Agatha Christie - Death Comes as the End

II

The letter came like a spear thrust to a fish.

Dumbfounded, silent, Yahmose, Sobek and Ipy stared at Hori as he read out the words from the papyrus scroll.

"Did I not tell Yahmose that I would hold him to blame if any harm came to my concubine? As you all live, I am against you and you are against me! I will no longer live with you in one house since you have not respected my concubine Nofret! You are no longer my son of my flesh. Neither are Sobek and Ipy my sons of my flesh. Each one of you has done harm to my concubine. That is attested by Kameni and Henet. I will turn you out of my house - each of you! I have supported you - now I will no longer support you."

Hori paused and went on:

"The ka-servant Imhotep addresses Hori. To you who have been faithful, how are you in your life, safety and health? Salute my mother Esa for me and my daughter Renisenb, and greet Henet. Look after my affairs carefully until I reach you and see that there be prepared for me a deed whereby my concubine Nofret shall share with me in all my property as my wife. Neither Yahmose nor Sobek shall be associated with me, nor will I support them, and hereby I denounce them that they have done harm to my concubine! Keep all safe till I come. How evil it is when a man's household do evil deeds to his concubine. As for Ipy, let him take warning, and if he does a single hurt to my concubine, he too shall depart from my house."

There was a paralyzed silence, then Sobek rose up in a violent rage.

"How has this come about? What has my father heard? Who has been bearing false tales to him? Shall we endure this? My father cannot disinherit us so and give all his goods to his concubine!"

Hori said mildly:

"It will cause unfavorable comment - and it will not be accepted as a right action - but legally it is in his power. He can make a deed of settlement in any way he wishes."

"She has bewitched him - that black, jeering serpent has put a spell upon him!"

Yahmose murmured as though dumbfounded:

"It is unbelievable - it cannot be true."

"My father is mad - mad!" cried Ipy. "He turns even against me at this woman's bidding!"

Hori said gravely:

"Imhotep will return shortly - that he says. By then his anger may have abated; he may not really mean to do as he says." There was a short, unpleasant laugh. It was Satipy who had laughed. She stood looking at them from the doorway into the women's quarters.

"So that is what we are to do, is it, most excellent Hori? Wait and see!"

Yahmose said slowly:

"What else can we do?"

"What else?" Satipy's voice rose. She screamed out: "What have you got in your veins, all of you? Milk? Yahmose, I know, is not a man! But you, Sobek - have you no remedy for these ills? A knife in the heart and the girl could do us no more harm."

"Satipy," cried Yahmose. "My father would never forgive us!"

"So you say. But I tell you a dead concubine is not the same as a live concubine! Once she was dead, his heart would return to his sons and their children. And besides, how should he know how she died? We could say a scorpion stung her! We are all together in this, are we not?"

Yahmose said slowly:

"My father would know. Henet would tell him."

Satipy gave a hysterical laugh.

"Most prudent Yahmose! Most gentle, cautious Yahmose! It is you who should look after the children and do woman's work in the back of the house. Sakhmet help me! Married to a man who is not a man. And you, Sobek, for all your bluster, what courage have you, what determination? I swear by Re, I am a better man than either of you."

She swung round and went out.

Kait, who had been standing behind her, came a step forward.

She said, her voice deep and shaken:

"It is true what Satipy says! She is a better man than any of you. Yahmose, Sobek, Ipy - will you all sit here doing nothing? What of our children, Sobek? Cast out to starve! Very well, if you will do nothing. I will. You are none of you men!"

As she in turn went out, Sobek sprang to his feet.

"By the Nine Gods of the Ennead. Kait is right! There is a man's work to be done - and we sit here talking and shaking our heads."

He strode towards the door. Hori called after him:

"Sobek, Sobek, where are you going? What are you going to do?"

Sobek, handsome and fierce, shouted from the doorway:

"I shall do something - that is clear. And what I do I shall enjoy doing!"

SECOND MONTH OF WINTER, 10TH DAY

Renisenb came out onto the porch and stood there for a moment, shielding her eyes against the sudden glare.

She felt sick and shaken and full of a nameless fear. She said to herself, repeating the words over and over again mechanically:

"I must warn Nofret... I must warn her..."

Behind her, in the house, she could hear men's voices: those of Hori and Yahmose blending into each other, and above them, shrill and clear, the boyish tones of Ipy.

"Satipy and Kait are right. There are no men in this family! But I am a man. Yes, I am a man in heart if not in years. Nofret has jeered at me, laughed at me, treated me as a child. I will show her that I am not a child. I am not afraid of my father's anger. I know my father. He is bewitched - the woman has put a spell on him. If she were destroyed his heart would come back to me - to me! I am the son he loves best. You all treat me as a child - but you shall see. Yes, you shall see!"

Rushing out of the house he collided with Renisenb and almost knocked her down. She clutched at his sleeve.

"Ipy, Ipy, where are you going?"

"To find Nofret. She shall see whether she can laugh at me!"

"Wait a little. You must calm down. We must none of us do anything rash."

"Rash?" The boy laughed scornfully. "You are like Yahmose. Prudence! Caution! Nothing must be done in a hurry! Yahmose is an old woman. And Sobek is all words and boasting. Let go of me, Renisenb."

He twitched the linen of his sleeve from her grasp.

"Nofret, where is Nofret?"

Henet, who had just come bustling out from the house, murmured:

"Oh, dear, this is a bad business - a very bad business. What will become of us all? What would my dear mistress say?"

"Where is Nofret, Henet?"

Renisenb cried: "Don't tell him," but Henet was already answering:

"She went out the back way. Down towards the flax fields."

Ipy rushed back through the house and Renisenb said reproachfully:

"You should not have told him, Henet."

"You don't trust old Henet. You never have confidence in me." The whine in her voice became more pronounced.

"But poor old Henet knows what she is doing. The boy needs time to cool off. He won't find Nofret by the flax fields." She grinned. "Nofret is here - in the pavilion - with Kameni."

She nodded her head across the courtyard. And she added with what seemed rather disproportionate stress:

"With Kameni..."

But Renisenb had already started to cross the courtyard.

Teti, dragging her wooden lion, came running from the lake to her mother and Renisenb caught her up in her arms.

She knew, as she held the child to her, the force that was driving Satipy and Kait. These women were fighting for their children.

Teti gave a little fretful cry.

"Not so tight, Mother, not so tight. You are hurting me."

Renisenb put the child down. She went slowly across the courtyard. On the far side of the pavilion Nofret and Kameni were standing together. They turned as Renisenb approached.

Renisenb spoke quickly and breathlessly:

"Nofret, I have come to warn you. You must be careful. You must guard yourself."

A look of contemptuous amusement passed over Nofret's face.

"So the dogs are howling?"

"They are very angry - they will do some harm to you."