Free Casting the Gods Adrift by Geraldine McCaughrean Page A

Million Days that sails the skies crowded with its animal-headed gods. I had seen pictures; their boat had the same upward curve at prow and stern, like the curve of a hammock; it had the same two great steering boards at the back, the same oars moving with perfect symmetry. I remember wondering if the gods were looking down just then, over the side of their ship, watching us sail the holy Nile, sail down the length of the Black Land, between banks bright with flax and wheat, gardens, orchards and vineyards, square white houses and little moored reedboats.
    â€˜Is the Ship of Heaven made of reed, like this one, Father?’ I asked.
    â€˜No. Cedarwood. Like the pharaoh’s barge,’ he answered at once.
    In those days, I thought he knew everything about the gods.
    As we sailed past Iunet, he pointed out the Temple of Hathor, goddess of birth and far-off lands, of gold and silver and music.
    â€˜She’s protected me on all my travels,’ saidFather proudly. ‘On the way back we shall visit the temple and ask the priests to perform a ritual for Ibrim and bathe his eyes in the sacred water; let him sleep nearby and dream a cure for himself. I promise! On the way home.’
    â€˜She gave me my gift of music,’ Ibrim said softly, from his perch on the roof. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t ask for more.’
    But Father chose not to hear.
    We sailed only when there was daylight. The river, with its shifting mudbanks and shoals of sand, was too dangerous in the dark. As we sailed past Thebes, Father described the wonders of the Temple of Karnak there – nearly eight hundred lionesses carved in black granite, and the avenue of sphinxes, a sacred lake, gateways taller than twenty men. ‘A hundred thousand people work here, Tutmose,’ he said. ‘Many of my animals live here.’
    I thought he had been everywhere, seen everything, my wonderful father.
    But, he had not sailed downstream beyond Thebes – not for twenty years. Pharaoh Amenhotep III had kept court at Thebes.The new pharaoh had shifted ground. So on we sailed, past Thebes and Luxor. The further we sailed, the quieter Father became, lost in thought, contemplating his first meeting with Amenhotep’s son. The new king. The new god on earth, ruler over all Egypt. There were strange rumours spreading up and down the Nile. The new pharaoh had changed more than his capital city; he had also changed his name – to Akhenaten (Spirit of Aten).
    I, too, was lost in thought. What did a god look like? Would he speak to me? What should I say if he did? The sun was harsh on the moving water, hot on my shaven head, my naked body. I screwed my eyes shut against the brightness. I closed them, but my lids still glowed red. I covered my aching eyes with my hands.
    And that was when we struck the sandbar.

2
Ship of Heaven
    The rowers fell on their backs, cursing and struggling to keep their oars from slipping away into the river. I was thrown flat along the prow. The reeds scratched my face. From stem to stern, cages fell over and lay at crazy angles in the bottom of the boat, the animals inside shrieking and screaming. Ibrim slid, yelling, off the deckhouse roof and landed on the rush baskets full of bird seed. The small monkeys clung to one another, round-eyed, baring their sharp little teeth. The falcons’ perches snapped and hung over the side like broken branches. The reed bundles which made up the
Palm of Thoth
crackled and crumpled upwards as she settled harder and harder aground.
    On the distant riverbank, a single mould-green crocodile raised its grisly head and stared. Its angular legs took a few sidling steps and it sank from sight under water until only its upper jaw showed.
Splash. Splash
. There were others coming.
    My father stumbled along the boat, stepping over the fallen rowers. I was expecting him to shout and rage at me, but he was too busy soothing and shushing the animals. The rowers were glaring at me,