Stone took off in hot pursuit of the big Indian. Alex’s long legs allowed him to keep close behind. Stone could see the back of Hawk’s head as he ducked in and out of the light traffic on the street. They dodged camel riders, men pulling carts, and a few confused tourists, and emerged into an open-air market.
The street was lined with colorful tents and awnings. Vendors loudly hawked their wares. Shady-looking youths lurked in the shadows, looking for potential marks to pickpocket. Hawk skirted a cart laden with fruit and disappeared among the tents that lined the street.
“Where did he go?” Alex asked.
Stone spotted a man in a flowing robe duck behind a vendor’s cart. The robe was not long enough to hide his cowboy boots. Stone grinned. “Wait here where he can see you. Keep looking around. Try to appear confused.”
“Not a problem,” Alex said.
Stone melted into the crowd, worked his way down the street, and circled back from the opposite direction. He saw Hawk kneeling down watching Alex. He moved on silent feet until he was a few feet behind the Indian.
“We mean you no harm.”
Hawk snapped his head around. His jaw dropped. “You are the first white man to ever sneak up on me.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. And whatever you do, don’t reach for a weapon. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Think you can?” Hawk grinned as he slowly rose to his feet.
“Let’s not find out. I want to hire you for a job. I only chased you because I didn’t want you to get away before we could talk.”
Hawk looked at him cagily. “I’m not for sale.”
“Good thing I only want to rent you.”
Hawk laughed. “Funny man. Who do you work for?”
“Myself.”
“I’m not interested.” Hawk folded his arms, glared at Stone.
“Are you sure you don’t want to get out of town right about now? I imagine the law will be hot on your heels.”
“The law isn’t the problem. I’m not guilty and I know who to bribe if it comes to that.”
“You’ll need money for that, and you left a pile of it lying on the floor back in the bar.” Stone patted the wad of bills in his pocket.
Hawk nodded. “Let’s talk, but not here.”
Stone followed him to a stall where carpets and tapestries were sold. Hawk said something to the merchant, then turned to Stone.
“Give him two pounds.”
Stone handed over two bills. The man smiled, bobbed his head, then handed one of the bills to Indian, who tucked it into his pocket.
“What was that?” Stone asked.
“Finder’s fee.”
Stone smiled ruefully and followed Hawk into a tent behind the stall.
“What’s the job?” Hawk asked when they were inside.
“I need to hire a guide.”
“A white man wants an Indian to lead him around. What a surprise. Do I look like Sacajawea?”
“A little bit. Must be the hair. Put a little curl in it and you’d look like Dolores Del Rio.”
Hawk smirked. “Don’t joke about the hair. I’ve killed men for less. Tell me about the job.”
“We’re looking for a place called Kauketos. It might also be called Sobekopolis.”
Hawk threw back his head and laughed. “I’m disappointed. You don’t look like the sort of man who believes in fairy tales.”
“When you’ve seen the things I’ve seen, you lose your skepticism. Can you take us there or not?”
“It’s a death sentence.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
The shopkeeper poked his head in and said something to the Indian. Hawk nodded, turned to Stone.
“Let’s make this quick so we can get out of here. Two hundred pounds in advance. You pay for all the supplies.”
“One hundred in advance and another two hundred when you get us back safely,” Stone said.
“What if you don’t live?”
“You can take it off my corpse. I won’t have any use for it.”
“Deal. And one more thing.” Hawk reached inside his boot, took out the ace of spades, and handed it to Stone. “Get rid of this for me. You understand.”
Stone gave a rueful chuckle. What sort of man was he now in league with?
22 Leaving
They met up with Alex, but instead of leading them back into the city, Hawk guided them to the outskirts of town.
“Where are we going?” Stone asked.
“There’s only one person that can tell us how to get to Sobekopolis.”
They drew plenty of stares from the locals. They made an odd-looking trio — three Americans, one of them a native, and another with a hook for a hand.
“How did you manage to catch me?” Hawk asked.
“I had a lot of specialized training,” Stone said. “If you don’t mind my asking, what’s a Cherokee doing in Egypt?”
“You can tell the nations apart? I’m impressed.” Hawk said. “As for what I’m doing here, I served as a scout in the Great War. There wasn’t anything waiting for me back home except poverty, so I drifted through Europe and down to Africa. Once I got to Cairo, I discovered I got better treatment here than I did back in the States, so I stayed.”
Stone was surprised to learn Hawk was old enough to have served. The big native appeared to be about the same age as Stone and Alex. When he said so, Hawk laughed.
“I lied about my age. I’m a big fellow and all my people look alike to your kind. Besides, the army didn’t really care how old I was — they just wanted bodies.”
Stone nodded. The official enlistment age had been nineteen, but thousands of boys barely in their teens had died serving in the war.
“Why do they call you Hawk?” Alex asked. “Is it your nose?”
“What’s wrong with my nose?”
“Nothing, I just thought…” Alex stammered, his face turned red.
“I’m joking. They call me Hawk because of this.” He patted the tomahawk hanging from his belt. “And any name is better than Absalom Bonebrake.”
Stone chuckled. Absalom was the third son of King David. He rebelled against his father and was killed when his hair snagged in a tree branch. He was pulled from his horse and hung there until King David’s men caught up to him.
They soon arrived at a private residence. Hawk spoke quietly with the man who answered the door, then beckoned for them to follow him inside.
In a room in the back of the house sat an old man with frizzy, snow white hair. His expression was blank and he muttered softly under his breath. When they got closer, Stone was surprised to realize the man was much younger than he had initially believed. Probably no more than forty.
“Who is he?” Alex asked.
“This is Darius. He’s the only person I know who claims to have found Sobekopolis. This is what it did to him.”
“Why did you wait until now to tell us?”
“I wanted you to see for yourself what you face.”
“Understood.”
Hawk turned to Darius. “These men are looking for Sobekopolis. Can you tell us how to get there.”
Darius trembled. His eyes went wide, and he began to rock back and forth and whisper to himself. Stone could just make out the words.
“Three days… over the camel’s back… canyon.”
“What does that mean?” Alex asked.
There’s a rock formation about three days west of here called Camel’s Back. We cross over it and look for a canyon.”
“The Canyon of the Three-Headed Serpent,” Alex said.
Darius whimpered at the name.
“Is that where you went, Darius?” Hawk asked.
Darius nodded. Stone had an idea. He took out the ushabti and held it up.
“Have you seen something like this before?”
Darius gasped. He sprang to his feet, let out a scream, and ran from the room.
“Nice going,” Hawk said. “Whatever he saw out there turned him into a madman. You still want to go?