It was not until I asked the healer that I learned more. He seems a most learned man. The river-horses leave the river by night, invade men's fields, and devour their crops, trampling much and eating much. Thus they are hated. They destroy crocodiles, and so are loved and greatly respected. They overturn boats, and so are hated again. Kings and other great men hunt them in fleets of boats with fifty or a hundred hunters. No one ever rides these horses. On this point he warned me. When a man sees them on shore, he thinks they cannot run; but in truth they run very swiftly. That is good to know.
They are seldom seen as far north as this, he said, but as we go farther south, we will see more. I asked him and others to call me whenever they see one. WE HAVE BEEN wrestling-my men and I. It was good sport, something we should do often. Uro told me I had hurt his arm a few days ago, but it was well again. He said he did not resist me because I am his officer. I said, of course, that if he had resisted I would have killed him, and pretended to recall the incident. He said that though I may be a better swordsman he is a fine wrestler. Aahmes declared that he was a better wrestler than Uro. The Men of Parsa boasted that they were all much better wrestlers than any Men of Kemet. We had matches, wrestling as friends. Baginu beat his first opponent, but Aahmes beat Baginu. I offered to wrestle Aahmes. His friends objected, saying justly that he was tired from his earlier match with Baginu. I said I would wrestle Aahmes and Baginu together, knowing that if they wrestled as one their animosity could not endure. Myt-ser'eu objected and so did they, saying that would be unfair to me. I insisted they do it, and said they might throw me in the water if they could. Myt-ser'eu cried that the crocodiles would devour me. Uraeus whispered to her that no crocodile would harm me. She told me and I agreed, saying I was too tough for jaws like theirs.
We wrestled. Baginu sprang on my back while I was grappling Aahmes, but I threw him off, knocked Aahmes down with him, and threw him into the water.
He is a poor swimmer. Although our ship was sailing no faster than an old man walks, he could not catch up. I dived in, got my arm around his neck, and pulled him near enough the side for his friends to help us up.
When I was back on board, gasping and smelling of the river, I declared that I was exhausted from my long swim and could not continue. Since that was the case, I said, Aahmes was our champion until we wrestled again. Everyone argued against this, saying I was champion. I silenced them all and forced them to accept Aahmes.
Afterward I made Uraeus follow me into the hold so that we might speak without being overheard by the others. I apologized for sending him away and asked where he had been.
"Down here, master, hunting rats."
I commended him, saying I knew they did great damage.
"You had dismissed me, master. I obeyed, as I always obey. But when the wrestling began, I was afraid it might turn to fighting."
"I will always dismiss you when Myt-ser'eu and I wish to be alone." Because Uraeus looked so despondent at that, I added, "It's no reflection on you. I'd dismiss Aahmes-or anyone-as readily."
"Thank you, master. I will strive not to intrude."
"That's good." I patted his shoulder, which might have been supple leather.
"I am quiet, unobtrusive. Often you do not know that I am with you."
"But ready to serve whenever I need you."
"Exactly, master. Exactly."
Looking at him-at his eyes, particularly-I could not imagine that I would ever have selected such a servant in the slave market. He seems a small man of middle years and looks strong, but his face and silence are forbidding. His eyes are hard and cold. "Where did I buy you?" I asked, adding, "I forget very quickly, as you probably know."
"You did not buy me, master. I was given to you by my old master, Sesostris."
"He must be a good friend indeed," I said, "to part with such a valuable gift. Did I do him some service?"
Uraeus shook his head. He has an odd, swaying way of doing it. "You did him no service, master, but he likes you and has helped you in many ways, of which I was-" He paused, his head cocked to listen. "That was a rat, master. I have marked the place. I will come back for it when you sleep."
From the hatch above someone called, "Is anybody down there? I thought I heard voices."
"Yes," I said loudly. "We are."
"Ah! Lucius-Latro."
Uraeus leaned toward me, his hiss softer than ever. "This is Qanju's scribe, master. Be wary!"
He is young and a hand's breadth below me in height; he has a shaved head and intelligent eyes.
"There you are," he said, and came to join Uraeus and me. "I've been looking for you to congratulate you. Everyone says the wrestling was well worth seeing, and you're the best of all. My master and I had work to do and missed it, but the sailors and the women can never praise you enough."
I did not know how to answer; but Uraeus said, "My master is quick and strong. I only hope he is watchful as well." Clearly that was meant as an added warning to me.
"He is a soldier, of course," the scribe said, "but then they were all soldiers. Some of our sailors said they were sorry, at first, that they had not been invited to take part; but when they saw you wrestle Baginu and Aahmes, they were glad they hadn't been. Would you like to hear all they said?"
I said I would rather we spoke of something else.
"Easily done, because I want to ask a question. Have you been down here long?"
"I haven't," I said, "but Uraeus was down here alone earlier."
"You didn't happen to see the cat, did you? Or the phantom woman?"
I said we had not, and added that I had thought they had been driven out by priests, something Myt-ser'eu had told me earlier.
"So did we." The scribe sat down. "This is a sensitive matter for me, you understand."
I admitted I did not.
"I was the one who suggested we stop at the tomb-temple of Sesostris when the problem first surfaced." The scribe cleared his throat. "I'm a priest myself. You need not remind me of that. But I'm not skilled in exorcism and own no storied wand. I thought it better to go there and have everything done properly, and my master agreed."
"Qanju?" I asked.
"Yes, of course. As a priest I took part in the exorcism. A small part, but a part. We'd rehearsed exorcism in the House of Life when I was younger, but this was my first experience of the actual rite and I very much hoped that it would be successful."