AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He gave a chuckle at her horrified expression. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you and Uncle Jasper full credit. I’ll be a silent partner in the enterprise.” He waved one hand dramatically across the skyline, as if reading an advertisement on a banner. “I can see it now. Morden’s Miracle Medicine. Lady Love Potion. You’ll be feted all over town.”
“Absolutely not.” Hester said stonily. “I’d rather shoot myself.”
He took her refusal with a laughing shrug. “Just think about it.”
They lapsed into silence again, but as they crested a slight rise, Harry reined in his horse and sent her a look of congratulation. The city of Alexandria spread out below them, circling the port. Hester could make out several large ships moored in the bay. The sluggish green-brown waters of the Nile fed the city, channeled by sluices and dikes that nourished the fertile green fields all around.
Harry pointed. “Look! It’s Drovetti.”
Sure enough, a group of riders was visible on the road leading toward the town, Drovetti in his hat clearly distinguishable at the front.
“Clever girl! Your map shaved half a day from the journey!” Harry spurred Makeen onward. “Come on. If we follow him we can find out where he’s staying. Then we can get back that necklace of ours.”
“Of mine,” Hester corrected.
Harry just grinned at her.
“Oh, go and take a swim in the Nile,” she said crossly.
“Isn’t it seething with hippos and man-hungry crocodiles?”
“It is. Take your time.”
They trailed Drovetti and his men through the winding streets of Alexandria, taking care to stay out of sight.
“If he’s keen to get the necklace back to Bonaparte, he’ll head straight to the port and get on a ship to France,” Hester said.
Her prediction proved to be correct. They followed the Italian to the waterfront. Drovetti dismissed the men then hailed the captain of one of the ships and, after some hushed conversation, ascended the gangplank and disappeared through a doorway that led off one end of the vessel.
“Now what?” Hester asked.
“We need to get on board that ship.” Harry dismounted, and Hester did the same. “Have you any money?”
“Some, but not much.”
“We’ll have to sell one of our mounts then.” Harry glanced from Bahaba to Makeen. “There’s no contest. I’m not selling the horse. He’s far too beautiful. Your smelly camel will have to go.”
“He’s adromedary,” Hester scowled and patted Bahaba’s wooly nose. “Don’t listen to him, Bahaba. You’re very useful.” The ungrateful creature tried to bite her. Hester shrugged. “Oh, all right.”
They managed to sell the dromedary to an unsuspecting tradesman in the marketplace, and Harry used part of the proceeds to purchase a pastry pie and some fresh juice from a street vendor. Hester almost groaned at the delicious taste. She hadn’t realized how famished she was until she took her first bite.
That done, Tremayne led her into one of the many crowded antiquities shops that clustered the maze of streets. After a fair amount of haggling, he purchased a beautiful, empty wooden sarcophagus.
“What happened to finding your own mummy?” Hester said. “I thought you wanted an authentic body to sell?”
“This is just something showy to get us on board that ship. I can buy mummies for the surgeons later.” He pointed to another seemingly intact mummy resting within a decorated case.
“You arenottaking that back to England to be unwrapped,” Hester scolded. “Why on earth do the doctors want to dissect someone who’s over two thousand years old? How will that help their knowledge of anatomy? That was someone’s grandmother. Have you no respect for the dead?”
He ignored her griping and directed two scruffy-looking youths who were hanging around in the street to pick up the sarcophagus and carry it behind them while he led Makeen back to the docks. Hester trailed behind them, feeling hot and dispirited.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
He rummaged around in his pockets and withdrew a folded sheet of paper. “I have a letter of introduction from your friend Henry Salt. I’m posing as an unscrupulous antiquities dealer who’s transporting mummies back to London on his behalf.”
Hester snorted. “That shouldn’t be too taxing to believe. Youarean unscrupulous antiquities dealer.”
He ignored her jibe and waved the paper. “This gives me diplomatic privilege to demand passage on any ship in port.”
