The Eye of the Serpent (27 page)

And then the engine gave a last convulsive shudder and the car slewed to a halt. It could go no further but this was of little consequence. They were close enough now to walk the rest of the way. Sonchis got out and gestured to his minions to follow him. The last of them lifted
Madeleine's unconscious figure with one arm and flung her over his shoulder.

Sonchis looked around. The cliffs looked eerily magnificent in the first rays of the rising sun. A perfect day, he thought, to finish what he had begun three thousand years ago.

He started walking and the others followed.

THE FIRST THING
Alec saw when he stepped into the tomb was a carpet of shiny scarab beetles swarming around what looked like a pile of rubbish that somebody had dumped beside the empty sarcophagus; then he realized with a jolt of horror that the rubbish was actually a large pile of bones wearing Doc Hopper's clothing.

He opened his mouth to shout something; but in the same instant he became aware of something moving behind him. He turned as if caught in a nightmare and saw the figure approaching him: a gaunt, shrivelled creature shrouded in filthy brown bandages, its teeth
exposed in a hideous grimace, its tiny dark eyes glittering with deadly intent. Alec's recent nightmare came back to him and he realized that this was the unseen thing that had been chasing him through the darkness of his dreams.

Alec managed to scream, but the mummy's hand shot forward and grabbed him by the throat, cutting off his cry. He was lifted bodily from the ground, his legs kicking helplessly, and it felt as though a band of steel was tightening around his neck.

Then Alec saw Ethan running into the tomb. For a moment the American froze, looking in stunned disbelief at what was happening in front of him; then he flung himself forward and leaped onto the creature's back, locking his arms around its neck.

The mummy gave a grunt of baffled rage and threw Alec against the wall. The impact slammed all the air out of his lungs and he slid to the ground, gasping for breath. The creature lifted its arms, grabbed Ethan and heaved him over its head, then threw him down onto the earth floor. Ethan yelled in pain, and the mummy raised one foot to stamp on his face; but he rolled aside and scrambled to his feet, looking around
helplessly for some kind of weapon. In an instant the mummy was on him again, grabbing for his throat.

He twisted round and aimed a punch at the creature's face, breaking several of its teeth and making it retreat a couple of steps; but the blow seemed to have had little real effect on it and it shambled forwards again, emitting a hideous grunt as it tried to tear at Ethan's face. He ducked under its arm and backed towards a corner of the tomb, trying to lead it away from Alec, who was now getting groggily to his feet.

‘Get out of here, kid!' yelled Ethan, but Alec shook his head. He wasn't going to leave his friend. He too was looking around for a weapon and his gaze fell on an oil lamp, standing on the floor beside the main sarcophagus. He ran towards it, horribly aware that Ethan was now trapped in a corner. Snatching up the lamp, he ran over and aimed a kick at the creature's backside.

‘Hey, ugly!' he bellowed.

It roared in fury and jerked round to glare at Alec before lumbering after him.

‘Alec, what are you doing?' yelled Ethan.

Alec backed slowly away, waiting until the
mummy was in the middle of the room. Then he lifted the lamp above his head and flung it as hard as he could at the creature's chest. The glass smashed to pieces and the lamp reservoir fell to the mummy's feet, spilling kerosene as it went. At first Alec thought his plan had failed; but then there was a bright flash and the kerosene ignited, setting fire to the mummy's bandaged legs.

It paused for a moment, looked down in dull surprise and then emitted a shriek of terror as it began to burn. It tried flailing at itself with its skeletal arms but the flames flicked upwards, and all at once it was a walking torch, the fire licking towards its chest and head. It gave an angry roar and came stumbling towards Alec, blazing arms outstretched. He backed away, telling himself that it couldn't keep going for very much longer . . .

Ethan bent down to pick up the heavy wooden lid of one of the sarcophagi and, staggering forward with it, slammed it down on the mummy's head, driving it to its knees. In an instant, the dry wood of the lid was blazing too.

The tomb was beginning to fill with acrid black smoke. Alec ran round the kneeling figure
to rejoin Ethan. The two of them stood there, looking down at the flailing, shrieking mummy. Its tinder-dry body was nearly completely consumed and Alec could see the exposed bones. As they watched, its struggles finally weakened and it slumped forward, its black skeleton mingling with the remains of Doc Hopper.

‘Now do you believe me?' yelled Alec as they backed towards the exit.

Ethan nodded. He had the look of somebody who had just awoken from a deep sleep. ‘And those things have taken Madeleine?' he cried.

‘Yes. Ethan, I already told you. We have to go after them.'

Ethan was nodding, but he still seemed to be sleepwalking. ‘Those bones on the floor . . . Doc Hopper. What happened to him?'

They hurried through the antechamber and up the steps to the fresh air.

‘Sonchis happened,' said Alec. ‘He's back. I don't understand how, but he's back. Come on!' He started to run towards the campsite, and after a few moments' hesitation Ethan hurried after him.

‘We'll have to take something to burn them,' said Alec. ‘It seems to work.'

‘Burn them?'

‘The other mummies. We'll take some petrol from the fuel supply.'

‘Uh . . . but wait, we don't even know where they were headed.'

‘Yes we do,' said Alec, pausing to look at the American. ‘Isn't it obvious? They're going to the Gates of Apophis.'

He moved on and Ethan stood for a moment, staring after him. ‘My God, Alec, are you saying that . . .?'

‘Yes. I think Sonchis has gone to do what he always planned to do. He's gone to awaken the great serpent.'

The dawn was breaking as Sonchis and his followers approached the cliffs. This at least had not changed: it was exactly as he remembered it, a huge limestone outcrop rising sheer from the sand dunes. Set in its very centre, at the top of a steep hill of broken shale, was the large semicircular opening of a cave mouth. He glanced back at his companions and pointed a finger at one of them.

‘You stay here and stand guard,' he said, speaking in his own tongue. ‘Anybody tries to
get into the cave, kill them. You two, come with me.' As they followed, the woman draped across one mummy's shoulder moaned and shifted a little. Sonchis reached out a hand to stroke her hair. ‘Patience, my dear,' he said. ‘You will soon be keeping your appointment with destiny.'

He turned away and began to climb the steep escarpment that led up to the mouth of the cave.

Back at the crash site, there was total confusion. Coates was tending to Biff Corcoran, who was still unconscious. Charlie had actually put down her camera and was trying to help, holding a cloth against a deep cut on the reporter's face. Mickey was still tinkering under the bonnet of the remaining Crossley and Archie was wandering about as though he didn't have the first idea what was going on. The Arab workers had almost put out the blaze and all that remained of Mohammed's Model T was a burned-out, smoking wreck.

Coates looked up hopefully as Alec and Ethan approached. ‘Where's Doc Hopper?' he asked.

Ethan shook his head. ‘He didn't make it,' he said.

Coates looked confused. ‘What are you talking
about?' he snapped. ‘This isn't a Tom Mix Western drama we're in. What do you mean,
he didn't make it
?'

‘I mean he's dead. Hassan too. Killed by . . .' Ethan looked distinctly uncomfortable. ‘Killed my mummies,' he said.

‘Killed by—?' Coates looked up at the American. ‘Have you gone quite mad?' he asked.

‘I'm beginning to wonder,' he admitted.

‘Ethan, there's no time for this,' Alec told him. ‘We have to get after Madeleine. You go and fetch your gun, I'll find the petrol!'

‘Er . . . right.' Ethan headed for his own tent.

‘Guns? Petrol? Will somebody please tell me what's going on?' roared Coates. ‘Alec, what are you doing over there?'

Alec had lifted the tarpaulin that covered the fuel supply. He grabbed an empty petrol can and began to fill it from the main fuel tank. ‘It's for burning mummies,' he explained. ‘We just set fire to one in the tomb. It went up like a bomb!'

‘You . . . set fire to a priceless relic?' roared Coates. ‘Why would you do a thing like that?'

‘Because it was alive. Well, not exactly
alive
 . . . but coming after us anyway. And some of the other mummies have kidnapped Madeleine and
taken her in Ethan's Crossley, so we need to go after them.'

‘You may as well forget that,' said Mickey, stepping away from the Crossley and wiping his oily hands on a rag. ‘I can't fix it, Alec, they've done too much damage.'

Ethan emerged from his tent, strapping on his holster. ‘What are you saying?' he asked.

‘I need to buy new parts. It'll take me days to get it running again.'

Ethan said something colourful under his breath. He looked at Alec. ‘That's it then,' he said flatly. ‘There's nothing we can do.' He pointed across the road to the still smouldering remains of Mohammed's Ford. ‘That was the only other vehicle for miles and it's in no condition to go anywhere.'

‘Don't remind me!' wailed Mohammed.

Alec slammed down the petrol can. ‘But we
have
to go after her. They are going to sacrifice her, Ethan, I'm sure of it.'

‘Alec, there's no way. They've already got a huge start on us and we can hardly walk all the way to the Gates of Apophis. We'd die of thirst before we even got anywhere near the place.'

Alec paced around for a moment, racking
his brains.
There had to be some way
, he told himself.
There just had to be!
He couldn't leave Madeleine to whatever fate Sonchis had in store for her. She was his friend – she had hugged him. Then it came to him in a flash of inspiration and he turned back to Ethan.

‘The biplane!' he yelled.

‘What?'

‘Madeleine's plane. It's only a short distance from here. You remember – we passed it on the road.'

‘A plane? Alec, I don't know . . .'

‘Didn't you tell me you flew planes in the war?'

‘Uh . . . yeah, but that doesn't mean I can fly
her
plane.'

‘Well, why not? They're all pretty much the same, aren't they?'

‘Umm . . . well . . . I guess so . . .'

‘Come on then!' Alec snatched up the petrol and turned to leave.

‘Hold on!' roared Coates. ‘If you think for one moment, Master Alec, that I'm going to let you go up in an aeroplane with . . .
that man
'– he pointed an incriminating finger at Ethan – ‘you are very much mistaken.'

‘It's not up to you,' said Alec defiantly. ‘Madeleine's in trouble and we have to help her. Besides, I'm only taking Ethan to the plane . . . I didn't say I was going to go up in it, did I?'

Coates frowned. ‘And who will accompany you back?' he asked. ‘There are dangerous animals out there – hyenas and Lord knows what else.'

‘Mickey can come with us,' said Alec. ‘You'll come, won't you, Mickey?

Mickey nodded, looking baffled.

‘That's settled then. Now let's go, we're wasting time!' Alec picked up the petrol can and started along the road. Ethan and Mickey exchanged looks and then hurried after him. Coates stared dismally at their retreating figures, wondering what Alec's father would say if he knew about this latest turn of events. Then somebody tapped him on the shoulder.

‘Did they say somebody has been kidnapped by mummies?' whispered Charlie, her face very pale in the dawn light.

Coates looked at her. ‘I do believe they did,' he said.

Charlie looked down at Biff and shook her head. ‘Would you believe it?' she said. ‘He finally
gets the story he's been dreaming of and he ain't even conscious!'

Sonchis stepped into the cave. The first light of dawn was beginning to illuminate the interior. He stopped for a moment to stare up at the high vaulted roof, where hundreds of large, leathery bats clustered like strange fruit. He knew that they had travelled far to be here and that they were now starving to death, denied the food that they needed to survive, but it mattered little. They had come to do his bidding and would obey him until they had drawn their last breath.

He walked across to the place where the stone floor ended in a sheer drop. He looked over the edge, straining his eyes to peer down into the void, but it was dark as the blackest night down there, and who knew how deep?