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‘Be my guest.’
‘If you two do not stop wasting time and move,’ came a noise from below, out of the precipice, ‘I will employ you both as donkeys. You can carry the treasure to England on your backs!’
That got Karim moving. Even I, tortured wreck that I was, somehow managed to pull myself to my feet. A few moments later, the top of a top hat appeared above the edge of the abyss, followed by the hard head of Mr Rikkard Ambrose.
‘How in God’s name did you manage to keep that thing on while climbing up there?’ I demanded.
All I got in answer was a cool look and silence. Mr Ambrose pulled himself up the rest of the way and, unlike me, didn’t seem to feel the need to collapse on the spot. Instead, he surveyed the ledge, which led up the steep mountainside, forming a path about two feet wide.
‘This is…inconvenient,’ he stated.
‘Inconvenient?’ That was not the word I would have chosen for this harrowing ordeal of a hellish climb.
‘Indeed. It will be difficult to transport all the gold back down there.’
‘Oh yes, indeed, Sir. It will also be difficult to transport ourselves back down there. Especially without cracking our heads open.’
‘Well, no sense in wasting time. Let’s move!’
He started forward, and I, forgetting I still had the rope around my waist, was nearly tugged off my feet, stumbling after him.
‘Keep up, Mr Linton!’
‘You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?’
‘I have no idea what you mean, Mr Linton.’
*~*~**~*~*
We climbed for hours upon hours. When the sun was setting and the whole mountain was being flooded in red-golden light, we finally approached the top. My heart was hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs, and not just from the exertion. This was it. The venture I had, to some extent, staked my fortunes on was reaching its climax. I had talked Mr Ambrose into this expedition. If we were not going to find gold at the top of this mountain, he would be, to put it mildly, displeased.
I did not want to see Mr Rikkard Ambrose displeased. Not at all.
But when we climbed the last stack of rocks and finally had our first view of the mountaintop, all thoughts of treasure and gold, yes even all thoughts of Mr Rikkard Ambrose, flew out of my head, because there, right in front of me, stretched a sight the like of which I had never seen before. For a moment I thought we had been magically transported to Egypt, to the great pyramids of Giza. But no, the stone here was grey, not the colour of sand. And besides, even though I had been to Egypt, I had never got to see the pyramids of Giza. But I could see this one. Oh yes, I definitely could.
Like a crown atop the head of an ancient king, a majestic stone pyramid rose on the highest point of the mountaintop. Around it stood various smaller buildings, impressive monuments in their own right. They stood atop a broad grassy stretch of land that once had been tamed by rows upon rows of stone terraces, but was now slowly being reclaimed by the wild. Mist drifted between the ancient monuments. The sun sparkled on dew.
I was awestruck.
‘Why are you standing there with your mouth open, Mr Linton?’ enquired a cool voice from beside me.
Ah. Apparently Mr Rikkard Ambrose was not quite as awestruck.
‘I was inhaling the fresh mountain air, Sir.’
‘Stop inhaling and start moving. We have work to do.’
He strode past me, off towards the largest of the pyramids. Under a wide stone lintel, there gaped an opening. I hesitated to call it a door, because for that, in my humble British opinion, you usually need a slab of wood with a knob attached to it. But it definitely was an entrance. Mr Ambrose stopped a few feet in front of it and pulled something out of his backpack that looked like a stick of wood. Only when I saw sparks fly from the flint in his hand did I realise it was a torch.
A flame flared up and, in its light, the entryway suddenly glowed, bright and red like the gates to hell. All that was missing were the words ‘All hope abandon, ye who enter here’ over the doorway. But if there had been treasure in hell, I doubt even that would have deterred Mr Rikkard Ambrose. He strode forward with confident steps. Karim and I threw each other a look - and then hurried after him, each determined to be the first to follow.
Inside, it was dark. No matter that a torch was burning - the room we were standing in was so vast that its light was simply swallowed up by the darkness. Somewhere, high in the shadows above me, I could guess at a stone ceiling, but other than that, there was only blackness.
Or was there?
Out of the corner of my eyes, I caught a glint in the shadows. The eye of an animal? No. It was too cold for that. To
o…metallic.
