"What do we do now," she thought to herself as she directed, out loud, "Quick, put the hoods of your robes up over your heads, and keep your faces down!"

If they got caught now the enemy would have two persons from their Theban royal house. This would be a catastrophy and both Nekhi and Tepi knew this. Unknown to Sethi or the others, here in this very spot were the two people who would be responsible for the next royal dynasty of the southern ruling family as well as the continuation of the attempt to re-unite Egypt.

The cloud grew nearer but with the thick dust it was impossible to see just who or how many there were and on they came.

Everyone kept moving, crowding close to the camels and each other, as the horsemen closed in and ....passed them as if they were not even there!

There were audible sighs of relief as everyone relaxed.

"They must be going to another battle," suggested Sethi, as they all plodded along at the fastest pace the camels could muster with their loads.

Nekhi gazed down the road after the men, a puzzled look on his face. He turned to Tepi, "You'd think that there would have been more of them if they were headed to a battle."

The next few days the group traveled with no problems at all. A few times other small groups of horsemen would pass them with not so much as a glance.

At one point Tepi grabbed her brother by the shoulder and pointed out over the landscape. "There, Nekhi," she bubbled excitedly, "There is the AKHET, the sacred Horizon I was telling you about." She was almost jumping up and down. "Look, you can see the Guardian, too. In a few more minutes we will be far enough to see the head. And see how the capstone on the Horizon shines. It's just like the temple priests described it!"

Nekhi starred at the pyramid with the same awe that Tepi had experienced when she had first seen it. "So big and strong," he thought, "Whom ever the King had been, he must, too, have been a powerful leader of Egypt." He turned to his sister, his eyes shining, "I want to be like

that, strong and able, so I can lead our army to victory over the northern foreigners and unite our land."

Tepi joined her arm to his," You mean WE, don't you, brother? For I wish the same thing as you. But first we had better move along, don't you think?", and got a nod for her answer.

The group was almost to the ferry crossing, used earlier by Sethi and Tepi to cross the great river. It would be just a few hours more. The sun was getting hot on their heads as they continued their travels south. Suddenly they began to hear faint noises. Many voices were

yelling, sounds of clanging, metal on metal, began to become clearer as they walked onward. It was the sounds of a battle taking place in front of them. Somewhere ahead on the road there was a battle, and Nekhi wanted to hurry. He had no weapons, or leather armor nor any horse or

chariot but nevertheless, he wanted to fight this enemy that had taken him, put him in a tomb cell to die, and almost succeeded, if it had not been for his sister.

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