Ra the Mighty, page 4
“Little trinkets,” said Aat. “A strand of beads. An ivory comb. The girl was lucky that the Great Wife was fond of her, and that she wasn’t fond of what went missing. In the end, the Great Wife decided she must have misplaced the things herself. But the girl went one step too far when she took that amulet. This time she’ll be punished.”
“But you don’t have proof that Tedimut took those other things?” I asked Aat.
“I don’t need proof,” Aat said airily. “Leopards are very sensitive. We can detect a guilty conscience at fifty paces. I know it’s that girl who stole the Eye of Horus amulet.”
So it was an Eye of Horus amulet that had gone missing? Interesting.
If you ever visit the palace, you’ll see the Eye of Horus everywhere, in wall paintings and on furniture and, yes, on amulets, too. These amulets are made in all sorts of colors and sizes, but what they have in common is the shape: the curving lines of the eye of the great falcon god Horus. The symbol offers health and protection, particularly to Pharaoh but to others, too.
Still buried in my belly fur, Khepri whispered, “Ask her exactly what this amulet looks like.”
Aat regarded Khepri with disgusted fascination. “Ooooh, that beetle thing of yours…it said something.”
“It was just a sneeze.” I didn’t want her to think I was taking orders from Khepri, but he had a point. It would be useful to know more about the missing amulet. “What makes this Eye of Horus so valuable, Aat? Is it covered with jewels?”
Aat yawned. “I really can’t remember. It used to belong to Pharaoh’s mother, and all her stuff is so clunky. Not the Great Wife’s style at all. The Great Wife wore the Eye once or twice when Pharaoh gave it to her, but I think she only did it to please him.”
So the Great Wife wanted to keep on the right side of Pharaoh? Fair enough. As did everyone else in Egypt.
“I’m not surprised she had Lady Shepenupet put it away,” Aat continued. “The Great Wife was never one of the Royal Mother’s favorites, so why should she wear her old jewelry? Even if it was pretty—which it isn’t—the Great Wife would rather wear her own adornments. You’ve seen her gold-and-amethyst necklace, haven’t you? Too marvelous for words.” Aat licked her lips. “To tell the truth, I think the Great Wife is glad that old amulet is gone. It’s Pharaoh who’s furious.”
“With her?” I asked.
“Of course not!” Aat rolled her eyes as if I’d said something stupid. “Pharaoh adores the Great Wife. Everyone knows that. He’s furious with the thief.”
I mulled this over. Pharaoh certainly did adore his wife, just as she adored him, and they hated to argue with each other. Yet they both liked getting their own way. It was a complicated relationship.
“It’s so awkward, having an accessory that doesn’t suit you,” Aat went on. “Almost anything is justified.”
“Ask her who was here this morning,” Khepri hissed, poking his head out of my belly fur again.
Head tilted, Aat stared at him. “Is that thing talking to you, Fluffball?”
“Another sneeze,” I said. If Khepri thought I was going to ask such a silly question, he could think again. Who cared who was in the Great Wife’s room this morning? After all, the amulet wasn’t stolen from here. It was stolen from Tedimut while she was lost in the palace.
Khepri wriggled with impatience against my belly. “Ask her.”
“Another sneeze,” I told Aat, trying not to laugh. Khepri’s legs were tickling me.
Aat gave us a cold stare. “I don’t like all these sneezes, Fluffball. That thing better not make me sick.”
“It’s something only beetles get,” I assured her. “Not leopards.”
Khepri was wriggling worse than ever. To make him stop, I gave in and asked his question. “Aat, who was in the Great Wife’s room this morning? Was there anyone missing? Or anyone extra?”
“Everything was as usual,” Aat said. “Well, until Lady Shepenupet started shouting, and the girl didn’t come, and everyone rushed out hunting for her.”
“Everyone?” I repeated.
“Well, everyone who counts.”
“Who exactly was in the room?” I was growing impatient but tried not to show it. “Before they started hunting for the girl, I mean.”
“Oh, they were all in their usual places,” Aat said. “Lady Shepenupet spent most of her time scolding the younger servants, of course. She never lets them get away with anything, and quite right, too. Someone has to keep them in line, and it certainly won’t be Lady Nefrubity. She’s supposed to look after the Great Wife’s sandals and sashes, but all she ever does is talk about her family. The way that woman goes on about her nieces and nephews! You’d think they were royalty themselves, but they most certainly are not.”
“No,” I agreed. I’d heard the family was down on its luck and struggling to keep up whatever status they had. “So Lady Shepenupet and Lady Nefrubity were there. And who else?”
“Lady Tawerettenru and Lady Wedjebten were chattering away and laying out the Great Wife’s tunic and sash, as they always do. Suddenly Lady Shepenupet started shouting, and she and the other ladies rushed out, screaming the girl’s name. The Great Wife and I were left alone to cope with just five servants—the youngest ones. Not a single one of them thought about me and how much my coat needed brushing. They all rushed around serving the Great Wife.” Aat sniffed. “I had to wait until noon before I was properly groomed.”
“What a tragedy,” Khepri said, a touch too loudly.
“That wasn’t a sneeze.” Aat glared at Khepri. “That thing is talking, Fluffball. And it sounds like it’s making fun of me.”
“You misheard him,” I said quickly. “It was a compliment. He was, er…admiring your collar.”
“Oh.” Aat threw Khepri a suspicious look, but when he stayed quiet she curved her neck proudly so that the golden collar sparkled and the jewels caught the light. “Well, he ought to admire it. Everyone should. It’s the most gorgeous collar in the palace.” She glanced at my own slender strand of gold. “Much nicer than yours, Fluffball. And much more expensive. Pharaoh doesn’t seem to think you’re worth much, does he?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said. “Pharaoh would cover me in jewels if that were what I wanted. But he knows I prefer a light collar—one that doesn’t come with a chain.”
It’s true: I really don’t like being tied down by bejeweled trappings. But mentioning the chain was a bad idea. Aat growled again and took a swipe at me. I leaped out of reach, but she followed me, stalking me across the floor.
“Get out of here, Fluffball,” she snarled. “Go back to your pool. This is my room, and you’re wasting my time.”
I don’t know if you’ve ever met an angry leopard, but my advice is not to argue. “I’m going, I’m going.”
“Wait.” Khepri scrambled up my side. “I have one more question.”
He never got to ask it. As he spoke, Aat lunged—and I ran.
I didn’t stop running till we were outside the Great Wife’s bedroom, well out of Aat’s reach.
“That went well,” I said to Khepri, once I had my breath back.
“You mean we came out alive?” Khepri croaked from behind my neck. “To be honest, Ra, I was hoping for something a little better than that.”
“Don’t be such a wet blanket,” I said. “I tell you, I’ve just about cracked this case.”
“You have?” Khepri slid off my back and came around to face me, looking surprised. “What do you mean?”
“It’s quite simple, really.” I licked my paw. “Thanks to Aat, we know that the amulet isn’t the only thing that’s gone missing. There’s that string of beads, and the comb, too. All we have to do is find them, and ta-dah! We’ll have our thief.”
“How can you be sure the same thief took all of them?” Khepri wanted to know. “And how are you going to find the beads and comb when you don’t know what they look like?”
“Details,” I said. “Petty details.”
“Important details,” Khepri insisted. “Do you realize we nearly lost our lives to that leopard, and we still don’t really know what that Eye of Horus amulet looks like?”
“Sure we do,” I said. “Clunky.”
Khepri sighed. “That could describe half the jewelry in this palace, Ra. It’s not enough to identify anything.”
“Well, it’s just a wild guess, but I bet it looks like an eye,” I said. “That should narrow it down.”
“Not really,” Khepri said. “We don’t know if it’s the size of a date or a dinner plate, or whether it’s made of gold or copper or silver, or if it has jewels in it. That’s what I wanted to ask Aat: Does she know someone who can tell us more? Because without a good description, I don’t see how we’ll ever find the amulet—or the thief.”
Maybe it was true that we could use a better description of the amulet. But it was also true that Khepri sometimes finds it hard to look on the bright side. If you ask me, it comes of spending too much time with dung.
“Trust me,” I said. “We’re on the right track. There’s no mystery so deep that Pharaoh’s Cat can’t get to the bottom of it. You’re just feeling discouraged, that’s all.”
“Right,” said Khepri, but he didn’t sound comforted.
“Besides,” I went on, “I already know someone who can tell us more about the amulet.”
Khepri perked up. “You do?”
I nodded. “Aat said the amulet used to belong to Pharaoh’s mother. So that means Bebi should know all about it. He never forgets anything.” Even better, Bebi was good about sharing food. At last I might get that snack I was longing for.
Khepri looked uneasy. “Is Bebi the old baboon that belongs to Pharaoh’s mother?”
“Yes, he’s been with her since he was a baby—a very long time ago. Haven’t you met before?”
“Er…no. Dung beetles don’t make a habit of introducing themselves to baboons.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because they eat our young, that’s why!” Khepri waved his forelegs in the air. “At a pinch, they might even try to eat us.”
“Bebi would never be so rude as to do that.” I chuckled at the very idea. “He was a friend of my father’s, and he’s quite a cultured fellow. You’ll see.”
“Maybe you should do this interview without me,” Khepri said.
There was a pause while we both considered this.
Not a bad idea, I thought. I could do without Khepri hiding in my fur and hissing questions at me, the way he did with Aat.
“No problem,” I said. “It’s not like I can’t handle this investigation by myself.”
But Khepri was already shaking his head. “I don’t know what I was thinking, Ra.” He took a flying leap into my fur. “Forget it. I’m coming with you!”
* * *
“I’m having second thoughts,” Khepri whispered as we reached Pharaoh’s mother’s rooms.
“It’s a little late now,” I told him as the guards let us through. “There’s Bebi.”
The old baboon ambled toward us, his thick puffs of silver hair gleaming in the soft light. They surrounded his bare snout, forming a hood and cape that made him look twice as big as he really was.
Like Aat, he wore a bejeweled golden collar, but in Bebi’s case there was no chain attached. All baboons were strong, and some were violent, but Bebi had long since proved himself to be the most peaceable of souls. I didn’t visit him often, but when I did, I always found him good company.
“You’re sure he won’t try to eat me?” Khepri whispered.
“Shhhh!” I said. And just in time, too, because we’d reached Bebi, who was holding out his hands in welcome.
“Ra the Mighty! Great Pharaoh’s Cat! It’s been too long.” Bowing low, Bebi touched his hand to my head in greeting. He knew what was due to me as Pharaoh’s Cat, and it was like him to observe all the courtesies. But his polite gesture sent Khepri scuttling down my back, searching for cover.
“Ah!” Bebi drew back. “My dear Ra, did you know that you have a passenger?”
“He’s a friend,” I said. “Bebi, meet Khepri. Khepri, meet Bebi.”
Bebi bent his head down to Khepri. “A pleasure.”
Khepri mumbled something that I couldn’t quite make out.
Apparently Bebi couldn’t, either. “A shy chap, eh?” He swung back and motioned for us to follow him. “Well, come and visit, and we’ll see if we can bring you out of your shell.”
“Out of my shell?” Khepri squeaked in a tiny, horrified voice that only I could hear.
“Calm down,” I said. “He meant he wants you to feel at home.”
Bebi had already outpaced us, so I loped ahead to catch up.
Before we entered the next room, Bebi warned me, “We must go quietly through here. The Royal Mother is sleeping.”
And so she was. As I slinked across the room, I caught a glimpse of her tiny figure huddled under a fine linen sheet on the low bed. With a sigh, I remembered her glory days, when I was just a young cat and she sat at the side of Pharaoh’s father. The flower of Egypt, they called her. Radiant as a goddess, and noble and gracious, just as a Great Wife should be. But when her husband died, all the life went out of her.
An elderly servant, more than half asleep herself, sat on the floor near the bed. Although there were many decorated trunks piled up against the walls, the room itself was rather plain and small, nowhere near the size of the Great Wife’s bedroom, let alone Pharaoh’s. Clearly, the Royal Mother had no need of ceremony anymore.
The courtyard where Bebi led us was small as well, and the slight overhang from the roof provided almost no shade. Even the palm trees near the door looked sad, with withered edges on their leaves. There was no pool, either. But right away I spotted what the courtyard did have: a large plate of snacks, set beneath one of the palms.
I sniffed at the air. “Bebi, is that roasted duck I smell?”
“Please help yourself,” Bebi said. “They brought it to my mistress, and since she wasn’t hungry, she offered it to me. But I’m not very hungry, either.”
“Well, you know me,” I said, sauntering over to the plate. “Always happy to help out.”
“Just like your father,” Bebi said fondly. “He used to help me that way, too. Those were wonderful days, Ra. When the Royal Mother was the Great Wife, the feasts were never-ending. But all good things must come to an end.”
“Er…yes.” Including this duck, I thought. I swallowed a big chunk of it. Delicious.
“What about you, Khepri?” Bebi asked. “I expect roasted duck is not to your taste, but over in the far end of the courtyard you might find, er…something more to your liking.” He pointed discreetly.
Khepri craned over my forehead to see. “Dung!” he exclaimed in delight. “Why, thank you.” To me he whispered, “I guess Bebi really does want me to feel at home.”
Jumping off my head, Khepri chirped his thanks to Bebi and scampered away.
Bebi smiled at me. “There’s no accounting for taste, is there?”
“No,” I said. “There certainly isn’t.” I turned my back so I didn’t have to watch Khepri digging in.
Bebi politely averted his gaze, too, and settled himself down beside me. He was careful not to sit too close. He didn’t rush me into conversation, either. That’s something I like about Bebi—he understands the respect due to Pharaoh’s Cat. He’s a stickler for the attentions due to rank. Maybe that’s because he was pretty high-ranking himself, back in the days when his human was the Great Wife.
After I signaled that I was ready for conversation, however, he was more than happy to start us off. “Tell me, how are things in the palace, Ra? I daresay you know quite a bit more than I do, now that I’m confined to these rooms.”
“You’re confined?” I hadn’t heard this. “On whose orders?”
“Haven’t you heard? The Great Wife has a horror of baboons. It seems a brother of hers was attacked by one. The guards are under orders not to let me out unless I’m on a chain and the Royal Mother accompanies me. And since I loathe chains and the Royal Mother rarely leaves these quarters, I spend almost all my time in here.”
“Really?” I was shocked. “That’s dreadful, Bebi. Something ought to be done—”
“Oh, it’s not so bad.” Bebi smoothed down a tuft of fur. “Truth be told, I don’t know that I’d want to stroll around even if I could. The palace isn’t what it used to be, Ra. Besides, my joints can’t take the wear and tear. A pity, but there it is. I’m content enough here, believe me. It’s a peaceful place, and the Royal Mother is kind. But I do enjoy hearing news from outside when I have visitors.”
“Have you heard about the robbery?” I asked, licking my chops. “Someone stole an amulet from the Great Wife this morning.”
“The Eye of Horus? Yes, one of the servants came and told us.” Bebi shook his silver-maned head. “Shocking, isn’t it? The Royal Mother was very upset. That was her favorite amulet.”
“If it was her favorite, why did she give it to the Great Wife?”
Bebi looked at me in surprise. “Because she had to, Ra. Pharaoh said it was meant only for a Great Wife to wear—and since his mother was no longer the Great Wife, but a widow, it must be passed on. Just as her great bedroom had to be passed on, and half her possessions.” Bebi shrugged in resignation. “It can’t be helped. It’s how it’s always been done. The Royal Mother understood that, but she was worried that the new Great Wife wouldn’t treat her things with the care they deserved. And she was right, because now the Eye of Horus is gone. You can imagine how angry the Royal Mother is.”
I nosed around for another bit of duck. “Well, you can’t really blame the Great Wife if a thief decided to rob her.”
“It wouldn’t have happened to my mistress,” Bebi said stubbornly. “She never let that amulet out of her sight.”
“So you remember what this Eye of Horus looks like?” I asked.
