'That far wing's off limits to anyone who isn't either a Pharaoh, a Pharaoh's wife or the Holy Council. Not forgetting Min, of course. He lives there, too.'
'Is Min the commune cat?'
'Cat?' Mercy roared with laughter, and several more grey hairs jack-knifed loose. 'Lordy, child, Min's the Grand Vizier!' She wiped away the tears. 'And before you ask, yes, it's his real name. They're brothers, Mentu and Min, but you'll get used to these Egyptian monikers after a while. Would you believe the name I was given when I joined was Mersyankh? Mersyankh! I could hardly pronounce it, let alone spell it.' She drew Claudia close. 'I told them, I'd settle for Mercy.'
Claudia laughed with her as they walked up the steps to the ladies' bath house. Mercy was by no means simple-minded and it was difficult to see this robust, happy, well-adjusted woman kowtowing to commune rules, but then escape routes come in many guises.
As though reading her mind, Mercy said, 'Ach, to be sure, I've never looked back! I dedicated the best part of forty years to me family, doing what's right for them, what's best for them, until it's time, I thought, I did something for meself before it's too damned late.' She relieved Claudia of her discarded gown and held it up admiringly, before folding it away in a chest. 'So I up and left the lot of 'em.' Claudia's rings, armbands and pendant she placed in a dish shaped like a water lily, and Claudia knew that would be the last she'd see of her lovely jewels!
There was something in Mercy's manner which prompted her to ask, 'Left, as in "without a word" you mean?'
'Best way, me lovely,' Mercy said, helping her into a pleated shift dress, white and patterned with diamonds of green, blue and turquoise, identical in every respect to her own. Identical, in fact, to everyone else's.
'Me husband was a bastard,' she added matter-of-factly. 'Beat me when he drank and beat me when he was sober, a proper brute, and I don't care what anybody says, I recognise his type in Geb, and so I do! Geb's Keeper of the Central Store — he oversees the domestic side, the cooking, laundry, that kind of thing — you'll know who I mean when you see him. A Barbary ape on two legs. Are your shoulder straps too tight? Anyway, you'll have no trouble with Geb. He hates women — men like that do — he avoids them when he can, which is, of course,' she laughed, 'most of the time.'
Her hand dithered over two small wide-rimmed, flat-bottomed pots, finally reaching for the one in the form of a duck.
'Black,' she pronounced, and Claudia realised they were eye paints she'd been choosing. 'Later,' she said, Til show you to the rabbit hutch which passes for your bedroom, but first it's prayers. My, my, you look a picture!'
She steered her charge towards a tall mirror of polished bronze, and what shone back was not Claudia, but a replica of the three hundred other women in the commune. Hair had been twisted into a simple bun at the nape, eyes rimmed with kohl, a shift and sandals identical to everyone else's. Incredible. In the space of ten minutes, Mercy had bestowed upon Claudia a veneer of invisibility…
'Tomorrow,' she said, replacing the disc-shaped lid on the kohl, 'I'll henna your palms, your fingernails and the soles of your feet, ooh, it's a heavenly sensation. Tomorrow's a public holiday, and tonight we celebrate the passing of the crocodile-'
Whoa! 'We're mourning the death of a future piece of luggage?'
'Tch! Hasn't that lazy sod, Zer, told you anything about your new way of life here?' Outside, thunder rolled and rumbled, lightning streaked the sky. Glancing up, Mercy prayed aloud that the rain would hold off until after the ceremony had finished. 'We operate a ten-day week, a ten-month year in the commune, and the months are named after the festivals. Hathor's marriage to Horus, for instance, is one, which we abbreviate to 'the cow'. Gets too complex otherwise.'
Otherwise? Claudia was already confused! But then that's what this whole place was about. Disorientation. New clothes, new regime, new identity. No personal possessions. No contact with home or even with the outside world — come on, that double set of gates wasn't to impress local wildlife! Memories would be eradicated by ritual, by work, by devotion to Ra through homage to his Ten True Gods working on earth and this, of course, suited cult members as well as cult leaders. It would be wise for Claudia to remember that. People were here, because they chose to be here. Because they had a need for dependency, for numbing, for sublimation of self. They did not want the responsibility of thinking for themselves, they were content with being set repetitive, mindless tasks which relieved them of personal accountability, even on the most menial level.
Brainwashing, she belatedly realised, works both ways…
Large raindrops began to fall, loud and hot. Grabbing Claudia's arm, Mercy ducked her head and dashed towards a high wall, whose enclosure was covered by a huge blue canvas awning worked by a contraption of wooden laths, poles and ropes. Quite a crowd was already assembled, which didn't stop Mercy from pushing her way to the front for a good and clear view, and what a view! If Claudia had thought the boat on the upstairs floor of the apartment block was a knockout, here was surely its mother.
No replica, this! The barque was full-scale, a vessel fit for a king — for a god — its high prow and stern glowing with gold. Due to the heavy, dark sky, lanterns and torches had been lit around the temple front, making the jewels and gems shimmer and turning the rubies to living red eyes. Zigzag fangs of lightning turned the overlaid silver to incandescent flashing waterfalls. Behind the boat, stone hieroglyphs covered the white temple wall — Claudia recognised the Eye of Horus (why this preoccupation with body parts?) — and alabaster sphinxes lounged haughtily either side of the great, gaping doors.
'How many wives has Mentu got?' Two? Three?
'Twenty,' Mercy said, without blinking an eyelash. 'Why?' she chuckled. 'D'you fancy your chances?'
As more and more people huddled under the awning, Claudia was blown back by this overpowering odour of cloves and myrrh. The unguent, she realised, was yet another erosion of personality and decision-making, and in small quantities — well, you couldn't say it was pleasant, far too pungent for that, but nevertheless the fragrance was tolerable. En masse, though, and exacerbated by the heat, the smell was truly awesome! By now, the rain was drumming heavily on the canvas carapace, splattering over the side in thick torrents, and for a few moments, Claudia noticed no change in the background noise. Then she became aware that a different kind of drumming had started.
Booom, boo-boo-booom, boo-boo-booom, boo-boo-boom.
A broad-shouldered Negro beat a giant bronze tortoise with a fleece-covered drumstick, and the slow pulsing rhythm made the hair prick on Claudia's neck.
Booom, boo-boo-booom, boo-boo-booom, boo-boo-boom.
A man moved into the spotlights cast by the high, mounted torches, and at first, she thought it was Zer. It was not. Zer had already left on his return trip to Rome. But this man was also clad in priestly garb, and the strong, broad ridge of his skull showed a man of courage, strength and character, a man for whom wool would not easily be pulled over shaven eyebrows.
Booom, boo-boo-booom, boo-boo-booom, boo-boo-boom.
'He's permitted only goosemeat and beef for his protein intake,' Mercy whispered. 'Not allowed to touch fish, the poor darling, and as for beans. Tch. Can't so much as look at the divils!'
Small fry, Claudia thought, to being forced to bath in cold water twice daily. Fine in this weather, but winter?
Behind the High Priest, ten white-robed priestesses swayed and rattled their sistrums, the tune from their silvery bells almost inaudible against the rumbles of thunder. Booom, boo-boo-booom, boo-boo-booom, boo-boo-boom.
Then the eerie drumming stopped. An air of expectancy sizzled round the crowd. The High Priest reached into a moleskin bag at his waist and threw what looked like grit on to the brazier. Whooosh! Clouds of smoke billowed up, and when they cleared, Claudia gasped. Emerging as though airborne from the building came the most extraordinary procession she had ever seen!