and then abandoned me for that
Ma’at woman.  I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you are
definitely not saving me.”

Her
voice had grown louder and Yunet stirred beside her.

“OK,
OK,” Brian said.  “I’m sorry.  I know you’ve been through a
lot.  If we leave now, we can go back home.  Do you want to come with
me?  Don’t you miss your family and friends?  Movies, shopping,
restaurants?” He tried to think of other things that she liked and would miss.

He
looked at her, not sure what to expect.

“Look,
Brian, every time I depend on someone else I get let down.  I know that,
I’m not stupid.  It starts out being about me, but then as soon as they
get what they want - me - it changes.  Everybody expects me to
be something - a good daughter, a perky cheerleader, the polite little
sorority girl.  Even when we have sex - even you - it’s do
this, touch this, how’s this feel, move here.  You know it’s true.

“Yunet
is different.  OK?  She knows what it’s like.  She gives me
space, lets me decide what I want to do.  And you know what, Brian? 
If I mess up and do something wrong, or choose something different than she
wants, it’s OK with her.  For the first time in my life I can be me
without worrying about pleasing somebody else.

“Do
you know how many times she’s made me feel guilty because I didn’t want to have
sex?  Zero.  Zip.  Do you know how many times she told me she
loved me and then expected me to go have sex with her because I’m supposed to
be grateful? Huh?  How about never?  Do you know how much time she’s
treated me like a person with a brain, not just a pair of tits and an
ass?  All the time.”

Brian
reached out to touch her shoulder, but Diane jerked back.

“Nobody
touches me anymore unless I want them to.”

“Diane,
I wasn’t . . .  Look, I’m sorry if I was a jerk.  I’m sorry if people
expected you to be something you weren’t.  I’ve changed a lot too in the
past couple of weeks.  Tama has taught me how to see things differently.”

“That’s
great, Brian,” Diane said sarcastically.  “Really great.  I’m very
happy for you.  For you and Tama, is it?  But it’s a little
late.  You know what I think?  I think you see me with somebody else,
see I’m happy and you feel like ‘How can she be happy without me?’ and you come
sneaking in here trying to ruin it.  Or, no, you know what?  You see
me with a woman and you start thinking threesome.”

“No,
Diane.” He sighed heavily and stood up.  “Look, babe, you’re probably
right, right about all of this.  A couple weeks ago I probably would have
thought, oh boy, two women, they can’t resist me.