Storyteller

Avalon 5.6 Notes from the Underworld, part 1 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After 1353 BC Egypt.  Kairos 65: Kiya, Queen Forgotten

Recording…

Kiya ground her grain with a stone pestle in a stone mortar, which was in truth no more than a big stone with an indentation.  She added a touch of water so the grain would not dry out and blow away.  She ground away, to make the coarse flour that she would bake into the coarse bread they ate every day.  While she worked, she let her eyes wander up to the clouds, and her thoughts wandered down odd trails.

It seemed to Kiya that for the average folks, after more than three thousand years of history, they had not progressed much out of the stone age.  She had pots to keep water and food stuffs, a kind of plow and an ox to pull it, a copper pot and a copper pan for cooking on an open flame, but not much more.  The brick oven was good, and the irrigation ditches that fed her little field, but they were the only indication that she was not living in the stone age, or in the early copper age at best.  Bronze was big in the world, but she only had a couple of trinkets.

“Where is your mind?” old Mutemwiya asked, interrupting Kiya’s dream state.  Pylhia and Beket looked up from their chores to listen.  Mutemwiya sat at the loom, where she sat every day.  Pylhia had her bread in the oven and waited for the bell in her head to go off.  She was presently chewing on a piece of straw and thinking of nothing in particular.  Beket, that is, Beketamun was frowning, sewing another patch on her seven-year-old son’s clothes.

Kiya turned her head and shouted at her daughter.  “Nefer.  Watch out for Sobek.”  Nefer had wandered down to the water to play in the mud.

“I will, mother,” she shouted back.  “Nana Bestet is watching me.”

Kiya turned her head a little further and saw the big, black cat sitting there, facing the girl, soaking up the sun.  “All right,” Kiya said, and went back to her grinding.  Phlhia went back to chewing.  Beket went back to frowning and trying to thread the needle.  They figured they were not going to hear any good stories.  Mutemwiya, though, was not so easily put off.

“When you came here, you saved me from the end of my days,” Mutemwiya mused.  “You restored my life from the hands of Anubis, and you have been better to me than if you were my own daughter.  And your little Neferure, with all her troubles and ailments, is the best granddaughter there ever was.  But sometimes I worry.  You sit and dream of things that are gone, and things that never were.  This is not good.”

“Muti,” Kaya called her and smiled, shyly, as she looked down at her grain.  ‘I am happy that things have worked out.  You know Nefer does not have any other grandparents, and I know she loves you very much, too.”

“Tell us about your family,” Pylhia said, sounding very much like a child, not a grown woman of twenty years.

“Tell us,” Beket insisted.  Kiya knew the woman was frustrated with her son, and her husband was not the best sort of man.  He drank too much and worked too little. She was twenty-three and already unhappy.

Kiya was just twenty-two but she had a sickly nine-year-old of her own to contend with.  She glanced back at Neferure, and watched her hobble up to pet Nana Bestet.  She could be rough, but the cat seemed infinitely patient with her.

“I suppose it does not matter now,” Kiya said.  “Most of the principle players are dead.”  Kiya paused and looked at her friends, and her adopted mother, before she looked down, like she did not want to meet them in the eye.  “You know how I came here eight years ago, a fourteen-year-old girl with a baby in my arms.  You also know for three or four years, the whole country was up in arms, looking for Akhenaten’s missing royal wife, Kiya.  I am sure you know, that was me.”

Beket waved to Iset as she came around the back of the house, looking for everyone.  Beket patted the ground beside herself, and Iset sat while Pylhia hushed her.  All eyes stared at Kiya, who took a deep breath.

“My mother was a Mitanni princess.  They say she was the most beautiful woman of her day, outshining even the Great Nefertiti.”

“Looking at you, I can believe that,” Iset said, as she got comfortable and Pylhia and Beket hushed her again.

“I was born in the house of Amenhotep III.  My mother was his wife, but he was a very old man.  He died when I was one and a half.  And I can say with certainty that he was not my father, though I do not know who my father may have been.”

“That makes you Akhenaten’s sister,” Mutemwiya thought out loud.  Eyes popped wide open.

“In name only.  But Amenhotep IV adopted me in Thebes, before the madness began and before he changed his name to Akhenaten, and before Nefertiti began to give him daughters.  Meritaten, the eldest daughter, was two years younger than me, and hated me with an unending jealousy.  Yet somehow, when I was young, I remained special to Akhenaten, not as family, mind you, Nefertiti would not have that, but as a kind of personal playmate for the king.  You see, he married my mother after Amenhotep III died, because she was a political token of peace between the Two Lands and the Mitanni.  But Nefertiti had her put away so she would never become a rival for the title of ‘Great Wife’.”

Kiya looked back at Nefer again to be sure she was far enough away where she could not hear.  “Akhenaten married me, and I became his Second Royal Wife.  I think I was six or seven.  That was back when the madness began.  Nefertiti, the wicked sorceress, got cursed by the gods.  It got complicated, but let’s just say she could only have girls, and Akhenaten became desperate for a son.  An heir was necessary for him to complete the transformation…which…you don’t need to know about.  What matters is he decided to impregnate every woman in the house, and that included his own sisters.  Then he had me tied to the bed, since I was supposedly his wife, at age thirteen, and he raped me over and over.  One of the sisters had a son.  I had Neferure, and…and I ran.”

Kiya quietly cried but would not let anyone come over to comfort her.  She looked back again toward Nefer.  She wiped her eyes and continued.

“Things happened.  I ran.  I… I came here, and wonderful mother Mutemwiya took me in, and you all protected me, and you are my best friends, and I am so happy here.”  Kiya got up and cried on Mutemwiya’s shoulder as the old woman hushed her and patted her back, saying everything would be fine.

“Mama,” Nefer called.

“Yes Sweet,” Kiya said, as she whipped on a smile and turned to face her daughter.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes baby,” Kiya said.  “I’m just glad to be home.”

###

Lockhart and Lincoln came through the time gate and stopped on the other side.  Katie and Artie had to squeeze to the left to get through.  Alexis and Boston had to do the same thing on the right.  Decker and Elder Stow were lucky by the time they came through.  Lockhart and Lincoln had moved forward some, to stand out at the front of the crowd.  The view before them seemed odd, but not odd when they thought about it.  Any person watching would see eight people on horseback coming out of what had to be an invisible hole in the middle of the air.  That view did not change when a whole army watched.

Men had spears, chariots, and unhitched horses.  They had tents and sat around campfires.  Many came stumbling up to join the crowd that stared, wide-eyed.  They babbled, incoherent, held their spears in sweaty hand, and shuffled backwards in the face of Lockhart and Lincoln.  It looked to the travelers like an army camp, and plenty of the men saw the travelers appear out of nowhere.  The men looked like they wanted to be brave soldiers but looked terribly frightened at the same time.

“Who is the head man here?” Lockhart asked, plenty loud.  “Who is the man in charge?”  He felt sure the head man had already been fetched.

“I am Horemheb,” the young man jogged up to face them.  “I am the driver of the royal chariot and the Pharaoh’s voice with foreigners.  Who are you, and why have you come into the Two Lands, uninvited?”

“We are travelers, from Avalon, and we have come to the Nile in search of one named…”

“Kiya,” Lincoln said.

“Kiya,” Lockhart repeated.

Horemheb stared, no doubt his meanest stare, one intended to extract the truth from lesser men.

Katie looked across the river to the city built in the middle of nowhere.  It looked like land where the desert encroached on the river.  Not a good place for a city.  She saw a step pyramid in the distance and thought about it.  She looked at the head man and wondered if this might be the Horemheb who was or who would become the Pharaoh of all Egypt, back when.

Lincoln spoke.  “She is or was the Second Royal Wife of Akhenaten.  We are not sure exactly what year we arrived.”

Horemheb broke his stare, laughed and spat.  “You’re too late.  Kiya vanished nine years ago and none have been able to find her, though all of the Two Lands have searched for her.  I wasted three years of my life searching for her in every place she may have gone.”

“Downriver,” Boston directed her voice only to Lockhart’s ears, which elves could do.  She had secretly slipped the amulet out for a look, tried not to draw attention to herself, and before she spoke, she put it back beneath her shirt where it would hang, hidden between her breasts.

“Saqqara,” Katie pointed at the city, like she just figured it out.  “We are not far from Memphis, though the court is in Amarna, rather, Akhetaten, I imagine, unless they have already moved it back to Thebes.”

“Don’t mind us,” Lockhart said.  “Go back to what you were doing.  We will just visit some friends in Memphis and move on.”

Horemheb clearly had to think about that.

Artie caught on to where they were.  “Is my sister here?” she asked, nice and loud.

“I am sure she is around somewhere,” Katie assured her.

Horemheb looked curious.  “Kiya had no sister.”

Katie spoke to Horemheb.  “Her sister is Sekhmet.”  Katie debated whether or not to add, “the goddess”, but she did not have to.  Sekhmet came in a swirl of sand, and she appeared as the lion, who roared at Horemheb.  Artie shrieked, but applauded when Sekhmet became a woman again and jumped up behind her on the horse.  She made herself heard by Horemheb.  A goddess could do that.

“This is my sister, and this is my adopted mom, and that is my adopted dad, and these are my friends, so back off.”

“You are welcome to accompany us in our search for Kiya,” Alexis said.  She thought it would be polite.  Horemheb shook his head and hands, and stood there watching until they rode out of sight.

************************

And, before I forget:

 

Avalon 5.5 Artemis Home, part 6 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The sanctuary shook, but it did not fall down.  Hysphagia’s prayers sometimes became verbal.  Every time the big bad wolf huffed and puffed, Alexis caused the wind to blow back, away from the house.  Thus the house stood, but Alexis knew she could not keep it up for long.

“I figured it had to be the Djin.  He hides in the clouds and rain, but I wonder why the gods permit him to do his thing.”

“What?” Artie asked and blinked as Alexis gave her some water.

“The big bad genie that has been following us through time,” Alexis said.  “It is the same one that invaded Yu-Huang’s mountain with Iblis, Ifrit, and Ghouls.”

Artie nodded and laid her head back down.  She listened to the thunder and did not know the Djin was trying to knock down the whole building.

Katie and Cassandra came to the edge of the woods and saw whole trees bending, and the shrine tottering and ready to fall.

“No,” Cassandra yelled, and something happened.  Katie was not sure, but she heard a shriek out of the wind and it stopped, suddenly.  They sky began to clear.

“This is a big animal for us four women and Lincoln,” she said.

“The others will be back,” Cassandra assured her, and Katie did not doubt it.

###

“Okay, cloud.”  Malichron, the chief thief stood outside the temple of Apollo and shouted at the sky.  “We have done all that you asked, now pay up.”  The rest of the gang stood lazily in the doorway to the temple where they could stay dry.

“Here,” Meriope drew in the mud.  “The temple is laid out in this manner, and here, in the back, is the quarters for the priests and workers.”

“Simple enough,” Lockhart said.

“I could take them all out with one shot,” Elder Stow suggested.

“We would like to get our weapons back, if you don’t mind,” Decker said as he aimed carefully at the head of the man on the temple steps that had a rifle.  Malichron had the other rifle, but he figured to take him out second since he would be running back into the temple.  Decker had Artie’s Anazi gun and pulled the trigger.  The weapon made a straight line of bright white energy before it cut off.  The man’s head exploded, and he fell.

The thieves panicked and rushed inside, leaving the rifle on the temple steps.  Malichron saw where the shot came from and turned to rush back inside.  Decker aimed, but Meriope stood on her tip-toes, right in front of him, to see.

“Get down,” Decker yelled.  She did, as she realized she blocked his shot, but by then Malichron made it, and they had to assault the temple.

“Arm up,” Lockhart said, and they went in the back way Meriope knew.  They caught the thieves unprepared.  It did not last long except for Malichron, who got behind a column with the rifle.

Decker had the other rifle, and his own column, but he was afraid to use Artie’s weapon for fear it might put a hole in the wood columns, or set them on fire, and bring down the ceiling.  Elder Stow did bring down the ceiling in a back section of the temple.  Fortunately, it only came down on the thieves.

Lockhart had Katie’s handgun, but no better angle than Decker.  The only one with a good angle was Meriope with her bow and arrows, but she got busy.  Her father found her, and she kept trying to get him to keep his head down.  To be sure, Malichron was no marksman.  Meriope’s father got hit by a stray bullet.  He died mercifully fast, and Meriope’s anger became nearly palpable.  A young priest came up behind her as she took aim.  He put his hand on her shoulder.  Her arrow was no accident, and Malichron did not die nearly as swiftly as Meriope’s father.

Decker retrieved his rifle as Lockhart bent down to the dying man.  The man spoke.  “But the cloud man said we would be rewarded with riches if we killed all the healers in the temple.”  He did not understand what happened when he died.

“Excuse me,” the young priest said, and he stepped outside as Boston and Elder Stow came in from the back rooms.

“All of my equipment is safe and sound,” Elder Stow reported.

“All the guns except my Baretta that got melted by Elder Stow,” Boston whined.  “Why is it always me and mine?”  She complained, until, like a fairy, she completely flipped her conversation.  “That’s okay.  I need to learn to use my bow and arrows.  Great shot, Meriope.”

“I had help,” Meriope admitted, as she stepped up to Decker and let him hold her while she cried.  They heard thunder, and it suddenly stopped raining.  The young priest came back in, and Boston said he looked remarkably like the boy from Philoletes’ place.

“I’m inclined to let Philoletes wonder, and sweat.  He could lose some weight.”  The young priest looked around at the devastation to the temple.  “Needs stone columns,” he said and waved his hand.  The travelers with Meriope, all the horses and all the equipment appeared outside the shrine in the wilderness.  Katie and Cassandra were still standing there, but at least it stopped raining.

“Hello sis.  Lose something?”

Cassandra hushed her brother.  “I’m undercover.”

Artie, Alexis, Lincoln and Hysphagia came to the door and stepped out into the sunshine.  Artie said she was feeling much better.

The priest of Apollo, who everyone knew was Apollo, stepped to the door.  He put his hand on Artie’s forehead and stepped back.  “She should not be bothered with diseases again,” he said.  “It was not the lack of immunization, though.  It was the hedge of the gods is not around her.  That is why the Djin could still affect her.”

“Exactly,” a man said, as he appeared out of nowhere.  He was a big man with a full, gray beard and hair, and no one doubted that this was Zeus himself.  “And by myself, I cannot hedge her for other lands, but she will be safe in the lands of Olympus, and others may add to my work which may become a hedge.”  He smiled.  “Children.”

“Father,” Apollo said.

“Daddy, I’m undercover.”

“Cassandra?” Zeus raised an eyebrow at the name.

“She is only my very best friend in the whole wide world, forever.” Cassandra said, like a real ten-year-old, but then she sighed and instantly grew into a beautiful, fully grown woman, and people gasped at the appearance of brother and sister.  They were male and female, but they looked like identical twins.

“Thank goodness,” Katie said and shrugged the stag off her shoulders.

“You guessed,” Artimis wondered.

“I would never tell,” Katie said, and Artemis hugged her for her many kindnesses to a poor orphan girl.

“What about the Djin?” Alexis asked, though she thought it wise to get down on her knees next to Boston.

“Well,” Zeus said.  “I was not authorized to end his life, but I see some have been reducing him, slowly.  Still, you will have to deal with him again, I imagine. I assume he will serve some greater purpose at some point in the future.  So I let him go.”  He looked at Boston.  “But I burned his butt pretty good on the way out the door.”  Zeus smiled as Boston giggled.  He looked at Artemis and added, “I like the little girl.  The old woman, not so much,” and he vanished.

“Up everyone,” Apollo insisted, and everyone stood before they realized that was what they were doing.  “I came here because father wanted to know why it was raining so much.  This is not the rainy season.  But now that the mystery is all cleared up, I have a bone to pick with Uncle Hades.  He is trying to tell me the thieves cannot be held fully responsible because they were under the influence of the Djin.  I think they should burn in the deepest pits for what they did, and just to be clear, I don’t hold any of you in any way responsible for the damage to my temple.”  He smiled, and everyone felt the sunshine. “Merioipe, sorry about your father,” he said, and he vanished.

“I better go too,” Artemis said, but first she stepped over to hug the weeping Hysphagia and Meriope.  She paused at Alexis and Boston.  “Healer,” she said.  “And Little Fire.  Now that Alexis is with you, I expect you to learn everything, and the next time I see you, I want to see a perfect little nymph.”  She hugged Katie once more and whispered, “I’ll look for my wedding invitation in the mail.”  She stood tall.  “Gentlemen,” and she vanished, just in time for a chariot to appear on the path with two dozen soldiers, following.

The man who got down from the chariot looked like a gruff older man with the same kind of gray beard Zeus had.  He also wore armor—the armor of the Kairos, which at least the travelers all recognized.

“I’m Sinon, if you were looking for me,” he said, and opened his arms to give Boston a hug.  “I’m headed for Mycenae.  I’m raising an army to invade Akos, that’s Crete for the scholars.”  He pointed and winked at Katie.  “With any luck, you might find the exit gate somewhere around my home in Megara…” He looked around at the piles of equipment, the wandering horses, the weeping women, the quiet travelers who looked like they had been through hell, and he said, “What did I miss?”

************************

MONDAY

A New Year’s Greeting, and the first of 6 posts where the travelers return to Egypt.

In Avalon, episode 5.6, Notes from the Underworld, they run into Kiya, the queen forgotten… Also ghosts, the lions of Egypt, poltergeist, the serpents of the deep, and love… you know, typical Kairos stuff.

Happy Reading

 

*

Avalon 5.5 Artemis Home, part 5 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Meriope still grinned when she watched Decker work.  “Brilliant,” she said.  “Philoletes is a very hard man to bargain with.  No one talks him out of payment.”  Decker returned a smile, and for once, it was not a frightening thing to see.

The old man, as Elder Stow appeared, had a couple of watchers.  Lockhart had three, including the young man that first met them, and the man he called Neoman.  Boston had seven all crowding around.  Not only was she pretty in her slacks and loose fitting top, but she had fascinating red hair.

Of them all, only the young boy helped.

“I’ve had Dog here since…” Lockhart had to think.  “Lincoln would know.  At a guess, I would say about two thousand, five hundred years, give or take.  He is faithful like a dog, and brave.  I will give him that.”

“No,” Neoman said.  “That can’t be.  You’re my age.”

“It’s true,” Elder Stow said, as he walked to Dog’s stall where Lockhart worked.  He limped a little, having done the worst riding bareback because of his short legs.  Decker and Meriope followed, walking side by side, Meriope still smiling and looking hard at her feet.

“Boston,” Lockhart spoke over to the next stall.  “Do you know how long we have had these horses?”

“Twenty-five hundred years sounds about right.  As you said, Lincoln would know.”

“How can you have had your horse for so long?” The young man who first met them protested.  “Horses did not even exist that long ago.  Poseidon just brought them out of the sea, not three hundred years ago.”

“You’re just telling stories,” a third man said, and Lockhart suppressed his smile.

“You’re lying,” Neoman said, and it was said to provoke something.  Lockhart, the former policeman, had been well trained at not being provoked.  Decker and Elder Stow had comparable training somewhere in their background.  But Boston was wet, tired and stressed about everything at the moment.  She jumped, burst out of her stall, and confronted Neoman to his face.

“Are you calling my boss a liar?” she yelled.

He turned to face her, and nodded, and the look on his face appeared so smarmy, she said later she could not help it.  She pulled her wand from her slip and dropped her glamour of humanity.  She got in his face, an unmistakable elf; and he looked terrified.

“You should not talk about things you know nothing about.”  She growled at him, and he ran.  In fact, most of the men ran, and some of them screamed besides.  Meriope caught the young boy and calmed him.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said.  “She really is a very nice person.”

“Mary Riley,” Lockhart scolded her with her real name.  Boston put her wand back and resumed her glamour of humanity.

“Sorry,” she said to Lockhart, and the men still standing there, shocked senseless.  “Sorry,” she told Decker and Elder Stow.  Decker snickered and Elder Stow hid his lips behind his hand.  “Sorry,” she said to Meriope and hugged her right around the young boy.  “I think you are very nice, too.”

The boy, having had time to think about it said, “Do it again.”

Boston rubbed his head while Elder Stow had a suggestion.  “What say we find out what our fat friend is offering to eat.”

“And what swill he has that he calls beer,” Decker added.

###

Katie and Cassandra spied the stag under the failing light of the sun.  Cassandra picked up the trail almost from the beginning, and tracked it for well over an hour.  Katie said nothing, but took more than one look at this ten-year-old who appeared to be able to track animals in the wilderness like the Princess.  Katie thought Cassandra was the Princess’ real name, too, though she had been strictly warned not to call her that.  The Princess hated her name.

“You shoot it,” Cassandra whispered.

“You should try,” Katie said.  “You found it and tracked it.  You should get the credit.”

Cassandra smiled a lovely, somehow knowing smile, and said, “No, you.  I’m not watching.  See?”  She turned away and covered her eyes with her hand.  Katie frowned and smiled at the same time, such as only a mom can do.  She lifted her bow, having learned long since on the journey, where the arrow needed to strike to bring the beast down.  Then she almost lost it as she felt something nudge her on the inside; but she fired, and it made a near perfect shot.  The stag took two wobbly steps before it fell over.

“Wow.  That was great,” Cassandra shouted and ran out before Katie could stop her.  She got up to the stag and screeched to a halt, staring at something in the trees.  She yelled.  “This is mine.  You have to go find your own.”

Katie heard the growl as she caught up to Cassandra.  Katie slipped a protective arm around the girl.  It was a gray wolf.  Cassandra pointed.

“Her mate is over there,” Cassandra said, and Katie saw, but the wolves decided not to argue.  They turned and bounded back into the dark beneath the trees.  Cassandra framed an odd question as she looked up into Katie’s face.  “Was that scary?”

Katie nodded.  “That was scary.”  She wondered why Cassandra would ask such a thing instead of just being scared, but Cassandra moved the conversation before Katie thought about it too hard.

“How are we going to get this beast home?” she asked, genuine concern in her face.  Katie smiled and touched that face with the palm of her hand.

Katie squatted down, slipped the stag over her shoulders, and used her legs to lift it.  She figured as an elect, being strong as a man had to count for something.  “Which way?” Katie asked.  She felt certain she could find her way back, but Cassandra had done well so far, and it turned out she was glad she asked.  Cassandra said they were much closer than Katie imagined because they circled around a bunch of times in the hunt.

“Good,” Katie said.  The Stag was heavy.  And I think you did a great job hunting.  I bet Artemis herself would be proud of you.”

Cassandra looked back at Katie and got a big smile on her face.  “Meriope says I’m a natural.”

Katie returned the smile, but said nothing, wanting to conserve her strength.

###

“You can’t come in,” Hysphagia said.  “Men are not allowed in here.  This sanctuary is dedicated to Artemis, the chaste.”

The man in the doorway laughed.  “You have a sick one, and you have no power to keep me out.  Soon, I may make all of you sick.”  The man shrugged, like it was no concern to him.

Alexis rushed out from behind the curtain.  She had her wand in her hand, and waved it at the doorway, but the man just laughed.

“Little elf, you missed,” the man said with another shrug.  “You have no magic strong enough to touch me.”

“I wasn’t aiming at you,” Alexis said.  “My husband figured you out.”

The man laughed and tried to step into the sanctuary, but something like an invisible wall kept him out.  The man started to roar, but Alexis whipped her wand, and the door slammed shut in the man’s face, cutting off the sound.

“Keep praying,” Alexis told Hysphagia.  “Your prayers are working a far stronger magic than I have.”  She turned to catch Artie.  Lincoln brought her into the sanctuary, and they laid her down on one of the benches, and covered her again with blankets.  Alexis stepped into the other room for Artie’s pillow, and when she put it under Artie’s head, she waved her wand again, this time at the curtain.  The curtain stiffened and became like a door.

Artie spoke in her fevered delirium.  “Mom, I don’t feel well…”

###

“So, what do you have?” Lockhart asked.  He felt frustrated, thinking about it.  Corinth was not that big, being hardly more than a big village, despite having stunted walls of a sort and a couple of gates.  But searching it might take days.  Lockhart felt they did not have days.

Elder Stow burped before he pulled a few small things out of his pocket.  “All they left was a weather ring.  It is raining with a chance of rain.  A simple chronometer with a section for notes, if anything is worth writing down.  Another key hole video camera, as you would call it.  I have a health monitor, which warns of any dangerous radiation in the area, a must for space travel.”  He put them all in his hand.  “Hardly trinkets,”

“Wait.”  Boston faced Meriope, but something grabbed her attention.  “Does that health monitor have a way of tuning in on that radiation to tell you what kind and where the source is?”

“Yes,” Elder Stow nodded.  “Better to avoid the area.  It maps the whole irradiated area.  Why?”

“So, does your equipment, like the scanner and screen device, or maybe the batteries—do they give off energy signals like radiation?”

“Oh yes, I see,” Elder Stow tapped his chin and thought.  “The batteries decay at a certain rate, but it is negligible.  Then again, it might work, even if the equipment is not turned on.  I will try,” he said, and got right to work.

“What language was that you were speaking?” Meriope asked.

“Mixed,” Boston answered honestly.  “But local words for most of it.”  Meriope sipped her drink and it became Boston’s turn to ask a question. “So, you did not seem surprised when you saw me.”

“I think I figured it out,” Meriope said.  “Your eyes and ears were too good for an ordinary person, and you are too graceful, besides.”

“Graceful?”  Boston let out a small laugh.  “My brothers should hear that.  I grew up with a bunch of brothers.  That is why I am the way I am.”

Meriope sighed.  “I had no siblings.  I was an only child.”

“My sympathy,” Elder Stow paused to express his condolences.

Lockhart said, “Most people don’t see being an only child as a bad thing.”

“But family is so important,” Elder Stow countered.  “I was born in a great litter of children.”

“I had a brother and a sister,” Lockhart said, as he pointed, and Elder Stow got back to work.  “My brother died in Vietnam.  My sister is in some swinging retirement home in Florida, not that far from my ex-wife.  Don’t tell Katie I said that.”

“Decker?”  Boston had to ask.

Decker took a sip from his cup and said, “This brew really stinks.”

Boston and Lockhart laughed, and Meriope picked up her cup to take a big whiff.

Avalon 5.5 Artemis Home, part 4 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Katie,” Alexis called.  Katie looked back, but did not move.  Lincoln spoke softly.

“Don’t worry.  I’ll keep my eyes open and let you know as soon as I spot them.”

Katie turned from the front window and went back through the curtain, reluctantly.  Cassandra followed her to watch.

“She is sleeping,” Alexis said.  “But I am worried about her.  The fever is not going down.”

“Sleep may help,” Cassandra said, with a child’s optimistic voice and a look up at Katie.

Hysphagia stood to dump the water in her pan and wring out the cloth she used to wipe Artie’s forehead and hands.  “I know nothing about sickness,” she admitted.

“You have done well, and learned fast,” Alexis encouraged her.  “There isn’t any more anyone can do now.  We have to just wait and hope.”

Hysphagia smiled and spoke, like she hated to sound contrary.  “The gods can do more than we can imagine.  I will pray that Artie may be healed, and see if my Artemis will protect us all from this plague.  I do not know what Artemis will do, but I know she can do it, so I will pray and ask her.  That at least I can do.”

Hysphagia stepped out into the sanctuary room where she sat on a bench facing the front table, lowered her eyes, and spoke from her heart.

Katie turned back to Alexis.  “Why did you call?”

Alexis nodded, like she just remembered.  “Hysphagia said they just finished the last of their food yesterday.  They haven’t eaten all day, and we only have bread crackers, and lucky at that since I keep some in my medical bag.  They are desperately trying to keep the sheep for shearing so they have wool for clothes and blankets.  They had an old mule to pull their wagon, but they had to kill it a week ago.”

“I get the picture,” Katie responded.  “A hunt would be especially appropriate here, but we have no weapons.”

“I still have my bow and arrows,” Cassandra spoke up.  “I would hate to disturb Hysphagia, but I am sure she would not mind if you used hers.  That should get us some good hunting.”

“We would like to get some good food,” Katie corrected the girl and put a motherly hand to the girl’s head again.  “We do the hunting.  Alexis?”

“I’ll stay here,” Alexis said.  “I wouldn’t even mention it, normally.  We could all survive on bread crackers for a day, or even two.  But when Artie wakes up, I would like to get something substantial in her.”

Katie understood and turned to Cassandra, and asked, “So where are these bows?”

Cassandra shook her head.  “I’m not telling until you promise to take me with you.  You have to promise.”

Katie did imagine telling Cassandra to stay at the shrine, but if she bundled against the rain, she did not imagine there would be any harm in her coming.  Katie honestly thought their chances of finding anything were slim, and getting anything with their bows and arrows even slimmer.  “I’ll also look for plants to gather, such as you’ve shown me.”

Alexis said, “I may ask Lincoln to come here and watch while I take a look around outside, myself.”

That settled things.  Cassandra got the two bows and two quivers, each with a few arrows, and Katie made sure the scarf got tied extra snug around Cassandra’s head so it would not blow away in the wind and rain.

###

“I know a place where we can keep the horses safe while we search for the thieves,” Meriope said, and no one had a better idea, so they followed her to a barn and stables beside a large fenced in area within the city.  This was the first time the travelers had seen stables, a place designed and built for horses.  Boston and Lockhart imagined they were trained to pull plows and wagons, but Decker thought chariots may have made their way to Greece by then, and indeed, they found two primitive looking chariots left out in the rain.

“Does this place have somewhere we can eat and rest?” Lockhart asked the practical question.

“Yes, if that is wise,” Meriope said.  She watched a young boy run to the house as soon as he saw them in the yard.  “The inn is not big, but there are rooms.  I imagine the innkeeper is coming even now.”

“What is this place?” Elder Stow spoke before Boston could ask the same thing.

“A holding place,’ Meriope called it.  “When men drive herds into the city, they bring them here until they arrange the sale, if it has not been agreed in advance.  Usually, the innkeeper gets a portion of the fruit, grain and meat from the transaction as the price for keeping the animals fed and housed.”

“Meriope,” an elderly man hollered, smiled, and held out his arms like he was looking for a hug as he waddled toward them.  The young boy and a big young man came beside him.

“Philoletes,” Meriope responded, but she did not smile and she certainly was not going to hug the man.  He got the message and turned toward the horses.

“Such big and strong beasts.  They are a wonder.  And you ride upon them?  Malichron mentioned that.  He said the sadlees were made to go around the horses somehow, if we can figure out how…”

Decker did not need to hear any more, and Lockhart and Boston were right behind him.  They burst into the stables, and Black Beauty and Misty Gray both made their presence known.  Lockhart gave beauty a good look.  Boston kept trying to hold Misty’s nose while the horse kept nodding to acknowledge her.  Decker went to Cortez and commented.

“Lincoln’s horse is always cranky in the rain.”

“What are you doing?” the fat man objected.

“The saddles and satchels are here,” Elder Stow counted them.  “Most of the equipment, I think, but the guns are missing.”

“These are my things,” the man yelled.  “And my horses.  I made a deal.”  The young man tried to get between Boston and Misty Gray, but he backed off when Misty tried to bite him.

Lockhart turned on the fat man.  “Where I come from, we call this dealing in stolen goods, and it carries the same penalties as the thieves who stole the goods in the first place.”

“What?”

Meriope spoke, and her voice did not sound kind.  “These horses and all of these things were stolen, just like you stole my father’s cattle.”

“Now Meriope,” Philoletes tried to calm the woman.  “All that was settled a long time ago.”

“You still owe me,” Meriope said, but the fat man turned to the more immediate concern.

“You claim these horses, but can you prove this?”

Lockhart whistled and his horse came trotting up. He took the fat man and showed him the brand.  “Double bars,” he called it.  “And you will find the same brand on the three horses in your stable.”

“What is a brand?” the boy asked.

“It is a symbol, burned into the animal by a hot iron, er, hot metal rod,” Boston said.

“That must hurt.”

“But only for a little bit,” Boston agreed.

“Neoman, fetch the men,” the young man spoke to a man that came into the yard

“Do I need to show you on the horses?” Lockhart pressed.  Philoletes thought about it.

“No need,” he said.  “My men cannot get near those horses, and from the way they respond to you, I believe you.”  He looked like he only lost round one.  “But since they are yours, and these others I assume, you will have to pay for keeping them and feeding them for however long you are here.”

“We won’t be here long,” Lockhart said.

“Overnight,” Boston said.

“And one room for the women,” Lockhart added.

“It should not cost them anything,” Meriope said.  “You still owe me.”

A half-dozen men showed up at the door, but waited and did not interfere.

“I suppose we could go to the king and tell him you are dealing with thieves,” Lockhart said.

“Does this town have a king?” Boston asked Meriope and she nodded as Philoletes erupted.

“But I didn’t know they were stolen.”

“No excuse,” Lockhart said.  “You should have checked.”

“Maybe the king will take this place away from him and give it to another,” Boston added.

“Better yet,” Decker said.  “We could let people know all over this land that Philoletes is a thief and not to come here.”

“Then you would starve and get no payments,” Boston grinned.  Meriope wanted to grin as well.

“Only tonight,” Philoletes said.

“And food and a room for the women, and we will say no more about it.”  Lockhart insisted.

“And we will show your men how to properly care for horses,” Boston added.  “So you will get something out of the deal.”  She pointed at the men gathered in the doorway.

Philoletes turned without a word and waddled back up to the inn as Elder Stow came from where their equipment had been stacked.  He came shaking his head, which got people’s attention.

“Most of your things are present, including these,” he found the horse brushes and the horse blankets were obvious.  “Most of my things are still missing, with your guns.  They have my scanner with the screen device, and my sonic device.  I would guess someone wants a closer look.”

“Your sonic screwdriver?” Boston asked, and Elder Stow nodded.  “Man!  Come on, everyone.”  Boston, Lockhart and Decker brought in the other horses and got them into stalls, and then with Elder Stow’s help, they gave four horses some tender care, and then moved on to the other four.

Avalon 5.5 Artemis Home, part 3 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Boston and Meriope rode out front.  Meriope kept a watchful eye on the trail, while Boston watched everything else.  As an elf, her sense concerning humans, especially potentially dangerous humans, had been greatly enhanced.  Her eyes, in daylight, could pick out a hummingbird a half mile away, and if she tuned her ears in that direction, she could hear the little buzz of the wings.

The trail ran right down the road, as Lockhart surmised, and it looked clear enough, even in the drizzling rain, that Lockhart could have followed it himself.  But after a while, he complained.

“They can’t have gotten that much of a head start.”

Lockhart, Decker, and Elder Stow brought up the rear, but rode better on bareback than they thought they could.  Elder Stow slid around a little with his shorter legs, but with the fairy weave they wore, they were able to compensate some for the lack of saddles.  Boston showed them how to separate a piece and have it reach around the horse’s belly, and form into something like a seat.  Elder Stow even managed to make something like stirrups, after he learned how.

“I don’t think we should try to gallop,” Decker said.

“Certainly not,” Elder Stow agreed

“Should not have to,” Lockhart said.  “That wagon has to be pretty slow moving.”

Around two o’clock, the rain slackened off, though the clouds never went away.  Boston shouted, and Meriope looked up at the top of the next hill.  Boston saw a bunch of men, clearly, and the mule drawn wagon stuffed with all their things.  Even Meriope saw the man turn and wave to them. Then the man lifted something.

“Get down,” Boston shouted, just before a bullet creased the trunk of a tree.  People scurried to get themselves and their horses under cover.  The man let off five rounds of automatic fire that tore up the ground and a couple of bushes.  Then Boston saw him wave again and walk off, dipping below the horizon of the hill.

“I don’t understand,” Meriope said.  Decker let out a string of curse words and she said she was not asking about that part.

Lockhart pulled out Katie’s pistol to show.  “They have most of our guns,” he said.  “They work like a compact, all-in-one version of your bow and arrows.  They fire a projectile, like an arrowhead.”  He put a bullet in a tree, and Meriope jumped at the Crack! though her horse remained steady.  “They are very deadly.”

“And they have our two rifles,” Decker added.  “They are much bigger guns and can fire a long distance.”

“How did he figure out how to use it so quickly?” Elder Stow asked.

“The Masters?” Boston suggested.  “I mean, they might work for the Masters.”

“That would be my guess,” Decker said.

“Or help,” Lockhart countered, and pointed toward the sky.  “But I can’t honestly think of any gods in this jurisdiction that we might have pissed off.”

“Come,” Meriope said, lest they talk away their advantage.  “They are not far.  We have a chance to catch them.”

The group rushed as much as they could down the hill they were on and up the gradual incline to where the wagon had been at the top of the next rise.  They stopped when they got there, and stared.  Twice the distance they just traveled, and up at the top of a small ridge, they saw the same wagon and the same man, laughing and waving.  At least, Boston could see them and described them to the group.  She saw the man raise something and she shouted.

“Back down.  Behind the hill.”

No one argued.  They did not see or hear the bullets, but they felt certain some got fired.  They talked while Boston got down and snuck up behind a bush to spy on the enemy.  With a glance at Meriope, she went invisible, but also let the bush hide her for fear the thieves had help, and her being invisible might do her no good at all.

“Help from an outsider I would say,” Elder Stow cast the tie vote.  “But I also cannot think of any gods in this place that we have angered.”

“Well,” Decker said with a look at Meriope.  “They can’t have traveled twice our distance on foot, with a heavy wagon pulled by one mule, without help.”

Meriope nodded for Decker, then looked down.  “I am praying for Artemis to come and guide us to victory in our hunt.”

“And it has been raining for two days now?”  Boston asked as she scooted back down the hill and leapt up on Honey’s back.

“This is the third day without the sun,” Meriope said.

“Boy,’ Boston said, when Honey settled down.  “Apollo has to be unhappy.”

“Why?” Lockhart asked.  “I thought Katie said he was the god of healing?”

“And music and poetry, truth and prophecy, and other things,” Meriope said.

“His chief job is god of the sun,” Boston said.

“No.  Light and warmth, but Helios drives the sun,” Meriope corrected her.  “Every day, Helios drive the golden chariot of the gods across the sky.  Over the ocean, they say the dwarfs of the mountains dig out the gold.  The nymphs in the dark fashion it to make the chariot.  The nymphs of light make the harness and the reins.  And every day, Helios hitches up his fiery horses and rises in a new chariot.”

“The day comes up fresh and new every morning,” Decker encouraged her, and Meriope smiled and looked again at the ground.

“We should move before we lose the trail,” she said.

“Right,” Boston agreed, but Lockhart teased her, having guessed at something.

“Everyone, follow the nymph.”

“Not funny,” Boston groused.

The trail remained easy, and after some thought, Boston asked how Meriope knew so much about the gods, and in particular, Apollo.  She confessed.

“When I was young, my father brought us out of Thessaly and into this land.  We were pushed out from our land by new people, great horsemen in their own way.  My mother died when we came to Corinth.  Father brought her to the temple of Apollo, seeking help, but the healers could do nothing for her.  My father stayed in the temple to pray, and when he was done, he dedicated his life to the god.”

“You were orphaned?”

“No,” Meriope laughed at the thought.  “But I was raised in the temple, and around the priests, and the few priestesses who served in the alcove dedicated to Apollo’s sister, Artemis.”  Meriope shrugged.  “I suppose it was my destiny to serve Artemis, but I don’t mind.”

“So, how did you end up living in the wilderness?”  Boston asked.

“I was driven.  I was young.  But I kissed my father and left without anyone the wiser.  I walked on the road to see where it would take me, and as the day was coming to an end, I found myself outside the shrine.  One old woman was the last, and she told me the story before she died.”

“Good,” Boston said.  Since entering into a world with no television, no internet, and not even any printed books, she had come to appreciate a good story.

“Out behind the sanctuary, there is a spring that makes a small pool before it becomes a stream and runs down the hills to join the river and flow to the sea.  One day, Artemis came to that spot and thought to refresh and relax herself after her hunt.  She stripped naked and entered the clean water, and her nymphs attended her.  Shortly, a hunter came, following his hunting dogs.  The dogs were attracted to the goddess, as all such dogs are.  The hunter spied on Artemis in all her beauty and decided he would rape her.  She kindly put out his eyes and charged his dogs to take him home where he would live out the rest of his days a blind man, whose last sight was that of the goddess, Artemis, in all her glory.”

“I heard she turned him into a stag and his own dogs did not recognize him and tore him apart,” Boston said.

Meriope shook her head.  “That is not the story I was told by the old woman who claimed to have seen Artemis herself in that place.”

Boston shrugged and asked the question she really wanted to ask.  “So, tell me about the nymphs.  What are they like?  What do they look like?”

“How can you not know?” Meriope sounded surprised.  “The people in the villages and small homes in the wilderness all pay homage to the nymphs of the wild.  They seek their protection and help in time of trouble, and leave regular offerings so the nymphs do not turn against them.  Some are tall as men, but thin, like they have little substance.  They have sharp eyes and sharp ears, even such as yours…” Meriope paused, and Boston had to prompt her

“Go on, or is that all you know?”

“No.  There are small ones, too.  No longer than my forearm, and they dance in the air on gossamer wings, or wings like the butterfly.  They all have great magic, and play tricks on poor mortals when they get cross.”

“Go on.  You mentioned dark ones, and dwarfs.”

“Yes, dwarfs.  They are said to stand no taller than half human height, but they are strong like stone, and they are all covered in long fur, though many believe it is hair…”  Meriope paused again, but this time she appeared to be thinking.  “The dark ones I cannot say.  They are great craftsmen, but I have heard they can be frightening to look at.  I would rather not meet one, if it is all the same to you.”

“I thought so,” Boston said, without explaining.  “But the ones of the light would not be so bad.”

“Indeed,” Meriope replied.  “It must be wonderful to be so close to the gods, to serve them day and night.”

“Sometimes being that close to the gods is not a safe place to be,” Boston said, softly, and Meriope stopped her horse half-way up the ridge.  “Tell me what you know of the gods,” Boston asked.  “I know Artemis is a wonderful person.  Most of them are good, but do you know any that are maybe not so good, or inclined to do some not so good things?”

Meriope shook her head.  “Even if I knew of one or two, I am afraid even to think of them, and I will never say their names out loud.”

Boston nodded and kicked her horse to make the top of the ridge.  She looked ahead, but saw no wagon this time.  She saw Corinth instead, and after judging the sun, she shouted behind her.  The city is up ahead.  I bet that is where they have gone.  We should be able to make it before the sun sets.”

Elder Stow straggled up from the back to stop with Deker and Lockhart where Meriope stopped.  “What is up ahead?” he asked.

“Corinth,” Meriope said.

*************************

Monday, Christmas Day, Only a Merry Christmas post.

The second half of Avalon, episode 5.5, Artemis Home will post on Tuesday, Wednesday, AND Thursday.  Don’t forget Thursday this coming week to read the conclusion of the episode.

Meanwhile:

A bit late, but like Christmas, it’s the thought that counts…

*

Avalon 5.5 Artemis Home, part 2 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The sanctuary for Artemis looked small, much smaller than the temple of Amphitrite they had seen.  It had a center aisle between several plain wooden benches, and they faced a table at the other end that held some flowers and wood carvings of animals associated with the goddess.  The bear looked prominent, but also the wolf, the stag, and the boar.  A bow and arrows hung on the wall over the table, and Meriope explained about the bow and arrows, like she recited a worship lesson.

“The bow, she chose for her husband.  The arrows, she chose for her sons.”

Lockhart nodded, but led the others straight to the back, covering the distance between the door and the back curtain in seven long steps.  “How is she?” he asked, as Lincoln scooted around him with Alexis’ bag.

“She is burning up with fever,” Katie looked up.  They had Artie on a straw covered cot, covered with plenty of blankets, and Katie sat on one side, while Alexis sat on the other.

Alexis got out her stethoscope and listened to Artie’s heart and breathing.  She made Artie sit up and face her, and Katie got up to help the men go back out into the main room.  Alexis had Artie pull up her fairy weave top to listen better to her breathing.

Katie spoke quietly to them all, but mostly to Lockhart.  “Bronchitis, definitely.  Maybe Pneumonia.  We may be here for a few days.”

“This was sudden,” Lockhart said.

“All day yesterday in the rain, and again today,” Katie said.  “It may have been something she caught in Egypt and it just showed up after we got here.”

Lockhart nodded.  The housing area by the Nile, the one that Rachel called the slums, was filled with substandard housing and filth, and ripe with coughing, hacking, and people laid up with colds, and the flu, and some worse diseases.  “We should have kept her away from the slums,” he said.

Katie shook her head.  “Alexis said she was not too worried, and from here forward we should be all right, because we all had our immunizations.  She said a tetanus booster would not hurt, and some diseases we should avoid, but generally we should have a good resistance to most things.  It occurred to me, Artie never had any baby shots.”

“An oversight on Amphitrite’s part?”

“No, I don’t think so.  With the Storyteller still missing, I think the Kairos’ connection to the future is tenuous.  It maybe comes and goes.”

“So, what can we do?”

Katie shook her head again.  “Nothing.  Alexis believes she can stabilize her, and after some chicken soup, and a few days of warmth and rest, she should throw it off herself.  That is what we hope.”

“Hey guys,” Boston interrupted.  Everyone looked up, including Meriope, who had been sitting beside Decker and listening intently.  “Meet the rest of the crew, Hysphagia and Cassandra.”  Boston grinned as Cassandra marveled at Boston’s red hair.

Hysphagia looked like she might be twenty, the eldest, but she was also as blonde as Katie, and came across like she might model for blonde jokes.  Cassandra seemed smart, and looked like a normal enough, brown hair, brown-eyed Greek, but she had to be ten, twelve at the most.

“Hysphagia says we should take Artie to Artemis’ brother’s temple in Corinth.  That’s Apollo.  He is the healer in Greece,” Boston said.

“In this age, yes,” Katie said.  “I imagine Asclepius is not born yet.”

“Corinth is another hour, a bit less,” Lincoln reminded everyone.

They heard Artie coughing from behind the curtain, and Katie spoke.  “I don’t think we should move her right now.  Her fever is high and she seems pretty weak.”

“We can pray,” Cassandra suggested, and looked up at Katie like it was a question.

“And that would be a wonderful thing to do,” Katie said.  She smiled, looked down, and brushed Cassandra’s hair back where it had fallen in her face.  Lockhart thought, we already have two adopted daughters.  Let’s not get another.

“Oh, what am I thinking,” Elder Stow interrupted with some volume.  “I should fetch my scanner.  We can get all her readings and maybe even pinpoint the virus to make an anti-virus.  I’ll just be a minute.”  He stepped to the door, and only hesitated a second before he stepped out into the rain.

“Lovely place you have here,” Decker said to Meriope.  With the clouds and rain, the whole place had a dark and gloomy look.

Meriope, who sat on the bench where Decker placed his foot, looked up at him and almost smiled, but again, she had no chance to respond as Elder Stow came charging back inside.

“It’s gone.  Everything is gone.”

“What?”

“It has been stolen, again,” Elder Stow showed some anger.  “Right from under our faces.”

“Noses,” Lincoln absentmindedly corrected the Gott-Druk, while he tried to think of what to do.  They all thought while Lockhart, Katie, and Decker moved.  As soon as they got outside, Lockhart whistled for the horse he named Dog.  Dog came trotting up, and Lockhart was glad to see that this time he still had his reins.  Other horses followed Dog, but Katie’s Black Beauty, Lincoln’s Cortez, and Alexis’ Misty Gray seemed to be missing.

“Beauty,” Katie called.  “Beauty.”  The horse did not come.

“We have to get our stuff back,” Decker said to Meriope, who came out with the travelers.  “Some of our things are very dangerous, and would be terrible in the wrong hands.”

“We should ride after them,” Meriope said, like the obvious solution.

“No saddles,” Elder Stow pointed out.  It came as a slim protest.  He knew they would ride, anyway.

“What about Artie?” Katie asked.

Lockhart did not hesitate to make a decision.  “It seems like that dilemma is already solved.  You, Alexis and Lincoln are without transportation.  You need to be here for Artie, and to defend the home and all, if necessary.  I hope it isn’t necessary.”

“How will you track them?” Katie asked the practical question.  “You are not a hunter.”

“I am,” Boston shouted.

Katie frowned.  “We are not hunting bears in Canada.”

“Listen,” Lockhart said.  “They have to have a wagon to carry everything.  They should stick to the road.  It should not be hard to find them.”

“Road is becoming roads, the further into the future we go,” Katie said.  “And this is their home.  What if they go off-road?”

Lockhart was not going to argue.  “You keep Artie’s horse, Freedom.”

Meriope interrupted as she stormed out of the sanctuary, the bow and arrows from the back wall in her hands.  “I am coming.  I am from Thessaly.  I know how to ride, and I am a hunter.”  Decker helped her get up on Freedom, as he helped Elder Stow mount his horse.  Katie and Lockhart held their breath for a second, but Freedom did not seem to mind the replacement rider.  From her height, Meriope got a good look at the ground.  “I see two wagons.  Odd, I cannot tell where they came from, but they are headed to the main road.”  She pointed down the path.

“Wait,” Alexis’ voice came from the door, and she stepped out with Artie’s Anazi handgun.  She walked up to Decker.  “Artie says she showed you how to use this.”  She handed him the weapon, holstered, on the belt.

“I got my bow and my wand,” Boston said to Alexis, who waved to her.

“Use them wisely,” Alexis instructed before she went back inside.

Lincoln passed her in the doorway as he came out.  “Do you want to take the database?”

“Here,” Katie handed Lockhart her gun belt.

“Don’t risk it,” Lockhart said as he spoke softly to Katie.  “You might need this if they come back,” he said, but he began to lengthen the belt.

“We will be all right.  They have the rifles and the other guns, and if they figure out how to use them, you will need something.”  Katie looked at Elder Stow.  The Elder turned slightly red.

“I forgot I had my weapon in my pocket.”  He shrugged.

“Lincoln,” Lockhart got Lincoln’s attention.  “You may need the database if something should happen.  Katie has the back-up amulet so you can find the next time gate.”

“Come on,” Boston shouted, impatient.  Lockhart kissed Katie before he climbed up on Dog’s back and they headed out.

Avalon 5.5 Artemis Home, part 1 of 6

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After 1410 BC, Megara, Greece.  Kairos 64: Sinon, The General.

Recording…

No one minded the rain, at first, as long as it did not become another thunder storm sweeping off the ocean.  Notere’s Syria had been dry.  Padrama’s India was dry, apart from the monsoon rain that broke at the end, which they did not feel because Devi protected them.  Then Rachel’s Egypt had been extra dry.  Lockhart could not swear he saw a cloud the whole time they were there.

“Definitely Greece,” Lincoln decided.  “It looks like the last time we were here, in Amphitrite’s day.”

“I could have guessed that,” Decker mumbled, as they came out from some trees and he pulled away to ride out on the wing.

“Same rain,” Elder Stow said, before he rode out to guard the other wing.

“Amphitrite’s time zone was what?” Katie wondered.  “A hundred and fifty years ago?”

“And it has been raining for a hundred and fifty years,” Boston teased.

“About one-fifty,” Lincoln answered Katie.

“The road has improved,” Lockhart said, just to insert a positive thought.

Artie began to cough.  It sounded like a sinus-drip gurgling kind of cough.  Katie got out the fairy weave handkerchief she had made and handed it to Artie to blow her nose.  She did, but complained at the same time.

“Why does it have to be so wet?  We should go back and visit my sister some more so we can dry out.”

“Now, we are all cranky from the weather, but we try to make the best of it.”  Katie sounded like a mom.

Artie looked up and shouted at the sky.  “I hate the rain.  Are we there yet?”

Lockhart stifled his laugh, and after a moment’s hard stare at the man, Katie turned her smile away, so Artie and Lockhart would not see.  Artie started coughing again, and Katie whipped her head back to look at the girl.  This time her face showed concern.

“That does not sound good,” Alexis, the trained nurse spoke up from behind.  “We should get her to some shelter.”

“Boston pulled out her amulet and said, “Corinth should be just up ahead.”  She raised her voice and repeated the word for Lockhart.

“Robert,” Katie nudged her horse up between Lincoln and Lockhart.  “We need to get Artie under shelter, and soon.  She doesn’t sound good.”

Lockhart nodded and looked at Lincoln.  He pulled out the database and looked for the relevant map.  After a minute, he shook his head.

“I don’t see anything ahead but Corinth.  Boston?”

“About an hour, gestimate,” Boston shouted.

Alexis took Katie’s movement to the front to move up beside Artie.  She stretched out to take Artie’s hand.  It felt warm, and she announced as much.

Lockhart remembered the wristwatch radio.  “Elder Stow.  Do you see any buildings before the city?  Artie may be coming down with something, and Katie and Alexis want to get her out of the rain.”

“Up ahead, on my side of the road,” Decker’s voice came through the wristwatch.  “A small country church sized building.”

“Probably a shrine,” Katie suggested.

“Nothing here,” Elder Stow reported.

“We go with it,” Lockhart said into the wristwatch and switched it off.  “Hope the god of the shrine is friendly.”

“Are they friendly spirits?  Just listen,” Lincoln said.  They were not amused.  Artie coughed up some phlegm, and there was a touch of blood in it.

“I am bleeding again,” Artie said.  “Only this time from my mouth.”

“This isn’t the good kind,” Katie said.

###

Decker rode ahead so he arrived at the shrine first.  He wanted to check it out and be sure it was safe.  A small, but solid sheltered area looked pushed back among the trees.  He saw a few sheep in a pen, and a two-wheeled wagon with no ox or mule to pull it.  It will do for the horses, he thought.  “Needs a steeple,” he said out loud at the building he still imagined as a country chapel.  He approached the shrine, warily.  He sensed people about, but after seeing and hearing nothing, he holstered his rifle.  He tried not to appear threatening.  He had a sick girl.  As soon as he got down from his horse, he jumped, though his horse remained steady.  An arrow came from the front window and planted itself two feet away.

“Nubian,” a woman yelled from the window.  “Men are not welcome here.”  Decker heard some sharply spoken words inside the building, though he could not tell what they were saying.  He unsnapped his holster, made sure the handgun would come easily to hand, and waited.  A pretty, dark haired young woman came out the front door and gave a sour look to the sky.  She stayed under the roof overhang to stay dry.

“I have never seen a Nubian before,” she said.

“I have never been here before,” Decker said.  “What is this place?”

“This is the place of Artemis.  We are the three who keep this place and honor the goddess in all things.  I am Meriope.  My sisters are Hysphagia and Cassandra.  What brings you to our door?”

Decker wondered if any of the women were older.  This one looked about eighteen.  “We have a sick girl.  We need to get her to shelter and out of the rain.  Artemis has been kind to us in the past.  Will you help the needy stranger?”

The door opened, and Meriope leaned back into the opening.  Decker heard some more of those sharply whispered words, before Meriope faced front again, and the door closed.  She did not have time to respond.  The travelers came up the path from the main road, Katie and Alexis leading Artie.  They had gotten Artie down from her horse and bracketed her.  They practically carried the girl inside without so much as an ‘excuse me’.

Decker waited for the others to come up with the horses.  He led them to the shelter, and Meriope braved the rain to follow.

“What do you think you are doing?” Meriope asked.

“Taking care of the horses,” Decker said.  “Does Artemis not like horses?”

“She likes all animals,” Meriope said, not expecting that question.  “And she hunts them in the wild.”

“We’re animals,” Lockhart said, with a small grin.

“Is Artemis here?” Boston said.  “I like her, a lot.  She came to the battlefield when Zoe, the Amazon Queen went with Katie and Chloe to fight what’s-his-name.  I didn’t meet her, exactly, but the Amazons gave me the name Little Fire.”  She rambled like a fairy, flitting from one thought to the next without a breath between.

Meriope’s eyes got big.  “You rode with the Amazons when they came to Athens?”  The travelers paused.  It seemed an odd question.

“No,” Boston said.  “We met Zoe a long time ago.”

“She was the first Amazon queen way back when,” Lincoln said.

“Katie is the second elect in the whole world,” Lockhart added, and smiled at some private thought.

“I saw Artemis,” Decker said.  “When we were on the mountain, in the snow and ice, before we went over and found that boy who had learned how to make bronze.”

Lincoln shook his head.  He did not remember that time.

“Where that ghost kept following me around,” Decker said, to jog their memories

“And we found his body down the crevasse, and took it home so he could be properly buried,” Elder Stow said.

“Oh, yeah.” Boston’s eyes got big.

“I don’t remember hearing about Artemis.”  Lockhart looked at Decker, and Decker looked sorry he brought it up.  Now he had to tell the story.

“You were all asleep when I heard something in the camp.  I looked out my tent and saw a bear, which stood up and put another log on the fire.  I remember the bear said Little Fire is not doing her job,”

“Hey…” Boston protested.

“So then a woman showed up, and the bear changed into a woman.  The bear-woman seemed very nice.  The other woman scared me pretty bad, before they both disappeared.”  Decker closed his mouth, but Boston and Lincoln were not satisfied with the story.

“Hey,” Boston said it again, but Lincoln asked an inspired question.

“Who was the other woman?”

“Aphrodite,” Decker admitted.  “She pointed right at me, though I was hidden behind my tent flap, and she said I was on her list.”  Decker shivered.  “Artemis laughed when she vanished.”

“That’s the same thing she said when we visited Amphitrite,” Boston pointed out before they got interrupted.

“Benjamin.”  Alexis stuck her head out of the door and hollered.  “Bring me my purse.”

“Right,” Lincoln returned the shout.  He waved to her and picked up her pack, but then stopped when Meriope spoke.

“Wait.”

Meriope had managed to find a seat on a log when the men worked with the horses and talked.  She spent most of her time staring, her mouth open, not believing what she heard.  But she did not doubt that these people were the strangest strangers she had ever seen, and reconciled in her head that they must be servants to the gods, the way they talked about them, and the way they implied that they had lived so long.

“Wait.”  Something clicked in Meriope’s head and she appeared to come back to reality.  “You can come in and see your friend, but you must leave all your weapons and equipment here, and you will have to make a place out here to sleep.  Weapons are not allowed in the sanctuary.”

Lincoln lifted Alexis’ purse.  “Alexis is a physician,” he said.  “These are her medical things.”

Lockhart unsnapped his belt, which held his big knife and handgun.  He looked at the others.  They followed his lead, but Decker especially did not like the idea.  Elder Stow merely packed his things neatly away in his saddle bags.  Lincoln kept the database in his pocket, figuring it was not a weapon.  Boston had access to her invisible slip, as they called it, where she had her bow and arrows, and her wand, if needed.

They trudged up to the sanctuary, and Boston confirmed Decker’s thoughts without any prompting.  “It looks like an old country chapel,” she said.

Avalon 5.4 The Mystery of the Madness, part 6 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Lincoln spoke up when there was a lull in the conversation around the supper table.  He had gotten his old notepad and pencil out to scribble while they talked.  “Sounds to me like the job is complicated. This is where the CIA would start to look for more than one person being in on it.  There might be a main person, but it sounds like they probably have accomplices”

“There may be one of the gods, or a goddess supporting it, if not directly involved,” Rachel agreed, with a look at Sakhmetet.

“I’ll talk to my father,” Sakhmetet said.  “A high priest,” she lied to the others who did not know her real identity.

“Alexis and I will look around the little community,” Boston said, meaning they would seek out any elves, dwarfs and other little spirits that might be in the area.  “I’m looking forward to it.”  Alexis nudged Boston and looked at Rachel and Hotep.  She was holding his hand, gladly, but pretending to ignore him at the same time.  He was looking at her and adoring her, without pretending anything.

“What?” Rachel asked for being stared at.

“You remind me of someone from way back near the beginning of our journey, back when we first got the horses and did not know how to ride them very well.”

“Who?” Boston asked.

“Qito, and I think his name was Tec’huanu, or something like that.”

Rachel sat for a minute before her eyes got big.  “What?”  She snatched her hand back from Hotep.  “I’m not a Shemsu and Hotep is not a bottom dweller.”

“Oh yeah,” Boston grinned an elfish grin as she remembered.

“Shut up,” Rachel stood.  “Shut up,” she stomped out of the house.  Hotep looked at everyone, slightly confused, but after a moment, he got up and followed her.

“Same response, too,” Decker said, softly.

Lockhart looked back at Katie who was sitting on the floor.  He held his hand out to her, and she gladly took it and came up to sit beside him, in Rachel’s vacated chair.  Artie took Hotep’s chair and smiled at Sakhmet.  Lockhart turned to Surti, the one Rachel said had a brain.

“You need to find as much information as you can on the victims of this crime.  See if there is a connection between them that might suggest the culprit.”

Surti thought for a minute before she responded.  “The Hall of Records is next to the governor’s house.  The scribes keep all the information on the people, who is who, property rights, and so on, down to who owns which cow.  We could start there.”

“We can also talk to the families of the victims and see what turns up.”

Surti nodded with assurance.  “I see why Rachel sought your input.  Who would have thought of doing such things?”

###

Three days later, the travelers came to the Nile to await passage to the other side.  The horses were well rested, being fenced in a large area where they had a chance to play and eat sweet grass, oats and mixed grains.  The travelers were not so well rested.  They spent three days slinking around the city, watching and following suspects, interviewing people, and digging through the records in the Hall of Records.

Lockhart and Katie played good cop-bad cop in their interview with Sokar.  Lockhart pressed the man pretty hard.  Sokar said he did not like what they were implying.  Katie said they were not implying anything.  They were simply asking questions, and she smiled kindly at him before Lockhart started in again.

Sokar went to the governor’s house to complain, but Horemheb was busy.  Horemheb sent word to Sokar that the Scooby Gang was looking into things and he would just have to wait and see what turned up.  No telling what Sokar thought of that message.  Horemheb, who they had to bring in on the whole enterprise, turned out to be remarkably like his son.  He found it all exciting, but then he was mature and wise enough to understand that they were digging for real, hard evidence that would prove who was guilty.

“No point in condemning an innocent man on hearsay, as you call it, circumstantial evidence.  That is not going to make the problem go away,” Horemheb said.

Standing beside the Nile, Rachel hugged everyone.  Lockhart tried one last time.

“You sure we can’t stick around and help you solve this case.”

Rachel shook her head, reached back and took Hotep’s hand.  She turned slightly red and looked down at her feet as she spoke.  “We have made a good beginning now.  I don’t think it will take long to prove the guilty party, especially now that I have Sakhmet going around in a Sherlock Holmes hat and carrying a magnifying glass.”

“Besides,” Hotep spoke up, and glanced at Rachel almost like asking permission to intrude on her friends.  “We know that Sokar had a grudge against all seven men.  They were all lower level noblemen, just the sort of people Sokar has regular dealings with.”

“And,” Rachel said.  “Alexis and Boston brought word that Sokar is a man of magic, and may have gotten his power from a certain goddess.”

“That’s the scary part,” Meme said.

“Don’t worry.  We’ll protect you,” David said, and Joseph nodded.

“That’s the real scary part,” Rachel teased Meme, and at least Hotep laughed.

Sakhmet arrived and hugged everyone.  She especially hugged her adopted mom and dad, and scolded them once more for still not being married.  Then she took her adopted sister Artie to the side where they could talk, privately.

The ship took two at a time, with their horses, so it took all morning to get everyone across the river.  Katie and Artie came last, and as they shoved off from the shore, they spied Rachel and Hotep kissing.

They rode south, against the current, on the desert side of the river.  They camped under the shadow of the step pyramid in Saqqara, which was not well kept up.  They talked about the demonized men, that they all saw, and that gave Boston and Artie nightmares.  Lincoln denied that he had nightmares.  They talked about who could be responsible, and agreed Sokar seemed the likely choice.

“No,” Lincoln said that evening.  “You can’t read ahead in the database and find out.  I have tried very hard not to do that myself.  It would not be wise to know the outcome ahead of time.  Too much chance of letting it slip, by accident, and screwing up all of history.  The Kairos is right about that.”

The following day, Boston calculated that the time gate should be about where the turnoff to Fayum might be.

Lincoln suggested, “Where Nen-Neswt is.”  Boston shrugged, but did not object.  Others looked curious, so Lincoln explained.  “That was where Weret gave birth to Narmer’s child on the way to conquer Memphis.  In the future, under the Ptolemys, they call the city Heracleopolis.”

People nodded, like that explained it, whether they understood or not.  Only Boston said, “I remember Weret and the Bluebloods.”

They rode in the quiet after that, only pointing out certain flora and fauna, when Artie, who had not said much of anything that whole time, came out with her thought.

“I would like a boyfriend.”

Lockhart looked back.  “That might not be so easy to arrange.”

Katie spoke to Lockhart.  “Notere assured me that Amphitrite included a three-year contraceptive like the rest of us have.  At least we won’t have to worry about her getting pregnant.”

“I hope that is not what she is thinking about,” Lockhart said.

“I don’t see why not,” Katie said.  “It would be healthy and normal.  And I am thinking about it.”

Lockhart stiffened, felt Katie’s eyes in the back of his head, and said nothing.  Lincoln wisely looked at the Nile.  Boston shouted nothing from the rear because Alexis scolded her, quietly.

“Don’t say it.  Focus on your lesson.”

They rode a bit more in the hot and quiet afternoon, then Artie said, “What?”

************************

Monday

The travelers return to Greece for Episode 5.5, Artemis Home.  Don’t miss it, and Happy Reading

Avalon 5.4 The Mystery of the Madness, part 5 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The following evening, the travelers entered the city of Memphis, and immediately exited the city again near the Nile where the shacks of the poor huddled close together.  Lincoln and Lockhart wondered how they would ever find one Rachel in the unwashed masses, especially since Rachel appeared to be a common enough name among the Semites.  Fortunately, Sakhmet found them first.

“Come on,” she said.  “Rachel has her detectives over for brainstorming.  I don’t know what brainstorming is, but it sounds like an interesting concept.”

They arrived at the house, and were expected.  Apparently, Sakhmet informed Rachel in advance, so they had plenty of food prepared.  Alexis did get to offer bread, but otherwise, everyone ate what the locals had to offer.  And it was more than plenty, and afterwards, Rachel’s parents and family went to visit aunts and uncles so Rachel and her friends could have the house.  After squeezing in and some shuffling of seats, Rachel introduced her detective club.

“This is Surti.  She is one of the chief cooks in the governor’s house and came here to help mother prepare this feast.”  Everyone said it tasted very good.  “Surti is the smart one, like Velma.  Meme is more like Daphne, you know, beautiful, but not much going on upstairs.”  Rachel tapped her temple.

“I would rather be beautiful than smart,” Meme said.

“Sadly, too many women feel that way,” Alexis responded.

“Hotep,” Rachel continued.  “He gets to be Fred.  While David, and his friend Joseph get to be Shaggy and Scooby.  I’ll leave it to you to decide which is which.”  David and Joseph were still nibbling on supper, and the bread Alexis made.

“And what does that make you?”  Boston asked.  “You are young again, by the way.  Almost the youngest I have seen you.”

“As young as me,” Artie said.

“And you have Daphne looks and Velma brains,” Katie said.

“No,” Rachel said.  “I’m the director and Sakhmetet, my friend, is the producer in charge of special effects.”

“That means I get to be in charge of all the money, whatever money is.” Sakhmet, alias Sakhmetet said.

Lockhart, Lincoln, Artie, and Elder Stow had no idea who Rachel was alluding to, but they did not worry about it, except Lockhart who nudged Katie.  “It’s a generational thing,” Katie said.  “I’ll explain it to you later.”

Decker harumphed and stepped outside.  He understood the show and the characters, but he would not admit it.  He came back in with two of the lanterns the travelers sometimes used in the dark.  It lit the inside of the shack like day, and he settled back into his seat.  That little shack was full.  They did not have any extra room to move around.

When Rachel turned to introduce her friends from the future, she mentioned things the travelers rarely paid attention to.

“Captain Katie Harper and Major Decker are soldiers, like captains of the host, or maybe Decker is more like a general.  Decker is especially trained in covert operations; that is, dealing with secret work being done by one person or a group, and figuring out how to shut them down.  He might be able to recognize something that is not right, or normal.  Likewise, Lincoln used to work for the CIA.  He is trained to gather secret information, and whoever is cursing the men, he is doing a remarkable job of keeping his hand secret and hidden.”

“That kind of work takes time,” Decker countered.  “Digging up secrets is not an overnight job.”

Lincoln agreed.  “It usually takes months, sometimes years.”

“All the same,’ Rachel said.  “We might only need a set of trained, fresh, outside eyes to see what we might be missing.”  Decker and Lincoln did not disagree with that idea, so she continued.  “Artie and Elder Stow have the most outside eyes.  Artie’s problem is she has not been in normal, human life for very long and might not recognize something that is out of the ordinary.”

“But my sister is smart,” Sakhmetet interrupted.  “She sees more than you think.  She just has to learn to mention it and share what she sees, like not be slow to ask questions.”

“Seems to me she asks plenty of questions,” Katie spoke up.

“All the same,” Rachel said.  “Ask, and Elder Stow has special equipment that might pick up a stray energy source, for example, that might be out there, and help pinpoint things if the Masters are behind this.”

“I will get to work on that right away,” Elder Stow volunteered.

Rachel nodded by way of thanks.  “Now, Alexis, Boston and Sakhmetet all have special abilities and contacts I am not at liberty to talk about.”

“I’m not getting involved on that level,” Sakhmetet objected.

Rachel nodded, but did not respond directly.  “If this is the result of bad magic or spiritual forces, like maybe with the blessing of one of the gods, these are the ones who can figure that out.”  Rachel looked at Sakhmetet, and Sakhmetet raised no further objection to the idea that one of the gods might be behind it all.  As they thought about it, that even seemed likely.

“And the big fellow?” Hotep asked.

One chair, the eighth, remained empty at the table where Rachel, Hotep, Surti, Meme, David, Joseph, and Sakhmetet sat, staring at Lockhart.  The travelers mostly sat where they could around the room and on the floor, but they also looked in Lockhart’s direction as Rachel spoke.  “Lockhart needs a seat at the table.  He was a police officer and knows all about the law, hard clues, permissible evidence, and real detective work.”  Rachel patted the empty chair beside her, and Lockhart got up to sit.

“So, what have we got?” he asked.  “You have suspects?”

Rachel nodded, and heard no objection to sharing the list.

“You need to determine if they have means, which is to say, are they capable of doing the crime.  Motive, that is, do they have something to gain by doing the crime.  And Opportunity, which is, were they alone and in the neighborhood when the crime occurred, or do they have some alibi that suggests they could not have committed the crime.”  Lockhart turned and smiled at Katie.  “Police work, 101.  Means, motive and opportunity.”

“That is very good,” Surti said, and at least Hotep nodded.  “I will have to remember that.”

“So, here is what we got,” Rachel said.  “And my people can object if I explain it wrong, or put in information if I forget anything.”

“You mean us?” David asked.

“No, the wallboard,” Meme shot at him, and stared as they both turned toward Joseph.  Joseph had his mouth stuffed with bread at the moment, so he could only smile and wave at them.

“This is getting exciting,” Hotep said, and he slipped his hand over Rachel’s hand, and she did not object to that, but the travelers all snickered a little.  They knew the Kairos usually came surrounded by monsters, and they often arrived in the middle of a fight.  Normally there was not time to sit down to a pleasant meal and think about it.

“Top of the list is Sokar, the weasel.  He is a foreigner, a Hyksos, but he styles himself as an Egyptian.  He has the position of assigning the daily tasks to the Semite groups, and if you cross him, you will get the manure work.”

“I assume, in this day and age, that would be literal manure work,” Decker said.

Rachel answered with a nod.  “Sokar has a fine house in the city, and some servants.  He knows all the right people, and even has the ear of the governor.”

“Means, motive, opportunity,” Lockhart said.  “What makes him a suspect?”

“He wants to kill off the Jews,” she looked at David.  “The children of Abraham,” she explained, and added, “My friends know what I mean by Jews.”

David interjected.  “We have been reduced to making bricks and working in the clay pits and mines.  It is the most grueling and short lived of lives, usually reserved for criminals.”

“Is that a sufficient motive?” Lockhart asked.

“Yes, for the masters.  They, and the demons, would love nothing better than to eliminate the Jews at this point in history—before they ever get to the promised land.”

“It is true,” Hotep said.  “We overheard Sokar talking to my father, the governor, and accusing Rachel’s people of cursing the Egyptians and causing the madness.”

Lockhart nodded, and Rachel continued.  “The rest are further down the list.  Amonre is the chief of the night watch.  He is an ass, but that doesn’t mean he is guilty of anything.  The main evidence is circumstantial.  Thus far, he has managed to be in the right place at the right time, seven times now, to stop the madmen before they could do much damage.”

“He is either doing his job very well or he is very lucky,” Surti suggested.

“Or he is in on it and has inside information,” Lockhart said.  “One to watch.”

Rachel nodded again.  “Then there is old Haman.  He is a kindly old man, and I should have no reason to suspect him but for his clichés.”

David interrupted.  “You mean the royal gardener?  Our old man Haman?”

Rachel nodded again, and Hotep smiled at her, and watched her long brown hair bob up and down.  In fact, most of that time, he could hardly take his eyes off her.  Rachel ignored Hotep and spoke.

“It is the most circumstantial, but he speaks in clichés such as you know, and always gets them in the right context and everything.  Things like, there is safety in numbers, and, better safe than sorry.  This morning he said, when the demon-man showed up he was frightened out of his wits.  When I asked if they might catch the person responsible, he said, time will tell, and it is only a matter of time.”

“Purely circumstantial,” Lockhart agreed.  “But again, oddly coincidental.”

“Don’t forget Miriam the Healer,” David said, and Meme nodded strongly.

“The Healer?”  Alexis asked.

“A first-class witch,” Rachel said.  “An Ammonite, I believe.”

“Who?” Hotep asked Rachel, having missed earlier discussions of her.

“You remember,” Rachel said, as they unconsciously took a better hold of each other’s hands, and she explained for Hotep and the travelers.  “You got sick when you were about ten.  He had the measles, a good Anazi disease, thank you very much.  Your father called in the woman when the Egyptian physicians proved powerless.  She healed you.”

“I remember you stayed with me the whole time.”

“I did.  Someone had to defend you from the quacks.”

Hotep smiled for the group.  “She calls Egyptian physicians quacks, but won’t explain.”

“They wanted to bleed him with leeches,” Rachel and Hotep were both smiling broadly, holding hands, looking into each other’s eyes.

“So, Sotek, Amonre, Haman, and Miriam, the ammonite witch, who sounds like the only one who might have the means to do the work of infesting people with demons,” Katie spoke up from the floor.

“Powerful, like the Witch of Endor,” Rachel said, and turned her eyes back to the conversation.  “But Miriam has only done good, as far as I know.”

“The fifth suspect could be someone completely unknown to you that you have not even thought of,” Lockhart added.  The people all agreed that that was a possibility.