“Dear Amenken.” The falcon shook his head like he was the parent scolding a child. “You disappoint me. You are a disgrace and should be ashamed of yourself.”
Amenken turned to Kai. “Take the girl outside so we can talk.”
“Not so fast.” Pharaoh’s official grabbed Lily and pulled her to his side. “She stays with me.”
Kai’s thoughts flashed back to the sidewalk in Florida. The way the man named Horus touched the little girl was the same way Vivian Gold pushed people around. Kai didn’t know how the rules worked here in this ancient place, but she was overwhelmed with the feeling that she had to protect Lily.
“Let the child go,” Amenken said. “I am the one you’re after.”
“Oh, how noble of you.” Horus kept his right hand on Lily’s shoulder. Kai stared at the man’s odd outfit. He wore only a short linen skirt tied at the waist and brown leather sandals. “I have a rather ironic idea. I should tell Pharaoh that I will use the next sword you forge to teach you a lesson.”
Amenken didn’t flinch. Kai saw his eyes move from Lily to the tent opening. Kai couldn’t overpower Horus. She had no clue how she could get the young girl out of this mess.
At the exact same moment, the tent flap opened and a man wearing a similar outfit to what Horus was wearing appeared. The only difference was that this guy had a broad leather band wrapped around his torso. He was holding a clay jar. “Sir, just making sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. More blood there?” Horus pointed at the man’s jar.
The newcomer bent down and stepped into the tent. “Sir, this is truly unbelievable. See for yourself.” He offered the clay jar to his comrade.
Horus took it and stuck a finger in and pulled it back out.
“Water.”
“Yes, sir. All of their jars contain water.” The man pointed at Lily as he spoke.
Horus turned Lily to face him. “By what magic do you do this? Tell me!”
Kai’s brain wasn’t working as fast as she’d like. She had to get the girl away from this man. “I know how.” The words were out even though Kai didn’t know what was coming next. They served a purpose because now she had both officials’ full attention.
Horus considered Kai. “Who are you, anyway? By what you cover yourself in, I’d say you are from very far away.”
Real far. “My name is Kai. Rhymes with sky. I’m from a place called Florida. Our customs are very different than yours. I cover myself in jeans and a white shirt.” Kai glanced at Lily then noticed sunlight flickering through a slit in the back of the tent. The fabric was loose where it met the ground.
Loose enough for a little girl to slip out of…
“Tell me about the water.” The falcon was getting irritated. He clenched his fists like they were talons grabbing for a thick tree branch.
Amenken hadn’t moved. Kai wished she could communicate her plan with him, but she had no plan. All she wanted was for Lily to be able to run out the opening in the back of the tent. That’s when she recalled how Vivian Gold snatched her backpack. Kai remembered looking for her phone when the bully attacked….
It was worth a shot. She had to make a move that would cause Horus to flinch.
Kai let out a scream and jumped toward the newcomer. Horus let go of Lily to stop Kai. The newcomer let go of the jar to put his hands up to keep Kai away.
The plan worked and Lily slipped away and out the back of the tent.
The jar broke into three large shards.
The newcomer grabbed Kai.
Kai dropped to her knees and grabbed one of the shards.
The falcon swooped in.
Kai ran the shard into the newcomer’s arm. He let her go for a split second.
Horus lunged at Kai and would have captured her, but Amenken jumped in front of the man to block his attack.
Kai used the few seconds of freedom to rush out the front of the tent. Once outside, she snaked her way through hundreds of tents. Eventually, she caught up with the Hebrew girl.
They continued to race through the massive tent city until it was clear their hunter had given up the chase.
Seven suns had risen in the sky above the camp before all the blood had washed away from the river, lakes, and canals.
Kai had managed to keep Lily safe from Horus and his henchmen by hiding out in various tents throughout the valley. Along the way, she had traded her clothes for a tunic that matched the young girl’s, just different in size. More than one Hebrew family told Kai that she looked like Lily’s older sister.
Kai tried returning to Amenken’s home, but Horus had a guard posted there. She wanted to thank Amen for helping her and Lily escape. She wanted to tell him and his sweet Betrest that she was safe. But all of that would have to wait for another day.
Lily had taken Kai all across the Israelite camp—and a hundred days wouldn’t be enough to cover the whole site, let alone seven. But in the past week since they escaped the falcon’s claws, Kai had met many people who were not unlike herself. Although they were doing jobs that Kai had never done, they were all focused on a specific task like Kai was focused on helping Lily stay safe. There were women who worked in fields—strong women who wielded primitive blades and chopped wheat stalks for hours on end. Others hauled the harvested grain back to the city where the Hebrew men would use it to make brick.
Kai didn’t want to draw attention to herself and knew that changing her appearance would help her stay safe from the Egyptian official. She found a Hebrew woman holding a sickle. “Can you cut my hair?”
“Daughter, your hair is beautiful. It would be a sin to cut it.”
Kai explained the story and her reason for wanting to cut it off. The Hebrew woman shook her head. “Come here.” After a few strokes of the blade, Kai’s hair had been transformed from long, loose curls to a short, choppy, uneven mess.
After the primitive haircut, Kai made her way up into the hills where she had discovered a good hiding place. From the shelter of a boulder pile, overlooking Pi-Ramesses, Kai was able to watch the guard that had been posted in front of Amenken’s house. When Amenken would leave, Kai noticed the guard would follow him.
Kai decided that she would have to contact Betrest while the guard was away.
As she made her way through the streets, Kai remained vigilant. She half expected the falcon to swoop down on her from above. Just before Kai reached Amen’s house, she looked across the lake and saw two men talking to Pharaoh. One of the men held a staff, so she assumed that was Aaron. Which meant the other man was most likely Moses. The three were standing at the edge of a lake that was at the southern edge of the royal palace. Kai watched Aaron take his staff and touch the lake water.
From where she stood, it looked to Kai as though small black blobs started coming up out of the lake. The blobs were hopping. Hopping up out of the water and all over the ground surrounding the water.
Frogs!
Kai saw the creatures were now pouring from the palace windows as well. Past the city, she saw the frogs were also coming up out of the Nile. Soon, the raised voices announcing the invasion of the unwanted creatures mixed with croaking, to produce an otherworldly cacophony of sound.
Kai made her way through the commotion that had descended on the Egyptian village. As she tried to get to Amenken’s house, Kai found it difficult to move quickly because of the frogs. They were jumping up at her. Big, nasty-looking ones and tiny colorful ones that resembled the poisonous frogs Kai had studied for a science project.
With every step she took, frogs were getting trapped under her feet. Where were they coming from? This was the second plague, so somehow God was making these crazy things happen….
“The frogs are in my oven!”
Kai ducked behind a simple dwelling that resembled a one-story Native American pueblo, like the replica she’d enjoyed making for social studies class. She’d used shoe boxes and modeling clay to represent the adobe that constructed the ancient dwelling. She’d even included toothpick ladders spread out across the various levels of the structure.
Frogs were jumping out of the window and doorway. A woman appeared, using her right foot to push a pile of frogs out of the home. But for all her effort, more frogs jumped in past her.
All the homes Kai could see had the same problem. Men and women alike were trying in vain, using their hands and feet as shovels to rid their abodes of the invading amphibians.
“They are in my kneading trough!”
Just as Kai fought past the frogs—they had become so numerous and deep, it was like she was trying to wade through a river—she saw Amen’s house.
And Horus. The falcon was sitting on his horse, unaffected by the frogs. Kai thought the horse would be skittish, but the rider kept the animal in control.
She had to find a way to get to Amenken. But there was no way she could without first being seen by the official.
Kai decided to wait where she was, hidden behind the corner of a house, but the frogs kept coming. The horse that the falcon rode began to get agitated. The frogs were jumping and swarming around its legs. It reared back on its hind legs, nearly sending Horus to the ground.
Kai spotted a ladder and climbed up to the roof. From the edge of the roof, she could see Amenken’s house and the sea of frogs that now filled every possible space.
Nature overthrew the falcon’s power to control. The horse couldn’t stand it any longer. Kai watched it rear up again and then explode down the street. Horus barely held on as the creature now had full control of him.
Kai used the twist of fate to hurry back down the ladder and trudge through the frogs to get to Amenken’s house. She knocked on the door, and after a while, Amen’s wife opened the door.
“Get away!”
Kai was confused. Then she realized her hair had been longer and she wore normal clothes the last time she was here. “Betrest, it’s me, Kai.”
“I know who you are. Get away from here. You show up and these evil things happen.”
How could this be? “Betrest, I have nothing to do with the blood or the frogs. Please believe me. Is Amenken here?”
“Get away! And don’t come back.”
Betrest slammed the door closed.
Kai didn’t have another plan, so she decided to go back to Lily and her family.
She plowed through the frogs as she made her way out of the city. As soon as Kai reached the Israelite camp, she noticed there were no frogs. She made her way to Lily’s tent just as the sun set and darkness covered the land.
The next morning, word around the camp was that Moses had been asked by Pharaoh to pray for God to remove the frogs. Apparently, a young man told Kai, Pharaoh had agreed to let the Israelites go if the frog problem could be solved.
Kai needed to connect with Amenken. She told Lily that she wouldn’t be gone long and headed back to the city, always keeping an eye out for Horus.
“They’re dead!”
Kai heard the same phrase uttered over and over again as people found the lifeless frogs in their houses, courtyards, and fields. The air smelled so rotten that she had difficulty breathing.
Suddenly a hand touched her back. Kai jumped, feeling dread at the thought that Horus had finally caught her. But when she turned to see the owner of the hand, Kai was relieved. It was Amenken. Her surprise quickly morphed into fear as she saw that Amen’s face and arms were covered in cuts. It looked like a giant cat had swiped its claws all across the man’s body. His cheeks and forehead were lined with horrible wounds.
“Follow me and hurry,” he said.
“What did they do to you?” Kai felt ridiculous even asking the question. The answer was obvious.
The falcon had captured his prey.