Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark by Campbell Black

Author:Campbell Black [Black, Campbell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0100-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

Cairo

THE AFTERNOON was sunny, the sky almost a pure white. Whiteness reflected from everything, from walls, clothing, glass, as if the light had become a frost that lay across all surfaces.

“Did we need the monkey?” Indy asked. They were going quickly through the crowded street, passing the bazaars, the merchants.

‘It followed me, I didn’t exactly bring it,” Marion said.

“It must be attached to you.”

“It’s not so much me it’s attached to, Indy. It thinks you’re its father, see? It’s got some of your looks, anyhow.”

“My looks, your brains.”

Marion was silent for a while before asking, “Why haven’t you found yourself a nice girl to settle down with and raise nine kids?”

“Who says I haven’t?”

She glanced at him. It pleased him to think he saw a brief flash of panic on her face, of envy. “You couldn’t take the responsibility. My dad really had you figured, Indy. He said you were a bum.”

“He was being generous.”

“The most gifted bum he ever trained, but a bum anyhow. He loved you, you know that? It took a hell of a lot for you to alienate him.”

Indy sighed. “I don’t want to rehash it, Marion.”

“I don’t want that, either,” she said. “But sometimes I like to remind you.”

“An emotional hypodermic, is that it?”

“A jag, right. You need it to keep you in your place.”

Indy began to walk more quickly. There were times when, despite his own defenses, she managed to slide just under his skin. It was like the unexpected desire he’d felt last night. I don’t need it, he thought. I don’t need it in my life. Love means some kind of order, and you don’t want order when you’ve become accustomed to thriving on chaos.

“You haven’t told me where we’re going yet,” Marion said.

“We meet Sallah, then we go see Sallah’s expert, Imam.”

“What I like is how you drag me everywhere,” Marion said. “It reminds me of my father sometimes. He dragged me around the globe like I was a rag.”

They reached a fork in the street. All at once the monkey pulled itself free of Marion’s hand and ran through the crowd in quick, loping movements.

“Hey!” Marion shouted. “Get back here!”

Indy said, relieved, “Let it go.”

“I was just getting used to it.”

Indy gave her a dirty look, caught her by the hand and made her keep up with him.

The monkey scuttled along, slipping through the crowds that jammed the street. It avoided the outstretched hands of people who wanted to touch it, then it turned a corner and stepped into a doorway. There it leaped into the arms of the man who had trained it. He had trained it very well. He held it against his body, popped a confection in its mouth and then moved out of the doorway. The monkey was better than a bloodhound, and a hundred times smarter.

The man looked along the narrow street, raising his face toward the rooftops. He waved.

From a nearby rooftop somebody waved back.

Then he patted the animal. It had done its job

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