Read Online City of the Dead by Anton Gill - Free Book Online

‘What can I tell you that I haven’t said already?’
    ‘Whom did you report to?’
    ‘Don’t you know?’
    ‘Tell me again.’
    Nehesy hesitated. ‘Horemheb.’
    ‘Why?’
    Nehesy would not meet his eye. ‘You know how things are,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want to get the blame for what happened.’
    ‘What did happen exactly?’
    ‘Haven’t you seen the account I gave?’
    'I’m gathering information for the palace,’ said Huy. 'It’s an independent inquiry. Nothing to do with Horemheb.’
    Nehesy’s eyes became more wary. 'Is it? I see... Well, I’d do anything in the world to help the queen, poor creature.’ As long as it does not cost you your neck, thought Huy, though he continued to smile. ‘Keep our meeting to yourself,’ he said, ‘and there won’t be any trouble.’
    Nehesy nodded. The big man was as well aware as anyone that you did not leave it to the protector gods to watch your back.
    ‘We awoke just before dawn,’ he said. ‘The cook had stoked up the fire and the water was on to boil for the ful. Apart from him, I was the first one up. I noticed the king’s tent was closed; but then I saw that his chariot was gone. I felt Set’s talons round my heart then, I can tell you.’ He broke off, looking into Huy’s face. The dogs had made short work of the meat but as he lingered by their enclosure they stayed near, looking up at him with hopeful yellow eyes.
    ‘I ran to Sherybin’s tent and of course he had gone, too. Then the guard who’d been on duty last came up and told me that one of the trackers had arrived back in camp an hour before the others, with news of wild cattle. Sherybin had set off with him and the king soon after.’
    ‘What did you do?’
    ‘I was furious at first. The trackers should report to me, not to the charioteers. But I knew the king would have been off after any worthwhile prey. It’d been a bad hunt, and wild cattle at this time of year are almost unheard of.’ He paused, spread his hands. ‘I roused the camp. We kicked out the fire and got the chariots ready. I only left two men to guard the tents. The rest of us set off after the king.’
    ‘Was it light?’
    ‘The sun was just coming up. We went as fast as we could, but we didn’t call out to them. If they’d really found cattle we didn’t want to spoil the hunt. Then we saw the chariot ahead of us.’ Nehesy broke off, shuddering at the memory. ‘I thought, that’s my job buggered. But I feared for the king, too,’ he added quickly, catching Huy’s expression.
    ‘I don’t know how it could have happened, anyway,’ he continued, it was in open desert, and Sherybin’s one of the best drivers I’ve ever known. Maybe a rein snapped, or some other piece of tack broke. Must have done, because we found the horses not far away. They were panicky, but there wasn’t a mark on them. Worst of all was the chariot. It was a new one, heavier to make it more stable, but something must have happened to turn it over. Poor Sherybin... if you could have seen him. Did you hear what happened?’
    ‘Yes.’
    The king was lying a short way off, face down. His arms we're spread out as if he was embracing Geb.’
    ‘How had he died?’
    ‘The back of the skull was smashed in.’
    Huy was silent for a moment, trying to visualise the scene. But the only pictures his heart brought to him were of the wind swirling the sand into lonely, wild spirals in an empty grey void.
    ‘Not even the trackers could find any trace of the cattle they were supposed to be after,’ said Nehesy.
    ‘What about the one who’d found them in the first place? Had he come back?’
    ‘No one’s seen him since.’
    ‘How long had he been with you?’
    ‘I don’t know. Half a year, perhaps. But you know these country people. He probably saw the accident, got frightened, and ran off into the desert. You can live out there indefinitely if you know how. My guess is that he joined a ship bound for Punt. It’s happened before, when