Bak sipped from the bag, thinking of the man rumored to have found gold, the man who denied that he had. “Tell me of
Minnakht’s appearance.”
“You’ve never met him?”
“His father asked me to find him long after he vanished.”
“Let me think.” Teti took the waterbag, plugged it, and laid it on the stone beside him. “He was tall and slender, his face and body as well formed as the statue of a god. He walked stiff and straight and he had a way of raising his chin as if he thought himself better than any other man. I believe that the pride he took in himself, not a display of superiority.”
The description was similar to others Bak had heard but unadulterated by admiration. “He had no marks on his body?
No special way of talking?”
Teti shook his head. “Other than his good humor and a readiness to speak of his adventures, I can think of nothing more.”
Later, as they trod an easy trail across the top of the plateau to the place where they would descend the mountain, Bak had the leisure to think of all he had learned. He was a long way from discovering the truth, he knew, but at last he felt as if a ray of light had penetrated the darkness within his heart.
Chapter 16
“I see why you wished to descend before dark.” Bak stood at the top of what looked to be a high and steeply stepped wa terfall-except he doubted any water had flowed down for many generations.
Sergeant Suemnut eyed the ragged line of men standing on the narrow trail behind them. “I pray to the lord Sopdu that none who came with you has a fear of high places.”
Bak followed his glance. His Medjays, who carried their weapons and waterbags, led the procession. Next came four soldiers, two armed with spears and shields and each of the other two carrying a leather bag of turquoise. After them came User and his party. Standing between a steep red slope on one side and the rough face of a low cliff on the other, they could see nothing from their vantage point except the gap where the path dropped away. Farther back, the soldiers who had delivered the supplies to the mines straggled across the plateau, walking easily, carrying yokes from which nothing was suspended. The remaining soldiers, having no prisoners to guard, mingled with their fellows, no longer fearful of raiders. Suemnut had explained that past experience had proven the supplies to be of more value to plundering no mads than the turquoise.
Bak looked again into the deep wadi down whose side they must climb. The dry waterfall seemed to fall away forever. An elongated black peak rose on the far side. Because of the complicated folds of land, he could not see the bottom, but he suspected for the sake of the fearful among them that ignorance was preferable to knowing what lay ahead. The climb down would be long and difficult.
“Should one of them be afraid, could he not return to the lower camp by way of the path we ascended this morning?”
“This late in the day, the shadows hide details on that side of the mountain. It’s easy to get lost or take a wrong step.
He’d have to stay overnight with the miners and come down tomorrow.”
“I’ll talk to them.” Bak walked back and gathered the men around him. He described the path and the alternative of re maining on the mountaintop. “I suggest you stand with
Sergeant Suemnut and look down. If you think you can’t de scend, tell us. A soldier will take you back across the plateau to the mines.”
Standing close by, he watched the men as one after an other peered over the edge. None of the Medjays were trou bled by what they saw, nor were User, Amonmose, or
Nebenkemet.
Ani looked down, sucked in his breath, and took a quick step back. He offered Bak and the sergeant a timid smile and hesitantly stepped closer to the edge to look down a second time. “I’m terrified, but I can do it.” He glanced back at
Psuro, added, “If you’ll help me, Sergeant.”
The Medjay studied the small plump man, weighing fear versus determination. At last he nodded. “I’ll stay with you.”
Wensu moved closer and looked down. His face paled, but he remained at the drop-off, staring at the steep incline. “I, too, am afraid and may need help.”
Such an admission from such a headstrong young man was astonishing. With a hint of a smile, Nebre volunteered his aid.
“Once you start down, you must go all the way,” Bak re minded them. “There’ll be no turning back.”
The two men, so different from each other, spoke as one:
“I’ll climb down this way.”
At a point Suemnut said was about halfway down the trail, they stopped to rest on a flattish and relatively wide ledge overlooking a short, steep ravine-like drop in the dry water fall. On the opposite side of the ravine, miners had, many generations earlier, etched reliefs on the dark surfaces of huge smooth-faced boulders. Immediately above the ravine,
Psuro had had to help Ani down a particularly difficult sec tion of trail where the stone had crumbled, leaving the natu ral rock steps loose and treacherous. Sweat poured from the jeweler and his face was fiery. The descent had thus far been difficult, but his fear had to have made it many times harder.
He dropped onto the ground, wiped his face, and gave Bak a haggard smile. “My knees are shaking. But so far I’ve man aged to hang on to this.” He patted the bulging square of linen hanging from his belt. It held the turquoise Teti had given him.
Psuro handed him a waterbag. “You’ve done well, sir.
When I saw that narrow stretch of trail where the rock along side projected outward, I feared for you. Looking toward the rock as you did instead of facing the slope was wise.”
“I was so afraid, I feared I’d lose my midday meal.”
The sergeant clapped him on the back and laughed.
“Bread and beer. No great loss, I’d say.”
Bak smiled at the two of them. Psuro was not one to easily call a man “sir.” He had come to respect the jeweler. Bak felt the same. Ani had never been high on his list of suspects, but the more he saw of him, the more convinced he was that he would not, could not, slay a man. This journey up the moun tain of turquoise had proven he had immense inner strength and tenacity, but was lacking in physical strength and had no ease of movement in the natural world. With sufficient will, he might be able to bury a dagger in a man’s breast or back, but he could never slip away unseen from a campsite where men were sleeping all around.
Wensu flopped down beside Ani and, with a grateful smile, accepted the waterbag with shaking hands. Where the jeweler was flushed, the younger man’s face was pale and drawn. “My father will never believe me when I tell him of this trail.”
Nebre laughed. “Send him to me. I’ll tell him how often you’ve shaken off my hand, spurning aid.”
User and Amonmose, sweating profusely but undaunted, continued a good-natured argument they had begun halfway down the dry waterfall. The explorer claimed a bird soaring overhead was an eagle. The trader swore it was a vulture. As it was hardly more than a black speck, Bak suspected they were arguing simply for argument’s sake. Nebenkemet, no more troubled by the descent than they, sat with the soldiers carrying the turquoise. They were flipping a small flat stone they had dug out of the bag and were betting on which side would turn up when it fell.
Suemnut studied the sun and the shadows, which were growing longer and deeper. Bak could see he wanted to move on but, evidently believing Wensu and Ani needed more time, he let them rest. He ordered one of his men to take charge of the soldiers straggling down the trail and signaled all but four to pass them by and go on ahead.
Suemnut paced back and forth along the ledge, waiting for the two weaker men to regain their strength. Gradually, some of the flush faded from Ani’s face and Wensu’s color re turned. Very much aware of how anxious their guide was to get off the mountain before darkness fell, Bak stood up and suggested they leave. The sergeant flashed him a grateful smile.