The Amulet of Amon-Ra Read Online Free PDF Page B

file of identically dressed boys of different ages away down the street. Jennifer realized that the bird-headed god must be Thoth, the patron of scribes, and that the building had to be a school.
    Jennifer frowned. “Shouldn’t I be in school, too?” she asked.
    Meryt-Re groaned. “You’re not going to start that again, are you? Mentmose had his few years, but I thought we established long ago that girls do not go to school, Dje-Nefer.” Meryt-Re threw Jennifer an exasperated look. “No matter how much they nag their mothers.”
    â€œSorry,” Jennifer mumbled.
    Meryt-Re shook her head and strode away. Jennifer hurried to catch up with her. Hundreds of people filled the street, some strolling, others walking more quickly, although no one was foolish enough to run in the relentless heat. Meryt-Re threaded herself easily through the crowd. Jennifer tried to stay as close as possible to her. Once, Meryt-Re grabbed her arm to pull her closer, and they both ended up squeezed against the side of a building as four men carrying a richly-decorated sedan chair trotted by. A man wearing a striped headcloth sat regally under the canopy, looking bored. Jennifer couldn’t help staring after him. Meryt-Re gently towed her away.
    The market, which they reached in a remarkably short time, was even more crowded than the street. People here, however, were in no hurry. They meandered from booth to booth, stopping to chat with the vendors, to inspect the goods, and to buy. Jennifer gaped at the number and variety of items for sale. It was a riot of noise and color.
    Bright awnings shaded untidy piles of ceramic pots at one booth and precise stacks of bronze plates at another. Across from them, mounds of baskets gave way to heaps of clay oil lamps. Further away, fabric pinned on a striped awning fought for space beside complete outfits, their beads sparkling in the sun, while long poles laid horizontally across tables dripped with glittering jewelry. And all around was noise, the sound of people talking, laughing, arguing, shouting, and even singing.
    The market was a maze. Instead of being lined up in neat rows, the booths were spread out in no particular order, as if it had just grown there, like some strange garden. Meryt-Re seemed to know exactly where she was going, though. They twisted and turned, going first one way, then the other, swerving around a clump of jumbled booths, only to go back in almost the same direction they had come from. Meryt-Re walked steadily onwards, ignoring the shouts of the vendors, who held items out to her. Jennifer jogged beside her, staying close.
    At last, Meryt-Re stopped at a tent held up at the four corners by long poles that slanted outwards, stretching the striped fabric taut. The awning shaded dozens of woven baskets, and a skinny man who sat cross-legged in the middle. Jennifer wrinkled her nose at the smell rising from the baskets. Flies bigger than she had ever seen in her life buzzed around, swooping in and out of the tent. Waving them away, she peered into one of the baskets. A few glassy-eyed fish stared back at her.
    â€œGood morning, Seneb,” said Meryt-Re. “What do you have today?”
    â€œFinest catfish and perch,” said Seneb, smiling at her. He was missing several teeth, Jennifer noticed. “I just caught them this morning.”
    Jennifer doubted that. Maybe it was the heat, but the fish sure smelled like they’d been out of the water longer than Seneb claimed. And frankly, he needed a bath, too. Jennifer breathed through her mouth as he lifted an arm and waved it at his stock.
    â€œYou won’t find better anywhere else,” he claimed.
    Despite the heat and the fishy reek, Meryt-Re took her time examining the fish, inspecting each part, perhaps trying to find one that was actually fresh. Finally, she chose one that didn’t look too bad, and picked it up, sliding her fingers under its gills.
    â€œWill you take one