The Oasis Read Online Free PDF

resolved before his mind’s eye, pallid and implacable, and he lifted his wine to his mouth and drank quickly.
    They cast off at dawn, leaving a drowsy Qebt to sink below the horizon even as Ra rose above it. The soldiers lining the riverbank were shaking and folding their blankets while the army servants moved among them with the morning’s rations. Intef, though given a choice by Kamose, had elected to stay with his peasants so that in the midst of the upheaval they might be reassured. He kept with him most of his officers. “I will catch up with you beyond Quena,” he promised, “and by then my men will no longer need to see me. Would that we had chariots, Majesty!” Chariots, horses, more axes and swords and more boats, Kamose thought. He took his leave of the Prince amicably enough and settled back for the day of enforced but uneasy idleness on the water.
    Two nights and half a day later the Nile bent west before straightening towards Aabtu and here the boats came to a halt, nudging the east bank. Kift and Quena were behind them, and Kamose surveyed the pocket of sandy isolation before him with satisfaction. Here there was an hiatus in the pattern of green fields, palm-lined canals and small villages that habitually rested the eye of the traveller and the desert rushed to fill it, tumbling in dun waves right to the water’s edge. No shade gentled the vista of hot sand and burning sky. No shadow of wandering ox or human moved over it. It would be perfect for a day or two of military drilling. Kamose turned to Hor-Aha, standing silently beside him. “I will leave for Aabtu at once,” he said. “I’ll take the Followers with me. I should arrive there tomorrow evening. When the land troops arrive, let them rest briefly and then put them to work. Keep them away from the Medjay, Hor-Aha. The last thing we want is the mindless brawling their ignorance might incite.”
    “You fret needlessly, Majesty,” the General commented. “A few days of battle will serve to show them all, Egyptian and Medjay alike, that they complement one another. I think I will send the Medjay out onto the desert with their officers. They need to feel firm ground beneath their feet for a while. Will you take Prince Ahmose with you?” Kamose hesitated, then nodded, remembering his brother’s surprising interjection that had swayed Intef at Qebt, and it came to him that he did not know Ahmose well at all. The young man with the sunny disposition, in love with hunting and swimming and the simple delights of family life, was maturing mysteriously. Turning from the arid view, Kamose began to give his orders.
    Aabtu lay on the west bank, and as his craft tacked towards the wide watersteps of the town, Kamose was at first alarmed to see crowds of men milling about in the dusty red air of sunset. His thoughts flew north. Apepa had learned of his intent. These were Setiu soldiers and he and Ahmose would be slaughtered at once. But Ahmose said, “This is a fine sight, Kamose. It looks as though Ankhmahor has assembled an even greater force on our behalf than Intef,” and Kamose came to himself with a shaky laugh.
    “Thank the gods,” he managed. “I was afraid …” Ahmose signalled and the ramp was run out.
    “Not yet,” he said quietly as together they walked onto the bank with the Followers moving to surround them. “We have a little time yet.” A pool of silence began to spread out around them as the throng recognized the symbols lying on Kamose’s chest. Many went to their knees and many more bowed respectfully. “Aabtu is not quite as provincial as Kift and Qebt,” Ahmose went on. “After all, the head of Osiris is buried here and many pilgrims come to the temple and to see the holy dramas enacted every year. Khentiamentiu is worshipped here also. It is a sacred place.” They had left the river behind and were striding beside the canal leading to Osiris’s temple and Ankhmahor’s dwelling beside it. Beyond the protecting circle