Pyramid of Secrets (The Seven Wonders Novels) by Tracy Higley

Author:Tracy Higley [Higley, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stonewater Books
Published: 2021-03-14T22:00:00+00:00

The harbor at dawn is like a sandstorm in the desert, with man and ship like grains of sand swirling in a frantic rush to get somewhere, anywhere. Supply ships, barges, and ferries clogged the dock, and shouted orders from pilots and crewmen pierced the morning air.

Neferet stood on the quay when I arrived, part of the chaos, in her dress with the red stitching and all those jingling bells sewn to the bottom. At her feet were overflowing baskets of bananas and tomatoes.

Her smile was as big as the blue sky. “I have never been here this early!” she said without greeting as I approached. “Isn’t it magnificent?”

I grunted. It seemed to me every craft in the greenish water was in danger of foundering unless someone took control of the disorder, and the baskets and crates of rations stacked on the quay may very well tumble into the water before reaching the village.

A crewman bumped me as he passed, sending me into Neferet. I could smell her perfume, even among the ripening bananas.

She laughed and threw her hands between us. “Grand Vizier!”

I stared at the laborer’s back, but he was oblivious.

“Our accommodations will not be luxurious, I’m afraid. The fastest way to get there is the next barge departing for the quarry.” I pointed to the black and yellow ship in the water, its prow towering over us.

Neferet grabbed a tomato from the basket beside her, tossed it into the air, and caught it with one hand. “I do not care. It is a glorious morning!” She scooped up a large pouch. “Shall we go?”

She needed some assistance crossing to the barge, as her hands were full with her pouch and her tomato. I wondered briefly what she planned to do with the fruit.

I noticed several overturned empty barrels in the center of the barge, and I righted them as we passed.

Neferet stopped to watch me and laughed.

We sailed from the harbor, only narrowly missing two ferries and a supply ship, which Neferet also thought quite funny.

When we were finally on the river, I watched the coast slide by and tried to let the slow passage calm me, like sand blown smooth over crevices in bedrock.

But Neferet had brought the chaos with us.

When she finally settled enough to allow a moment of silence between observations, and had eaten her tomato, its juice dripping down her arm, she asked about the murders. “Have you learned anything?”

“Nothing.” I slapped my palm against the side of the barge where we stood. “No one knew of any danger to Merit or Mentu. They seem to have been meeting to discuss building plans and nothing more. There is nothing else to discover on the bodies or from where they were found. The masks were made by an artist now dead who did not speak of his work. I can find no other connection between Merit and Mentu.”

“What will you do now?”

I watched the water ahead. “What I must. I will sail to Tura and speak my mind to a certain overseer of the quarry.

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