Chapter 1
Avebury, Wiltshire, England
January 1942
Indiana Jones stood on a hill overlooking the vast and rugged landscape. He watched as the sun was just beginning to set and smiled to himself. Behind him, he could hear talking and laughing coming from the other diggers and the sound of a shovel hitting the earth. He slowly breathed in the air around him, savouring the smell of dirt. Although renowned as a world famous archaeologist although he spent most of his time on adventures to receive priceless relics, Indy enjoyed nothing more than being on an archaeological dig.
Indy turned and smiled at his companion, Maria Crowe. Her father, Francis Crowe, was a well respected archaeologist and she was studying be an archaeologist. Maria was currently studying at the University of Salisbury and when her father had found out about an excavation taking place in Avebury, she enthusiastically agreed to go, and had contacted Indy to see if he was interested in joining them, as she knew he would be intrigued and she was well aware that some of the other archaeologists who had begun working on the site were keen to meet the world renowned archaeologist and adventurer.
"Indy, are you all right?" she asked him.
Indy nodded and replied that he was.
"I think that everyone's going to stop now", she told him.
Indiana Jones smiled warmly, and joined Maria and the others as a fire was lit and the preparation of food began.
"So", she began. "I hear that congratulations are in order."
Indy was momentarily confused.
"Oh? How so?"
Maria sighed.
"About your latest discovery of course. You know, the Ark of the Covenant", she grinned.
The rest of the group began to listen with rapt attention.
Indy offered a lop-sided smile.
"Oh yeah, I got it."
"Oh yeah?" she asked, surprised at his casual tone. "Honestly Indy, you're so nonchalant at times."
"Dr. Jones", began Jason, a newly qualified archaeologist. "The Ark of the Covenant? The very same one that was once buried in the Temple of Solomon, and is said to contain pieces of the Ten Commandments?"
Indy nodded.
"One and the same."
"Remarkable", he whispered. "Dr. Jones", he smiled. "I have to say that's wonderful news."
Dr. Roberts, another archaeologist, also complimented Indy on his recent find, and before the archaeologist could reply, Maria took over.
"And the interesting thing is", said Maria. "That was the second time that he found it."
"The second time?" repeated Jason.
"Hey Professor, that's pretty impressive."
Indy nodded, smiled and told the group that the experience had not exactly been easy, and then he found himself thinking back to late last year when the Ark had been stolen from the warehouse that it had originally been stored, back in 1936.
Together with Marion Ravenwood, Indy had gone to Egypt and there, they had met up with his old friend Sallah After a long fight with enemies and Nazi's they managed to get the Ark to the Museum in New York, where a few days later it had been put on display. Indy had also resumed his relationship with Selene Rogers, a lady whom he had been seeing, as before this particular adventure, she had informed Indy that she wanted to take a break from the relationship. A few days later, Indy and Selene had taken a long overdue holiday consisting of one week in England and two weeks in the American Southwest where Indy had spent parts of his childhood.
When Indy returned to the States, he had contacted by Maria who told him about the dig and Indy had then arranged to meet her in Avebury.
The young woman glanced over at Indy and found herself smiling.
She had come to admire the adventuring archaeologist a great deal and even though they had a brief romantic encounter and their relationship was now platonic, she still found Indy to be an extremely attractive man, and she was deeply enthralled with this courageous and daring adventurer.
"I hope that you didn't mind me asking you to come all the way over to England", she said.
"No, not at all. It's great to see you again", he told her. "And I hear that you'll be fully qualified next year."
She nodded in return and told Indy that the last few years had been really exciting for her and she felt that she had learnt a great deal in that time.
As food was passed around the group, Indy asked Maria if she had gotten any of his letters.
"Yes", he replied. Did you get mine?"
"I did," he told her, taking a bite of his food.
After they had finished eating, Indy and Maria left the group and began to walk along a narrow path. It was now beginning to get dark and Maria shivered slightly.
Maria sighed, she thought back to their brief romantic fling last year.
"Listen, Maria. About that time we first met." he began. "After I left to go to China, while I was there I met someone and…"
"Indy. Listen. Even though we had a brief romantic encounter, I still find you attractive, and I know it was just a kiss, so don't worry about it."
"Okay. I guess I can live with that." He paused a moment. "How about you? Is there…"
"…anyone special in my life? I'm not seeing anybody at the moment. I've been too busy with work.
"But, tell me about this lady you're seeing. She's a nurse, right?"
"Yeah. She works at our local hospital. She's caring, smart and really knows how to look after a guy", he grinned.
Indy's smile faded and he stopped suddenly.
Something was wrong.
The hairs on the back of Indy's neck stood up and the archaeologist knew only too well what that meant. It was a warning, something he had learnt to take notice of over the years.
"Indy, what is it?"
"Thought I heard something."
He'd no sooner said the words when a man appeared in front of Indy, startling Maria.
The man was of medium build and was dressed in khakis and before Indy had time to think, he hit the archaeologist on the jaw and Indy staggered back from the impact of the blow.
Maria screamed, and as she did, another man, taller than the first one, grabbed her and tried to cover her mouth with his hand but it was too late.
She was already yelling for help.
Indy grabbed the man by the collar, hitting him and the man fell back and fell to the ground, and as he did, the taller of the two scrambled over to Indy and flew at him, but the archaeologist was ready for him.
The first man got up and grabbed Maria and she kicked him. He yelled in pain and slapped her across the face.
Indy glowered at him, hitting the second man and he went down.
Indy then grabbed the other man who went to hit the archaeologist, but Indy instinctively ducked, and grabbed the man, shaking him.
He then pulled him to one side.
"Okay. Mind telling me what the hell is going on?!" he growled.
The man remained silent.
"Tell me!" yelled Indy once more.
Nothing.
Indy heard footsteps and he looked up to see several of the diggers approaching.
The first of the attackers was still led on the ground was now on his feet and ran off.
Indy unhitched his whip, catching the man by the ankle and the man collapsed to the floor, almost defeated. The second man lunged at Indy and one of the diggers grabbed him and he struggled to get free.
Indy bolted over to the fallen man and pulled him up.
The look in his eyes told Indy that he wasn't going anywhere.
"Are you okay?" Indy asked Maria.
She touched her cheek.
"I'm fine."
"What happened?" asked Jason.
"Oh, just a slight disagreement," replied Indy, a wry smile escaping his lips.
"Dr. Jones", began Jason. "What about these two gentlemen?"
Indy looked over at them, as the others tied them up back to back using two chairs and some rope.
"I don't think they're going anywhere right now", smiled Indy.
The sun had set and darkness surrounded the area where several tents were pitched, and the two men who were tied back to back refused to talk all evening. It was late, and by this time, one would presume that everyone was asleep, and that would have been the case were it not for Indiana Jones who lay wide awake.
Oh, he tried once or twice to sleep, but despite his warm surroundings, he could not. Eventually, he fell into a deep sleep, images of his last adventures running through his mind.
His last thought before he fell asleep was of Selene, the beautiful English nurse whom he had met in China three years ago. She was not only caring and kind but was an absolutely perfect companion for Indy.
Selene Rogers was someone who had experienced many adventures with Indiana Jones and the more time she spent with the adventuring archaeologist, the more she became captivated by him, and equally the beautiful English nurse fascinated Indy.
Something woke Indy up from his dreams; the sound of somebody yelling, and following that, a loud crash.
Indiana Jones jumped up from underneath the blankets and moved quickly, dressing in his wool pants and khaki shirt and pulling on his boots. After putting on his leather jacket and fedora, the archaeologist grabbed his Webley, holster and whip and ran out of the tent.
It was not yet light, and Indy squinted against the darkness.
As his eyesight adjusted, he could just make out a conversation taking place between two men, the same two that had attacked him and Maria earlier. From what Indy could gather from the conversation, Maria had been found wandering around the dig site and the two men had escaped from their bonds and startled her. They had told her to hand over any artefacts that they had found and Maria was forced to hand over the artefacts, one which included an ancient gold necklace.
They dragging her over to a large truck and shoved her inside.
Indy was just about to run over to the truck when he felt a sharp pain shot through his head and he stumbled and fell to the ground.
A third man grabbed Indy by the lapels of his jacket and hit him hard.
Indy hit him, and the man stumbled backwards, surprised by the blow. He then glanced over where the truck was and now realised that it had gone.
Indy looked around franticly and then saw a horse and ran over to it. He untied the reins and jumped onto its back and Indiana Jones galloped in the direction of the truck, which consisted of a single dirt path.
The sun was now beginning to rise and Indy could just make out the truck in the distance and he motioned for the horse to speed up and the animal began to gallop faster putting him almost level with the truck.
Indy jumped from the horse onto the side of the truck and pulled himself up until he was on the canvas roof.
The truck swerved and the archaeologist grabbed on to the roof, hanging on for dear life, and for a moment, daring not to move.
Indy reached inside his jacket pocket and brought out a knife and he gasped as the truck swerved again and he continued to hold on as he cut through the roof and looked down into the truck.
As Indy returned the knife to his pocket, he saw that there were two men seated either side of Maria and Indy reached down and grabbed male passenger and pulled him up out of his seat.
The man was startled and tried to wriggle free from Indy's grasp. He began to pull himself up and then threw a punch at Indy, but the archaeologist's reflexes were too fast and he quickly ducked out of the way.
The man drew a gun from his pocket and Indy wrestled for the gun, and it went off harmlessly, releasing a bullet into the air.
The man was startled and Indy took advantage of this, hitting him in the stomach.
The man glared at him and flew at the archaeologist. Indy moved out of the way just in time, and the man inadvertently ran over the edge of the truck and screamed as he fell. Indy now returned his attention to the inside of the truck.
Maria looked up and smiled when she saw Indy. The driver also looked up, but he did not smile.
Maria moved to the left side of the truck just in time as Indy jumped through the canvas hatch and grabbed the wheel from the man.
The truck swerved violently and Mara screamed as the man hit Indy on a tender part of his jaw and the archaeologist winced.
Indy grabbed the steering wheel and hit the man back, and at that point, the truck then swerved and almost went on two wheels as it veered around a sharp bend.
The man cursed Indy and stared at him.
Indy grabbed the man and tried pushing him to the back of the truck but then noticed something which made him stop.
The man was staring ahead and Indy and Maria now saw what he was staring at. The end of the pathway which gave into a crevice.