by Gloria Gage
“I guess this scene is supposed to be our ‘ancient culture’, wouldn’t you say?” Josh whispered.
I could tell we all felt sort of weird as we watched the scene before us. I was thinking about home, and wishing I could be there with Marty, all of us sitting around the dinner table. I’m sure my friends were thinking the same thing. Once again, I felt myself drowning in guilt. I swallowed hard, and then raised my chin. This was my fault, but in spite of that, I was still determined to get us all home safely—and soon.
Chris tried once again, “THIRD FLOOR PLEASE!” And this time, the elevator responded immediately with, “You have reached the third floor.”
This time we found ourselves on a street that indeed looked like ancient Egypt. There were two men urging camels along the road and several others were unloading a wagon piled high with heavy stones.
“That looks like the palace up ahead. That’s where we need to go,” I said, and almost before the words were out of my mouth, we were standing inside a large room with golden ornaments and tapestries everywhere. A long, low table was filled with food being served by beautiful girls in long flowing dresses made of gauze-like material. Wide gold bracelets jangled from their arms as they moved.
The men reclining at the low table looked like a pharaoh and his friends. They laughed and clapped as a girl danced before them, her silky black hair flowing to her ankles as she twirled around the tables.
The men totally ignored us, and I wondered if the entire scene might also be a hologram. “The map shows the key in the Treasure Room,” I said. Once again as I spoke the words, as if by magic, we were transported to another room and found ourselves surrounded by stacks of jewels, chests of gold coins, and shelves filled with cups and plates that appeared to be made of solid gold.
“Wow! Could we maybe take a few of these with us? I don’t see how they’d miss them,” Josh said excitedly.
“Don’t touch anything,” I ordered. “We’re here to find Marty, and we can’t risk any trouble.” I suddenly felt as if a hand was squeezing my heart, as I thought of Marty being held hostage by that monstrous evil gang. What if they hurt him? What if we can’t get him back? I tried to push those thoughts out of my head. We just have to concentrate on finding the keys, I told myself, trying to look confident. I know we can do it. We just have to!
Chapter Ten
“None of this stuff is real anyway,” Chris said, punching Josh on the arm.
“I guess,” Josh agreed reluctantly, “but it sure would be great to keep a few things.”
“How in the world are we supposed to find a small key in all this?” Chris asked.
“Hey, look over here,” Josh said. He pointed to a large tortoise sitting on a table. "It looks like solid gold, with emerald eyes. Check out what’s engraved on its back. It says, ‘PATIENCE is a virtue seldom used’."
“You think it means something?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know,” I said thoughtfully. “When my room is a mess and I’m trying to find something, I try to stand real still and just look around, and sometimes I can spot it, or figure the most logical place for it to be. Why don’t we try that?”
“It’s worth a try,” Chris agreed. So we all stood very still and searched slowly around the room in every direction. There were so many stacks and shelves of glittering objects that it was impossible to spot something as small as a key.
“This is not working,” I decided. “Let’s divide the room into sections and search from floor to ceiling, okay? First, the shelves.”
“There’s only cups and dishes,” Josh said after a minute. “There’s nothing small enough for a key there.”
“I guess you’re right,” I agreed. “Okay, let’s take the gold chests. Do you see anything like a key?” There were at least a dozen chests standing open, overflowing with jewels and coins.
Chris sighed, “With all these coins, it’s impossible! What if the key is buried in the coins?”
“I really think we’ll find it in plain sight—at least, the map seems to indicate that.” I tried to sound reassuring, even though I was beginning to feel rather desperate. We had to find all six keys to save Marty. If they were all as difficult as this first one, we’d never make it! “We just have to find it! Let’s keep trying,” I muttered.
Five minutes later, we still had found nothing. Amy tried to encourage us. “Keep looking, guys. I’m sure you can find it!”
“Alright,” I sighed. “There are some lamps and furniture on this side. Let’s look over here.”
The gem-studded furniture mesmerized Josh. There were tables encrusted with rubies and pearls, and lamps designed with gold filigree chains wrapped and twisted into the base. “They’re beautiful!” he exclaimed. “It reminds me of stories I used to read about pirates and lost treasure.” Then something different caught his eye. “Wait a second… Logan, look at that lamp with all the gold chains around it. One of them looks like it has something entwined with the chain. Do you see it?”
I walked closer to the lamp. “Josh—I think you found it!” I reached out and carefully lifted the chain with a small golden key dangling from it.
“Yeah!” Amy shouted from back in the clubhouse. “I knew you’d find it. Keep going, guys. You’re doing great!”
“Look, it has something engraved on it,” I said. “It says F1. I wonder what that means.”
Amy was watching us through her computer screen and asked, “Do you think it might mean the F1 key on the computer?”
“Maybe,” I answered. “I guess we can try it and see.”
Amy pressed the key and Josh and Chris jumped back in alarm. “Logan? Where did you go?”
“What do you mean? I’m right here!”
“Noooo, you’re not,” Chris moaned. “This isn’t funny, Logan. Quit kidding around!”
“But I’m right here beside…” I looked down and realized I couldn’t see my own hand or the key I was holding. “What’s going on?”
“Logan,” Josh said slowly, “I think you’re…like…invisible?”
“Wow!” Amy exclaimed from the clubhouse. “I’m going to press F1 again and see if you come back. Okay?”
“Yeah! Do something,” I said quickly. It felt very weird being invisible. Amy pushed the key and suddenly I was back and normal again. “Whew, that was scary.”
“But, Logan, don’t you see?” Chris asked looking very smug. “The key gives you, like a special power. It could come in handy when we have to face the Rats.”
“You’re right. How cool is that? I can be invisible. What a weird place this is. I can actually disappear, and no one can see me.”
Josh was grinning. “Yeah, you can pick your nose or stick out your tongue and no one can see you.”
“Ew, gross!” Chris exclaimed. “You would think of something like that.”
Amy’s voice was filled with excitement, “I think it could be a big help to you if you run into trouble.”
“You’re right,” I said. “And we can sure use all the help we can get.” I slipped the chain with the key around my neck, and tucked it carefully inside my shirt. “One down, only five more to go.” I tried to grin, but it felt more like a determined grimace, as I thought about Marty and how long it might take to find five more keys. Time was definitely running out on us.
Chapter Eleven
Just at that moment, a flash of light startled us and we were instantly back on the street in front of the Museum. This time the entrance behind us was closed and shuttered. “Well, that was an experience—so much for visiting the ancient world. Where to next, captain?” Josh asked.
I checked the map again. The museum and the first key had disappeared from the map entirely. Now a whole new section was highlighted. “We’re looking for something called a Freight tunnel. Amy, do you see a tunnel on the screen anywhere?”
“Yes,” Amy answered quickly. “There’s an entrance just down the block. Keep going down Determination Street. It’s not too far.”
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sp; Josh pointed to a notation on the map, “This looks like a Maintenance Entrance somewhere in the next block. Is that it, Amy?”
“Right! I see it. It looks like a ladder will take you down to an underground tunnel.”
“Come on, guys. Let’s find that tunnel entrance,” Chris said eagerly.
I noticed that Chris was frowning. “Are you okay, Chris?”
“Yes,” she answered, though rather unconvincingly. “I thought for a minute I saw a shadow and that someone might be following us, but there’s no one there. I must just be anxious with all these strange things happening. Let’s hurry. We need to find all those keys and make sure Marty is safe.”
“We will, Chris. Don’t worry. Just think of the stories we’ll have to tell when we get home,” Josh said.
“I don’t think anyone will believe us,” I admitted. “In fact, I’m not sure I believe it all myself.”
We had only gone a short way down the block, when Josh spotted a metal plate on the sidewalk engraved ‘SubMaint #143’. It took Josh and me together to lift the metal plate and pull it over to one side, so we could climb down.
Josh went first, then Chris. I followed them down to a small walkway built along the side of a train track. The walls were concrete, with small indentions about three feet wide and spaced every ten feet or so along the wall. There were signs posted saying. ‘Express Transport Train—Freight Only’.
Josh looked concerned. “There’s not much room on this walkway if a train comes along.”
“If that happens,” I said, “then we have to step into one of these alcoves quickly. Turn your back to the track. It’s the only protection we have.”
Chris opened her mouth about to ask if we were sure this was a good idea, then changed her mind and kept quiet. But I could tell her heart was racing, and she looked as if she might be sick. I smiled and put my hand on her shoulder to reassure her. She took a deep breath and said, “If you guys aren’t scared, then neither am I!”
I checked the map once again. “Amy, are you still with us?” I asked.
There was no answer for a minute. Then Amy’s voice sounded relieved, “I’m here! I had to figure out a way to follow you, but I tried several keys with the ‘down arrow’ and the ‘z’ finally worked. I’m back with you now.”
“Good! I think we need to move to our left, don’t we, Amy?”
“Yes,” she answered. “About 50 yards or so ahead, there’s a Loading Platform. Is it on your map?”
Josh and I poured over the sketchy drawing in the dim light reflected from the opening in the sidewalk above us. “Here it is,” Josh pointed to a small notation that read ‘Loading’. “And look, there’s a key drawn right here—it looks to be near a sign of some kind.”
Chris saw it too. “Yes, I think you’re right. It looks like it’s right before we get to the station. Keep your eyes open, guys, and see if we can spot it.”
We crept along the narrow walkway moving single file.
“Do you hear something?” Chris asked. Her voice was quivering a little.
We stopped to listen a minute. “Yeah, I hear it too!” Josh said in a trembling voice. The far off sound grew rapidly louder. “It’s a train, and it’s moving fast! Let’s get into an alcove, and quickly!” The recesses in the wall were large enough for only one person. I shoved Chris into the closest one, then Josh and I sprinted ahead and each found an alcove where we could try to ‘attach’ ourselves to the wall.
Chris was terrified, pressing herself tightly against the cold concrete. She felt sure that the fast-moving train would sweep her away from her narrow hiding place and crush her under tons of metal. She looked around for something to hold onto. There was nothing but a tiny ledge at the top where a break in the cement allowed for mortar. She wedged her fingertips into the break and tried desperately to hold on.
The rumble of the train grew louder and louder, until it became an ear-splitting roar, which covered her scream! Chris couldn’t help herself as the train erupted from the tunnel, headlights blinding as it flew past like a rocket ship. She could feel the vibration in her arms and legs, and thought perhaps it would shake her until she broke apart. She clung to the wall, her fingers cramped, and aching as she fought to hold on.
But instead of being swept away, and crushed beneath the giant steel monster, she felt herself slammed against the wall so hard it knocked the breath from her lungs. She thought at first that she would surely be crushed. Then, unable to catch her breath, she felt light-headed, and was on the verge of losing consciousness when the train disappeared down the track, and she collapsed to the cold cement floor, gasping for air.
Josh reached her first. “Hey, Chris! You okay?”
“I…I think so,” she mumbled, feeling embarrassed now that the danger was past. Chris had always been a tomboy. She loved sports and was very proud of the fact that she could run and climb as well as any boy her age. She thought of her three older brothers. She had always competed with them for everything. Her mom and dad were both attorneys and traveled a lot, leaving her brothers in charge. Chris idolized them, and had to work twice as hard to keep up with them, but considered herself every bit as capable. She certainly wasn’t going to let her friends see her afraid. She was much too proud for that.
“We better hurry before another train shows up,” she said, and jumped to her feet quickly, ignoring the hand Josh offered.
After we’d moved about a block ahead, I paused. “Where could they hide a key down here?” We all looked around at the smooth gray walls.
Chris shook her head, “I don’t see anything that could be a hiding place?”
“I don’t either,” Josh agreed. “Oh, no! Here comes another train!”
We all moved again quickly to find an alcove. This time we weren’t quite so frightened, but the rush of the train still took our breath away. It was a shorter train this time, so as soon as we could breathe again, we resumed our inspection of the tunnel. Josh crossed to the other side, and we checked each alcove we passed to be sure nothing could be hidden there.
We hurried on down the tunnel, stopping to cling to an alcove for one more train. Just before we reached the loading station, we found a sign posted on the wall indicating the streets above, ’Determination Street and Field Avenue—Loading Station #143’.
We paused to look carefully over and around the sign for a hiding place. Just blank walls and the sign with street names in raised letters. “There’s nothing here either,” Chris said.
“Let’s check the sign again,” I suggested. “It’s got to be here somewhere.” We checked all over the wooden sign again and around the lower edges, but we couldn’t reach the very top part.
“Maybe if you lift me up, I can reach it?” Chris offered.
So Josh and I locked arms and lifted Chris up to check across the top of the sign for a hiding spot. “I still can’t…quite…reach it,” she said, stretching as high as she could with her right hand, while her left hand balanced against the letters on the sign. “Almost…there,” she gasped. As her left hand moved slightly for balance, and rested atop the ‘F’ letter in Field, we heard a soft clicking sound. Chris jerked her hand away and stared as the letter ‘F’ swung back and forth against the sign.
“What was that?” Josh asked.
Chris grinned, “I’m not sure.” She reached down, and lifted the letter as it swung from a tiny hook that held it to the sign. Then she climbed back down, and showed us something in her hand. “Could this be it?” she asked, grinning widely.
“It sure is! The letter itself is actually a key!” I shouted.
“Hey, that’s Number Two!” Amy shouted from the computer’s microphone. “Does it have any engravings?”
“Yes, it does,” Chris answered. “It’s hard to read, but I think it says F2.”
“Shall we try it?”
“Here, Logan, you hold it.” She pushed the key into my hand.
“Well, okay. Go ahead, Amy.”
Amy pushed the F2 ke
y, but nothing weird happened.
“Maybe since Chris found the key, she has to hold it?” Josh suggested.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I agreed. “Here, Chris, you try it.”
Amy pushed the F2 again, and Chris got a funny look on her face.
“What is it? Are you okay?”
Chapter Twelve
“I… I don’t know. I feel strange—like I suddenly have a lot of energy. I think I could break something.” She stretched her arms out, wrapped them around Josh, and lifted him easily right off the ground. She twirled around twice then sat him back on his feet.
“Whoa! What are you, Iron Woman or something?” Josh looked a little shaken.
Chris laughed. “I don’t know, I just feel amazingly strong. It must be the key. Amy, turn it off now, okay?”
Amy pushed the key again, and Chris sighed with relief, looking normal again.
I couldn’t help laughing as grins spread across the faces of my two friends. “I can’t wait to see what ‘power’ the next key will bring. Josh, it’ll be your turn next! But we better get going. We still have a long way to go.” I added the second key to the chain around my neck. “Hold on, Marty, we’re coming!”
We were all excited, thinking we actually had some help in the form of some amazing and unbelievable powers, and were really on our way to rescue Marty. As we started ahead toward the platform and the stairway to the surface, Amy cried out through the microphone. “Look out! Behind you!”
We turned quickly to see two men coming toward us. “We’ll take that map and those keys now!” one of them shouted. Both men were big and looked very dangerous. The looks on their faces made it obvious they were ready to kill us if necessary to get to the keys.
“No way! Leave us alone,” I called back. “We need these keys to rescue my brother.”
“Not our problem,” one of them said with a smirk, as he moved closer.
I looked around for something to defend us with, but there was nothing. Josh and I glanced at each other and both had the same idea.