Theodosia and the Last Pharaoh

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN The Last Pharaoh

I LOOKED FROM GADJI in his tattered rags to the wedjadeen's serious faces. They had to be joking. Didn't they? "Gadji," I said slowly. "Do you know these men?"

"No, miss. I never see them before."

"You see?" I told the wedjadeen. "There must be some mistake."

"Come," the man with the knife said. "It is not good to linger. We will take the girl with us and talk where it is safe."

As Khalfani nodded and motioned for someone to pick up the tablet, one of the wedjadeen bowed in front of Gadji and politely indicated that he should go first. Another wedjadeen grabbed my arm, rather roughly, I might add.

"Do not be harming her!" Gadji called over his shoulder, and the man relaxed his grip somewhat.

"Where is this safe place you would take us?" I asked.

"A day's ride from here," said the man holding my arm.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I can't be gone that long. I'll be missed."

A second wedjadeen took up position on my other side. "We cannot leave you here. You know too much."

"But that was our agreement," I protested. "I would give you the tablet and you would let me be. If Gadji wants to stay, that's up to him. We said nothing about your taking me with you."

The man put his head down close to mine so that we were practically nose to nose. "We said nothing about letting you go free, either."

I swallowed. No, they hadn't, come to think of it. I had just assumed that part.

The priest, Baruti, stepped closer. "She did keep her promise," he pointed out. "Are we not required to honor the agreement that Awi Bubu made with her?"

"I made no such agreement," the man with the knife said.

"Nevertheless," Baruti continued, "it is the word of a wedjadeen and we must honor it."

One of the other men said something in his own language, and then someone else spoke up. I slipped my free hand into my pocket and grasped the small sliver of Babel stone.

"...we cannot leave her here. She knows too much about us."

"If we take her, there will be a huge hue and cry. The Inglaize will make all our people suffer until they find her."

Another man shrugged. "So we leave her but cut out her tongue."

"That won't work," I blurted out. "I'm perfectly able to write things down, you know."

Then Khalfani, who had been arguing on my behalf, threw me an aggrieved look. "You are not helping your own cause."

Honestly! They could hardly expect me to stand by quietly while they discussed mutilating me.

Khalfani frowned and tilted his head in question. "You speak Arabic?"

"Er, a little," I said, fingering the stone inside my pocket.

"Come," one of the others hissed. "We have tarried too long. We must leave."

We had reached Hypostyle Hall and I tried to see if there was anywhere to run to if I managed to break free. Perhaps I could hide among the columns.

Gadji was ahead of me, with only one wedjadeen in front of him, but he wasn't in any danger. They wanted to treat him like a king! But I had two testy men on either side of me, gripping my arms. The situation appeared hopeless. I couldn't even get to Quillings's fountain pen. So much for plan B.

A shout went up in front and a tall, red-jacketed figure stepped from behind one of the columns. Just as I recognized Major Grindle, he snagged Gadji from the guard, put him in a chokehold, and calmly slipped a knife up against his throat. "I'm so sorry to interrupt, gentlemen, but I'm afraid I must insist you let the girl go. Once you do, the boy here can go with you, but only if he wishes."

There was the ring of steel as every one of the wedjadeen drew a sword or knife. The men's grips on my arms tightened painfully.

"You will die for daring to lay hands on him."

Major Grindle tilted his head. "Funny, I feel precisely the same way about Miss Throckmorton. She is very special to my people, just as this boy here is very special to you. Which is why an even exchange works out so nicely, don't you think?"

The leader shouted something in Arabic and one of the men holding me answered back. A short argument ensued. Finally, with great reluctance, the men let go of me and the others parted so I could work my way up to Major Grindle and Gadji.

"You have the upper hand. For now," Khalfani said. "But we will not forget this insult."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Now, Gadji, do you wish to go with these men or return with us? It is your choice, but make it quickly, please."

Gadji did not hesitate. "I am returning with effendi miss."

His answer shocked me. "But why, Gadji? These men say you are a king."

Gadji shrugged. "Effendi miss be needing me, and I honor my debts."

"Very well. You will come with us, then," Major Grindle said.

The leader was furious. "We will follow you to the ends of the earth and hunt you down like the jackal you are."

"As I said, we'll deal with that at the proper time." Major Grindle drew Gadji and me close to his side, his eyes never leaving the wedjadeen. "Miss Throckmorton, would you be so kind as to adjust your watch?"

I stared at him blankly for a moment.

"It is three against eight. The odds are not in our favor without a little help," he said, glancing at my wrist.

Of course! Quillings's watch! I quickly reached down and twisted the dial so that it would create the curse-repelling field.

The major pulled a small jar from his jacket, shook it vigorously, then dashed it on the ground. It shattered, sending a maelstrom of stinging, burning sand and raging wind to engulf the wedjadeen.

"Come, Miss Throckmorton. Move." Major Grindle shoved Gadji and me in front of him and put himself between us and the wedjadeen, who had all begun to shout and flail as the small sandstorm cut us a wide berth and consumed them.

We didn't stop running till we reached the outermost temple courtyard, where two horses waited. "Donkeys are not all that different from horses. I assume you can handle one?" Major Grindle asked Gadji.

Gadji nodded, and then the major lifted him and placed him in the saddle. Before I knew what was happening, I felt the major grasp my waist and toss me onto the other horse, then leap up and settle himself behind me. "All right then, let's go. At a gallop, I think."

At some command from him, the horses surged forward and we were away, riding like the wind itself.

We didn't stop until we reached the major's house. As we clattered into the courtyard, he called out to his factotum, who appeared in the doorway. "See to the horses," he said, swinging himself out of the saddle before lifting me down and gently setting me on my feet. "We'll be riding out again within the hour.

"I think a conversation is in order," Major Grindle said to us. "Let's retreat to the study, shall we?"

Gadji and I exchanged glances. While I had been very glad to see the major at the temple, I wasn't looking forward to facing his displeasure.

We followed him into his office and the riotous mix of strange magics was like a punch to my gut. Even Gadji's mouth dropped open as he stepped into the room. The major waited for us to file past, then firmly shut the door. Slowly, as if engaged in deep thinking, he made his way over to his desk. He did not sit down but merely stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the two of us.

Even though my knees were still weak from the close call at the Luxor Temple, I dared not sit, not with him standing. Gadji remained standing, too. When Major Grindle's stern blue eyes settled on me, I tried not to squirm.

"Would you care to explain what that was all about, Miss Throckmorton?" he asked.

"I was returning the artifact I had told you about, sir." Which was only partially a lie. I was returning an artifact, just not the one I had mentioned to him.

"Did it never occur to you to ask for backup?"

"No, sir." I wanted to hang my head in shame at having deceived him and just barely kept from doing so.

He stared at me a long moment, his eyes boring into me. "Did Wigmere know what you were about? Or did you deceive him as well?"

"If you please, sir. It wasn't a question of deception," I rushed to explain. "Or not intentional deception, anyway. I had made a deathbed promise, sir, which I viewed as sacred. Part of that promise was not telling anyone else the details of the plan."

Major Grindle stared at me a few seconds longer, his brows beetled and mouth pursed. Finally, something shifted, something that gave me hope that all was not lost with him.

"Does the nature of that secret have to do with those men at the temple? For do not tell me they were Serpents of Chaos. I know that they were not."

I swallowed. "Yes, sir. The secret deathbed promise had to do with those men."

"Hmm," was all he said before turning the full weight of his regard to Gadji. "And you, young man. They seemed to be quite interested in you."

Gadji, who had been silent all this time, nodded his head, as if dazed. "They did most certainly," he said.

"Do you know why?"

Gadji snapped out of his trance and looked up to meet the major's gaze with a grin. "Because I am the last pharaoh, mister major."

The words fell into the room, a swell of silence growing around them. I cleared my throat. "Is it true? Was your father a pharaoh?"

Gadji shrugged. "My father works in Valley of Kings. He moves stone and dirt for the Inglaize, as his father and his father before him."

"Is that the family you've been looking for all this time?"

Gadji shook his head. "Father dies in great accident."

"Oh, I'm sorry. What about your mother?"

Gadji shrugged again. "She die many years ago, while having baby. Baby die, too. Only sister is left. Safiya."

"Did you recognize any of those men?" Major Grindle asked.

"No."

"So you don't know who they are, then?"

"No, mister major. But..." his voice trailed off and we all waited.

"But what?" Major Grindle finally burst out.

"But something about them is being familiar. I do not know. Perhaps they are friends of my father?"

"Why doesn't everyone have a seat and we'll start at the beginning. Gadji, let's start with you."

Gadji, unused to sitting in front of important Inglaize, perched uneasily on the edge of his chair. "I is born in Luxor. But it is changing much since I saw it last." He scrunched up his nose. "Too many new buildings and tourists."

"Hear, hear," Major Grindle agreed.

"I live with my father and my older sister in the old quarter. But where our house used to be now stands a fancy Inglaize hotel."

My heart broke for him. Not only had he lost his family, but his entire home was gone.

"I have no memories of my mother. She dies when I was"—he paused and counted on his fingers—"three, I think. My sister takes care of the house then, and me, when our tutor is not there. I have many friends." He paused. "Then one day, there is big accident in valley. A tomb caves in. Everyone in uproar. Sister hurries to valley to see if our father is okay. When tutor arrives and finds her gone, he goes after her." He looked up and met Major Grindle's eyes. "That is the last time I see them."

"What happened after that?"

Gadji scrunched up his face again, trying to remember. "I got hungry. I remember that because I began eating the honey cakes Safiya made for dinner. I am afraid I will get in trouble, but I am so hungry I don't care. Then ... then I remember nothing until my first train ride."

"First train ride?" Major Grindle asked sharply. "To where?"

"Cairo. Very long train ride. Hot and dusty. Stand up the whole time. My legs begin to ache, and I begin to cry." He paused as if embarrassed by this. "I am very young," he explained.

"Of course," Major Grindle said.

"The man next to me shakes me and tells me not to be a baby."

"Were you traveling with the man, or was he just a random passenger?" I asked.

Gadji paused, as if he had never thought of that. "I do not know, miss. But the womans next to us shoot him evil eye and make a nest for me at her feet. I sleep the rest of the way to Cairo. When we arrive, I slip away and follow womans home. I is not wanting to stay with men who pinch and shout."

"Then what?" I asked.

Gadji shrugged again. "The womans, she nice and feed me, but is not having enough for an extra mouth to feed. So Gadji live on streets. Until miss finds me."

Major Grindle leaned forward. "Now think, Gadji, because this is very important. Did the men traveling with you back then look anything like the ones you ran into today? Similar facial features, clothing, identifying marks or tattoos?"

"Oh no. Not at all. These mens, they were wearing Egyptian robes, but under their turbans, the faces, they were Inglaize."

A stunned silence followed that announcement. "English," Major Grindle repeated, leaning back in his chair. "Not French or German or American, but English?"

Gadji waved his hand. "All the same. Not Egyptians."

"And traveling in the third-class car meant for natives. That cannot have been a random coincidence, I think. What about this tutor of yours? Who was he? Did he have a name?"

"Oh yes, mister major. His name is Master Bubu."