to report you missing?”
“My father loves me too well. If he knew I lived, he’d pro claim the news as a farmer sows grain during the season of planting. All the world would know and he’d unwittingly commit me to death.” Minnakht rubbed a thin scar on his right arm. “I’ve another reason for caution: not quite a year ago, a man closer to me than a brother, Ahmose by name, vanished in this desert. I suspect he was slain, as were Senna and the others who’ve died since your caravan set out.”
Ahmose, Bak guessed, was the missing man Amonmose had heard of in Kaine. “You didn’t recognize the men who beat you, yet you knew not if they were friend or foe. That makes no sense.”
“They referred often to someone they called ‘he’ or ‘him.’
‘He’ would be angry if I didn’t reveal where the gold was.
They feared to tell ‘him’ of my stubborn refusal to talk. ‘He’ had no love for me and wouldn’t mind seeing me dead.”
The argument failed to convince Bak that Minnakht had good reason to turn his back on all men, especially his father.
Perhaps he had been too much alone and had begun to see danger where no peril existed. “Do you have any idea who that man might be?”
“I’ve thought long and hard through many lonely days. I believe him to be User.”
Bak eyed him thoughtfully. He had begun to like User his quiet competence, his acceptance of his own strengths and limitations-and he preferred not to think of him as a slayer of men. “Explain your reasoning.”
“Through the years, he’s made no secret that he hopes to find gold or precious stones. Now his wife is ill and he has a need in addition to an obsession. He’s one of the few men who knows this desert almost as well as I, and I’d wager he’d need no guide should he plan a deed he’d want no other man to witness.”
“I think you err.”
“Senna suspected that you believe someone in the caravan murdered the man found dead north of Kaine. Who else but
User? Who but he could’ve kept in constant contact with the nomad you call the watching man, the man Senna believed took the lives of all who’ve died since you left that first well.”
Minnakht seemed exceedingly sure of himself, but Bak had heard no proofs, nothing but a few generalities. Also,
User’s skepticism about the possibility of finding gold seemed very real.
He glanced at the two Medjays. Both men had relaxed to an extent, but neither had laid his weapons aside. Both ap peared to be absorbed by Minnakht’s tale, and both exhibited a healthy mistrust.
“Why did you choose to make yourself known to me?”
“You’ve been wasting your time searching for me.” Min nakht flashed a smile. “I thought to set you on a right and true path.”
Bak eyed this man, essentially a stranger. He thought him arrogant, but he might merely be overcompensating for his fear of an unknown enemy. His tale was well rehearsed, but would it not be after so long alone in the desert? For a man who had been described as close to the nomads, why had he not gone to them for help?
“Did you follow me when I was abducted by the nomads?”
“Senna told me later that you’d been taken. I’d gone on ahead of the caravan, so I knew nothing of your absence un til I saw you with the child.” Minnakht eyed Bak narrowly.
“What did they say of me?”
“I was threatened with death if I didn’t help find you. Does that not tell you in what great esteem they hold you?”
Minnakht’s brow wrinkled in thought. “They might wish your help so they can slay me. Or are they, like User, looking for gold?”
Bak decided to assume the question rhetorical. “I’d planned to cross the sea and go to the mountain of turquoise, but with your father so eager to see you, we must return to
Kemet without delay. I suggest we travel south along the coast and go back by way of the southern route. At this time of year, with caravans coming and going, transporting sup plies for the mines and carrying ore to the land of Kemet, we should be able to travel in complete safety.”
“Will User remain with you?”
“I believe he will.”
“If I were to travel with you, I’d be placing my life in his hands.”
“Maybe,” Bak said doubtfully.
“I can see that you’re unsure of me, and I don’t blame you.
We’ve barely met.” Minnakht gave him an understanding smile. “You need more time to reconcile yourself to the fact that I still live. I suggest you go on to the mountain of turquoise, and I’ll meet you upon your return.”
“You wish me to drag out your father’s agony? No. We’ll travel to Kemet immediately.”
Minnakht stared at him, unhappy with what amounted to a ultimatum. “I’ve two donkeys hobbled north of here, far from food or water. I must go get them. I’ll follow you to the sea, and meet you there before day’s end.”
“Kaha and Nebre will accompany you.”
“You trust me so little?” Minnakht’s laugh carried a hint of bitterness. “Trust goes two ways, Lieutenant. If you send them with me, I’ll slip away and you may never see me again.”
“What would you do?” Bak jeered. “Slink off into the wilderness and hide forever, living like a frightened animal?”
“I do miss the land of Kemet,” Minnakht said with a rueful smile. “I’ll meet you, that I promise. If not today, then tomorrow.” He must have noticed the lack of conviction on
Bak’s face. His smile faded. “If for some unaccountable rea son, I fail to do so, I’ll follow you wherever you go. Senna told me you were a man of your word, one who never fails to do his duty. If I’m ever again to see my home and my father, you’re the man who’ll keep me safe.
“All I ask is that you watch User and wait for him to reveal himself as a slayer. I grant the possibility that the guilt lies elsewhere, but I think the likelihood small.” Minnakht leaned forward, as if to physically impress Bak with his plea.
“Whatever you do, you must tell no one I live. Ahmose van ished nearly a year ago and other men have since been slain.
I’d not like to follow them to the netherworld.”
Bak studied the man seated before him, letting the silence build. He found him to be likable in spite of what he sus pected was an irrational fear. He could not and would not en tirely trust him-Minnakht or not, he was a stranger-but he saw no reason to spread the word that the young explorer lived. “I’ll say nothing, that I vow.” He glanced at Nebre and
Kaha and added, “My men will also remain silent.”
Chapter 13
“The nomads have gone,” User said, stating the obvious.
Bak scowled at the empty fishing camp, built on the shore of the Eastern Sea. “They’ve avoided us throughout our jour ney. Why should this place be any different?”
He was thoroughly irritated with Nefertem. He did not know for a fact that the tribal chief had told his people to stay away from the caravan, but he strongly suspected such was the case. Why could the man not help rather than hinder?
He and the explorer led the caravan into the camp, where men and donkeys gathered on the beach between two rough huts and the water’s edge. The shelters could not have been more basic. Spindly acacia branches supported roofs covered with brush held in place by rocks. They would not provide much shelter during a storm, but would suffice for men wish ing to sleep through the heat of the day. A larger, rectangular hut farther along the
