“But Artemon…”
“Even he doesn’t dare to take the jewel from the box. Not yet.”
“But tomorrow we head for the coast. What then?”
Ismene made no answer.
“Does Bethesda know what’s happening? Does she know I’m still here?”
“She knows.”
“They say you can see the future, Ismene. What do you foresee for Bethesda and me? Will she ever be mine again?”
“I’m not sure that she was ever yours, never mind the fact that you own her.”
“You speak in riddles! Why do you torment me?”
I spoke too loudly. The nearest guard, seated on a stump in front of Bethesda’s hut, turned his head in our direction and furrowed his brow. He reached for his spear and rose to his feet, all the while staring in our direction.
Ismene gave me a sour look, then loudly rustled the foliage and stepped into the clearing.
The guard looked at her, then peered beyond her, into the bushes. “Who were you talking to? Is someone there?”
“You dare to question me, little man?” Ismene’s back was to me, but I could imagine her stern expression. The guard bowed his head and stepped back.
“Forgive me, Metrodora!”
Without looking back, Ismene disappeared inside the hut.
As silently as we could, Djet and I made our way back to the Cuckoo’s Nest.
The long day drew to a close. The men had done all they could to get ready. They were weary but elated. Not one of them showed the least anxiety or regret at the prospect of abandoning the Cuckoo’s Nest. Beer and wine were brought out, and the twilight hour took on a festive air.
I sat on the pier beside Djet, staring at the water and the boats crowded along the shore, riding low with their heavy cargoes. A lone ibis flew overhead; when I looked up, I saw the first star in the darkening sky. From the clearing behind us I heard echoes of laughter and singing. The merriment of the others made my own mood seem even darker.
I heard steps at the foot of the pier, and looked over my shoulder to see Menkhep. He held a wooden cup in one hand, and had a stupid smile on his face.
“You look cheerful,” I said.
“And you don’t. Why aren’t you drinking, Pecunius?”
I shrugged. “Will you leave with the others tomorrow, Menkhep?”
“Of course.”
“What about your trading post?”
“My brother will stay behind, for now.”
“I should think he’ll have a lot of customers at the trading post, with an army marching through.”
Menkhep’s expression turned sour. “They’ll probably ransack the place and burn it down. Soldiers are swine.” He took a swig from his cup. His smile returned. “But if all goes well, soon every man here will have more riches than he ever dreamed of. I’ll be able to buy every trading post in the Delta, if I wish.”
I looked at him intently. “You know more than you’ve told me, don’t you? You know where we’re going.”
“Perhaps.”
“Lucky man. Artemon trusts you.”
“He’s had to share his plans with a few of us; he can’t do everything himself. But even I don’t know the half of it. I’d tell you all I do know, except…”
“I understand.”
“Maybe Artemon himself intends to tell you.”
I cocked my head.
“That’s why I came looking for you. Artemon wants to see you.”
“Now?”
Menkhep nodded. “He’s alone in his hut, looking at maps and scrolls. He wants you to come. Leave the boy with me. I’ll look after him.”
I rose to my feet. My legs were unsteady. With a feeling of dread, I walked toward Artemon’s hut.
XXX
Alone in his hut, Artemon sat surrounded by lamps hung from metal stands. Every surface was covered with open scrolls, charts, and maps. I quickly looked from document to document, trying to read the scrolls upside down and make out the maps, hoping for some clue to our destination, but seeing none.
Artemon saw me looking at the scrolls. “A pity that I’ll have to leave so many of these behind. I can take only the most important ones. I’ll be up half the night sorting through them.”
I took in the sheer volume of so many documents crammed into all the pigeonholes and leather boxes. “When Soter’s army comes marching through, what will they make of such a library, here in the middle of nowhere?”
“The invaders will find no trace of all this. There’ll be no trace of anything to do with the Cuckoo’s Nest, except ashes. Everything will be burned. There’ll be nothing left to link us to this place.”
“And nothing to come back to-except all these crates of buried treasure.”
Artemon snorted. “The things we buried today are hardly worth coming back for-mere baubles and trinkets. Let the invaders dig it up, if they wish. The important thing is that no trace of any man’s identity remains in this place-no keepsake or letter or anything else that might have a name on it. It must be as if the Cuckoo’s Nest, and the Cuckoo’s Gang, never existed.”
I thought of my old tutor, Antipater, who had faked his own death in Rome and put great effort into covering his tracks before we set out on our journey to the Seven Wonders. Did any man ever do such a thing unless he had some mischievous motive? Artemon’s determination to remove all trace of our habitation made me uneasy.
“What will become of us all?” I whispered.
Artemon gave me a quizzical look. He shook his head. “Why can’t you be like the others, Pecunius? I’ve never seen them so happy and carefree. They’re tired of this place. What is the Cuckoo’s Nest, after all, but a bunch of leaky huts in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by crocodiles and mud? The men are thrilled to leave this place behind and set out on a great adventure. They don’t care where we’re going, as long as it’s far from here. But not you, Pecunius. You always seem to have something on your mind.”
I shrugged. “Menkhep said you wanted to see me.”
“Yes. I have something for you.” He opened a small wooden box, drew out a silver necklace, and handed it to me. Attached to the chain was the fang I had pulled from Cheelba. The rot had been scraped away and the cavity filled with silver. The tooth had been cleaned and polished and mounted in a silver bracket. The design was simple but the workmanship was superb.
“We have among us a rather talented silversmith. I think he did a good job with this, don’t you?”
I nodded.
“Aren’t you going to put it on?”
I clasped the chain around my neck. I touched the lion’s tooth, which lay just above my breastbone.
“It suits you, Pecunius. Perhaps it will bring you good fortune.”
“If not, at least I’ll have a reminder of the most terrifying day of my life.”
He laughed.
“Thank you, Artemon. It’s a fine gift. If that’s all, I realize how busy you must be-”
“No, Pecunius, don’t go. Stay. I thought you might share a drink with me, on the eve of our departure. I have here the last of the best of the wine that we salvaged from that shipwreck. According to a stamp on the amphora, it comes all the way from Mount Falernus. That’s in Italy, isn’t it? I’m afraid the silver cups are all packed away.”
He poured from a simple clay pitcher into two clay cups. He made a show of smelling the wine before he drank, and I followed his example. As little as I knew about such matters, even I could tell that the wine was exquisite. I gladly drank it down, and felt its warmth spread through me.
Artemon refilled the cups. “This may be our last quiet moment for quite some time. Beginning tomorrow, everything will be a mad rush. Great events shall unfold, one after another.”
“How much wine have you drunk already, Artemon?”
“Ha! You think my words are grandiose, don’t you? I suppose, to a fellow who’s seen as much of the world as you have, the Cuckoo’s Nest is such a tawdry place that you can’t imagine anything grand or noble could ever come from it.”