'In due course. I haven't thought it out fully as yet. All I am certain
of is that it is going to take a prodigious amount of planning and hard
work.'
'You are still committed, then?' She wanted his assurance. She knew that
she could never do it alone. 'You aren't daunted by the project?'
Nicholas chuckled. 'I will admit that I never expected Taita to lead us
on such a merry chase. I imagined simply breaking open a stone gateway
and finding it all waiting for us there, like Howard Carter walking into
the tomb of Tutankhamen. However, to answer your question, yes, I am
daunted by what it's going to involve - but hell nothing could stop me
now! I have the smell of glory in my nostrils and the gleam of gold in
my eye.'
While they talked, Tamre curled up in the dust on the other side of the
fire, and pulled his shaninut over his head. His rest must have been
interrupted by dreams and fantasies, for he burbled and squeaked and
giggled in his sleep.
'I wonder what goes on in that poor demented head, and what visions he
sees,' Royan whispered. 'He says he saw Jesus here in the quarry, and I
am sure that he really believes that he did.'
Their voices became softer and drowsier as the fire burned down and
Royan murmured, just before she fell asleep on Nicholas's shoulder, 'If
the tomb of Pharaoh Mamose is below the level of the river, then surely
the contents will be water-damaged?'
'I can't believe that Taita would have built his dam and spent fifteen
years working on the tomb, as he says that he did in the scrolls, only
to flood it deliberately and despoil the mummy of his king and ruin his
treasure,' Nicholas murmured, with her hair tickling his cheek. 'No, t
would have precluded Pharaoh's resu he that rrection in other world, and
brought all his work to nothing. I think Taita has taken all that into
his calculations.'
She snuggled closer, and sighed with satisfaction.
A little while later he said softly, 'Goodnight, Royan,' but she did
not' reply and her breathing was deep and even. He smiled to himself,
and gently kissed the top of her head.
Nicholas was not certain what had woken him.
He took a few moments to place himself, and then he realized that he was
still in the quarry. There was no moon but the stars hung down close to
the earth, as big and fat as bunches of ripe grapes. By their light he
saw that Royan had slipped down and was lying flat on the ground beside
him.
He stood up carefully, so as not to disturb her, and moved well away
from the dead fire to empty his bladder.
The night was deathly quiet. No night bird called, nor was there the
sound of any of the other nocturnal creatures.
The rocks around him still radiated the heat of the previous day's
sunlight.
Suddenly the sound that had woken him was repeated.
It was a faint and distant susurration that echoed along the cliffs, so
that he could form no judgement as to the direction from which it came.
But he was in no doubt what the sound was. He had heard it so often
