The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog

***The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog*** [Excavation Season 1898-99]

"With the children at home in England pursuing their studies, Amelia and Emerson head back to Amarna for a dig that promises to be just like old times. The trip turns out to be more like old times than they plan, however; Emerson’s memory disappears, and Amelia must try to win his love again, amid peril from enemies both old and new!"

## Characters

*in alphabetical order*

* Abdullah ibn Hassan al Wahhab
* Amelia Peabody
* Bertha
* Cyrus Vandergelt
* Evelyn Barton-Forbes
* Gargery
* Herr Doctor Schadenfreude
* Nefret Forth
* Radcliffe Emerson
* Sethos
* Walter Emerson
* Walter "Ramses" Emerson
* Vincey

## Locations

Kent, England

Amarna, Egypt

## Historical References

### Slatin Pasha (Rudolf Carl von Slatin, formerly Slatin Bey)

“During my captivity I was unable to make any notes or keep any diaries; in writing, therefore, the following pages, I have been dependent entirely on my memory, whilst the whirl of the busy European world and the constant interruptions to which I have alluded, have given me little time to collect my scattered thoughts.” - Rudolf Carl von Slatin from the Preface to *Fire and Sword in the Sudan*

### Father Joseph Ohrwalder

“At length, after some hours, we drew up, dismounted ate a little biscuit, and drank some water, readjusted our saddles, then up and away again. My mind travelled back to Omdurman. Had our flight been discovered at once? What would happen to those left behind? How astonished they would be to find we had gone! But this train of thought was suddenly interrupted; one of the sisters had fallen off her camel, and was lying insensible on the ground; we picked her up, splashed her with water, and after a time brought her to; we then put her on to the camel again, and tied her firmly to the saddle; there was nothing else to be done—it was a question of life and death. So we rode continuously forward, in the desert by day and along the river bank by night.” - *Ten Years’ Captivity in the Mahdi’s Camp*, from the Original Manuscripts of Father Joseph Ohrwalder, by Major F. R. Wingate, R.A.

> “It was necessary to invent a convincing lie, and when forced to depart from my usual standards of candor, I can invent as good a lie as anyone.
>
>
> Luckily the historical events then ensuing provided us with a reasonable rationale. The Mahdist rebellion in the Sudan, which began in 1881 and had kept that unhappy country in a state of turmoil for over a decade, was ending. Egyptian troops (led, of course, by British officers) had reconquered most of the lost territory, and some persons who had been given up for lost had miraculously reappeared. The escape of Slatin Pasha, formerly Slatin Bey, was perhaps the most astonishing example of well-nigh miraculous survival, but there were others, including that of Father Ohrwalder and two of the nuns of his mission, who had endured seven years of slavery and torture before making good their escape.
>
>
>
> It was this last case that gave me the idea of inventing a family of kindly missionaries as foster parents for Nefret…”
>
>

### Battle of Omdurman

The one journalist I feared most we managed to elude. Kevin O’Connell, the brash young star reporter of the Daily Yell, was on his way to the Sudan even as we left it, for the campaign was proceeding apace and the recapture of Khartoum was expected at any time.

## Cultural References

### Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats

“In the land of Egypt I learned at last what I had been missing—adventure, excitement, danger, a life’s work that employed all my considerable intellectual powers, and the companionship of that remarkable man who was destined for me as I was for him. What mad pursuits! What struggles to escape! What wild ecstasy!” - Amelia Peabody

* “Poetry, I believe? We do not allow poetry, Mrs. Emerson. It slows the narrative and confuses the Average Readers.” (This apocryphal individual is always referred to by persons of the publishing persuasion with a blend of condescension and superstitious awe; hence my capital letters.) - Amelia Peabody

## Quotes to Remember

“I believe I may truthfully claim that I have never been daunted by danger or drudgery.” - Amelia Peabody

For some reason I have never been able to explain, our excavations were often interrupted by activities of a criminous nature. - Amelia Peabody

(Children, I feel, are as much entitled to privacy as human beings.) - Amelia Peabody

Emerson never admits to having forebodings, and he becomes incensed when I mention mine. - Amelia Peabody

Gargery is, I am sorry to say, a romantic person. (Romanticism is not a quality I despise, but it is inconvenient in a butler.) - Amelia Peabody

"The way to get on with a cat is to treat it as an equal—or even better, as the superior it knows itself to be.” - Amelia Peabody

Nefret’s first few meetings with Helen’s carefully selected ‘young ladies’ seemed to go well. I thought them a remarkable silly lot, and after the first encounter, when one of them responded to Emerson’s polite greeting with a fit of giggles and another told him he was much handsomer than any of her teachers, Emerson barricade himself in the library and refused to come out when they were there. - Amelia Peabody

## Fashion

An interest in fashion, I believe, is not incompatible with intellectual ability equaling or exceeding that of any man; so I wallowed (the word, I hardly need to say, is Emerson’s) in tucked nightgowns and lace-trimmed petticoats, frill unmentionables and ruffled blouses; in gloves and hats and pocket handkerchiefs, bathing costumes and cycling bloomers, wrappers and buttoned boots, and a rainbow assortment of satin sashes with matching ribbons. - Amelia Peabody

At least I thought the styles were less ridiculous until I heard Nefret’s comments on them. The very idea of a bathing costume struck her as hilarious. “What is the point of putting on clothes that will get soaking wet?” she inquired (with some reason, I had to admit.) “Do women here wear washing costumes when they take a bath?”

“As for her remarks on the subject of underdrawers … Fortunately she did not address them to the clerk, or to Emerson or Ramses. (At least I hope she did not. Emerson is easily embarrassed by such matters–and Ramses is never embarrassed by anything.)”

## References

1. ↑ “Amelia Peabody Books”. barbaramertz.org. May 1, 2023.
2. ↑ *Fire and Sword in the Sudan: A Personal Narrative of Fighting and Serving the Dervishes 1879-1895*. gutenberg.org. May, 29, 2023.
3. ↑ *Ten Years' Captivity in the Mahdi's Camp: 1882-1892*. gutenberg.org. May 29, 2023.