Orphan of the Sun (28 page)

Meryt looked at her uncle anxiously. Everything had changed since Baki's illness, and her time away from the family home. She had hoped that Senmut's views on Ramose would have changed as well, but she couldn't be sure. The issue of her future still remained.

Heria gave a little smile. ‘Ramose is a good man,' she said. ‘But he has lived too much in my shadow. He does as I tell him, even now. I dare say he would find a wife of his own choosing if I gave him a little more room.'

‘And Meryt is not that woman, in truth,' Tia put in quickly.

Heria shook her head.

Senmut sighed, and scratched the back of his head. ‘Well,' he said, looking at Meryt. ‘It seems that the goddess has spoken.'

Chapter Thirteen

Two weeks passed. Senmut returned to the tombs and Meryt found that life at home was soon much as it had always been, except that she loved and valued it more than before, for there was now a bond between herself and Tia that could never be broken. However, there was still a thorn that seemed to prick her deeper every day: despite his close shave with the Next World and the cure she had brought him from Teti, Baki was as difficult as ever. Meryt marvelled at his attitude, secretly furious that he could still treat her with such disrespect.

One morning Meryt came down from the roof to find Baki drinking the last of the goat's milk. It was now in short supply, for the goat's udders were slowly drying up.

‘Baki!' she exclaimed. ‘You could have left some. It is important for Tia to drink the milk. You know that.'

Baki grinned. ‘I will tell her you drank it,' he said, a wicked glint in his eye.

Meryt snatched the milk jar from him, biting her
tongue. It was not worth responding to such childish taunts, but she was itching to clip him around the ear all the same, or fight him as she had always done. But since his ritual their fights had stopped, and Meryt thought it best not to start them again. She turned away.

But Baki put out his foot in front of her, and she tripped. The milk jar flew from her hands and cracked against the wall, breaking neatly in two.

Her cousin's peal of laughter rang around the courtyard. ‘Shall I tell her you broke the milk jar too?' he hooted, and this time Meryt's rage was too great. Not trusting herself to speak, she flung the broken pieces into one corner and stormed from the house.

She made for the place that she now went whenever she needed to find peace. It was no longer the polished limestone slab on the top of the Nile-facing hillside, or the chapel of her father's tomb. It was the house outside the village wall where Teti the
rekhet
lived.

‘Meryt! Good to see you,' Teti greeted her, on opening the door.

Meryt tried hard not to scowl. ‘May I come in?' she asked.

Teti opened the door wider, looking amused. ‘Did a cat steal the milk this morning?' she asked.

‘Don't mention milk,' muttered Meryt darkly, following Teti through the house. But now that she was here she felt calmer already, and looked with interest at the necklace that Teti was stringing in the
courtyard. This was one of the ways in which Teti managed to survive – many villagers were prepared to pay not only for her skills of divination but for the charms and trinkets that she made.

‘Help yourself to some fruit, or beer,' said Teti. ‘I would just like to finish this off.'

Meryt fetched a couple of dates and sat munching them as Teti added two tiny clay amulets to the necklace, which was made mainly of beads. The amulets were lizards, creatures that Meryt loved to watch as they slithered between the crevices in the rocks. She and Kenna had often played with them, and had sometimes seen the marvel of a lizard regrowing its tail when it had been lost. Because they could do this, a lizard amulet was a powerful symbol of new birth.

‘Was it the children that annoyed you?' the
rekhet
asked presently, throwing Meryt a glance.

Meryt shook her head. ‘It was Baki. Who else?'

Teti's face grew serious. ‘I sense trouble brewing for him. A man cannot live in defiance of those around him any more than he can live in defiance of the gods.'

It was a comfort that Teti thought so. Meryt played with a date stone in her mouth, pondering something that had puzzled her ever since Baki's recovery. She had told Teti all about her reconciliation with Tia and Senmut, about going to find Kha in the tomb of Paser and her encounter with Nofret on the road to the Great Place. But she had one question left to ask of the
rekhet
and she decided to ask it now.

‘I sense trouble for him as well,' she said. ‘But I am not sure why. He likes to make trouble but there is something darker about him as well.' She paused, throwing the date stone into a corner. ‘I have often wondered what magic it was that touched him, Teti. I don't think it was Peshedu. Do you know what it was?'

The
rekhet
held the finished necklace up against the light. The sun glinted through the coloured beads that sat between the earthen lizards.

‘You have learnt much, Meryt-Re,' she said. ‘It is good that you like to ask questions. You will go on to learn so much more.'

Meryt didn't understand what she meant. ‘But that has nothing to do with Baki.'

Teti lowered the necklace and laid it out before her. ‘There are many kinds of magic in this world,' she said. ‘We can master some of them. But there are times when you have to let the gods keep their answers to themselves.'

‘So you don't know?' Meryt pressed her.

Teti cocked her head on one side. ‘No,' she said, with a smile. ‘I don't.'

It was puzzling, but when Teti said she didn't know something, Meryt knew she had to accept it. She stayed in the
rekhet
's house until the heat of the day had passed. When she left, she noticed a little train of three donkeys approaching the village, and she shielded her eyes from the sun to watch them approach. The first donkey was laden with goods
and was led by a Nubian servant. On the second sat a tall woman, her back stiff and straight, while on the last sat a girl of Meryt's age.

There was something familiar about the last two, and Meryt craned her neck to get a better look. As they began the last ascent, she suddenly realised who they were.

‘Dedi!' she cried, bounding down the track.

She heard her friend call to the servant, and the donkeys came to a halt. Dedi slid down to the ground as Meryt rushed up to her, then stopped abruptly to bow her head to Wab.

‘Hello, Meryt-Re,' said Wab gravely. She called to the servant. ‘Carry on. Dedi will catch us up in the village, I'm sure.'

The servant nodded and took the third donkey's lead rope in his hand. As the little train trudged into motion again, Dedi flung her arms around Meryt's neck. They hugged without speaking for several minutes.

‘I've missed you so much!' exclaimed Meryt, when they pulled apart.

‘Not as much as I have missed you,' said Dedi soberly. ‘I have been stuck with relatives all this time. And all they want to do is speak of the wages the men get in Set Maat, and of course the trial.'

Meryt took her arm, and they began to walk slowly to the village gate. ‘What of the trial?' asked Meryt. ‘I have heard that the vizier arrives tomorrow.'

Dedi nodded. ‘Yes. But he will stay on the east bank and see to the affairs of the great temples before he comes here. We expect the trial to take place in two or three days' time.'

Meryt clutched the amulet around her neck and felt suddenly nervous. For the last two weeks she had concentrated on enjoying life at home, and had ignored the looming village crisis – for there was nothing more she could do. She had sown what seeds she could; she could only hope that they bore the fruit she had intended.

‘I trust the gods will be with your father,' she said quietly. ‘These are difficult times, Dedi. But the rule of
maat
must prevail.'

Her friend's composure was beginning to crumble. ‘Let's not speak of it,' said Dedi, her voice shaking. ‘If we do, I know I shall cry. I just want to feel glad to be home, and among friends.'

‘Of course.' Meryt squeezed her arm, and they lapsed into silence as they passed through the gate. She could not help but notice that the Medjay guard stared at Dedi, his beady eyes curious, and she felt a flash of anger. Did the foreman's family not have enough to endure without everyone gawping? She frowned, and shook her head. She could tell that the next few days would bring a trial in more ways than one.

Nebnufer's family kept a low profile for the next two days, and Meryt did not like to intrude. The village was alive with chatter and gossip; even Wab and
Dedi's movements gave rise to speculation about how the family was coping, and Meryt could not blame her friend for trying to avoid it. Instead, her thoughts turned to the trial itself. She decided that the person she wanted by her side on the day was Kenna – happy, dependable Kenna, who would help to calm her nerves.

She went to ask him the day before, and found his family home in a high state of excitement about the arrival of the vizier. The men were sitting in a huddle in the middle room, drinking beer and discussing the future of the gang. Meryt sat with Kenna in the front room and asked him what was going on.

‘Father says that Userkaf had already petitioned the vizier's department for the position of foreman,' explained Kenna. ‘Everyone is talking about it, for Userkaf might make some changes to the gang.'

‘But the trial has not yet happened,' objected Meryt.

‘No. But everyone seems to think that Nebnufer will be found guilty,' said Kenna. ‘I feel sorry for Dedi and her brothers.'

‘Yes. But we mustn't assume the worst – not yet.' Meryt shivered, for the worst was something she did not allow herself to think about. She thought instead of Kenna's face when he spoke of Dedi. Was it her imagination, or had he shown less yearning than before? It was possible. Infatuations could quickly blossom, and quickly fade. Or so she had heard.

She remembered that she had not yet told him
about Ramose, but decided it could wait. Better to get the trial over first, for it would surely affect them all.

‘Will you watch the trial with me?' she asked him. ‘I want to be near the front, so that I can see clearly.'

‘Of course,' said Kenna. ‘Let's get there early. I'll come and collect you.'

Meryt nodded. ‘Thank you, Kenna.' She sighed. ‘I shall be very glad when the whole thing is over.'

The next morning, Meryt felt sick with anxiety about the trial. No one in her home seemed particularly concerned, for Senmut's future was safe on Sennedjem's gang and Tia had never been interested in the goings-on of the
kenbet
. But Meryt could scarcely do her chores for nervousness. She dropped the pots that she set herself to scour; then tried to lose herself in sweeping out the house but found that she was simply stirring up dust.

At last, she heard Kenna's voice in the doorway, and propped up the broom.

‘The first of the vizier's messengers has arrived,' announced Kenna. ‘They say that the vizier's procession is making its way past the temples. It will call at the Fields of Djame before it comes here.'

They hurried along the main street, which was already buzzing with people. Meryt kept a keen look out for Nofret or Kha, but she spotted neither as she and Kenna jostled their way forward. Outside the village walls by the cluster of chapels the mats were already laid out in the shade, but few people were
sitting yet; most were gathering along the track that led to the valley, eager to see the vizier's chariot proceed up the hillside in all its pomp and finery.

Meryt and Kenna picked a spot on the foremost edge of the mats and settled down to wait. In the distance, Meryt heard the sound of horns and trumpets, and wiped her hands down her linen dress. They were already damp with sweat.

‘Is anything the matter?' Kenna asked her. ‘You're very quiet.'

Meryt tried to smile. ‘I am worried for Dedi's family, that's all.' She did not want to tell him about Nofret or Kha; the matter was in the hands of the gods now.

Kenna stared at his hands. ‘I have tried not to dwell on the consequences,' he admitted. ‘The whole thing feels unreal, like a strange kind of game. But if Nebnufer is convicted of theft as everyone says he will be …'

‘Don't,' said Meryt, for they both knew where his thoughts were leading. ‘I know what you mean. I have not allowed myself to think of what might happen. May the gods be with him.'

They stood and craned their necks as the sounds of the procession grew nearer.

‘The vizier's chariot approaches!' cried a voice, and there was a flurry of movement as villagers rushed to find seats on the matting, jostling each other for space. Meryt and Kenna sat down again hurriedly as the fanfare sounded closer, and Meryt
spotted Teti on the fringes of the crowd. It made her feel a little better to know that the
rekhet
was there.