How could it be the ka of Hetepheres? wondered Renifer. Why would the name Hetepheres even enter Pankh's mind? She has been dead for a year. Besides, the queen was buried so well and so richly. If ever a ka had a good place to return to, it is the queen's tomb.

“Go home!” Pankh yelled at the ka. “Get away from us!”

But if it were a ka, it did not appear Egyptian. It came closer, and the tears it wept were real tears. It smelled bad, as foreigners did.

Renifer decided to treat it as she would a sacred animal—an ibis, or a cow dedicated to Hathor. The first thing was to feed it. She held out a date in the palm of her hand and in her other hand, a cup of fig juice, although it was doubtful that a creature so primitive would know how to drink from a cup, any more than a cow would.

But the creature seized the cup, drinking noisily, and then bit down hard on the date. It seemed astonished that the date contained a pit and spat the whole thing out. Renifer gave the creature bread instead, and it consumed the bread like a wild dog. Then it stood panting and whimpering.

Pankh had calmed down. “I don't think it's a ka,” he said. “Maybe a slave girl in the dress of her native land? She has run away, perhaps, and is trying to hide in the papyrus swamp.”

How frightening to be lost here! Papyrus was delicate with arching fronds, forming hieroglyphics of their own against the brown Nile and the blue sky. But millions of them … mile upon mile of them … and they interlaced like prison walls. Feet sank into mud and roots clung to ankles and crocodiles sprang out of dark water. No wonder the poor thing was frightened.

Its clothing was stranger than Renifer had seen even in the slave bazaar. Egyptians did not normally have slaves. Their servants were not sold in streets. Slaves were prisoners of war, and came from distant places that must be thrashed until they understood Egyptian superiority.

But Pankh was correct about the creature being female, and probably also that it was foreign, for its skin was as pale as bleached linen. It looked unhealthy to Renifer. Its hair was very long and must be very hot.

The creature tried to grab the pole with which Pankh pushed the little boat through the reeds but he jerked it out of her reach. “Pankh!” said Renifer severely. “We have to rescue her.”

“No, we don't. It isn't a pet,” said Pankh. “Don't touch it.”

Renifer paid no attention to him. “It's all right,” called Renifer, reaching toward the creature. “You may get in the boat with us. I'm going to take you home and bathe you. Don't be afraid. We won't leave you in the swamp.”