Chapter Two: Blinded By The Light

CHAPTER TWO

"Blinded By The Light"

Andrew lifted the torch and dusted himself off. Almost at once he had to shield his eyes. He lowered the torch and realized that he was standing in a large room that was painted in gold. The torch was reflecting light brilliantly off of the metallic coated walls, and Andrew was all but blinded. He rubbed his eyes in amazement. Cautiously he knelt down and felt the floor; it too was covered in the reflective material. He was surrounded by stone that was crammed with writing; not hieroglyphic but Greek.

In disturbing this ancient space he had hurled dust all around the room and it was sparkling in the glow from the gold creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The mustiness was almost unbearable and he pulled his shirt over his nose for relief. The walls were devoid of painting other than the bullion colored veneer. All of the writing was painstakingly etched. Andrew may have been the first person in 2000 years to set foot within the gilded chamber.

Down below Jahim and his men no longer needed their torches as the glow emanating from above illuminated the entire corridor they were standing in. At the sight of this, some of his men turned around and scurried out of the labyrinth, mumbling about curses and other maladies. Jahim watched his men nervously pack up and leave. Unfazed by their cowardice he wiped the sweat from his brow and turned back toward the opening in the ceiling.

The room was almost perfectly square and about 10 feet high. Andrew set his torch over the opening in the floor of the chamber to dissipate the flame’s light so that he could see more clearly. In doing so dust was dropped on his men down below. This prompted worried calls, seeing if he was alright above. After reassuring Jahim and what was left of his men, Andrew turned his attention to scanning the rest of the etchings. There was one area devoid of writing except for one word. Above this was what looked like a circle cut into the gold covered stone. He walked up and took a closer look. Having a professor of classical studies as your father was helpful in situations like this because he forced his son to read the Greek classics in their native tongue. Upon closer inspection the word below the circle was a name: Libanius. He couldn’t immediately place it.

Andrew studied the circle with great care and decided that it must be some sort of button. He dusted around the carving and it was obviously more than just an etching. Knowing that it could very well be booby trapped he decided to push it in anyways. He closed his eyes while he depressed the button expecting a large stone to drop on him or arrows to be flung from hidden firing holes.

The button slowly slid into the wall and stopped. Andrew opened his eyes to find his body, as well as the chamber intact. Directly behind him, on the other side of the room, came the sound of stone grinding on stone. He whipped around to see a small compartment being revealed on the opposite side of the chamber.

Andrew could hardly contain himself. He rushed to the other side of the room expecting some sort of magnificent piece of history. Instead when he knelt down and gazed in the compartment, he found what looked like a piece of leather, shriveled and bunched up sitting on a small gold pedestal. He studied the artifact looking for anything that may clue him in on its significance. He tempted fate and reached for the ancient relic fully expecting fire and brimstone once he removed it from its perch. This time like the last, nothing happened. He slipped it into his satchel and made for the opening in the floor without hesitating. He was not going to stick around and find out what trap he was going to fall into.

Andrew slid down onto the outcrop and beckoned for his trusty sidekick to come over. He climbed down off of the ledge, all covered in dust. Jahim helped him onto his shoulders. He immediately leaped to the floor of the corridor.

“Jahim lets get out of here!” Andrew gasped.

They exchanged excited looks and started running. Neither of them said a word.

Chapter one is finished

Chapter one is finished please read below. These will be serialized so check back for the next exciting chapter!

Chapter One "The Ghastly Tomb"

CHAPTER ONE

“The Ghastly Tomb”

                                                         

Which way was it? Ah yes! “Down the corridor to the left. Hurry, Hurry!” he commanded. In no time at all the darkness had descended on all in the party. Torches were lit and handed down the line that was 6 deep. Trampled and muffled footsteps could be heard up ahead. His heart raced knowing that soon they would uncover the great secret that he had labored so long to find. The walls at this point were covered in ancient hieroglyphs. The colors were vibrant not faded as he had expected. They hurried along almost running.

Eerily; the flickering of the torches cast ghastly shadows as they trekked on. Every other second Andrew thought a mummy was materializing out of thin air. The ancient stone floor was covered in sand, all of their shoes tapped loudly as they tried not to slip on the slippery combination. Suddenly they stopped. The corridor had ended and there was now a decision to make; go left or go right. Andrew asked the man to his left to hold the torch while he pulled out his tomb journal. He hurriedly flipped through the worn yellowed pages looking desperately for the map he knew was there. Finally after a few moments he found it. To his left he could hear that the party ahead had chosen their path, did they know something he did not? No, No. Read your notes - trust yourself! Andrew said to himself. It was clear by the map; the right direction was north, after looking at his compass, it happened to be the opposite direction of the other party.

“Follow me!”

Andrew veered right, grabbing the torch back and stuffing his book in his satchel in one motion.

…

 

Creeky bones and an oppressive heat could not hinder professor Belderson from his goal of unearthing the ancient prize. He had uncovered many a tomb and his instincts had never failed him. He was not about to let a young start up pull the rug out from under him. Go left you fools, Belderson bellowed out to his team. Left they went. The sound of the other team faded behind them as they kept up their torrid pace. Sweat now dripped from below his straw hat, the professor anxiously wiped it away with his handkerchief.

The ceiling ahead was starting to angle down and soon he and his team would have to start slouching as they progressed. The professor quickly glanced at the hieroglyphs on the ceiling as now they were only a few short inches from his head. Is that the glyph for warning, an oblong circle with a slash through it? With such low light it was hard to tell. He thought he had seen it but with time short decided to move on.

Belderson was in his mid fifties, tall and thin. He towered over the Egyptian locals he had hired to help him find the ancient tomb. A professor’s salary was not quite enough for him, he dabbled on the side with antiques dealers. Twice a year he would go on trips looking for treasures he could sell. A short temper and angry disposition kept the professor from having many friendships and he was generally disliked in the school halls. Not that this bothered him, he despised the “little rats” as he called his students. 

The feeling that something was wrong crept back into his head. He let the others in the party go ahead.

“Keep the pace up!” The professor snarled.

He slowed to sneak a look at his notes. He kept walking making sure not to bump his head on the ceiling, he had to bend over as he walked.

Suddenly the sound of screams echoed all around him.  

Belderson stopped dead in his tracks. He was now alone. Where could the others have gone? The screams were so close and now gone, yet he saw nowhere for them to have come from. It must be a booby-trap. But he was still here. He dared not move a muscle.

…

 

Andrew stopped quickly reacting to the screams he heard from behind him. Maybe it was Belderson, maybe Andrew was in over his head. Nervously he turned and muttered:

“Carry on” to the others. They anxiously obliged. Their pace was now noticeably slower and their footsteps had grown quieter. All that could be heard was the flicker from the oil torches. He could feel his heart pounding, he was sure it had enough and was trying to burst out of his chest and go back. His hand was noticeably shaking and he gripped his satchel to stop the trembling. His eyes darted around searching for any hint of trouble. None came and on they pressed. The heat outside was unbearable but inside deep within the bowels of this subterranean labyrinth the air was dead, and it only magnified the misery they all were feeling.

 Just as the drama seemed to reach a crescendo the hall ended unceremoniously. The corridor did not continue on and there was no door or writing to clue him in on what to do next, which was unusual because the rest of the maze was covered in writing, it was almost as if this construct was an afterthought. Andrew walked up to the wall to take a closer look. There must be a clue on this wall. He stepped within inches of the old stone surface surveying every nook and cranny. He dusted off areas where he thought he had seen something, maybe a secret lever or button, but to no avail. He stepped away from the wall and turned to his men.

“I guess I was wrong let’s go back” Andrew said defeated.

The others groaned and slumped.

 Andrew reached down and picked up his torch that he had laid down to survey the wall. As he was standing back up something curious happened. The shadows the torch was creating on the ceiling were of the most curious sort. The shadows were not on the ceiling but on a shaft that was hidden from view when they had came down the hall. Looking up he could see that the shaft was narrow. He had to crane his neck but he could see that if he had help he could get up into a ledge that was a few feet from the mouth of the shaft.

He had one of the men help him onto the shoulders of Jahim his trusted right hand man on all of his adventures in Egypt.

“Jahim once I am on your shoulders lift me just a little more and I should be able to reach the ledge.”

“But Andrew if I do that you will have to go all alone; none of us can fit through the shaft.”

“I realize that, but what choice do I have? We’re at a dead end.” Andrew retorted.

Jahim lifted Andrew off of his shoulders guiding him for the ledge. Reaching out and grabbing the edge, he pulled himself off of his friend and onto the outcrop. Jahim tossed up a torch. And so it was, Andrew was all alone.

Chapter One- Coming soon!

This is the home of the children's adventure- Andrew Bennett: The Boy Detective. It will be serialized, and new chapters will be added as I write them. I hope you enjoy.