Godsand

By Janine ScottJean

To secure his future inheritance, Inmet abandons his older brother Ramisi in the desert with nothing to live on. But the gods have different plans.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Janine ScottJean
• Release date: Feb 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301192427

Janine ScottJean

Aside from writing, my other activities include tarot reading, flea markets and gardening...oh, and I am a chicken whisperer.As a natural gardening fanatic, I let my stories take root in my mind as I play in the dirt.

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GODSAND

Janine ScottJean

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Janine ScottJean

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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GODSAND

1

A grain of sand dropped on Inmet's forehead. then another and another, until a thin stream tickled his temple. He tried to wipe it away but it kept coming back. He came awake and sat up when he heard a crash.

Ramisi, is that you? Inmet whispered urgently.

Nothing in the room moved. He sagged with relief that it was only a dream, but in the next moment, something snapped the back of his ear and he whimpered an apology to his absent brother.

Inmet's eyes widened then when a glaring pair of eyes appeared in the shadow of the doorway, exposed by a shaft of moonlight from the window. His father, Latenkh, brushed past the eyes with a knife in his hands.

Inmet, is there trouble? Latenkh searched the room hastily.

I was awakened by something, then that something struck me. Inmet rubbed his welted ear and watched the eyes in the doorway reveal themselves to be those of the old housemistress, Keya.

Keya gazed about the room and her eyes stopped on the window where a long curtain sash waved breezily then whipped in a spurt of wind.

Here is your enemy, child. She moved to the window behind the head of Inmet's cushioned pallet and held the sash. Her foot hit on a wall sconce. And this. She picked it up and hung it back in its place.

She looked out the window across the gardens, then over to the olive grove and saw nothing out of the ordinary. She swept a small mound of sand off the sill. It seems the desert has come to visit you this night.

Inmet gulped, then said to Latenkh. The desert would not have been allowed entrance if the cloths had been tied correctly. It is no fault of mine that I was awakened harshly.

Latenkh frowned and looked to the servant woman. Keya, you will go with no food from my store for one day. Remember this lapse that you will think to do it well next time.

She lowered her eyes to the floor. As you will, Master.

Inmet, you must still be unnerved by the disappearance of Ramisi. Rest. Come daylight we will again set up a search for him. Latenkh said.

2

Twenty tethered goats bleated a morning hunger to Mensakh as he loaded half of them with rations, lightweight cloths and a supply of water. He hushed them with handfuls of oats and tenderly rubbed their heads.

With the sun god, Ra-Khepri, warming his left side and a northwestern breeze on his back, Mensakh left Memphis and led his herd of goats south, parallel to the Nile.

An urgent message from Thebes, from the housemistress to the prosperous merchant Latenkh, relayed that his daughter Neve and his son-in-law Ramisi had been missing for as long as it took the moon crescent to return, twice. Young lovers often disappear for their own privacy, he thought. However, Neve was his only child, and though his affluence had been bolstered with her marriage to Ramisi, her safety was still his highest priority.

A full moon lit the city of Thebes just as it lit Memphis the night before he left. The river's floods receded as he traveled, giving him a straighter course. It took him only twenty days to travel to his destination. Mensakh smiled.

His journey thus far initiated prosperity as he made many contacts with farmers and other merchants to the outcome of future business. If this meeting with the servant Keya proved to be just an old woman's worry, the road to it made it worthwhile. At the outskirts of Thebes, Mensakh made camp for the night then walked through the city to Amun's Temple and left one goat, a token for the gods he would ask to favor him.

***

He was awakened just past dawn when he heard chanting to the gods outside his tents. He knew it must be Latenkh's housemistress. He bowed deferentially as he repeated the common prayers that he heard but lifted his head when he heard reference to a god he had never known. Rameses, Pharaoh of the sand. Nonetheless, he mumbled something to that god too.

When the prayers were finished, Mensakh opened the flaps of his tent and introduced himself in the manner of caste above the woman, yet he welcomed her into his tents to partake of a cold breakfast.

Keya introduced herself, not by her status in the houses of Latenkh, but by name only, then declined the food graciously. Instead, she served the meal to Mensakh as she explained her message; she left nothing out.

Master Mensakh, it is through sheer desperation of a mother for the life of her child that I must tell you this. At the end I will beseech the softness of your heart as a parent for forgiveness, yet still beg for your help.

As he chewed, Mensakh cocked a brow, nodded and waved his hand for Keya to go on. His eyes widened as he heard the first of her disclosures.

I am Ramisi's mother. Keya waited until he swallowed his