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This book is set four thousand years
ago in the valley of the River Indus.
Atek lives with his uncle and his family in a little village.
His mother is dead and he thinks his father is too. His father
had left the village years ago saying he would return for his
son, but he had never come back.
Atek's uncle is very unkind to him. He makes Atek work very hard
breaking stones to get the silver ore embedded in them. He often
beats Atek. The other people in the village are unkind to him
too because he is not like them. He has pale eyes instead of the
usual dark ones.
One day some traders come to the village and Atek begins to have
ideas. Could he hide on their cart and escape from the village
and his uncle's harshness? And then he has another thought. Perhaps
his father is not dead after all. Perhaps he could find his father.
Atek manages to smuggle himself out of the village with the traders.
When eventually discovered they let him stay with them. Life is
already looking better for Atek. Then disaster. The traders are
attacked by bandits and they are all killed. Only Atek manages
to escape.
Alone he follows a river. Where he is going he does not know.
Does he find someone to care for him? Does he find his father?
This is a question to which the reader will almost certainly want
to find the answer. Atek's fate will keep the pages turning.
As well as being an interesting and exciting story this little
book has a great deal of archaeological research behind it --
research which is brought into the story. Examples are: village
life, silver smelting, trading, the river traffic, the cities
with their brick houses and huge granaries, and the use the people
make of the annual floods of the River Indus.
Illustrated throughout in black and white.
Comes with a sketch map and historical notes.
A gripping story with a well researched background.
8 - 12
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