Very well, if you will do nothing. I will.
You are none of you men!"
As she in turn went out, Sobek sprang to his feet.
"By the Nine Gods of the Ennead. Kait is right!
There is a man's work to be done - and we sit here talking and shaking our heads."
He strode towards the door.
Hori called after him:
"Sobek, Sobek, where are you going?
What are you going to do?"
Sobek, handsome and fierce, shouted from the doorway:
"I shall do something - that is clear.
And what I do I shall enjoy doing!"
Chapter 9 SECOND MONTH OF WINTER, 10TH DAY
Renisenb came out onto the porch and stood there for a moment, shielding her eyes against the sudden glare.
She felt sick and shaken and full of a nameless fear.
She said to herself, repeating the words over and over again mechanically:
"I must warn Nofret... I must warn her..."
Behind her, in the house, she could hear men's voices: those of Hori and Yahmose blending into each other, and above them, shrill and clear, the boyish tones of Ipy.
"Satipy and Kait are right. There are no men in this family!
But I am a man.
Yes, I am a man in heart if not in years.
Nofret has jeered at me, laughed at me, treated me as a child.
I will show her that I am not a child.
I am not afraid of my father's anger.
I know my father.
He is bewitched - the woman has put a spell on him.
If she were destroyed his heart would come back to me - to me!
I am the son he loves best.
You all treat me as a child - but you shall see.
Yes, you shall see!"
Rushing out of the house he collided with Renisenb and almost knocked her down.
She clutched at his sleeve.
"Ipy, Ipy, where are you going?"
"To find Nofret.
She shall see whether she can laugh at me!"
"Wait a little.
You must calm down.
We must none of us do anything rash."
"Rash?"
The boy laughed scornfully.
"You are like Yahmose.
Prudence!
Caution!
Nothing must be done in a hurry!
Yahmose is an old woman.
And Sobek is all words and boasting.
Let go of me, Renisenb."
He twitched the linen of his sleeve from her grasp.
"Nofret, where is Nofret?"
Henet, who had just come bustling out from the house, murmured: