doubt, had been the one to fell him. Earlier, well before he had been struck down, Pairi had shouted, “Let’s go, my brother,” or something similar. He didn’t recall seeing Humay, but had sensed someone’s presence. Or had the frenzied shadows cast by the wildly flaring torch sent his imagination soaring?
He backed up to stand beside the column where the plan lay, both ends curled to meet in the center. He closed his eyes and tried to bring back that night. The man-Pairi-appearing out of nowhere. He, Bak, leaping over the fallen section of wall and racing after him, torch in hand. Sparks flying, erratic shadows flitting over and around the fallen columns, Pairi’s fleeing footsteps.
Suddenly he remembered: While passing the block structure in the center of the court, he had glimpsed a man off to the right.
He eyed the right rear-northwest-corner of the main court. Both back and side walls rose higher than his head.
A slope of dirt and debris fallen from the cliff over many years pressed against them from the outside and had spilled over into the main court. The two rows of eight-sided columns that had once supported the roof behind the central, ruined block were sadly damaged. A few stood to various heights, but most lay broken on the pavement among remnants of architraves and roof slabs. Again he asked himself: Had Pairi and Humay reached this point after many nights of searching? Or had they found a rich tomb?
Seeking some sign of fresh disturbance, he walked along the spill, turned the corner, walked a dozen or so paces farther. The pavement beneath his feet was covered with sand and littered with chunks of stone of all sizes and shapes.
Voices drew him on to the fallen segment of wall. Kasaya, Hori, and Kaemwaset stood where he had left them, looking toward Djeser Djeseru. Senenmut and Amonked, easier to see than before, were walking slowly along the fill above the southern retaining wall, watching the men below slide a stone in place. Kaemwaset was pointing out various men in Senenmut’s party whom he recognized.
Bak turned away to retrace his steps. Rounding the corner and walking a few paces along the rear wall, thinking of the plan Hori had so painstakingly redrawn, he knelt to dig away the debris at the base of the spill. It was not as hard-packed as he had expected, betraying the fact that it had been recently deposited.
His expectations were small, a faint hope at best, but the lord Amon chose to smile upon him. The edge of his hand struck a hard projection. He quickly dug away more debris, revealing a slab of carved stone set into the pavement.
Barely daring to breathe, he moved a few chunks of broken rock and dug away more of the spill, revealing several carved slabs between the one he had initially found and the corner of the court. They formed two rectangular shapes. Shrines, he guessed, from their location at the rear of the court. Dedicated to the gods important to Nebhepetre Montuhotep. The base of a fallen column caught his eye. It stood almost directly in front of the entrance to the shrine farthest from the corner.
The shrines had been built during an earlier stage of construction!
Forgetting Menna, forgetting the likelihood of a rock slide, he ran to get the plan and returned to the corner. Unrolling the scroll, he compared the six small structures that lined the rear edge of the platform with what he could actually see. They might well be the shrines he had found-if the original temple lay beneath the northern side of the present building instead of being centered beneath it as he had assumed. If so, he had found the two northernmost shrines. He saw no sign of the other four, but he had every confidence that a diligent search would reveal them.
He wanted to shout for joy, but had he found anything to shout about? The shrines of gods contained no wealth except for the god himself and his accoutrements. Once removed, as these had been many generations before, nothing remained to steal. That did not mean the tomb Menna-or Montu-and the fishermen had been searching for was not close by. But where?
Returning to the terrace, he saw that Senenmut and his followers were walking among the rough-finished statues and architectural elements on the opposite terrace, stopping before first one image and then another. The porters had settled down with the carrying chairs near the old mudbrick temple of Djeserkare Amonhotep and Ahmose Nefertari.
They, at least, would be safe should a rock slide occur.
Senenmut’s guards stood at full alert around him and his party, while the other guards had spread throughout the construction site, searching for trouble.
He saw no one on the rim of the cliff, nor any movement on its vertical face. The lord Re had begun his descent to the western horizon, and shadows filled the deepest crevices.
The tower-like formations appeared to be separating themselves from the parent rock. Within the hour each individual formation would stand out in full relief against the cliff face.
“It’s time we showed Tracker here. .” He nodded toward the dog. “. . the tunic we took from the fishermen’s house.”
“You’ve found something?” Hori asked, his eyes lighting up, betraying the fact that he was tiring of the activity at Djeser Djeseru.
While Bak quickly explained what he had discovered, Kaemwaset retrieved a torn and dirty linen tunic that smelled of fish and sweat from the top of a tall column where he had left it earlier. The priest had proved to be the most proficient of the four when the patrol officer who had loaned them the dog had instructed them on how best to use him.
Openly pleased at playing so important a role,
Kaemwaset gave Tracker a good long sniff of the garment.
Bak, Hori, and Kasaya stayed well clear. The officer had warned that the fewer men to touch the cloth, the less confused the dog would be by conflicting smells.
Tracker put his nose to the pavement. He immediately headed off in the wrong direction, trotting back and forth among the fallen columns as if confused by too many paths.
Not surprising since the fishermen had frequently carried lights along the terrace, pretending for the workmen’s bene-fit to be the malign spirit.
“Take the dog into the main court,” Bak told Kaemwaset.
The priest grabbed Tracker’s collar and scrambled with him over the wall. Hori followed.
Bak stopped the Medjay before he could cross after them.
“You must stay on the terrace, Kasaya.”
“But, sir!” the young man said, crushed.
“Someone must keep a close watch on the cliff above Djeser Djeseru-especially when Senenmut climbs up to the temple-and you’ve the keenest eye of any of us. Should you see movement of any kind, any sign of trouble, call me.”
He handed over the small mirror. “At the same time, signal the officer in charge of the guards Maiherperi assigned to help us. The quicker you pass on the news, the more men he can get out of the way should a rock slide occur.”
“Can I not go with you and still keep watch?”
“I fear you’d become too distracted.” Bak laid a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Senenmut’s life and the safety of many others, men we’ve come to know and like, may well depend upon your quick reaction.”
Clearly not placated, Kasaya mumbled, “Yes, sir.”
Certain the Medjay would do what he must, like it or not, Bak clambered over the break in the wall. Kaemwaset released the dog. Tracker was less confused in the main court, as if the fishermen had trod the same path time and time again. Following a trail no man could see, he trotted toward the rear of the building. Bak and his companions hurried after him. At the opening into the colonnade court, the dog ranged back and forth again, as if he had either lost the scent or had too many choices. Staying well back, they watched him explore with his nose each trail of invisible footprints in turn. He followed one path to the robber’s shaft, another along the northern colonnade and into the ruined columned hall at the back of the temple.
Hori groaned. “Not in there, I pray.”
“The heart of the temple is slowly collapsing,” Bak explained to Kaemwaset, “not at all safe.” He eyed the darkness into which Tracker had vanished. “We saw no sign of intrusion among the columns, no footprints in the dust. Why do you suppose he went in there?”
The dog loped out from among the columns and sniffed his way directly to Bak. Tail wagging, he looked to
