The Cult of Osiris (34 page)

And you think I'm not, is that it? Excuse
me,
Dr Wilde, but you wouldn
't
even be here if it wasn't for me. /was the one who found out about the other entrance to the Hall of Records, J was the one who got us into the Sphinx compound—'

By flashing your boobs!'

Macy looked offended. You think I'm just some bimbo, don't you? Because
I
'm hot and
I
don't get straight As in everything, you don't take me seriously!'

You're not taking
this
seriously!

Eddie stepped forward, moving between them.
¹
"This"?'

All of this!' Nina cried, waving her hands at the ancient structure around them. Everything!
It
's all important, but sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the world who actually
cares
about it!'

Macy's tone became withering. Oh,
I
see - the entire world of archaeology revolves around you! Dr Berkeley was right, you really
do
have to be the centre of attention all the time.' She pulled out the folded magazine pages and flapped them at Nina. 'You know, when I read this I thought you were so cool and so smart - that you were somebody really special. But you're just like everyone else.' She stalked to the entrance and threw the pages outside. Disappointment overcame her anger. Everything's about you.

That's not true,' insisted Nina, now on the defensive. T don
't
care about taking the credit.'

You enjoyed it, though.'

Of course I did,' she admitted after a moment. 'But that's not why I do what I do.
I
do it because . . . because I
have
to!

There was an almost confessional tone to her voice. Eddie raised an eyebrow. You
have
to?'

Yeah. It's . . . it's who
I
am. My parents spent their lives trying to reveal the truth about the past to the world - not so a few people could profit from it, but for everyone. That's what
I
do, too.' She paused, almost afraid to confess her feelings. 'And if I can't do it, then what else
can
I do? What else have
I
got?

You've got me,' said Eddie.

I know. But . . .' For a moment she couldn't face him, before giving him a sad, shameful look. 'But what if that's not enough?'

An awkward silence filled the chamber. Macy stared uncomfortably down at her feet, while Nina again found herself unable to meet Eddie's gaze.

Well, you know,' he finally said, managing a faint smile,
I
never really did see you as the stay-at-home housewife type.'

I'm sorry,' Nina said quietly.

He put his arms round her. No need.'

You're not mad at me?

Only that you didn't get this out into the open ages ago!' He smiled again, more broadly. That's what was wrong all this time? You thought there was nothing else you could do except archaeology?'

Nina nodded. Pretty much.'

Well, that's just fucking daft!' he said, laughing. 'You're the smartest person I know, you could do anything you want. Even dance.' He gave her a pointed look. 'You've just got to
want
to want.'

I guess

'So what do you want, right now?'

She didn't answer at first, then one corner of her mouth creased upwards, very slightly.
'I
can think of something/ she said, 'but we can't do it in front of Macy.'

He grinned. She can join in if she wants -1 could handle a threesome!'

Eddie!' Nina cried, batting his arm. Macy's eyes widened.

He cackled. 'For fuck's sake, you're so easy to wind up. We're married, and you
still
can't tell when I'm taking the piss.'

Nina harrumphed. 'Just for that, we're going to do the other thing I really want to do right now. Which is find the Pyramid of Osiris.' She looked first at the symbol carved on the wall, then to Macy at the entrance. But if we're going to do that, we need to be a team again.
I
'm sorry I blew up at you like that, Macy. I shouldn't have done -
that
was unprofessional. Besides, you were right, we couldn't have done this without you. Any of it.'

Macy still looked sulky, but accepted the apology. 'And maybe I got a bit pissy. So . . . sorry, Dr Wilde.

Thanks. And it's Nina,' she added, after a moment. Call me Nina.

The young woman's expression brightened a little. Okay. Nina.' She walked back into the chamber.

'So,' said Eddie, 'what'vewe got?'

At first glance, what Macy had discovered seemed nothing special, a symbol less than two inches high carved into the stone just below the ceiling. It was a stylised eye - the same one featured in the logo of the Osirian Temple.

Eddie checked a compass. Okay, so it's looking . . . towards two hundred and ten degrees.' He took out a map and spread it on the stone floor. So we're after a canyon on that heading, right?'

The silver canyon, yeah,' Nina confirmed.

He used the compass to align the map with the real world. 'There's a fair few canyons out in the desert that way,' he said. What did the zodiac say, exactly?'

Just that the second Eye of Osiris sees the way to the silver canyon. To its start, presumably, because the rest of the hieroglyphs said where to go once you reached its end.'

Okay, so we want a canyon mouth.' He looked more closely at the contour lines, bunched tightly where streams had cut their way down from the desert's relative highlands. 'Here,' Eddie continued, tapping a spot on the map. 'This canyon leads up to a big open plain, and it starts right in line with where the eye's looking. It opens out here,' another tap, so going seven miles west takes you to . . . here.'

Nina leaned closer. The point Eddie indicated on the map contained nothing. Literally nothing; the contours were so widely spaced as to make the region practically flat. If that's the right canyon.'

It's about fifteen miles from here, and the terrain's not too bad. We can drive out there, if we're careful.'

Nina gazed at the expanse of emptiness on the map. It didn't seem likely that an unknown pyramid could possibly be out there, but she had discovered other incredible sites in equally barren environments. 'We'll check out the canyon first - and if it seems to be the right place, we'll follow it and see if it really leads to the Pyramid of Osiris.'

It must do,' Macy said excitedly, standing up. Everything fits. It's
got
to be there!

Let's actually find the bloody thing before we start celebrating,' Eddie cautioned.

We will,
I
know
it! Oh, my God! We'll be famous! Okay, you're already famous, but
I
'll be famous too!' She hurried outside, pausing to collect the scattered pages with a slightly embarrassed look back at Nina. 'If the canyon's only fifteen miles away we'll be there in no time!'

She's never driven in the desert, has she?' said Eddie as Macy splashed back across the hall. He noticed Nina staring after the younger woman with an expression somewhere between wistful and jealous. 'What?'

I used to be that enthusiastic once,' she said. I kinda miss it.'

You
are
still that enthusiastic' he told her, folding the map. 'Christ, once you start on about something I can't shut you up.'

No, I mean . . .' She sighed again. Tm only twelve years older than her, but it feels like a lot more. Where the hell did the time go?'

You're not going to get all depressed again, are you?' said Eddie, mock-chiding. I've had enough of that recently.

Yeah, thanks for the sympathy.

No, really, if anybody should be getting depressed, it's me. I'll be forty in a couple of years. Forty! That's all old and grown up and stuff.'

I don't think you'll be growing up any time soon.

Tchah!' They followed Macy out of the chamber.

Their battered Land Rover Defender picked its way across the sun-seared desolation. Even with the windows open and the blower on at full blast, the cabin was sickeningly hot, the elderly 4x4 lacking air-con. Eddie, at the wheel of the right-hand-drive vehicle, dealt with the heat with frequent sips from his water bottle, while Nina tried to move as little as possible.

Macy, between them on the centre seat, seemed unaffected by the temperature, almost bouncing with anticipation. 'Are we there yet?' she asked, peering at the GPS unit on the dash.

Another mile,' said Eddie. 'And if you say that one more time, you're walking the rest of the bloody way.'

Through the shimmering air oheod, something took on form - a cliff stretching from one horizon to the other, cut by Nile floods over millions of years. But as they drew closer, Nina picked out a dark slash gouged into it, something shadowed from the pitiless sun. 'Eddie, you see that? Could be our canyon/

Could be,' he agreed, heading for it.

They stopped at the canyon mouth. Nina exited and donned a baseball cap, glad to be out of the draining heat of the Land Rover even if it meant exposing herself to the sun's full fury. Something in the canyon wall caught her eye. 'Take a look at this.' The rockface was a pale yellow-grey, sunlight glaring off the sandstone - but in places the reflected light was brighter still, glinting.

Is that silver?' Eddie asked, making out very fine threads running through the stone.

Macy lowered her sunglasses for a better view. 'Guess that explains the name. You think there's more of it?'

There must be,' said Nina. Tt'd justify the effort of coming all the way out here. Egypt's got almost no silver deposits, which is why it was considered so valuable back then. Anyone who found a seam would be
veiyrich.

Eddie looked up the canyon, which rose at a shallow angle. The sandy floor was easily wide enough for the Land Rover, only occasional fallen rocks presenting any likely obstacles. Think there might be any left? Maybe we could scrape up enough for a silver egg cup or something.'

Nina grinned at the odd image. 'We can see.

They returned to the 4x4. Eddie carefully guided the Defender up the canyon, dropping them into shadow. Before long the ascent steepened, the turns becoming tighter.

Nina spotted something to one side and told Eddie to stop. T think that's our silver mine.' Several roughly rectangular recesses had been dug into the cliff. 'You'll have to live without your egg cup, though. All the best stuff's been taken.'

Well, arse. Must be the right place, though.'

I told you,' said Macy. 'We just have to follow the direction of Mercury from the zodiac and we'll find it.

I dunno,' Eddie said, sceptical. A temple being buried by sand I can go for, maybe even something the size of the Sphinx . . . but a
pyramid?
They're not exactly hard to miss.'

He started the Land Rover again. The ground became even steeper, the walls closing in. The Defender rounded another turn, and entered a tight channel, beyond which was visible nothing but open sky. They had reached the far end of the ravine.

Eddie stopped as they came out of the canyon, checking his compass and the GPS before pointing. That's the way the zodiac said to go. Macy, there're some binocs in my rucksack -can you get them for me?'

Macy handed him the binoculars. 'Can you see the pyramid?

T spy, with my little eye, something beginning with . . . S.'

Syramid?

Sand,' was Nina's more realistic guess.

Eddie nodded. Shitloads of sand, I was going to say, but near enough. How far away is it meant to be?

One atur,' said Nina. 'Six point eight-five miles.

He checked to each side, still finding nothing. There's definitely nothing pointy.' He entered new co-ordinates into the GPS. If it's there, this should take us right to it'

They set off again, the vast empty plain opening out all round them. Nina kept watch on the GPS, its display counting down the distance. Four miles, three, two . . . There was still nothing visible ahead, no lost monument rising from the dunes. She looked at Macy. The eagerness on the young woman's face was visibly fading with almost every foot they travelled.

One mile. Still nothing in sight. Eddie gave Nino another glance, his expression warning of impending disappointment. Half a mile. Less. The landscape ahead was indistinguishable from what they had already covered.

The GPS bleeped. 'This is it,' said Eddie, stopping the Land Rover. 'We're here.

Macy jumped out, turning to see only endless empty desert. 'I ... I don't get it,' she said, running to the other side of the 4x4 as if expecting to find a different view. 'We followed all the clues, we found the silver canyon . . . why isn't it here?'

Nina put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder as Eddie clambered on to the Land Rover's roof to survey the surrounding plain. 'Hey, it's okay. There might still be parts of it under the sand.'

Only
partsofil?'

This is what archaeology is usually about - it's very, very rare that a completely new site is found intact.

They're intact when
you
find them, though.' To Nina's surprise and dismay, Macy seemed on the verge of tears.

Hey, hey, what's wrong?' she said. 'We haven't even started checking the area yet. We might still find something.

No we won't,' Macy stammered. There's nothing here. I've wasted your time - I've wasted
everybody's
time, I almost got you both killed, and for nothing! Oh, my God, I'm sorry!

What - why are you sorry?' Nina asked helplessly. 'Macy, why are you so upset?'

Because . . . because Dr Berkeley was right about me! And so was my professor, and so were my teachers at high school. . . and so were you.

Rightabout what?'

Macy couldn
't
look at her, tears trickling down her cheeks. T'm-I'm-I'm worthless,' she managed to say.

No, you're not,' said Nina, shocked by the young woman's sudden and total collapse of confidence. 'Why would you say that?'

Because I
am.
I've never had to work for anything in my entire life. I always got whatever I wanted just because I was rich and pretty and popular, and people did things for me.' She bowed her head miserably. And the one time, the
one time,
when
I
really, really try hard to prove
I
can achieve something myself... I completely fail and let everyone down!
I
let
you
down.'