The Spitting Cobra by Gill Harvey Read Free Book Online Page B

said?’
    ‘No,’ said Hopi. ‘He told me about another goddess. Serqet. Have you heard of her?’
    Isis shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’
    ‘He said the gods show themselves when they’re ready. Something like that. I’m not sure I fancy meeting one of them up here.’
    A breeze stirred the air, bringing a little relief from the scorching sun. Isis looked up at the brilliant blue of the sky against the rocks, and began to feel that the place was somehow peaceful.
    ‘I think you should forget that curse,’ she said. She gestured around them. The dark fissure in the rocks where they sat offered deep, cool shade. ‘This cobra goddess can’t be so terrible. Even in the heat of the day, she has given us shelter.’
    Both of them glanced into the fissure, which seemed to continue behind a big boulder. Hopi shuffled back, and leaned against it. To his surprise, he felt the boulder shift. He peered around it, and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Isis moved closer, and poked her head through the gap, too. It was then, looking closely at the sides of the walls, that they saw the truth. This might have been a natural opening in the rocks – at first. But beyond the boulder, there were marks: the scorings and scrapings of chisels. It had been widened by human hands. It was a tunnel.

.

    CHAPTER FIVE
    Isis and Hopi pulled their heads back into the daylight and stared at each other.
    ‘Do you think it’s a tomb?’ whispered Isis.
    ‘Can’t be,’ said Hopi. ‘We’re nowhere near the village cemetery.’
    ‘But . . . what about the Great Place?’ asked Isis. ‘I saw it earlier. I think it must be quite close.’ She peered up at the mountainside uncertainly. She had become so disorientated when she was hunting for Hopi that she couldn’t be sure how far she had walked.
    Hopi shook his head. ‘Not a chance. Look at the tunnel, Isis. It’s just a narrow gap in the rocks. It’s tiny. You couldn’t get anyone’s coffin through there, let alone a royal one. And it’s not even sealed.’
    Isis crawled forward and examined the tunnel again. ‘I could get through there easily enough, though,’ she said. She paused. ‘Shall I try?’
    Curiosity was burning inside Hopi, but the voice of his father echoed around his head . . . Look after Isis . . . What if something happened to her? He couldn’t possibly allow her to go on her own.
    ‘We’ll both go,’ he said.
    Isis frowned. ‘What about your leg?’
    Hopi shifted it impatiently. ‘All we need to do is crawl,’ he said. ‘I think I can manage that.’
    ‘But . . .’ Isis was thinking. ‘It’s so dark in there. We won’t be able to see.’
    It was a good point. Hopi reached for his bag again. They would have to make a light somehow. Whoever made the tunnel would have had oil lamps to work by, but they had nothing like that.
    ‘I have my tinder-sticks,’ said Hopi, rummaging through his bag. ‘But we’ve nothing to make a lamp, or a torch.’
    ‘Then we’ll have to explore in the darkness,’ said Isis, sounding braver than she felt.
    ‘Then what? We won’t be able to see what we find.’ Hopi looked around, and spotted a few bone-dry acacia twigs lying amongst the rocks. Struggling to his feet, he quickly gathered a handful.
    Isis grasped his idea. ‘Could you make a spark in the darkness?’ she asked. ‘Just by feel?’
    ‘I think so, if there’s enough space. It depends what we find. If we don’t reach anything, we’ll just have to crawl out backwards.’
    ‘We can do that.’ Isis felt her heart beating a little faster. ‘I’ll lead the way. It’ll be easier for me, because I’m smaller.’
    Hopi nodded. ‘All right, then. Check the tunnel as you go,’ he instructed. ‘Stop if you get scared. I’ll be right behind you.’
    They looked into each other’s eyes. Impulsively, Isis gave Hopi a hug. Then she bent down once more and began to grope her way along the narrow tunnel.
    .
    With Hopi blocking the light