The Eye of the Serpent by Philip Caveney Read Free Book Online

stood up and led the way back to the door. Just before Alec followed him out of the room, he glanced back at his uncle.
    What could make a man change so completely? Whatever had happened to him, it must have been terrifying.
    With a sigh, Alec watched Ethan lock the door behind them. ‘Is that really necessary?’ he asked.
    â€˜I’m afraid so. He’s . . . unpredictable. They’re afraid he might harm himself.’
    They began to retrace their steps along the corridor.
    â€˜Is there no hope for him?’ asked Alec.
    Ethan’s face was expressionless. ‘I’m sorry, kid. The doctors who’ve seen him say he’s a hopeless case.’
    â€˜Perhaps if we got him back to Cairo – or even London?’ suggested Alec.
    â€˜You’ve seen the condition he’s in. I doubt he’d be strong enough to make such a journey.’
    Alec rubbed his bruised wrist. ‘For a minute there he
seemed
strong enough,’ he observed.
    They dropped off the key at reception and made their way out onto the street. An inquisitive crowd of natives had gathered around the Crossley and were poking and prodding at it, as though convinced it had just dropped in from outer space. However, they fell back obediently to allow Ethan and Alec to climb into their seats. Some of them reached into their pockets and started brandishing homemade ‘relics’.
    Ethan got the engine running and then swept off back the way they had come. Soon they were driving sedately out into the desert again.
    â€˜Uncle Will kept saying,
He’s out
,’ said Alec.
    â€˜Yeah. Not sure who he’s talking about though. Seems to have something to do with the tomb. He didn’t want us to open the door. Butthat doesn’t make any sense. It’s what he and Tom worked for all those years.’
    â€˜
He’s already out. I’ve seen him
,’ mused Alec. ‘You’re sure it’s Akhenaten’s tomb?’
    â€˜Well, the seals on the outer door sure have his name all over ’em. But until we get into the burial chamber, we can’t be certain.’
    â€˜Akhenaten is interesting,’ said Alec. ‘He’s one of the least known pharaohs. After his death, the people who succeeded him did everything they could to erase his memory. They destroyed his statues, his temples . . . In his official tomb in Amarna, even his sarcophagus was smashed into tiny pieces.’
    Ethan frowned. ‘Yeah, why was that exactly?’
    â€˜Well, most people think that it was because he banished all the popular gods that people had been worshipping for years and made them worship only one, Aten, the sun disc. It was the start of monotheism.’
    Ethan looked at Alec doubtfully. ‘For a kid, you sure know some fancy words,’ he said.
    Alec smiled. He was beginning to like the American. He loved the way he didn’t try and pretend he knew more than he did. Most adults would have just nodded, as though Alecwas telling them something they already knew.
    â€˜Uncle Will always believed that Akhenaten’s followers must have rescued his mummy and had it reburied in the Valley of the Kings, away from harm,’ said Alec. ‘Some archaeologists think that his mummy is the one they found in tomb fifty-five in nineteen-o-seven, because all identifying features had been erased; but Uncle Will never accepted that was him. He thinks it’s the body of Smenkhkare, another missing pharaoh – and I agree with him.’
    Ethan grinned. ‘I ain’t about to argue with either of you,’ he said. ‘Sounds like you both know your stuff.’
    â€˜Uncle Will kept saying that he was already out . . . Do you suppose he meant that Akhenaten’s mummy was gone? Maybe tomb robbers got there before Uncle Will did and stole the remains.’
    Ethan shook his head. ‘No. As far as we can see, nobody ever broke into this tomb. It was