The Eye of the Serpent by Philip Caveney Page B

there.’
    â€˜Sure have. Got into some trouble last time. I was lucky to get out with my skin in one piece.’
    Alec was about to say something else, but he suddenly experienced a powerful sensation of being followed and turned his head to lookbehind him. At first he saw nothing unusual – just the baking sand dunes, rippling and undulating in the rising heat; but then he saw shapes coming through the heat haze – five or six brownish creatures prowling along the road behind them.
    â€˜Mr Wade . . .?’he said.
    Ethan stopped walking and turned to look. As they watched, the rippling shapes seemed to take solid form, as though they had appeared magically from some other dimension. Now Alec could make out the brown spotted fur, the awkward gait of an animal that had longer front legs than back ones. He could see the ugly, brutish heads and the prominent ears. The creatures were staring at the two humans with a steadfast, malignant gaze as they slunk steadily forward.
    Hyenas
. Alec felt a chill jolt through him. He knew all about hyenas. On a trip to the Serengeti with his father he had once witnessed a pack of them tearing at the carcass of an antelope with jaws powerful enough to splinter the creature’s bones.
    â€˜What the heck are they doing way out here?’ asked Ethan quietly. He glanced at Alec. ‘Don’t worry, kid. Those things are cowards – they only go for easy prey.’
    â€˜And we don’t strike you as easy? Two people in the middle of nowhere?’
    â€˜Oh, they ain’t gonna bother us.’ Ethan turned away and began walking on, affecting an air of unconcern, but as he fell back into step, Alec saw that the American had taken his pistol out of its holster and was checking that it was fully loaded.
    â€˜That’s a Colt forty-five, isn’t it?’ he asked.
    Ethan nodded. ‘Yup. This gun has quite a history. Belonged to my dad and his dad before him. Thing must be over sixty years old, but it’s never let me down yet.’ He glanced briefly over his shoulder, as if weighing up the enemy. ‘I gotta say, I’m surprised to see a pack of those things this far north. You ever see ’em before?’
    Alec shook his head. ‘Not around here. They were around in ancient times, though. The Egyptians kept them as pets. Occasionally they used to fatten them up and eat them. They were considered quite a delicacy.’
    â€˜Is that a fact?’ Ethan threw a glance over his shoulder. ‘Well, I’ve got six shots for six hyenas. If it comes to it, I should be able to take them all out.’
    â€˜That’s assuming you don’t miss,’ said Alec.
    â€˜Kid, I
never
miss. Don’t worry about a thing.’
    Alec tried not to be afraid, but he was horribly aware that the hyenas were steadily closing in on them and, though he knew that most of their species were scavengers who preferred to feed off the kill of other animals, he also remembered being told that the spotted variety were skilled predators who were more than capable of dragging down live prey. He licked his lips and looked at the American. ‘Mr Wade . . .?’
    â€˜I told you, kid, call me Ethan!’
    â€˜Umm . . . yes, of course. Ethan, I don’t suppose you have another weapon I could use?’
    Ethan thought for a moment and then reached into a sheath at his belt and withdrew a big broad-bladed hunting knife. ‘Think you could handle that?’ he asked.
    â€˜I suppose so.’ Alec took the knife. It was so big he had to use both hands to clasp the bone handle. He made a few jabbing motions in the air.
    â€˜That’s the idea,’ said Ethan. ‘But look, I really don’t think you’re going to need to—’
    A low rumbling growl stopped them in their tracks and they turned to see that one of the hyenas, a huge barrel-chested brute, had moved on ahead of the others and was now