The Eye of the Serpent Read Online Free PDF Page B

the dirt road knifing through sand dunes so white they looked like snow hills. The heat seemed to intensify almost instantly and Alec was glad of the rush of wind that cooled his face. After driving for some twenty minutes, they came to a place where the road forked. Ethan took a left, but when Alec glanced back, he saw that Mickey and Coates hadturned off in the other direction, heading towards the Valley of the Kings.
    â€˜Where are we going, exactly?’ shouted Alec over the rush of wind.
    Ethan glanced at him. ‘I thought you might like to pay a visit to your uncle,’ he yelled back.
    â€˜Uncle Will?’ Alec brightened. ‘I didn’t think he was up to having visitors.’
    Ethan frowned. He slowed the car a little to make it easier to be heard. ‘Tell you the truth, kid, I don’t know that he is. But I’m kind of desperate. See, William has spoken barely a word since they found him, the night that Tom Hinton disappeared.’ He glanced at Alec. ‘You heard about Tom?’
    â€˜Not until yesterday, when Mr Llewellyn mentioned it,’ he admitted. ‘He seemed to think there was something very fishy about his disappearance.’
    Ethan nodded. ‘We tried to play it down, but the truth is, Tom just up and vanished. You remember him, I guess?’
    â€˜Of course, I’ve worked with him twice before. A nice chap, very level-headed, knows everything there is to know about archaeology.’
    â€˜Nobody’s seen hide nor hair of him since thenight he took a walk,’ Ethan went on. ‘His fellow workers looked everywhere they could think of, even talked to the local police, but they weren’t any help at all. It’s like he just vanished into thin air . . . and as for your uncle . . .’ He sighed. ‘Well, whatever happened to him, it must’ve shook him to the core. I thought maybe seeing another familiar face might get some kind of response out of him. Lord knows I’ve tried everything else I can think of. It’s like he just . . . shut himself away from the world. When he does speak, his words seem to make no sense at all.’
    Alec frowned. ‘But . . . he must have asked for me, otherwise why am I here?’
    Ethan shook his head. ‘Tell you the truth, that was my idea. I was reading your uncle’s journal to see if I could find a clue to what happened. William mentions you a lot. He thinks a great deal of you, Alec – reckons you’re going to be a big name in archaeology one day. Heck, I ain’t no expert, I can use all the help I can get. Only reason I’m running this circus is because I signed up to come back to work here a month or so back and I agreed to have my name put down on an insurance policy. I was second choice behind Tom. Who would have thought thatneither of ’em would be in a position to continue?’
    They drove on for a while in silence. Then Alec said, ‘From the way you’ve been talking, it sounds as though Uncle Will
found
something.’
    Ethan grinned. ‘Oh, he found something all right . . . the very same day he was taken ill.’
    Alec could hardly contain his excitement. ‘Well, what did he find?’ he demanded. ‘I know he always hoped to find the last resting place of Akhenaten, but surely you’re not saying . . .’
    Ethan looked at him. ‘He found a tomb, Alec. We’re not sure yet, but it could be exactly what he was looking for.’
    â€˜You’re joking! But that would be . . . an incredible find!’
    â€˜Well, sure, the father of Tutankhamun. At the moment we’re doing all we can to play it down – at least until we know exactly what it is we’ve got. I’ve contacted an expert on hieroglyphics, some Frenchman called Duval. He’s due to arrive in the next week or so. Hopefully he’ll be able to tell us more. Unfortunately Will