Pharaoh

Pharaoh by Valerio Massimo Manfredi Page A

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Authors: Valerio Massimo Manfredi
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time. We would like you to examine the tomb and to determine, if you can, when it was built, and to describe and appraise the objects it contains. I can assure you that we have no intention of doing anything illegal. The fact is that this discovery came as a complete surprise and has considerably interfered with our schedule. We will continue to work as you occupy yourself with the excavation. You’ll be able to count on the collaboration of our staff, who have already cleared away the entrance, and use all the technical means at our disposal. Your fees will be paid in cash, when the work is completed, or into an account of your preference, in the United States or elsewhere.’
    ’One question,’ said Blake.
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘Where am I?’
    ‘At the Warren Mining Corporation site at Ras Udash.’
    ‘What I mean is, in what region?’
    ‘I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.’
    ‘Then I must warn you that my inability to locate the tomb topographically may very well interfere with its identification.’
    Maddox stared at him without blinking an eye. ‘That’s a risk we’ll have to take, Professor.’
    The waiter began to clear away the plates and Maddox got up. ‘I would suggest that we have our coffee outside, in the Bedouin tent. It’s much cooler and you can smoke if you like.’
    His guests followed him into the tent and settled on wicker chairs arranged around a little cast-iron table. The generator was to the leeward and the noise it made was carried off by the evening breeze.
    Maddox passed around a box of cigars. ‘Always so difficult to find in the States,’ he said. ‘If only they’d lift that damned Cuban embargo. Here it’s not a problem. In the Fertile Crescent, all the heads of states, ministers and members of parliament smoke them.’
    ‘That’s not all they smoke,’ snickered Gordon.
    Blake drank his coffee and lit a cigar. ‘When do you want me to start?’ he asked.
    ‘Tomorrow’s fine,’ said Maddox. ‘If jet lag isn’t a problem. The sooner you begin the better.’
    As they were still talking, Blake noticed a light approaching in the midst of a cloud of dust on the track that led to the camp, and the two-stroke engine of an ATV could soon be heard over the noise of the generator. The ATV stopped in the vehicle parking area and a person wearing a dark work suit and a helmet got out. When the helmet was removed a wave of blonde hair settled onto the shoulders of a young woman of about thirty who approached the tent with a quick, light step.
    Maddox got up and walked towards her. ‘Sarah, come on over. Have you eaten? Sit down and I’ll have something brought out for you.’
    The girl stepped out of her overalls and hung them on a pole, remaining in jeans and a T-shirt. Blake watched her admiringly as a light wind lifted her hair around her face.
    ‘Let me introduce our guest, Professor William Blake.’
    ‘The Egyptologist,’ said the girl, extending her hand. ‘I’m Sarah Forrestall. Welcome to Ras Udash. I hope you’ll like it here in this inferno. Thirty degrees by day and two or three below zero at night, but it could be worse. This is the best time of day: not too hot and not too cold.’
    ‘I’m used to it,’ Blake said.
    ‘Sarah is our topographer. She may be useful for your work,’ said Maddox.
    ‘Right,’ said Blake. ‘A topographer would be just the thing, if you’d let me know where we are, that is.’
    Maddox didn’t seem to notice, and not even Sarah picked up on his comment as she sat down to eat a cold chicken sandwich that the Arab waiter had brought, together with a bottle of mineral water.
    ‘Professor Blake will be starting tomorrow. Can you give him a ride out and help him if he needs it?’ asked Maddox.
    ‘With pleasure,’ said the girl. ‘I’ll meet you at the parking area at seven, if that’s all right with you. What do you need?’
    ‘Not much. A ladder to begin with. A rope ladder would be fine. A harness, a torch, a ball of string

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