Read The Gold in the Grave for Free Online

he said. “They will look the other way. And you will not be alone. Dalifa will be with you.”
    I looked at the girl who sat quietly chewing a date. She was dressed as a priestess.
    My partner in crime.

Chapter 2
The Temple Trick

    Antef smiled across at Dalifa and asked her, “How did you get on in the temple?”

    Dalifa looked sour. “I had to wear a lot of uncomfortable clothes and do some disgusting things,” she said. “I mean to say, I get my meat from a butcher in the market … when I can afford it.”

    We nodded. I usually ate bread and onions but I had tasted meat. When I was rich–after the robbery–I would eat meat every day.
    “But I’ve never had to kill my own meat!” Dalifa said.
    “The priests made you kill something before you could eat it?” I asked.
    She turned her narrow eyes on me with scorn. “You are as stupid as Kerpes,” she snarled. “Every day they sacrifice a kid goat to the god Osiris. They gave me a live goat and told me to cut its throat, collect the blood in a bowl and cook the rest.”

    “Did you do it?” I asked.
    “I did not,” she said. “I took the goat to the butcher and swapped it for a bowl of blood and some cooked goat meat. The priests never knew.”

    “Did Osiris drink the blood?” I wanted to know.
    Dalifa clenched her hands. “Osiris … is … a … stone … statue, Paneb. They make sacrifices to him and the peasants think Osiris drinks the blood, but he doesn’t.”
    “So, who eats the cooked meat?” I asked.
    Dalifa spread her hands. “The priests, of course! They have it for their evening meal.”
    “Poor Osiris must get hungry,” I said.
    “He … is … a … stone … oh, never mind!” Dalifa snapped.
    Then she realised I was teasing and gave me a look as bitter as cobra venom.

    “But the plot,” Antef reminded her. “Did you get a job in the funeral of King Tutankhamen?”
    Dalifa nodded once. “I travel with the funeral all the way. From the temple, over the river and all the way to the tomb.”
    “Ahh!” Antef breathed. “That is another piece of the plot in place.”
    “Then I hope I never have to go back to that blood-soaked temple again,” Dalifa said. “The chief priest of Osiris is a terrifying man–and this morning he reminded us all of the hideous punishments we would suffer if there is a theft at the funeral.”
    Even Antef looked worried. But not as worried as when a shadow blocked the light from the doorway and a soldier stood there.

Chapter 3
The Grim Guard

    The soldier was even larger than Kerpes. His face was scarred from battle blows and his voice was harsh as a vulture’s cry.
    “Antef–grave robber. I want a word with you and your friends.”

    “We’ve done nothing!” Antef said quickly.
    “Tutankhamen’s widow has sent me to check on all the grave robbers of Thebes. So what are you plotting?” the soldier asked.
    Antef shrugged. “The boy was just showing us how the walls of the tomb are painted,” he said.

    “So show me,” the soldier said and he knelt beside me.
    The soldier picked up my sketch. I hadn’t had time to hide it. “This looks like a plan of the King’s tomb, Antef,” he said.

    “Really!” The old man gasped. “You surprise me, soldier.”
    The man clutched at his knife and straightened. “I am Khammale and I am not a simple soldier. I am captain of the palace guard.”
    “Sorry, officer,” Antef smiled.
    “I saw that idle Kerpes leave here a few moments ago. What part is he in the plot?” Khammale asked. “Coffin carrier?”
    Antef tried to answer but, if he was like me, his mouth was too dry to speak. Dry with fear because Captain Khammale had already guessed that part of our plot.
    He went on, “And I suppose the boy is a scribe who went in to the tomb to spy out the plan? The girl here will be a priestess, I expect.”

    “No!” Dalifa said. “I made some of the ornaments that will be going in the tomb.”
    “Shut up, Dalifa!” Antef said savagely.