The Eye of the Serpent (30 page)

Alec and Ethan turned back and cautiously began to approach Sonchis, both of them horribly aware that one push from him would send Madeleine to her doom. But he seemed to be waiting for something. The ground was shaking constantly now and the cave filled with that eerie hissing. Alec was aware of something moving in the abyss beyond; something immense that was rising rapidly to the surface.

Ethan lifted the pistol and aimed it at Sonchis. ‘Let her go,' he said.

Sonchis laughed. ‘You think your puny weapon can defeat me?' he cried.

‘Sure, why not?' said Ethan, trying to be cool.

‘You made a valiant effort,' said Sonchis. ‘But you are too late. Apophis comes!'

‘Use the gun!' screamed Alec.

‘I can't!' said Ethan. ‘I might hit Madeleine.'

‘You've got to try!'

But in that instant Madeleine's arms came round from behind her back and the fingers of one hand clawed at Sonchis's face, the nails gouging the flesh around his eyes, while with the other hand she grabbed something that was hanging around his neck on a leather thong
and pulled hard. The thong snapped and he released her. She fell to the ground and rolled quickly away.

Sonchis looked down at his chest in dull surprise, realizing that the source of his power was gone. He extended a hand towards Madeleine, his face contorted in rage.

‘Give them to me!' he roared; and his voice seemed to fill the cave.

Alec knew he had one chance and he took it. He ran forward, hefting the heavy copper petrol can like a shot put; and summoning all his strength, he launched it straight at the high priest's chest. It struck him hard, driving the breath out of him, and his hands closed instinctively around the can as he stumbled backwards towards the edge of the chasm.

Alec registered the look of shock on his face as he realized he was clutching a piece of copper to his chest – the substance that had held him bound for so many thousands of years.

‘Now, Ethan!' yelled Alec. ‘One shot!'

Ethan had only a split second in which to fire. He lifted the pistol and took quick aim at the petrol can as Sonchis teetered on the brink. Alec heard the crack of the gunshot an instant
before the priest disappeared over the edge of the crevasse.

For a moment there was just silence and Alec told himself that the shot must have missed; but then he felt the impact of an explosion and saw a great flash of light as the petrol ignited. The blast slammed him and Ethan to the ground and a huge gout of oily flame blossomed up over the lip of the abyss.

Whatever had been rising to the surface fell back into the void with a mighty crash, and the ground began to shudder as though in the grip of a mighty earthquake. The movement caused rocks high in the roof to dislodge and rain down. Alec scrambled to his feet and ran to help Madeleine up. She opened her hand to reveal the two objects lying in her palm. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, as though considering taking them with her; but then she turned and flung the amulets into the chasm.

She and Alec started to run for the cave mouth and Ethan joined them. The ground bucked and shuddered as something below the surface thrashed and crashed around the stone labyrinth. As they ran, Alec was aware of the roof above them, sagging, buckling, ready to fall and crush
them to a pulp. They emerged from the cave and threw themselves down the incline, tumbling head over heels, not even feeling the impact when their knees and elbows connected with hard scree.

Behind them, the cave roof came down with a thunderous roar and thick clouds of dust enveloped them, but they went on falling. When they finally hit the sand at the bottom of the slope, they leaped up and ran as huge boulders came crashing down behind them.

Glancing fearfully over his shoulder, Alec caught a glimpse of the headless mummy stumbling blindly back uphill before being struck by a boulder the size of an automobile. He didn't stop to see any more.

They kept on running until they were clear of the last rolling boulders and were able to stop and catch their breath and look back at the devastation behind them.

The Gates of Apophis were gone. As the dust began to settle, all they could see was a great pile of stones where the hillside used to be. A thick red cloud hung in the air above it.

Nobody said anything. They stood there, letting their breathing settle to something like
a normal rate, and then glanced at each other, grinning. They kept looking back at the heap of stones, asking themselves what had really happened back in the gloom of the cave.

‘It
was
real, wasn't it?' gasped Alec after a while. ‘We all heard it.'

‘We
heard
something,' said Ethan. ‘But we didn't
see
anything.'

‘Something was coming up through that crevasse,' persisted Alec. ‘Something big and powerful. The ground was shaking!'

Ethan frowned. ‘Good job you insisted on bringing that gasoline,' he said. ‘Whatever was in there must be buried under a hundred tons of rock.' He laughed incredulously. ‘Maddie, do you realize that if Alec hadn't—' He broke off.

Madeleine was standing a short distance away, studying the smouldering remains of her plane. ‘My beautiful Caudron,' she said. ‘Destroyed.'

Ethan winced, then nodded. He and Alec went to stand with her.

‘I'm sorry,' muttered Ethan. ‘But there was just no other way to get to you.'

She forced a smile. ‘Under the circumstances, I suppose I'll have to forgive you,' she said.
She turned to look at them. ‘Thank you,' she said. ‘Both of you. For saving my life.'

Alec smiled. ‘Our pleasure,' he said. ‘It was a fluke really. The can was made of copper. I didn't even notice when I was filling it.' He looked at the other two and then pointed back towards the place where the Gates of Apophis had been. ‘But I don't suppose we'll tell anyone . . . what really happened in there?'

Madeleine laughed. ‘Not if we want anybody to believe us,' she said.

‘We'll do what we've been doing all along,' said Ethan. ‘We'll keep a lid on it, and if anybody asks us awkward questions, we'll just look like we don't know anything.' He jerked a thumb at the devastation behind them. ‘We'll put that down to an earth tremor,' he added.

Alec looked around slowly. They were in the middle of the desert and the heat was intensifying. There was no habitation anywhere near them and they had no water.

‘I'm not sure how we get out of this one,' said Ethan.

‘It can't end like this,' said Alec. ‘Not after everything that's happened.' He remembered
something. ‘Wait! You . . . you told Mickey where we were going, didn't you?'

‘Well, yeah, I guess if we wait around long enough, he—'

‘What's that?' yelled Madeleine, pointing.

Something had appeared on the far horizon: a shimmering mirage against the white sand dunes, tiny at first but rapidly growing in size; and as they watched impatiently, the mirage took on shape and substance. At last they were able to see that it was a group of camels. As the creatures approached, they could see Mickey perched awkwardly on one of them and, riding beside him, an Arab whom Ethan soon identified as the drover they had nearly killed with the plane. They were leading three more camels behind them.

Ethan chuckled. ‘How about that for service?' he cried.

They sat down on the sand and waited more patiently now. After what seemed like an age, Mickey was grinning down at them.

‘You all right?' he asked them.

‘We are now,' said Alec; and he noted with joy that both Mickey and the drover were carrying water canteens over their shoulders.

‘Sorry it took a bit of time,' said Mickey. ‘We had to catch the camels and then I had to explain to Malik here that I needed his help.' He looked around, first at the remains of the biplane and then the great heap of rock and dust where the Gates of Apophis used to be.

‘What the hell happened here?' he asked.

‘It's a long story,' said Alec. ‘We'll tell you all about it on the way home.'

THE STEAMSHIP
SUDAN
was still waiting when they got to the port but it was obvious from the bustle on the quayside that it would soon be leaving. Mohammed brought the Crossley to a halt and sat there proudly for a moment, taking in the admiring glances of his friends and neighbours. Then he got out and limped around to the back to unstrap the luggage.

Alec helped his uncle out of the automobile. He was still frail and subdued, and needed the help of a walking stick, but he had improved considerably since Alec had last seen him; and the doctors had decided that he was now strong
enough to make the trip back to Cairo to continue his convalescence. Perhaps in time he would be up to making the long journey back to England. Madeleine got out too and linked her arm with Uncle Will's.

‘Let me 'elp you aboard,' she said.

‘Thank you, my dear,' said Sir William.

There was a grinding noise behind them and Alec turned to see that Mickey was coaxing what was left of the other Crossley to a halt. Mickey had found it abandoned on the sands when he rode by on his camel and had somehow managed to get it towed back to base. He had patched it back together, but after being gunned headlong across that desert road it would never be the same again. Steam boiled from the radiator, but Ethan, sitting beside Mickey, didn't seem to care. He left Mickey and Coates with the rest of the luggage and hurried over to say his goodbyes. Alec watched as he shook hands with Uncle Will.

‘It's great to see you looking so much better, sir,' he said. ‘Now, listen, before you go . . . are you absolutely sure you don't want to keep
any
of the antiquities for your own collection?'

Sir William shook his head. ‘I've already told
the people at the museum – they can have every last bit of it,' he said. ‘I'm finished with archaeology. Now I just want to sit quietly at home and rest. And we stick to the story, Ethan. We found an antechamber and an
empty
tomb. Nothing more. Right, Alec?'

Alec nodded. ‘I don't think anybody would believe us if we told them the truth,' he said. ‘I'm still not sure what Ethan is supposed to say to the authorities, though. All those people gone without a trace – Tom, Doc Hopper, Llewellyn – and all of them linked to the dig. How will he ever explain all that?'

Sir William sighed. ‘He'll just keep insisting that he doesn't know anything,' he suggested.

Ethan nodded. ‘Maybe that ain't so far from the truth,' he said. ‘Oh, don't worry about me, pard. They ain't gonna pin anything on me!'

Now he turned to smile at Madeleine, and Alec could see the look of regret in his eyes.

‘I'm real sorry you have to travel home the slow way,' he said.

‘I'm not,' she assured him. ‘I so very nearly wasn't travelling 'ome at all. It was a good plane, but there will be others.'

‘It's a shame your first assignment was
something you won't even be able to talk about,' Ethan observed.

She shrugged. ‘But it is something I will never forget,' she told him. ‘It was an incredible adventure and nobody can take that away from me.'

‘You'll write to me – let me know how you are?'

‘Of course.' She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. ‘Goodbye, Ethan Wade,' she said. ‘You are a good man. I 'ope you will come to Paris one day so I can show you the sights.'

Ethan grinned. ‘You can bet on it,' he told her.

Now Madeleine turned to Alec and smiled at him. ‘The same goes for you, Alec Devlin. And I want you to write to me just as soon as you can.'

‘I will,' he promised.

She reached out and hugged him tightly for a moment. ‘I'm going to miss you,' she told him; and a slight catch in her voice betrayed the fact that she was close to tears. She turned away quickly, took Sir William's arm and led him towards the
Sudan
. Alec and Ethan watched her fondly.

‘Why don't you ask her to stay?' asked Alec under his breath.

Ethan snorted. ‘What makes you think I
haven't?' he muttered. ‘But she has her own life in Paris – stuff she needs to do. And neither of us is ready to settle down. Maybe I'll meet up with her another time.'

‘Hey, Wade!' They turned their heads and saw Charlie Connors pushing Biff Corcoran towards them in a wheelchair. Biff had one leg encased in plaster and he still bore the marks of an injury on his forehead.

‘You going on the
Sudan
too?' cried Ethan.

‘Yeah. Can't wait to get out of this hole. The
Post
has got a nice quiet story lined up for me in New England. Suits me fine.' Biff took the stub of a cigarette from his mouth and, leaning forward, lowered his voice. ‘Come on, Wade, off the record. What really happened out there in the desert?'