THE FACE OF SET
Amenophis and I conferred for some time after that, planning our next move. It was clear that we would have to shift our path to Dendera away from the river. The chance of encountering another one of Thutmose’s patrols was too great. We didn’t know how many men he’d taken from Thebes, but knowing him, he hadn’t skimped. He’d use them as his beaters—servants who moved together noisily through the vegetation, driving the frightened creatures straight to the waiting hunter.
“Thutmose has thrown a wide net, but we’ll find a way to slip through it,” I said. “He doesn’t know that we lost our boat and our supplies, so he’s probably keeping his eyes on the river. If we turn toward the mountains—”
“Do you mean the sacred valley of the tombs?” Amenophis shook his head. “Not unless we can eat and drink thin air.”
“We won’t go into the valley,” I said. “We’ll just go west for a bit. And we won’t do it unless we find a working canal. I followed one before. We’ll have plenty to drink.” And maybe we’ll have something to eat, too, I thought. Maybe we’ll be luckier than I was at finding people working the land nearby.
“A canal!” Amenophis clapped his hands. “Of course, it’s the perfect answer! We can drink our fill and catch fish much more easily than in the river. Our little osprey will be delighted.” He smiled at Nava, who was taking a nap in a nest of bulrushes while we planned.
“Fish?” Why hadn’t I thought of that when I was on my own?
“The irrigation ditches are full of them. You’re brilliant, Nefertiti.”
Brilliant? I said nothing, and if he mistook my embarrassment for modesty, I wasn’t going to correct him. I could have followed that irrigation ditch to the wilderness of the Red Land, starving at every step when there was plenty to eat only a stone’s throw away!
I held fast to my shamed silence even after Nava woke up and we all waded into the river up to our knees, washing ourselves as clean as possible before resuming our journey. It was just as well—this was no time for idle conversation. Amenophis took charge, cautioning us to keep our voices low if we felt we had to speak, to follow a path that gave us the greatest concealment possible, and to keep our eyes and ears open for the first hint of Thutmose’s men seeking us by land or water. I listened to him, amazed at the changes that had come over him. Was this the shy, stammering boy I’d first met in the royal palace at Thebes? There’d been nothing princely about him then, yet now he sounded masterful. My heart beat faster, but our situation gave me no time to reflect on what I was feeling.
“Stealth will save us,” Amenophis said. “It won’t be easy, moving through the shoreline plants, but once we find a canal feeding from the river, we’ll go quickly alongside it and get to more open land. My brother can’t send an entire army after us, you know.” He spoke earnestly, trying to encourage us. “Father might have given him the right to rule Thebes in his absence, but the palace is full of watchful eyes. Thutmose knows that everything he does is being observed by nobles and other important men. Even with the priests of Amun on his side, he can’t charge ahead with mad commands. He must walk wisely, or he could find himself so far out of Father’s favor that not even Mother would be able to repair the situation.”
“I wonder how many men he does have seeking us,” I said.
“Several small patrols on each side of the river, I’ll bet.” Amenophis rubbed his chin. “Maybe half a dozen boats riding the water. Again, he doesn’t know that we’ve lost our boat, so he has to cover all the possibilities.”
“He’s probably sent men ahead to Dendera, too,” I suggested. “They’ll be on the lookout for our arrival.”
Amenophis nodded in agreement. “Trying to catch us before we can let my parents know we’ve come.” He frowned. “How will we get around them?”
“Let’s worry about that when we’re close enough to see the city’s gateway,” I said. “One step at a time, right?”
So we set out on our interrupted journey with no boat, no food, and nothing suitable for carrying water. The only tools we had were Amenophis’s knife and a tiny bow drill for kindling fire. How I thanked Thoth, god of wisdom, for my friend’s foresight in remembering to bring such a thing and for choosing one small enough to be carried in a pouch at his waist. Thanks to his prudence, that mad hippo hadn’t left us completely helpless.
We decided that we’d travel in the hours when the light was fading or not yet fully born. Amenophis wanted to carry Nava on his back, but she protested being treated like a baby. Sometimes the little Habiru girl acted so grown-up, sometimes so young! What a shame that we’d never know how old she truly was. On the day she was born, her former master must have been pleased to possess a new piece of property, but the only people who’d care when she had come into the world were her family. As far as we knew, all of them were gone. Now Nava trudged along between Amenophis and me, doggedly keeping up with the prince’s long strides. I never heard one word of complaint from her.