Читать книгу Cherish Collection January 2014 (Books 1-12) - Rebecca Winters - Страница 15

CHAPTER SEVEN

FROM GIZA TO Edfu it was nearly two hundred miles. Once the coaches had started their journey Freya spent much of the time studying a book on Horus that Amos had bought in the hotel.

One of the greatest deities of ancient Egypt, whose influence stretched over three thousand years...

He’d been born to the goddess Isis when she had rescued the dismembered body parts of her murdered husband, Osiris, and used her magical powers to conceive despite Osiris’ death.

Horus was the god of the sky and incorporated both the sun and the moon in his own being: his right eye the sun and his left eye the moon. But that wasn’t the full extent of his power. He was known also as the god of war and hunting. Rumour even said that the pharaohs had been incarnations of Horus in human form.

Amos was sitting beside her, glancing at the book over her shoulder.

‘And I’ll tell you something else,’ he said. ‘Horus had four sons.’

‘You’re kidding me!’

‘Fact! It’s true—isn’t it, Larry?’

Larry, whose seat faced them, was enjoying this.

‘True,’ he said. ‘It makes you think Amos must be the real thing after all.’

‘But of course I’m the real thing,’ Amos declared. ‘How could you doubt it?’

There was just enough of a twinkle in his eye to show that he was joking.

Halfway through the journey they stopped for lunch. Jackson looked for Freya, meaning to sit beside her at the table, but Larry got there first, immediately engaging her in laughing conversation. To his dismay he noticed that Larry was showing signs of being a fervent admirer, which Freya seemed to enjoy. It worried him because he knew Larry was a man any sensible woman would refuse to take seriously.

When it was time to get back into the coach for the last lap Debra parked herself very firmly next to Jackson, while Larry drew Freya to sit beside himself.

‘You’re Jackson’s sister, aren’t you?’ he said.

‘His stepsister. My mother is married to his father. There’s no blood relation between us.’

‘I was wondering of you knew the truth about the story that’s been whispered about him for the last few years.’

‘What story?’

‘Something about one of the early TV documentaries he did. It was right at the start of his career and he had an explosive row with the producer. Nobody seems to know the details, but he dug his heels in so hard that he never worked for that firm again.’

‘But how come people don’t know more about it?’

‘Because the firm won’t talk about it and Jackson won’t talk about it.’

‘You mean it’s a scandal?’

‘I’ve no idea, but it certainly sounds as though Jackson’s grim, unyielding side was in evidence. He mostly keeps it under wraps, but sometimes he can’t. It makes you wonder if there was a Horus the Younger as well as Horus the Elder. Ah, who cares? He’s a huge success in front of the cameras.’

‘And what else matters?’

They shook hands triumphantly. Neither of them noticed Jackson, looking back at them from a few seats away.

Soon they were all keeping watch through the windows for the first sight of Edfu, a smallish city on the left bank of the Nile.

Freya liked it as soon as they arrived. There were cars, as befitted a modern city, but the roads were also filled with carts drawn by horses, giving the place a friendly air.

They were booked into a small hotel next to the river, with rooms overlooking the water. Here too she had a balcony, but Jackson wasn’t next door. Her neighbours were Amos and Janine—which, she told herself, she should be glad of.

Drifting out onto the balcony, she found Janine looking down at the street.

‘I’m glad you’re close to me,’ Janine said. ‘I really need you.’

‘Is Amos being more difficult than usual?’

‘You’ve seen how he is: he’s really enjoying this. But there’s something else—something I can’t define.’

‘Is he still giving you funny looks?’

‘Yes, but there’s more—a new atmosphere that’s never been there before. He keeps asking me what I think about things. In the past he hardly ever asked my opinion. It’s almost as though he’s lost confidence.’

‘Him?’ Freya echoed sceptically. ‘I haven’t seen that.’

‘No, it only happens when he’s with me. Others see only the Amos who’s always convinced he’s right. But there’s another Amos, and for some reason he’s not so sure of himself. I get glimpses of him, but then he hides away again.’

‘I remember you saying that he’s more vulnerable than anyone suspects.’

‘Hush, keep your voice down. He must never know I said that.’

‘Perhaps it would be good for him to know.’

‘Amos couldn’t cope with the knowledge that anyone thought him vulnerable. Let’s go down and have something to eat.’

Downstairs they found a stall selling books about Edfu in several languages for tourists. Amos snapped up three and plunged into them at the table.

‘It says here,’ he declared, ‘that the Temple to Horus is the most completely preserved temple remaining in Egypt. They must have realised how much it matters.’

He switched to a page containing a photograph of the temple taken from the air.

‘It’s huge,’ Freya breathed. ‘All those sections—the Festival Hall, New Year Chapel, Hall of Offerings, Sanctuary of Horus.’

‘And look at those shapes carved into the wall,’ Janine said. ‘What are they?’

‘The one on the left is a king,’ Amos explained. ‘The one closest to him is Horus, and the one standing behind him is the goddess Hathor—Horus’ woman. The small one is their little son, Ihy. The King is making an offering to them, to show his respect.’

‘Of course,’ Jackson said. ‘His power was immense and his influence spread over centuries. Meeting him is going to be really something.’

‘Yes,’ Amos said. ‘Oh, yes.’

Amos said little for the rest of the meal, but the smile stayed on his face. When Freya suggested an early night to prepare him for the demands of the following day he made no objection.

‘Good idea,’ Jackson said.

‘What about you?’ she ventured to ask.

‘No chance of an early night for any of us. Too much work still to do.’ He laid a hand on her shoulder. ‘Get some sleep. Tomorrow will probably tire you.’

She nodded and patted his hand. They had reached their comfort zone again.

* * *

Next morning everything was forgotten except the excitement that awaited them. As soon as the coach started Amos produced one of the books he’d bought the night before and went carefully through it, noting all the places to see— especially the Hypostyle Hall, where a statue of Horus was to be found.

‘I thought he was a man with a falcon’s head,’ Freya said, looking over Amos’s shoulder at a picture in the book. ‘That just looks like a bird.’

‘That’s how he’s represented in statues,’ Jackson said. ‘Just as a bird—like the model I brought home, except a lot bigger. But in the temple you’ll see etchings of him on the walls, and in those he’s a man with a falcon’s head.’

When they reached the temple they headed for the spot and found what they were looking for.

‘Get a load of that!’ Larry breathed, staring up at the falcon-shaped statue which loomed over them a good twenty feet.

‘I hadn’t expected it to be so big,’ Freya murmured.

‘But of course,’ Amos said. ‘He has to be majestic.’

They moved on to where there were pictures carved into the wall and found the one they had seen in the book, in which Horus was receiving tribute from royalty. As Jackson had said, here he was a man with a falcon’s head. Behind him stood the goddess Hathor, a beautiful woman with a magnificent headdress. Around her neck she wore an elaborate necklace.

‘She was known as the cow goddess,’ Jackson explained. ‘She has a woman’s face, but those two curving horns you can see on her head are a version of cow’s horns. The orb between them represents the world.’

‘She too was great and glorious,’ Amos observed. ‘She embodied motherhood, feminine love and happiness.’

‘And she was his wife?’ Freya said.

‘That’s right,’ Amos said, taking Janine’s hand in his. ‘The most valuable wife and goddess a deity ever had. He gave her that necklace, you know, to show how much he valued her.’

He inclined his head towards Janine. She smiled back, looking a little surprised. Amos’s words might almost be described as sentimental—an unusual departure for him.

Jackson too was looking surprised, and he said, ‘Actually, it’s not that simple. In some legends she was his wife, but in some she was his mother.’

‘I thought Isis was his mother,’ Freya said.

‘It depends whether you’re talking about Horus the Elder or Horus the Younger.’

‘There really were two?’ Freya queried.

‘Father and son. That’s the fascinating thing about the ancient Egyptians. They could believe and understand several versions of a legend at once.’

‘Good for them,’ Amos said. ‘There’s nothing more useful than being able to manipulate the facts—without being too obvious about it, of course.’

‘I don’t dare ask what you mean by that,’ Jackson said, grinning. ‘But I’m sure the markets would be interested.’

Amos gave a cackle and slapped his son on the shoulder.

‘Horus the Elder and Horus the Younger,’ he said. ‘What a splendid idea!’

After that he had the time of his life exploring the temple.

‘It’s really going well,’ Jackson said, falling into step with Freya on their way back to the coach. ‘Amos doesn’t seem at all weak any more.’

‘You’re right. I think I may be able to return home soon.’

‘Don’t be in a rush. You should be having a good time out here.’

‘No, I’m just getting in the way of your work. You’ll be glad when I’m gone.’

‘I’ll be glad when I’m not being snubbed by you for no reason,’ he said wryly. ‘I thought we were friends again?’

‘We are. I’m not snubbing you. I have an important reason for needing to get home.’

‘I see. Should I be happy for you?’

‘No,’ she said vaguely. ‘It’s nothing like that.’

‘You mean it’s not another guy?’

‘I mean it’s nothing I’m prepared to talk about.’

‘But it’s important?’

‘Yes.’

She hurried away, leaving Jackson staring after her, wishing he could sort his brain out one way or the other. But with Freya that was increasingly difficult.

And he was beginning to fear that it wasn’t his brain that caused the problems.

* * *

For some reason Freya couldn’t quite enter into the spirit of the evening when they all met downstairs for supper. She chatted with Amos, encouraging his triumphant mood at the memory of his encounter with Horus, and she reassured Janine that all was well with her husband. But as the evening drew on she knew that something was missing between them.

Tommy, Larry’s irritating second-in-command, was at his liveliest and most tiresome, flirting madly with every female in the group and finally announcing his intention of kissing each of them, one by one.

The others smiled with pleasure at the thought, but Freya shied away.

‘I’m leaving,’ she said.

‘Oh, you’re not going now, are you?’ Tommy said, confronting her as she rose. ‘Just one little kiss.’

‘Not me. Please get out of my way.’

‘The others were nice about it. Why can’t you be nice?’

‘I’m not nice,’ she told him coldly. ‘And if you don’t stand aside I’ll make you regret it.’

But Tommy obviously didn’t believe her. He lunged. She ducked, but not in time to avoid him. His lips brushed over hers, lightly, but enough to horrify her and to make Jackson furious.

‘That’s enough,’ he said, seizing Tommy in a fierce grip. ‘Get out before I make you sorry.’

‘Ah, c’mon, it’s just a joke. Freya understands—don’t you, Freya? Freya? Where’s she gone?’

Where Freya had stood a moment earlier there was only a space.

‘She ran out through that door,’ Larry said.

‘I’ll get you for this,’ Jackson snapped at Tommy.

‘OK, OK...no need to get violent.’

‘There’s every need. But I’ll deal with you later.’

He ran out of the door, looking right and left. There was no sign of Freya, but the door to the street was half open. Frantically he dashed through it, and saw her on the far side of the road.

‘Freya!’ he yelled. She stopped and looked back at him. ‘Come back here, now.’

He couldn’t tell if she’d heard him above the noise of the street, but she turned away and plunged down a side street, vanishing at once. Jackson darted across the road, causing cars to stop abruptly and horns to blare. He didn’t hear them. All his attention was taken up by the chase and his fear of losing her. He ran down the road she’d taken and just saw her at the other end before she vanished behind a building.

An alarming sense of déjà vu overtook him. Once before he’d chased someone down side streets, losing him in the distance. The result had been a catastrophe. Driven by desperation, he raced to the far end, just in time to catch a glimpse of her before she vanished again. He tore on and this time luck was with him, for she’d run into a dead end and he caught her as she turned back.

‘You crazy woman!’ he cried, seizing hold of her. ‘Of all the daft things to do! Suppose you’d got lost in these streets? How would you have found your way back? Stupid! Stupid!’

‘I’ll come back when I’m ready,’ she said. ‘Just let me go!’

‘Not in a million years,’ he snapped, tightening his grip.

‘I said, let me go.’

‘And I said no. Do you want to make a fight of it here in the street?’

‘If I have to.’

A noise from behind Jackson made them both freeze and turn to see a policeman. He’d plainly heard them speaking, for he addressed them in careful English.

‘You don’t treat a woman like that,’ he said. ‘I arrest you.’

Freya drew a sharp breath. ‘No,’ she said. ‘There is no need.’

‘This man attacked you.’

‘No—it’s a misunderstanding.’

‘You do not mind that he attacked you?’

‘It’s not like that.’

He studied them, undecided. Jackson placed both hands on Freya’s shoulders.

‘We are a couple,’ he said. ‘We belong together.’

The policeman spoke to Freya. ‘You do not wish to be rescued from this man?’

‘No, he isn’t dangerous,’ she said. ‘But I thank you for your concern.’

He nodded and backed away. They watched until he was out of sight. Then Jackson blew out his lips in relief.

‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘That could have ended badly.’

‘Oh, heavens! I’m so sorry.’

‘No need for you to be sorry. Let’s just get away from here.’

He hailed a horse carriage that was passing by. It stopped and he helped her aboard, calling to the driver, ‘Just take us to the river.’

He got in beside her and they moved off.

‘Are you all right?’ he said after a while.

‘Yes, it’s just—oh, goodness! If only—’

‘Don’t try to talk just now. Let’s just ride quietly.’ He touched her arm. ‘You’re shaking,’ he said.

‘I know. Everything happening suddenly like that—it took me by surprise. I guess I didn’t cope very well.’

‘Come here.’ He put both arms around her, drawing her close so that she rested her head on his shoulder.

At last there was peace, she thought, feeling the strength and comfort he had to offer.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said again. ‘I never meant to get you into trouble.’

‘Don’t worry. You rescued me in time.’

‘You rescued me, you mean. Do we have to go back just yet? I can’t face the way they’ll all look at me. I’ll bet they’re laughing fit to bust.’

‘Let them laugh. What do we care? We’ll stay out awhile and give them time go to bed first.’

They had reached the river now, and sat quietly watching the water glide past.

‘I blame myself,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t have let Tommy get near you. Especially when—well, when you have other interests in your life now.’

He was referring to the hint she’d dropped earlier about having an important reason to get home. She’d refused to say more but he had no doubt of her meaning. Another man had come into her life. She wasn’t ready to confide in him, but perhaps he could hope to urge her a little.

When she didn’t reply he sighed and continued, ‘If Tommy gives you any more trouble just tell me and I’ll deal with him. Promise.’

‘I don’t think he’ll trouble me again. You really scared him.’

Yes, he thought. He’d scared Tommy because he’d meant to. He’d been driven by rage at the sight of Freya’s distress. Nor had the sight of her being handled by another man improved his temper.

For a while they gazed at the river, until Jackson said, ‘Let’s have a stroll.’

Leaving the carriage, they walked along the bank until they came to a little café with tables in the open.

‘Let’s have a coffee,’ he said. ‘To tell the truth, you’re not the only one who needs time before we go back. Tonight something really weird happened.’

She waited until they were seated comfortably before saying, ‘What happened?’

‘When I was chasing after you through those confusing streets it was as though time had slipped back.’ He stopped, embarrassed. ‘No, you don’t want to hear about that.’

‘Yes, I do. Where did time slip back to?’

‘Your wedding day. When Dan jumped out of the car and ran. I went after him but he vanished into side turnings until I couldn’t see him any more. And then tonight—’

‘I did the same,’ she said with a little smile to show there were no hard feelings.

‘It was eerie—like being part of a ghost story.’

She patted his hand. ‘It’s not like you to be afraid of ghosts.’

‘I wasn’t before. I think I am now. You can be like a ghost yourself.’

‘You don’t mean you’re afraid of me?’

‘Not exactly. But sometimes I think I could be. It depends on you.’

The arrival of a waiter made them fall silent. While he poured the drinks Freya mused over his words, wondering if she had the courage to pursue them further. Sadly, she realised that she didn’t. Not yet, anyway.

When the waiter had departed she said lightly, ‘Not all ghosts are evil. Sometimes they’re friendly—like the one who’s just appeared in my life.’

There it was again he thought, the glancing reference to another man. And suddenly he couldn’t bear to be shut out of her confidence a moment longer.

‘Is it anyone I know?’ he asked.

‘Oh, yes, it’s someone you know, and when I tell you the name you won’t believe me.’

Out of sight, he drove his nails into his palm.

‘Tell me,’ he said. ‘Tell me who it is.’