A Trail Through Time (The Chronicles of St Mary's) by Jodi Taylor Read Free Book Online Page B

blindingly innocent face.
    ‘I’m sorry?’
    ‘You just picked Ancient Egypt at random?’
    ‘Astonishingly, yes. It just … popped into my head.’
    ‘I see. Any time specific in this peaceful, sunny, stable, eighteenth dynasty?’
    ‘Strange you should ask. I was thinking – I mean, it did cross my mind – and the coordinates were easy because we know he performed the ceremony during the third year of his reign, and it would have to take place during Akhet …’
    ‘During what?’
    ‘Akhet – the season of inundation – when the Nile floods – because no one’s working in the fields then. Any other time would …’
    ‘No. Stop.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Obviously you can remove the girl from St Mary’s, but it’s less easy to remove St Mary’s from the girl.’
    ‘What are you talking about?’
    ‘Coincidentally, that was my question, too.’
    ‘Akhenaten.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Not what – who. Akhenaten. The Heretic Pharaoh.’
    ‘Yes. Drawing on past experience, my finely honed instinct tells me something hugely catastrophic will happen to Akhenaten, and we, of course, we will be closely involved.’
    ‘No, no. Don’t panic. Well yes, it will. But in the future. We won’t be around for that. Unless you want to be, of course.’
    ‘Hardening my heart to the wistful note in your voice, I invite you to continue.’
    ‘Well, Akhenaten comes to power. He succeeds a powerful and popular father – not sure how much that’s got to do with his rebellion – and immediately starts chucking sacred cats amongst the pigeons.’
    ‘Why?’
    I hesitated.
    ‘I don’t think there’s any clear reason why. The fact is – he’s different. In every way. Deliberately so. It’s almost as if he said, ‘How can I overthrow the thinking of thousands of years, upset my people, antagonise the priesthood, and offend all the gods? Oh, I know! Let’s abolish all the gods and have just one. Oh, and let’s have a new city devoted to that one god and make people abandon the ancient city of their ancestors and live there. They won’t mind. And what else? Oh, yes! Let’s have a new style of realism in our art. Warts and all. Well, don’t just stand there, everyone – jump to it. Nations don’t just weaken themselves, you know.’
    I realised, too late, I was waving my arms around.
    Leon was regarding me with a small smile.
    ‘What are you laughing at?’
    ‘Memories.’
    I let that go.
    ‘Well, I’ve no doubt he came to a bad end. Is that what you want to see?’
    ‘Oh, no. No. I’m hoping we’ll see him before all of this kicks off. We know that in the third year of his reign, he celebrates the Heb Sed Festival. It’s usually held in the thirtieth year of a Pharaoh’s reign, but being Akhenaten, he had to be different.’
    ‘So – a festival.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘A happy time.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘No one attacks? No plagues? No earthquakes? The river will not run red with blood?’
    ‘Probably not.’
    ‘Don’t sound so disappointed.’
    My conscience smote me with something the same size and density as a politician’s expenses claim. Was I being selfish? If the Time Police caught us, it would be the end of everything. He’d lose his pod. Maybe his life. All that risk just to see the heretic Pharaoh and his beautiful wife.
    I turned to him and he smiled down at me. ‘I’m already looking forward to it.’
    We landed in a small palm grove on the banks of the Nile. There was no point in checking the proximities – the place was full of people, all picking their way around irrigation ditches or splashing through small, soggy fields, all heading for the festival and a sight of their Pharaoh.
    We’d ripped up the sleeping module, taken lengths of material, folded them in half, cut a hole for our heads, and belted them firmly with another torn strip. Once again, we were wearing our bedding. We looked nearly authentic until Leon donned his trainers and I found an old pair of non-Egyptian flip-flops. Still, we