Song of Isis by Diana Kirk

Author:Diana Kirk [Kirk, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hard Shell Word Factory
Published: 2012-07-07T06:15:36+00:00

ALTHOUGH MUCH smaller than Thebes, Abydos was just as pristine and prosperous. White-washed houses, squared up in equal rows, sparkled in the unrelenting sunlight. Some had brightly painted hieroglyphs on the outside walls, others were covered with the vivid blues, greens, and reds of Egypt. The homes were surprisingly well built with several thicknesses of mud-dried brick to keep out the heat. A thin layer of mud plaster covered the outside roofs and floors. Even without the modern conveniences of air conditioning, inside they were surprisingly cool and comfortable even on the hottest days.

The Abydos of her century was drab and dusty. Alex wished she had her camera with her. Even if she did make it back, no one would ever believe her. She wouldn't be able to tell anyone. Her trip into the past would be one secret she'd have to keep to herself.

Alex glanced around and folded her arms across her chest. If only there was something she could bring back. Something...a remnant of a hidden time. Something that had been thought to exist, but had not yet been found. Something that opened the door between the two worlds. She searched her memory for something, anything that might work. The scroll, perhaps...

A woman's agonizing screams sliced through her thoughts. "Come, Alex." Tarik reached out and pulled her forward. Her skin burned where his hand had been. How long could they go on like this? Never touching? Always wanting? Never loving?

They entered through the doorway into the coolness of the limestone room. A thin, white-haired woman writhed atop the bed, tangling her legs in the linen sheets. Alex leaned down and placed her palm against the woman's fiery cheek. Her rheumy eyes telegraphed her condition.

"My leg, Master, it pains me." She glanced at Tarik and back to Alex.

Tarik approached the bed and pulled the covers away from her.

"Alex," he said, glancing back. "Hold her shoulders against the bed while I examine her leg. I am looking for blisters."

"Blisters? What for? Her husband didn't say anything about her being burned."

Tarik started at the woman's hip and methodically worked his way down her leg, touching, observing, probing. Just like a colleague engaged in differential diagnosis. Though modern physicians weren't usually dressed in loincloths and muscles. A spark of admiration ignited something deep inside. Actually, things weren't very different at all from her world.

"Ah, here it is." He picked up the woman's ankle and rotated it slightly. She wailed in protest, but he only smiled.

"Snake-bite?" Alex noted the large red sore.

"No, it is afofaat. And it has matured enough to be removed." He reached into his sack and withdrew a long stick and handed it to her. Quickly, he took his long knife and sliced into the blister. Holding the stick in one hand, with the other he reached into the wound and tugged, slowly withdrawing the head of a worm.

"Why it's a guinea worm," Alex said, surprised by the dexterity of his fingers as he rotated the stick gently pulling the worm from its host.

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