The Trespass(31)

Kadesh’s eyes blazed in the filtered twilight. “His family perpetrated the evil. His family shall pay.”

“But it’s not just that, is it, Kadesh? It’s her. I know it’s her.” Ruth felt her self-control slipping away. She had already said too much, but she couldn’t stop. Natasha was trembling, curled up on the bed. Ruth stood between Natasha and the man she loved. “What about me? We were promised to each other.” Ruth held up her hand. “What am I to do? Will you cast me off like an old cloak?”

“It is my business to act as I see fit.” He caught her arm and held it tightly. “Do not question me again, Ruth.” He turned to leave, then paused in the doorway, his lean frame casting a pencil-thin shadow in the pale light. “Come to the central chamber at sunset. There is a disciplinary matter to attend to.” In a moment Kadesh was gone, leaving the faintest trace of incense hanging in the still air of the chamber.

Ruth let her breath out in a half sob, taking comfort from the child’s warm body. She had been taken from despair to elation and back in the space of an afternoon; the resultant confusion of feelings left her with nothing but a growing sense of emptiness and dread. “My sweet, my sweet,” she muttered, rocking Natasha slowly back and forth. “What will become of us? What will become of us both?”





That night, Ruth dreamt the dreams of a child. Her mother cradled her, whispered words of love. They moved silently through the familiar passages but their path ahead was strewn with flowers and the scents were those of high summer and celebration. Her mother smiled and set her down. A great gathering rose up to welcome them into the central chamber and her heart gave a small lurch when she saw him waiting. How handsome he looked, dressed in robes of white with his dark hair tied loosely back against the brown skin of his neck. She was a woman now, her steps assured and confident. She joined her love at the centre of the chamber and felt her mother’s blessing settle upon them like a gentle rain. The assembled ranks opened their mouths in silent song and she felt the thrill of destiny running through her veins. She turned to look into his eyes, but he was gone. The girl, Natasha, stood before her, her face unsmiling, accusing. A voice in her head spoke clearly: Why are you letting him do this? Look at me; I am only eight years old. . .

Ruth woke with a start. She heard the sounds of gentle breathing from the bed of down and silk she had fashioned for Natasha, and her feet carried her automatically to where the girl lay. As she looked at the girl’s sleeping face the images of her dream fell away from her like fragments of translucent glass. She returned to her bed and found it cold and comfortless, eventually drifting into a half slumber as the first sounds of prayer issued forth along the tunnels and pathways of her home. High above the dawn sun sent probing fingers of light across the ancient sand, highlighting the criss-crossing of vapour trails in an otherwise unbroken sky.





Chapter 11





“Occam’s razor?” I know it – I’ve heard that somewhere...” Dracup tugged at his beard with irritation. “It’s a methodology, isn’t it? The best way to approach a problem?”

“Correct,” Sara said. “Agreed, Farrell?”

“You’re right. It’s a logical principle,” Farrell nodded. “Basically it goes something like this – ‘don’t make more assumptions than the minimum needed.’”

“In other words, you ‘shave off’ any concepts or variables that are not needed to explain or get to the bottom of what you’re trying to figure out,” Sara said.

“Good.” Dracup looked at Farrell. “So come on then. Apply that to two sevens and a sundial.”

“Well, how about ‘find the angle on the sundial for seven and take seven paces in that direction.’”

Sara gestured in a comme ci, comme ça fashion. “Could be.”

“And then what?” Dracup shrugged. “Dig a hole?” It seemed simplistic, but then that was the point Occam had tried to get over with his ‘razor’. Dracup rubbed his eyes wearily.

“Depends where the seven paces takes you, I guess,” Farrell offered. ‘If it’s diggable, dig there. Just hope it ain’t concrete.”

Dracup sighed. He was just going to have to find out by trial and error. “Right. That’s settled then. Tonight we do some midnight excavating.”

“Simon?” Sara said quietly. “Can we have a word?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“In private.”

“Oh.” He looked at Farrell apologetically. “Excuse us a moment.”