Part 8 (2/2)

Behind them Omar had appeared. At his heels was Ibrahim, carrying a covered basket.

'Please to come away, peoples.' Omar stood back and ushered Anna out of the cabin, leaving Ibrahim standing alone in the centre of the floor. As they cl.u.s.tered round the doorway he turned to them, frowning, and put his finger to his lips. They froze, watching.

He stood quite still for several seconds, his head slightly to one side. Turning round he waited again, listening intently. They could see the slight flaring of his nostrils as he sniffed the air. Moving across to the window he ran his hand for a second across it. It was closed. Then he turned and surveyed the room. He was looking increasingly puzzled.

At last he shook his head. 'There is no snake here. Pas de serpents.'

'Are you sure?' Omar was still in the doorway.

'Ibrahim is sure. But there is something strange here.' He frowned. He was staring down at the drawer. 'If it was there it was very small. The cobra, he grows to two metres. More.' He squatted down and reached out his hand, then as though suddenly realising what the drawer contained he drew back distastefully. He stood 117.

up, turned round and looked straight at Anna who was still there in the doorway with Ben and Andy. He stared at her for a moment, then he shook his head. 'Mademoiselle has something - something the king snake guards -' His voice dropped away, puzzled. 'The snake is afraid you will give it away, to a man.' Anna's hands tightened around the little scent bottle. 'I don't understand.' Little waves of panic rippled across her skin. Ibrahim nodded slowly. 'He has gone now. There is no danger from him, but there is a shadow in the air.' His long thin fingers wove a pattern for a moment in front of them, and then curled into a fist. 'He is angry and that is not good.'

'We cannot have a snake on the boat, Ibrahim,' Omar put in. He frowned repressively. 'We shall have to call in someone when we get to Aswan if you cannot find it.' He added a quick quiet corollary in Arabic.

Ibrahim's face darkened imperceptibly. 'Do you not trust my words?'

'Of course I trust you,' Omar bowed. 'It is the travel company. Their representative comes aboard at Aswan to see all is well...' He shrugged expansively.

'And all will be well, Inshallah!' Ibrahhn nodded. 'Now go. All go to your cabins. The king snake is not on the boat any longer.'

Andy glanced at Anna and then at Omar. 'Can you be sure of that?'

'Have I not said?' Ibrahim frowned. He was a tall man and he had, if anything, gained in stature as he was speaking to them. When he had arrived, he was no longer wearing the white galabiyya of a waiter; his garment was deep blue, embroidered around the edge with a rich design. Next to Omar who habitually wore black trousers and a western s.h.i.+rt he looked exotic and mysterious and, Anna realised, in a strange way, very powerful.Climbing the stairs towards her own cabin, having declined the offer of an escort from both Ben and Andy, Anna turned on reaching the reception area outside the lounge, to push her way through the swing doors. She could see Serena and Charley sitting on the sofa in the corner, the two figures huddled close to each other in the near darkness, the dim light of a single lamp casting a soft glow over them. Someone had brought them cups of tea.

118.

'It's all right,' Anna said as she headed towards them. 'The cabin is safe. It's gone.

Charley looked up. Her cheeks were pale, streaked with mascara. 'Did they kill it?'

Anna shook her head. 'No, it disappeared. Ibrahim knows about snakes. He is certain it's gone. There's nothing to be afraid of.'

She sat down opposite them, glancing at Serena, then back at Charley. 'So, how did my scent bottle get into your drawer, Charley?'

She saw the shock register in Serena's eyes.

Charley looked down at her hands. 'It was a joke. I wasn't going to keep it.'

'No?' For a moment Anna stared at her, frowning. She reached into her pocket and drew the bottle out, laying it on the table in front of them. 'Did you realise it was valuable?'

'It's not.' Charley looked up defiantly. 'Andy says it's a bit of tat from a bazaar.' 'And so you thought it didn't matter if you took it?'

'I told you. I would have given it back.'

'And how exactly did you get into my cabin?'

'The door was wide open. Anyone could have walked in.' Charley rubbed her face with her hands. 'It was lying there on your bed, all dirty and messy and covered in earth or something, and I thought why not?'

'On my bed?' Anna frowned.

'Yes. I didn't rummage through your stuff if that's what you think. It was just lying there.'

Anna shook her head, trying to make sense of Charley's words. The bottle had been wrapped in polythene, in her make-up bag. It had been hidden. 'But you must have gone to my cabin for a reason.

'I did. To talk to you. To tell you to b.u.t.t out of my life and leave Andy alone.' Charley groped in her pocket for a tissue. Tears were streaming down her face again. 'Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken it. Of course I shouldn't. But there is no harm done. It's not damaged.' She stood up. 'I'm going to bed. Are you coming, Serena?'

'In a minute.' Serena hadn't moved.

'But I don't want to go alone. How do I know he searched properly?'

119.

'He did. He was sure,' Anna said slowly. She was facing Serena across the low table. Half turning she looked up at Charley. 'It's all right. It's quite safe now.' She gave her a tight smile. 'Just tell me one thing. What did it look like? Exactly.' 'What? The snake?'

Anna nodded. She found that she was clenching her fists.

'What do all snakes look like? It was long. Brownish. Scaly.'

'Was it a cobra?'

'I suppose so. It reared up and opened its hood thing and its tongue went in and out.' Charley shuddered violently.

'Well, whatever it was it has definitely gone. There is no need to worry.

They watched as after another second's hesitation Charley made her way across the lounge and out of the swing doors. Then Anna turned to Serena.

'Ibrahim is some kind of snake charmer. He called it the king snake, even without seeing it and he said it was guarding something which was mine, which it is afraid I will give to a man.

They both stared at the little bottle, lying next to the ashtray on the table.

'What if it comes back?' Anna bit her lip; in spite of herself she gave a small s.h.i.+ver.

Serena looked thoughtful. 'What else did Ibrahim say?'

'He said there was no danger but that there was a shadow in the air. He said the snake was angry.

Serena leant back against the cus.h.i.+ons. She closed her eyes and shook her head. 'I'm out of my depth.'

Anna s.h.i.+vered. 'I'll put the bottle in the safe tomorrow, but I don't know if I dare take it back to my cabin, Serena. What if it follows me?' She gave a small mirthless chuckle. 'It makes our existentialist discussion on the subject of prayer seem a bit irrelevant, doesn't it? As you said, we're dealing with experts here.' 'Don't stop praying.' Serena spoke sharply. She raised a hand. 'I'm trying to think about the cobra. It was a very powerful symbol in Ancient Egypt. The uraeus, the symbol of kings.h.i.+p and the serpent G.o.ddess Wadjet who became one with Isis - they are shown as cobras.'

Anna s.h.i.+vered again. 'But a G.o.ddess would be a queen. Ibrahim called this the king snake. But there aren't any king cobras in Egypt, are there?'

120.

Serena raised an eyebrow. 'I don't suppose he was referring to its species. Islam is a patriarchal religion so he a.s.sumed it was a male, but I think the snake's s.e.x is academic if it's got you in its sights!'

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