Sneak Peek, Chapter One 

Sneak peek, The Obsidian Mask, Chapters I and 2

Chapter One   Present Day


Two men squatted behind the largest of the rocks that narrowed the pass down to a one-way track. They had been patiently waiting there for the distant hum of the car for over two hours and one of the men, who’s uniform was particularly tight, was sweating miserably in the heat and having trouble staying low on his haunches. He stood up again despite his orders to stay hidden, stretching out his blood-starved legs and lighting a cigarette. He was bored and impatient, but before he could complain yet again, he was told by his accomplice to get back behind the rock. He cursed under his breath, and took a last stretch to get the circulation going again. He cracked his neck from side to side, and then reluctantly went back to squat in his uncomfortable post.

*          *          *          *          *

Natasha awoke feeling revoltingly sweaty. Her long hair was sticking to the back of her neck and the car seat, and she wished she had changed out of her hot jeans at the airport, as her mother had suggested. Through her half-opened eyes and the haze of the hot, afternoon sun reflecting off the hood of the old Land Rover, she could see that they were much closer to the ridge than when she had nodded off. That was a relief, she thought, they were almost there.

She looked across the sand dunes at the gigantic lump of rock shimmering in the heat. She could now see the vertical split in it that her mother had mentioned in her emails. Through the narrow split, or pass, on the other side, was the archaeological site of the ancient settlement where her mother had been working for the last two months.

As she watched her mother concentrate on keeping the car on the sand-blown track, it crossed Natasha’s mind that she must be quite an important member of the team, being paid to stay out here in the middle of nowhere. She had never really thought about it before, she had always just been ‘Mum’. But now she looked at her in a different light. Natasha’s father had mentioned that the director of the dig had even helped her mother pay for their plane tickets, which was further confirmation that her mother was a valued member on the team. But still, Natasha felt torn; she couldn’t help feeling resentful that her mother had been abroad for so long, taking a job so far away. So this new feeling of pride and respect was a little conflicting.

Her mother was an epigrapher. She drew and recorded in great detail everything that they unearthed at the dig in-situ. Why they couldn’t just take photographs, Natasha didn’t really understand. But, she thought, at least the job gave her and her brother the opportunity of coming out to an exotic country for the holidays. She had counted the days until she would be with her. Since the divorce, the novelty of staying with her father in his large, newlyrefurbished house on the other side of London, was wearing thin.

“His stupid girlfriend, Eva,” Natasha had complained to her best friend, “doesn’t look much older than us! She always seems to be at the house, pushing her way in, with her pathetic little voice and tight little tops. All the giggling and flirting makes me sick!” Natasha had also confided to her friend that she was spending more and more time up in her room just to avoid Eva. She wished her mother would come back to London so she could go home to some kind of normalcy. She had longed too for the end of term, when she could fly out and spend time with her. Even the thought of camping and living in a stuffy tent with temperatures topping one hundred degrees, had begun to seem inviting.
And now she was here at last.

The silence from the back seat told Natasha that Alexhad fallen asleep. The early morning flight from Heathrow had knocked them both back a bit, so Natasha took the opportunity of having her mother to herself.

“Mum, how much longer do you think you’ll be out here?”

“Oh, hello sleepy head, you’ve woken up,” her mother said. She took Natasha’s hand and squeezed it. “I’ve missed you, you know.”

“Me too,” Natasha said. “Will you have to be out here much longer? It’s been ages, Mum.”

“Not too much longer; a couple of months at the most I should think. Have you been OK staying at your father’s? You seem happy in your emails.” She looked at Natasha for confirmation.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” She shrugged. There was no point in telling her mother about Eva, she thought, but then out of the blue her mother asked her if her father had a girlfriend. Natasha replied that he had, but she didn’t elaborate or give any more information about Eva than she had to. She changed the subject by asking about the excavation. To Natasha’s relief, her mother seemed just as happy to change the subject too.

“Well, as you know, we’re working on the site of a very large palace,” she said. “From what we can tell, it was absolutely massive. It must have been an impressive sight in its day, with something like two hundred rooms within its walls.”

“That’s huge! Can you really tell what it was like just from the ruins?”

“Oh yes, there were courtyards, lavish bathrooms, kitchens, servant’s apartments, gardens, and armories and a throne room. It had everything. It was almost a city in itself. Most of it is still unexcavated of course, and a lot of it has crumbled away, having been constructed mainly of clay bricks. But the quality of some of the things we have found so far is just incredible.”

“What do you mean?” Alex interjected from the back seat. “Like treasure?” He had woken up and leant forward so he didn’t miss a word.

His mother grinned.

“Treasure can be different things to different people, and it doesn’t always have to be silver or gold or pieces-of-eight, Alex.”

Alex sat back in his seat a little disappointed.

“But,” she added, “I suppose in a way, you could say we’ve found treasure, even your kind of treasure.”

“Really?” Natasha eyed her mother closely to see if she was joking.

“Yes, we did. It’s been an incredible week.”

She looked seriously at Natasha. “We’ve unearthed the tomb of a five thousand year-old Mesopotamian Queen,” she said, and added quietly, as if sharing a secret. “We think it’s the lost tomb of Queen Sorrea, a Queen who was thought of more as a legend, than a real Queen.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Not only have we found her tomb, but her complete skeleton. It’s all there, thanks to the dry air, and she has been totally undisturbed since the day she was entombed. That’s pretty amazing, you know, that tomb robbers hadn’t found it in all that time.”

“Wow!” Alex said.

“And…” Natasha prompted her, “go on…”

“Well, if it is Queen Sorrea, and we are pretty sure it is, this will be a very, very important find,” she said. “A lot of people from all over the world will be very excited.”

“Wow, will we get tosee her skeleton?” Alex asked.

“Of Course! Not only will you be able to see the Queen’s skeleton, but also those of her guards, a young female who was probably a maid, and her horse, all of whom were buried in the tomb with her.”

“That is so cool!” Alex couldn’t believe his ears.

“No it’s not,” Natasha muttered pensively, she wasn’t sure if she liked the sound of that at all. She decided not to think about it, and went in a different direction.

“But what did you mean about finding Alex’s kind of treasure?” she asked. “Was the Queen buried with all her jewelry and things?”

“Yes she certainly was, but even more lovely than her jewelry, was her amazing death mask.”

“Death mask?” Alex pulled a face. It didn’t sound that wonderful to him.

“This mask is like nothing I’ve ever seen, Alex. It’s incredible. It’s carved from large, single piece of the most beautiful obsidian.” She looked at him in the rear view mirror. “Do you know what obsidian is?”

“Nope.”

“Obsidian is a rare, jet black, volcanic glass, and it is extremely precious.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that, I think,” Natasha said. “Isn’t it really hard? Didn’t the Aztecs use it for daggers and stuff?”

“Yes, they did. It was often used for blades and weapons. Anyway, this mask we found is encrusted with the finest jewels and gemstones. It is exquisite; absolutely priceless! And it’s inlaid so delicately and with such care, it is really quite stunning. I think it will become as famous as Tutankhamen’s mask when the word is out.”

“Wow! So is it still in one piece?” Natasha asked.

“Yes, miraculously, it is; not even a crack or a chip on it. It was covering her skull, and was found in exactly the same position that it was left in when the tomb was sealed all those thousands of years ago. In fact,” she added, “it is so fragile, and so precious, that last night we wrapped and boxed it up very carefully. Since I was coming to meet you two at the airport today, we decided that I take it first thing this morning to the bank in Medinabad for safe keeping. It was just too risky to keep it on site with the other artifacts in the ‘finds’ room.”

“Big responsibility, Mum!” Alex joked.

“Actually, it was, Alex. You can imagine how nervous I was; a priceless treasure strapped onto the car seat next to me here. That was a very slow drive, I can tell you.”

“But what if you had tripped and dropped it?” Alex asked, “Or driven over a hidden pothole or a stone; it could have smashed into a thousand pieces!”

“Well, she didn’t did she,” retorted his sister.

“Well, she could have been kidnapped then, and held for ransom.”

“No one knows about it yet, stupid.” Natasha said. “And anyway Alex, I don’t think anybody gets kidnapped and held for ransom these days, that’s only in films.”

“Come on you two, there’s no need for an argument. Anyway,” their mother continued, “the mask will stay in the bank’s vaults out of harm’s way until the experts can examine and date it properly. As Alex suggested, we wouldn’t want it getting into the wrong hands. It is priceless, and it really will become a national treasure once the press release is out and we announce its discovery in a couple of days.”

“Wow, that’s so cool, Mum, will you be rich and famous?” Alex asked.

She smiled and shook her head.

“Sorry Alex, it doesn’t work like that. We’re not treasure hunters. We’re here for the love of it, not the rewards. I’ll show you around the whole site tomorrow and you’ll be able to see the tomb where we found the mask, and the palace - or what we’ve uncovered of it so far, anyway.” She paused then added almost as an after thought, “oh, and I forgot to mention, Marcello’s two children are here. They arrived a couple of days ago. You’ll have someone your own age to hang out wi...”

“MARCELLO?” Natasha yelled. “Not MARCELLO? You never told us he was going to be here!”

Natasha folded her arms tightly and stared out of the side window, frowning. Julia immediately pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car. She couldn’t believe Natasha’s sudden change in attitude. She looked at her daughter in astonishment.

“Natasha,” she said, as calmly as she could, “I thought you knew Marcello was the director of this dig, surely you knew that he would be here, and even if you didn’t, I’m sorry, but there is no reason to react like this!”

She looked at her daughter, who continued to stare out of the window tight lipped, her arms still folded across her chest.

Julia sighed, waited a minute, then calmly approached her daughter again, almost pleading. “Darling, come on, you don’t have to make a scene, what on earth’s the matter? Marcello is such nice man, and he is very fond of you both.”

She waited for some kind of response from her daughter, but got none.

“Come on darling, don’t make a drama over nothing. Please?”

Julia leant towards Natasha and tried to give her a hug. But Natasha wasn’t having it. She wriggled on her seat as far away from her mother as she could, arms still crossed tightly, and continued to stare out of her side window.

“I thought we would have you to ourselves,” she eventually mumbled under her breath. “I thought he was in Pisa digging upthose stupid sunken ships he told us about.”

Julia sighed again, remembering when the children had met Marcello when he was in London a few months ago. He had come over for supper before Julia had decided to take the job in Medinabad. She thought the evening had gone pretty well. Natasha never said anything which led Julia to think otherwise, so she was a little surprised, to say the least, by her daughter's reaction now.

Julia turned around and looked at Alex, hoping for some sort of explanation. He looked at her and shrugged his shoulders. He was just as baffled.

“I don’t mind him,” he offered happily as he checked for bandits and camels through his binoculars. “When Marcello came over for supper that time, he told me all about Herculaneum, and the problem they have of stopping it crumbling away. It’s a big problem, you know Mum, being exposed to the elements and everything. Marcello said that the best thing would be to cover it all up again.”

“Good,” Julia said, only half listening, and turned back to Natasha. “And I will expect impeccable behavior and civility from you both when we arrive.”

And with that, Julia jumped out of the car.

“Well, come on you two,” she called as she opened the back door, “since we’ve stopped, we may as well have a break. And let’s tie your hair back, Natasha; it’s grown a lot since I last saw you. It’s almost all the way down your back! I’ll plait it for you if you like, it’ll help you cool down. And you can both get out of those hot jeans.”

After a drink and a change of clothes, Natasha and Alex felt a lot more comfortable. Natasha, although a little subdued, let her mother tie her hair back in a French plait, which she could never do so well on her own.

When Julia had finished, she gave Natasha a kiss on her forehead.

“Feel better?”

Natasha shrugged, looking at the ground.

“Come on, let’s put it behind us,” Julia said. “We’re nearly there now.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Apologies accepted. Come on, hop in.”


       
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Chapter Two 


Natasha and Alex were surprised to see how high the cliffs rose above them. The ridge looked at least two hundred feet high, maybe more. Seeing it from a distance across the desert had been deceiving. Now that they were driving along its base, the jagged overhangs and outcrops looked dramatic as the sun cast shadows over the rock formations.


“Are we heading to where the flashing light was?” Alex asked. “I saw something earlier through my binoculars on top of the ridge.”

“A light? Up there? I don’t think you could have, there’s no electricity out here, except a couple of over worked generators in the main tents in the camp. It’s all very basic, Alex, I’m afraid, even the water has to be brought in by truck. We’ve no ‘mod cons’ at all. I expect it was just a reflection on your lens.”

The bumpy track at the base of the cliff weaved between and around fallen stones and rocks, and then it turned to the left into the natural gap that split the cliff into two.

“Wow, we’ll have fun exploring here, Natasha!” Alex said, examining the narrow pass. Above them, the sky had disappeared to a thin strip of blue, in places barely separating the tops of the cliffs from each other and keeping most of the hot sun out; the air was much cooler. Alex stuck his head out of the window and looked up. A falcon circled the top of the cliffs, then swooped down so low that Alex felt the rush of air over his head before it soared up high to the top of the cliffs again. Its high-pitched screech sounded eerie as it echoed off the rock face. He watched the falcon land on a ledge high up on the left, before it disappeared from view.

“Mum! Did you see that?”

“I did! I was hoping he’d come and greet us,” she said. “He’s usually around somewhere.”

“It’s probably being territorial trying to frighten us away, not greet us, Mum,” Natasha said. “We’re probably disturbing him, Alex.”

Alex ignored his sister, and called out, “hello.”

Back came the reply, “hello…hello… hello…”

The towering cliffs had almost closed in on them on both sides, and Alex’s voice bounced off the walls over and over, softer and softer, until it had gone.

They neared the point where the pass was at its narrowest. Suddenly, two men, carrying guns, sprang out from behind a boulder and blocked the pass with their outstretched arms, taking advantage of two strategically placed boulders that narrowed the pass even more. They were shouting in Arabic and waving at Julia to stop the car. Julia obliged, and her hands froze tightly to the steering wheel. She kept the engine running.

The two men ran to the car, shouting and banging loudly on the side with their guns drawn, indicating that everyone should get out. The children were terrified and didn’t move. The men indicated by shouting and miming at Julia that she was to turn the engine off. She reluctantly obeyed and quickly glanced ahead to the end of the pass in the hope of seeing anyone from the camp. But there was no one. At this time of day everyone would still be at the excavation site for another hour or two.

“Come on, we’d better do what they say. They want us out,” she said as steadily as she could. “It’ll be fine, don’t worry, I won’t let them hurt you.”

She cautiously climbed out, her mind racing as to what she should do next. But she was immediately grabbed by the arm and pulled away from the car by the taller of the two men. He pointed with his gun to where he wanted her to stand. She refused to move away from her children, and pulled her arm from his grip. He became angry and waved the gun in her face, then again over to where he wanted her to stand a few feet away. Julia realized they were not joking. She quickly moved to where he was pointing. He shouted into her face. That was obviously a warning, she thought, but she refused to be intimidated.

“Don’t you dare touch my children!” she shouted. “Who are you? And what on earth do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

She was ignored. They either didn’t speak English, or they chose not to. She then tried in French and broken Italian, but to no effect.

The shorter of the two men pulled the children out of the car and indicated with a shove that they should stand by their mother, away from the car. The children were terrified and did as they were told.

“I said,” Julia tried again, a little louder, putting her arms around her children, “what do you think you’re doing? You just can’t go around holding people up at gunpoint, looting at will!” Her voice echoed around the cliffs above them, but it had little effect on the men. She was completely ignored again. The echo made her realize how stupid that had sounded, since holding them up at gunpoint, and looting at will was exactly what they were doing.

So Julia and her children stood there, helplessly, watching these aggressive men open all the car doors and proceed to empty everything out of their bags and throw the disregarded contents on to the ground. They acted fast, and didn’t seem interested in anything they came across, including Alex’s camera and Natasha’s ipod. Everything was cast aside around them.

“Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s us they want,” Julia whispered after a while. “I don’t think what they’re after is in the car, either.”

The children looked at her and she gave them a wink.

Both men continued to empty the Land Rover of Julia’s field equipment, trays, bottles of water, maps, ranging poles; they disregarded everything. The taller one was obviously giving the orders, as he was shouting at the heavier one, who was sweating and looking very worried and red in the face. Having tipped out the contents of the children’s bags and emptied the car of anything loose, the two men then climbed into the car and lifted up the seats. They even took the spare wheel off the back door and examined it, then kicked it. They could find nothing, it seemed, that they wanted.

They were becoming more frustrated. The taller one clipped the other one around the head with the back of his hand. There was still a lot of shouting and waving of arms by both of them, and if it hadn’t been so frightening, Alex thought, it would have been funny. He even had to concentrate on not giggling out loud. The tall one was now stamping his feet in temper, kicking at the dusty ground, and waving his gun around as if it was a toy, getting himself wound up and ready to explode. The fatter of the two tried his best to calm the other down.

When he had composed himself, wiped his brow and dusted himself off, the taller of the two men indicated to Julia, with a flick of his gun, to put everything back into the car.

Julia slowly walked over and carefully started to pick up the children’s bags and clothes. She made the point of brushing everything off, carefully folding them, and re-packing them properly, looking at the men defiantly in the eye as she did so. She then walked around the car and slowly and meticulously proceeded pack her equipment back into the back, as if to make it known that they had been greatly wronged.

Natasha realized that her mother was showing them she was not intimidated. She took her time, and for the second time that day, Natasha felt proud of her mother.

The men grew impatient, and bent down to help Julia, muttering to each other bitterly. She even indicated that they put the spare wheel back onto the back door, and they did, to Natasha’s amazement. They were in a hurry to get going, and Julia knew it. Another car from the camp, just around the corner could appear at anytime and catch these men red handed. She knew they needed to be quick so she continued to load up the car as slowly as she dared.

More words were exchanged, the men talked under their breath for a while. The taller man looked over at the children and beckoned to them to come over quickly and help finish loading, but Natasha and Alex weren’t sure if it was safe to move, seeing that guns were still being waved at them. Realizing their concern, the fatter man put his gun in its holster in an over emphasized gesture, making sure the children understood they were not going to be shot. He then waved them over again, smiling, and talking in an overly friendly tone, which Natasha understood to mean, “I’m not going to hurt you, it’s all a big mistake...”

His disgusting smile revolted Natasha, and she noticed he had a gold tooth on his bottom row, which she thought ridiculous; was he trying to look like a pirate or something? She couldn’t bear looking at him. His accomplice also put away his weapon, gave an apologetic smile and went over and patted Alex on the head. He jerked his head away.

“Get off, you creep,” he said under his breath.

The man laughed, almost over compensating for the children’s expressions of distain. He tried to mime that it was all a big joke. He indicated that they go and help their mother pack up the car, and it was safe to do so. The children checked with her first before they moved, and she nodded that it was OK.

As Natasha walked past the shorter man, he whispered something in her ear, and stroked her plait as she went past him. Natasha turned round sharply and shouted, “don’t touch me, you disgusting creep!”

Julia immediately stood up to see what had happened, and both men shook their hands as if to say, “sorry, sorry.” The tall man quickly spoke, and the short man gave a fake laugh and threw his arms in the air to show it was all OK, or a sort of joke, a big, big mistake.

“Are you OK Natasha?” her mother asked.

“Yes, he’s just a creep,” she spat out, staring the man in the eyes defiantly.

Julia noticed he had a small flashlight protruding from his pocket. Alex had been right then, she thought. He had seen a signal after all.

With all their belongings back in the car, Julia and her children were told to get back in and go. Julia gave one last look at the men before turning the ignition key. She started the car, and sped off, leaving the men coughing in a cloud of dust.