Ramose and the Tomb Robbers Read Online Free PDF Page B

pleased to be getting back on board. The boatman was sitting on the wharf waiting for them. He looked up and grinned as they approached.
    “It’s going to cost you another twenty deben of copper to go all the way to Memphis,” he said while picking at a scab on his hand.
    Ramose looked at him in disbelief. “What are you talking about? We already paid you for the whole trip.”
    “The winds have been stronger than expected,” said the boatman. “It’s taking longer than I thought.”
    “What difference does that make?” shouted Hapu angrily. “We aren’t eating your food.”
    “The extra weight is slowing us down.”
    “That’s nonsense,” said Ramose. “We weigh nothing compared to your cargo.”
    He jerked his head towards the huge logs on board the boat.
    “And Mery has caught three rats since we’ve been on your dirty boat,” added Karoya.
    “An extra twenty deben or you stay here,” said the boatman.
    Ramose was furious. “Okay, we stay here.”
    The boatman called his bluff. “I’m casting off.”
    “Go then,” said Ramose stubbornly. “We’ll find another boat going to Memphis.”
    “Hardai’s not the place to spend the night outdoors,” said the man, unwinding the rope that tied up his boat.
    “Ramose,” whispered Hapu. “There might not be another boat for days.”
    Ramose was too angry to listen to reason.
    The boatman threw the rope on board. He jumped aboard himself.
    “This is your last chance,” he said.
    Ramose said nothing.
    “Row!” shouted the boatman to his oarsmen.
    The boat moved away from the quay leaving the three companions stranded in Hardai.

5
AN ANCIENT SCROLL
    “I don’t think that was a good idea,” said Hapu as he watched the boat shrink into the distance.
    The only other boats at the quay were local fishing boats made of papyrus reeds.
    “Now what are we going to do?” moaned Hapu.
    “We’ll have to spend the night here,” replied Ramose. “You were both desperate to get off that boat. Now we are off it, and you are still complaining.”
    “There’s nowhere I can make a fire,” said Karoya. “The streets are crowded and there’s no open land. We’ll have to walk into the countryside.”
    “I don’t like the idea of that,” said Ramose, looking at the unfriendly people. “We’ll have to see if someone will sell us a cooked meal and maybe let us sleep on their roof.”
    Everywhere they asked, people wanted many deben of copper to let the travellers share their meagre meal and sleep on their roof. They stood in the dirty main street of the town. They were all starting to wish they were back on board the cargo boat.
    “You don’t want to stay in this place,” said a voice at Ramose’s shoulder. It was a short man with a beard and eyes that looked in different directions. “It’s full of thieves.”
    “We don’t have much choice,” Ramose said. “There are no other boats leaving for the north.”
    “I’m aboard a naval boat, taking men up to the Delta,” the man replied. “I could talk to the captain for you. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you sailed with us. We’ve just stopped to buy some fresh meat. We’ll be leaving again in about an hour.”
    The three friends returned to the wharf. While they had been searching the town for somewhere to spend the night, the naval boat had tied up. It was a sleek craft. Ramose grinned at Hapu and Karoya as they boarded the boat. They couldn’t believe their luck.
    “This is more like it,” said Hapu as they moved off.
    The naval boat was bigger, cleaner and faster. It cut through the water at twice the speed of the cargo boat under the power of twenty soldiers at the oars. The captain stood at the stern shouting orders and operating the rudder oar.
    They travelled until it was dark and then camped on the riverbank. Their camping place was away from any town or village and it was very peaceful. The soldiers invited them to share their food.
    After they’d eaten all the lamb and