Chapter Four: A Hard Bargain
Early the next morning, Kiya stood on the quayside. She peered from under the hood of her travelling cloak wondering if the temple guards might already be searching for her. Although it was barely an hour after sunrise, fishermen were already bringing ashore their catches. Baskets of fish were hauled to the fishmongers, who stood at their stalls at the far side of the quay, gutting the fish and throwing the innards into buckets. The sight disgusted Kiya, who preferred her fish dried and smoked, not wet and slippery. She concentrated her attention on her father.
Teos was talking to a merchant, who was supervising the loading of a barge. He was a fat man with spindly legs and an unwelcoming demeanour. Kiya watched as he tried to ignore her father and continued to shout instructions to his men.
“Lay the sacks carefully, don’t just throw them down. A split sack will be taken out of your wages!”
“Please, Pepi, we have known each other for many years. All I ask is that you take my daughter, Kiya, down to the delta and make sure she gets to her aunt safely.”
Pepi at last turned to face Teos, but Kiya’s heart sank as he shook his head. “This is not a passenger boat, Teos. There is only enough food and drink for the crew.”
“That’s not a problem. My daughter has brought her own provisions.” Teos gestured to Kiya, who held up her jug of watery beer and bag of food.
“She will be uncomfortable. She might distract the crew. We go no further than Qato, after that she would be on her own.”
Kiya’s heart sank as she listened to Pepi’s excuses. She was on the verge of tears after a sleepless night, comforting her mother, planning an escape and preparing for the voyage. She had begged her parents to let her stay, but it was deemed too dangerous – indeed, they would all be at risk if caught harbouring a fugitive. Now it seemed that even her escape would be thwarted.
“Surely you can arrange for her to be taken to Ankhis, Pepi? It’s only a few miles away and you employ ox-cart drivers to deliver your goods.” Teos was pleading, now. He held up a small pouch of money rings. “I am willing to pay, of course.”
Pepi took the pouch and peered inside. “Hmm, this should cover it. I can assure you that ox carts are not cheap.”
He smiled and Kiya wondered how much money her father had offered him. Teos was not a wealthy man and Kiya felt a pang of guilt that she had brought trouble and expense upon the family.
The merchant returned to the loading and Teos came back to Kiya.
“He drives a hard bargain, does that one,” he said.
She hugged him, grateful for the sacrifice he had made. “I am going to miss you.”
“We’re going to miss you, too.” He kissed the top of her head. “Give our love to Laylos.”
Kiya was close to tears. “Please come with me, Papa. What if the guards arrest you?”
He shook his head. “I cannot leave your mother. It’s my sacred duty to look after her.”
“Let me stay.” She clung to him. “I’m sure I will be safe. The High Priestess will think I am dead.”
Teos patted her on the shoulder. “We have been through all the arguments. Come now, Kiya, you are usually such a brave girl.”
The barge was loaded and Pepi beckoned to Kiya. “It’s time to get on board, girl.” He picked up her bag and carried it to the front of the barge. “You can sit on these sacks, here.”
Kiya released her father. “I love you,” she said.
“I love you too.”
With a feeling of dread, Kiya followed Pepi onto the barge. This was the first time she had ever left Thebes, ever been apart from her family. It was like standing on the edge of a cliff and staring into an abyss.
With much shouting and activity, the mooring ropes were untied and the ship pushed away from the quay. Kiya wanted to wave to her father, but he was already hurrying homewards. She stood and watched his departing figure, until the buildings hid him from view.
The sails were unfurled and billowed in the wind, as fat and white as the breasts of geese. The boat picked up speed and they soon left behind the houses, shops, quays and temples of Thebes.
Flocks of fishing boats were left tossing in their wake as they passed riverside settlements, where reed beds gave way to sandy slopes. Kiya watched people bathe in the water or wash clothes or use shadufs to lift water from the Nile. Children waved at the passing boat and some ran along the bank in a vain attempt to keep pace. Kiya was amused by their antics and waved back at them.
The ship moved towards the centre of the river and the people on shore diminished to the size of ants in a patchwork landscape of green and gold. Kiya gazed beyond the fields to the high escarpments that formed a background to life beside the Nile. What lay outside the valley? Nothing but empty desert, where once there had been grass.
Kiya sat at the front of the boat and let her tired mind drift to Anubis. His story of how the gods had been created, challenged everything she had believed in. She remembered the terrible day, when her mother told her that Teos was not her real father. She had felt the same way then, as if the bottom had fallen out of her world.
Kiya lay back on the sacks and closed her eyes. Unwelcome tears squeezed through her lashes and trickled down her cheeks – then she slept.
By the end of the first day the landscape around Kiya had changed. The valley was broader and she could hardly see the distant cliffs. As the sun sank, she watched an ibis fly across the golden sky and, despite her troubles, was grateful to be alive in such a beautiful world.
The sound of coarse laughter came from the stern of the boat, where the crew were eating and drinking and playing Senet. There were four of them, including Pepi. So far they had ignored her, but one called out, “Do you want some beer, girl?”
“No, thank you,” she said.
“Leave her alone, Intef, she is under my protection,” said Pepi.
“I just asked if she wanted beer,” said Intef.
“And I told you before - that girl is off limits.”
It grew colder as night fell. Kiya pulled a blanket from her bag and huddled beneath it. The rocking of the barge upon the water was like a cradle and, despite the raucous songs emanating from the crew, she slept.