The Eye of the Serpent by Philip Caveney Page B

little rest.’
    â€˜Er . . . sure, I understand. It’s just that . . . with me expecting you to be a man and all, I kind of arranged for you to share a tent with someone called Mickey Randall. He’s a swell guy, but I expect you’d prefer to have a tent of your own.’
    â€˜But of course!’ Madeleine looked exasperated. ‘A woman sharing with a male stranger? This would not be a suitable arrangement at all.’
    â€˜It’s not a problem. I’ll go and make some changes. Just a case of shuffling people around.Alec, maybe you’d like to keep Maddie . . . er, Madeleine entertained for a while until everything is fixed up.’
    Alec shrugged. ‘Whatever you say, Ethan.’
    â€˜Thanks, kid. This shouldn’t take long.’ Ethan shot Alec a harassed look as he hurried out of the antechamber.
    Madeleine stared after him. ‘What kind of a man is this Ethan Wade?’ she asked Alec. ‘’E doesn’t seem to know what ’e’s doing.’
    Alec smiled. ‘Oh, I think he’s a nice enough chap when you get to know him. He was a little thrown by you, that’s all.’
    She gave him a puzzled look. ‘Thrown?’ she said. ‘Like a stone?’
    â€˜Er . . . no! I mean . . . I think the two of you got off on the wrong foot.’
    Now Madeleine was studying her boots with a puzzled look.
    â€˜He . . . he’s more of a man’s man, I think.’
    â€˜Ah, yes, I understand this expression. Why does ’e wear a big cowboy ’at?’
    Alec thought about it for a moment, remembering how he had been surprised by it but had quickly got used to it. ‘I suppose it’s just an American thing,’ he said.
    â€˜â€™E looks like somebody out of a Western film. Beely the Kid or . . . Tom Mix.’ Now Madeline was looking around the packed interior of the antechamber. ‘You know, this is truly amazing,’ she said. ‘A find like this is going to make ’istory. This is your first dig,
oui
?’
    â€˜Oh no, my third. I’ve worked with my uncle twice before, but they weren’t having very much luck then – we only found a few trinkets. All this’ – Alec gestured around him – ‘it is rather exciting. When news gets out, it’s going to put Tutankhamun in the shade.’
    Madeleine smiled. ‘I wanted very much to work on Tut’s tomb. I ’ad just graduated – it would ’ave been a good opportunity for me . . . but they did not need another expert, so I ’ad to be patient. When this opportunity came up, I said to myself,
Madeleine, you must not waste any time!
I set off just as soon as possible.’
    â€˜In your own plane.’ Alec couldn’t disguise the tone of envy that seeped from his voice. ‘That must be marvellous. Did you come all the way without stopping?’
    Madeleine laughed. ‘Oh no, that is not possible, Alec! I ’ave to make many stops. I go Paris to Lyon, then to Miramas, Pisa, Rome, Otranto,Potasi, Crete and then to Cairo. This takes me three days to complete.’
    â€˜Ethan didn’t know what kind of plane it was.’
    â€˜It is a Caudron C fifty-nine biplane. Built for the
Aviation Militaire
. Top speed one ’undred and seventy kilometres. Very fast, very smooth. If you like, I take you up for a flight some time.’
    â€˜Really? Gosh, I’d love that! I’ve never actually been in an aeroplane before.’
    â€˜
Non?
’ Madeleine closed her eyes for a moment. ‘But you must try it, Alec. There is nothing else in this world so good! It is like . . . it is like being a bird, you know? You look down on this tiny planet and you feel you can do whatever you want.’ She laughed. ‘My parents are not so keen on my flying. My mother is quite sure I will come to a . . .’ ow you