“Did Silano tell you to say that?”
She looked disappointed. “Why can’t you believe I love you? I rode with you all the way to Acre, and it was a cannon shot that separated us, not choice. It was fate that brought us both together again. Just have faith a little longer.”
“You sound like Napoleon. ‘I have made all the calculations. Fate will do the rest.’”
“Bonaparte has his own wisdom.”
And with that we came to the headquarters building, a one-story stucco structure with a shed roof of tile and a porch thatched with palm. It was cool and dim inside. As my eyes adjusted from the glare, I saw Silano waiting at a plain table with two officers. The older one I’d known since the French landing at Alexandria. General Jacques de Menou had fought bravely and later, by report, had converted to Islam.
He was fascinated with Egyptian culture, but he was not a particularly commanding officer with his pencil moustache, round accountant’s face, and balding pate. The other, a handsome captain, I didn’t know.
On either side of the room were closed doors, with locks.
Silano stood. “Always you are trying to escape me, Monsieur Gage, and always our paths entwine!” He gave a slight, courtly bow. “Surely you recognize destiny by now. Perhaps we’re meant to be friends, not enemies?”
“I’d be more persuaded of that if your other friends didn’t keep shooting at me.”
“Even the best friends quarrel.” He gestured. “General de Menou you know?”
“Yes.”
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“I didn’t expect to see you again,
“That came from the shooting part,” I told the general.
“And this is Captain Pierre-Francois Bouchard,” Silano went on.
“He was in charge of construction at the fort here when his men dug up a piece of rubble. Fortunately, Captain Bouchard was quick to recognize its significance. This Rosetta Stone may change the world, I think.”
“A stone?”
“Come. Let me show you.”
Silano led us to the room on the left, unlocked its door, and ushered us inside. It was dim; the slit window looking out onto the courtyard draped for privacy. The first thing that caught my eye was the wooden coffin of a mummy. Brightly painted and remarkably preserved, it bore paintings that looked like a depiction of a soul’s journey through the land of the dead.
“Is there a body inside?”
“Of Omar, our sentry,” Menou joked. “He is tireless.”
“Sentry?”
“I brought this downriver and told the soldiers we found it at this fort site,” Silano said. “Fear surrounds these mummies, and this one is now reputed to haunt Rosetta. It’s better than a cobra for keeping the curious out of this room.”
I touched the lid. “Amazing how bright the colors are.”
“Magic too, perhaps. We can’t do the same now, just as we’ve lost the formula for the leaded glass in the medieval cathedrals. We can’t match either beauty.” He pointed to some paint pots in one corner of the room. “I’m experimenting. Maybe Omar in there will give me a hint one night.”
“And you don’t believe in curses?”
“I believe I’m about to control them. With this.” Beside the wooden sarcophagus, something bulky, about five feet high and a little less than three feet wide, was shrouded with a tarpaulin. With a dramatic gesture, Silano whisked the cover off. I bent, peering in the dim light.
There was writing in different languages. I’m not a linguist, but one t h e
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block of words looked Greek, and another like writing I’d seen in Egyptian temples. A third script I couldn’t identify but the fourth, at the top, just above the temple writing, made my heart beat faster. It was the same curious symbols I’d read on the scroll I’d found in the City of Ghosts. I realized what Silano had meant with his cryptic message. He could compare the Greek words to the secret ones of Thoth and possibly unravel the language!
“What’s this text here?” I pointed to the one I didn’t recognize.
“Demotic, the Egyptian language that followed the ancient hieroglyphs,” Silano said. “My guess is that these are in order of time—the oldest language, that of Thoth, at the top, and the newest, Greek, at the bottom.”
“When Alessandro brought me here I recognized what we’d seen on the scroll, Ethan,” Astiza said. “See? I was
“And now you want me to help you decipher it,” I summarized.
“We want you to give us the book so
“And I get?”
