Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda Read Free Book Online

India went from being a great kingdom with links to all corners of the world to a cluster of illiterate villages, justlike that. The cities were consumed by the sands within a few decades. Uncanny.”
    “War, then?” said Ash.
    “No,” said Uncle Vik. “From the places we’ve excavated we’ve found no signs of weapons, burned buildings or broken walls, the usual signs of military conquest. The Harappans simply vanished from history. It’s only in the last hundred years that we’ve started uncovering their cities. Now Savage believes he’s found the capital.” Uncle Vik’s smile broadened. “Think what we might find there.”
    “Maybe more treasure?” said Lucky.
    Ash laughed to himself. She was no doubt hoping there would be an entire stable of ponies on offer if there was.
    “To be sure there will be palaces, libraries, royal tombs and temples. Treasures in gold and in knowledge. The city hasn’t been disturbed for thousands of years. Whatever was buried there, still remains.” He picked up one of the seals. “I’ll probably go out there once I’ve finished Savage’s translations.”
    “What are you translating?” asked Ash.
    “An ancient royal treasury list,” said Uncle Vik. “Savage believes there’s treasure buried here, near Varanasi. It has some connection to the works out in Rajasthan, I just don’t quite know what yet.”
    “Enough work. Eat,” said Aunt Anita as she opened a box and handed out fresh samosas. Uncle Vik fiddled with his old radio. The plastic box was held together by tape and elastic bands, but eventually he got some kind of Indian music station. The soft chords of a sitar strummed out, rising above the crackle of static and the whispers in the wind.
    “Come on, Lucks.” Ash got up. He picked up one of the spare torches and flicked it on. “Let’s have a nose around.”
    “Ash—”
    “We’ll be careful, Uncle.”
    They climbed about the ruins that dotted the northern fields of the old palace grounds. The walls were in poor condition. Local people had been steadily pilfering the bricks over the years to help assemble their own houses. There were rows of pits too, each neatly marked out with red string. Vik had told them how sites were searched: each area was divided into neat ten-metre-square packages and dug to an agreed depth, usually between three and five metres deep. Picks, shovels and trowels were neatly stacked up against the various huts and temporary offices, little more than awnings, with light and power fed by thick black electric cables that branched out from a rusty generator like a network of tentacles.
    No one’s here , Ash realised. That was strange. Once wordgot out there was a dig going on you got amateur treasure hunters, thieves, who’d creep over the site at night, hoping for some gold or artefacts to sell on the black market. So why no guards?
    And no workers either. There were tents, cooking equipment and all the signs of a large workforce, but no one around. They must commute in every day. That too was unusual. What was it about this place that frightened everyone?
    And what was Savage looking for?
    He couldn’t get the worry out of his head. There was more to this than merely translating the Harappan language and opening some ancient tomb.
    “Look, Ash.” Lucky had a stick and was poking it under a rock. “I can hear something.” She put her foot against the stone and heaved. The big lump rocked a bit, and then some more as Lucky worked it back and forth.
    “Lucks, I wouldn’t—”
    It tipped over and cracked in two.
    Scorpions poured out.
    Shiny and black, they scuttled rapidly out of their now exposed hole under the rock.
    Lucky screamed and jumped back on to one of the yellowtransformers. Ash backed away, kicking sand at the cluster of black shapes spilling over the ground towards him.
    “Ash! Look out!”
    Twine caught the back of his leg. Ash lurched, spinning his arms as he tried to keep upright. The thick cord tangled