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.As they led her along the passageway she had raised her voice in a string of swear words, and got an immediate, equally profane, response.The doctor added a few curses of his own before he pushed her into her room.At least she knew he was still alive and conscious, and she had been able to reassure him about herself.The lamp was burning low.It wouldn't last much longer.She examined the wall that separated the two rooms, inch by inch, and could have laughed aloud when she heard a steady scraping sound at the base of the partition.Lying flat on the floor, she retrieved the last of the hoarded nails from her shoe.At the first sound from her, the scraping stopped.Three soft knocks sounded.She knocked back, three times, wondering what system of communication he had in mind.Tapping through the alphabet would take forever.Apparently Emerson came to the same conclusion.The scraping resumed.Her ear against the panel, Nefret located the source of the sound and began digging with her nail.The wood of the partition was thin, but neither of them had a proper tool; it seemed like, and probably was, hours before a sharp point jabbed into her hand.She pulled it back, and heard splinters snap as Emerson enlarged the hole.When she heard his voice she lay flat and pressed her ear to the small opening."Nefret, my dear.Can you hear me?""Yes.Father, are you hurt?""Perfectly fit, my dear.Pay attention, time is running out on us.It will be light before long.They had me in that room for a bit earlier on.I believe you can lift the bar on the outside of the shutters.""I haven't anything to use as a lever.I tried to steal a knife at dinner, but-""Pay attention, I said.There's a lamp bracket next to the washbasin.I managed to loosen it a trifle.If you keep bending it back and forth, it ought to come off.Do it now.""Yes, sir."The last of the oil flickered out as she wrenched at the metal strip.It came away from the wall so suddenly, she staggered.She had to feel her way back to the hole."I've got it," she reported."As soon as I get out of here I'll come to your window and-""As soon as you get out of there you will go over the side.I don't know how far we are from land.Are you willing to risk it?""Risk be damned.I won't leave you here."Their faces were close together.She felt his breath warm on her cheek."You can't get me out.Even if you could, I would find it a trifle difficult to swim with fifty pounds of ironmongery attached to me.Are you crying? Don't cry, curse it! Do you know what they're planning?""Yes.That horrible old woman told me, at dinner.But I can't." She knew he was right, though.She couldn't free him, and she was no good to him as a fellow prisoner."She told me, too.Or rather," said Emerson complacently, "she confirmed my deductions.I could have dropped-if I hadn't already been recumbent-when she told me who she was.It just goes to show that one should never leave old enemies lying carelessly about.Go on, now.Er-""A bient“t, Father.""Er-yes.My dear."She was afraid to speak again, for she knew her voice would betray her.The faint slits of light at the shutters guided her.It took all her strength to force the blunt end of the bracket into the crack between shutter and window frame, and for a while she didn't think she could exert enough pressure to force the bar up.It gave all at once, and Nefret's heart stopped as it swung free, striking the shutter with a sound that seemed to her as loud as a pistol shot.Emerson heard it; he began to yell and bang on the door, making enough racket to drown out louder sounds than the ones she made climbing out the window.There was no one in sight on the narrow stretch of deck.She felt as if some other entity had taken control of her body, blocking off emotions she couldn't afford to feel.Smoothly and quickly, she closed the shutters and replaced the bar before she climbed over the rail and lowered herself into the water.The shock of immersion took her breath away.Clinging to the side she looked round, trying to get her bearings.The moon was on the wane, a thin sliver of silver, but the stars were the bright stars of Egypt.Behind her, not far away, a low, dark bulk blotted out a section of sky.An island, and not a very big one-just long enough to hide the Isis from one direction.Bare feet thumped on the deck, only a few inches over her head.Emerson's outburst must have drawn some of them away from their posts temporarily.They had silenced him now.Nefret drew in a deep breath and pushed herself away from the boat in a long glide.When she was forced to come up for air she turned onto her back and paddled gently with her hands.Now she could see the ghostly outlines of the cliffs of the high plateau.They looked awfully far away.West bank or east? She floated, letting the current carry her for a few yards downstream.The cliffs were those of the West Bank, then.Maybe the eastern shore was closer.Something bumped into her, something squashy and vile-smelling.Nefret fended it off, fighting revulsion
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