Free Eye of the Moon by Dianne Hofmeyr

with your questioning. Make sure they are who they say they are. Then let’s be on our way.”
    â€œYes, sir.” The captain nodded as he peered across the water. “So where’s your dog?”
    I hesitated. Tuthmosis crouched forward and whispered under his breath. “Tell him we’ve already thrown it overboard!”
    â€œThe dog is here, sir!”
    â€œIdiot! What’ll you do now?” Tuthmosis asked.
    The captain held the torch high. A path of gold rippled across to us. “What are you whispering about? Where
is
the dog?”
    I grabbed a skin Ta-Miu had given us, snapped the cord that bound it, and gathered it up in my arms, holding it as if it had a dog’s weight of muscle and bone. “Here, sir!”
    â€œWell, girl—offer it to Sobek, then! Throw it in!”
    â€œYes, sir! But I don’t know the proper incantations.”
    â€œSay what you want. Just get on with it!”
    â€œTo the great god Sobek. May he not crush two humble peasant girls between his mighty teeth. May he arise from the water and take our offering that we most humbly and earnestly—”
    â€œEnough! Enough! Sobek has heard you! So have we all! Cast your dog before him now, without further preamble or speech making!”
    I hurled the skin bundle into the water on the side closest to the reeds and watched the water take it, praying it wouldn’t spread out and float toward their boat into the path of the torchlight. For a moment it seemed to catch the current but then was trapped by a clump of reed. Before they could notice anything suspicious, I picked up my paddle and whacked it down hard and then called back to the captain. “It wouldn’t do for a dead dog to drift alongside the royal barge, sir!”
    Suddenly Wosret appeared in the prow alongside the captain.
    â€œWho is this girl? How does she know this is the royal barge?”
    â€œI can . . .” I bit my lip. I had almost said
read
! But no peasant girl would be able to read. “I can see by the red sail and the handsome decoration, it
has
to be a boat of some importance!”
    Wosret leaned over the railings. He stood twisting his ring and staring at us across the water in silence. I held my breath and kept my head bowed. Next to me so did Tuthmosis.
    Then Wosret pointed at him. “That one—your sister—she’s a silent one.”
    â€œShe grieves, sir. The dog was her favorite pet.” I was glad the night air had turned my voice husky. With my servant’s wig and deep voice, I prayed Wosret wouldn’t recognize me—or Tuthmosis in his girl’s tunic and wig.
    â€œWhere is your father that he allows two girls alone on the river at night?”
    â€œCelebrating, sir! It’s the Sophet Festival.”
    The captain nodded. “Drunk, probably! Eh?”
    â€œMaybe so. There’s a new king to be celebrated, sir.” I kept my eye on Wosret while I spoke.
    â€œThat we know, girl!”
    I nodded but kept silent.
    The captain held the lamp a little higher and then turned to Wosret. “Should we take them on board?”
    Wosret shook his head impatiently. “We’re wasting time. Just find out what they know.”
    The captain nodded and called down. “We’re on the lookout for two traitors. A prince and a young girl. Have you seen them come this way?”
    â€œIf we’d seen a prince, sir, we’d have followed him. We’re poor peasant girls, sir. A prince would have done us well.”
    â€œWell, watch out for one. Be sure to report to an official if you come across a prince who limps.”
    â€œA prince with a limp, did you say? It wouldn’t be Crown Prince Tuthmosis, sir?”
    Behind me, I heard Tuthmosis’s sharp gasp.
    The captain shook his head. “What foolish girls you are, eh? Tuthmosis is dead! How else would his brother, Amenhotep, be king? It’s another prince we search for.”
    Wosret