by Gary Paulsen
CHAPTER 15
“It’ll just take a minute,” Jeff said.
“We don’t have time. The guard could sound the alarm at any second.”
“That ball is special,” Jeff insisted. He moved out from their hiding place behind a giant urn. “I’ll just sneak it out of the dining hall and then we can go.”
He crept up next to the door and peeked around the corner. Everyone had gone and the basketball was sitting on the table in plain sight. Jeff tiptoed over and grabbed it.
“So, you have managed to escape.” Horemheb was standing in one of the side doorways. He pulled a sharp, short sword from his belt. “How appropriate that I shall be the one to catch you.”
Jeff edged toward the main entrance, where Zack was waiting. “Wait a minute, General. Can’t we talk this over?”
“Only if you find yourself able to speak without a head on your shoulders.” Horemheb started for him.
“Run, Jeff!” Zack shouted.
Jeff blasted around the table, trying desperately to keep some space between himself and the general.
“You cannot escape me!” Horemheb jumped, landing in the center of the massive table. “Your fate is sealed.”
Jeff slid beneath the table, crawled to the end, and came out on the other side.
“No more games.” Horemheb waved the sword.
Jeff raised the basketball over his head, drew back, and slammed it as hard as he could into the general’s stomach. Then he ran like mad for the door.
“Guards!” Horemheb choked out. “Stop him!”
Zack led the way down the hall and almost ran head-on into two guards who had heard Horemheb call for help. “This way,” he shouted, and ducked into the closest exit.
The angry soldiers stood at the opening but did not attempt to follow them in.
Jeff looked behind him. “That’s strange. They’re not coming after us.”
“It’s not strange considering where we are. Look around. We’re in the girls’ section. The harem.”
Jeff stopped running.
Several frightened females dashed behind tall screens to hide themselves from the intruders.
“Go after them!” Horemheb had recovered and was standing in the doorway. “That’s an order.”
“This way, Jeff!” Zack found a passageway leading to one of the courtyards.
“Right behind you.”
They came to two doors. Zack chose the left one. It was locked. He quickly tried the right. It was locked too. Horemheb and the guards were right behind them.
“Jump, Zack!” Jeff hopped up on the wall and helped Zack over.
They found themselves in another garden.
“Great. Now what?” Zack searched for a way out.
“This way.” Ankhesenpaaten was sitting in the garden. She pointed to a passageway. “It leads to my rooms. Brown Jeff Brown will know the way from there.”
Horemheb and the soldiers scrambled over the wall.
“Hurry,” Ankhesenpaaten whispered. Then she shouted, “The prisoners have escaped! Help!”
Jeff ran through the queen’s suite and down the hall. “Here’s our room. You fire up the computer and I’ll try and keep them out.”
He edged the heavy bed over in front of the door and stacked a wooden table and two chairs on top of it.
There was a creaking noise outside the door. It was Horemheb and his men. “Call the entire king’s guard and bring a battering ram,” Jeff heard Horemheb order.
“I don’t want to rush you or anything,” Jeff said, leaning with all his weight against the door. “But we have a little problem here.”
Zack wiped his forehead. “I don’t get it. I was sure it would work. The satellite dish should function as the necessary conductor.”
There was a loud thud and the door opened a few inches. “Again! Hit it again!”
Jeff’s mind raced. He had been responsible for getting them here. Now he had to do something. His eyes fastened on the crocodile statue. “That’s it!”
He grabbed the crocodile and jammed it by its tail into the satellite dish.
The door broke off its hinges and crashed to the floor, smashing the furniture to kindling.
Horemheb stepped into the room.
It was empty.
CHAPTER 16
“Now, if you’ll all come this way …”
Zack opened his eyes. “We’re back!”
A big grin spread across Jeff’s face. “You did it, genius.”
“It was your quick thinking that did the trick.”
“Excuse me, gentlemen, but you’re holding up the tour.” The guide cleared his throat. “In this area we are conducting experiments dealing with time and space. Once again, feel free to look, but don’t touch.”
“Do you get the feeling we’ve been here before?” Jeff asked.
Zack nodded. “The Time Bender must have a glitch in it. We came back earlier than we left. This is the same tour we took before.”
The group of students wandered through the room looking at the various workstations.
Zack and Jeff rushed to the back and found Dr. Cranium seated at the Time Bender. He glanced up at them. “Are you the ones interested in time bending?” His eyes traveled to the fiber rod sticking out of the top of the machine.
“He knows,” Jeff muttered.
The old scientist’s eyes lit up. “What was it like? You found the secret!”
“We have a lot to tell you, Dr. Cranium. The main thing is that your machine definitely works. We traveled all the way back to the time of King Tut.” Zack beamed.
“Shhh!” the doctor warned. “We can’t tell anyone about this yet. They would try to steal it. I’ll meet you later, after the presentation, and you can tell me all about your adventures. Go now. Your group is leaving.”
“Right,” Zack agreed. “We’ll meet you here as soon as it’s over.” The boys drifted out the door behind the rest of the group.
“He sure is gonna be surprised when we tell him what we’ve seen.” Jeff pretended to bounce a basketball down the hall.
“Too bad you didn’t get to bring your ball back with you,” Zack said sympathetically. “I feel kind of bad about that.”
“Aw, don’t worry about it. Someday I’ll get another one.” Jeff stopped. “Wait a minute. Are we going where I think we’re going?”
Zack nodded. “To the presentation dinner.”
“Not me.” Jeff turned and started back in the direction of the laboratory.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the Time Bender. I’m gonna try and talk it into taking us to the future. Maybe it’ll drop us off at an arcade.”
“Us?”
“Sure. You don’t want to go to that dumb old dinner any more than I do.”
“You’ve got a point there.” Zack hurried to catch up with him. “You know, theoretically, we could spend the whole rest of our lives doing this.”
“Why not? I just happen to be free for the next hundred or so centuries.” Jeff stopped at the laboratory door. “Time Benders—it has a nice ring to it.”
WRITE LIKE AN EGYPTIAN
The ancient Egyptians had their own unique form of writing called hieroglyphics. They used pictures and symbols in place of words. For example, a picture of an owl was used to represent the sound of the letter M. A bow-shaped drill for making fire meant prosperity. And a drawing of an index finger stood for the number 10,000.
You and your friends can invent your own hieroglyphics, or secret code, that only you can understand. It isn’t hard. First, make up symbols to stand for each of the letters of the alphabet. Once you make up this code, you’re ready to begin writing messages that will keep everyone guessing.
Here’s one to get you started. Each number in the following message represents a letter. (Hint: The most commonly used vowel is replaced by the number 5.) If you get stumped, turn the page for the answer.
Once you’ve cracked this code, you and your friends can create your
own secret code!
4 5 1 18 18 5 1 4 5 18 19,
9 19 9 14 3 5 18 5 12 25 8 15 16 5
25 15 21 5 14 10 15 25 20 8 5 23 15 18 12 4 15 6 1 4 22 5 14 20 21 18 5 19 5 18 9 5 19.
8 1 16 16 25 3 15 4 5 2 18 5 1 11 9 14 7.
7 1 18 25 16 1 21 12 19 5 14
Dear Readers,
I sincerely hope you enjoy the World of Adventure series. Happy code breaking.
Gary Paulsen
Don’t miss all the exciting action!
Read the other action-packed books in Gary Paulsen’s
WORLD OF ADVENTURE!
The Legend of Red Horse Cavern
Will Little Bear Tucker and his friend Sarah Thompson have heard the eerie Apache legend many times. Will’s grandfather especially loves to tell them about Red Horse—an Indian brave who betrayed his people, was beheaded, and now haunts the Sacramento Mountain range, searching for his head. To Will and Sarah it’s just a story—until they decide to explore a newfound mountain cave, a cave filled with dangerous treasures.
Deep underground, Will and Sarah uncover an old chest stuffed with a million dollars. But now armed bandits are after them. When they find a gold Apache statue hidden in a skull, it seems Red Horse is hunting them, too. Then they lose their way, and each step they take in the damp, dark cavern could be their last.
Rodomonte’s Revenge
Friends Brett Wilder and Tom Houston are video game whizzes. So when a new virtual reality arcade called Rodomonte’s Revenge opens near their home, they make sure they’re its first customers. The game is awesome. There are flaming fire rivers to jump, beastly buzz-bugs to fight, and ugly tunnel spiders to escape. If they’re good enough they’ll face Rodomonte, an evil giant waiting to do battle within his hidden castle.
But soon after they play the game, strange things start happening to Brett and Tom. The computer is taking over their minds. Now everything that happens in the game is happening in real life. A buzz-bug could gnaw off their ears. Rodomonte could smash them to bits. Brett and Tom have no choice but to play Rodomonte’s Revenge again. This time they’ll be playing for their lives.
Escape from Fire Mountain
“… please, anybody … fire … need help.”
That’s the urgent cry thirteen-year-old Nikki Roberts hears over the CB radio the weekend she’s left alone in her family’s hunting lodge. The message also says that the sender is trapped near a bend in the river. Nikki knows it’s dangerous, but she has to try to help. She paddles her canoe downriver, coming closer to the thick black smoke of the forest fire with each stroke. When she reaches the bend, Nikki climbs onshore. There, covered with soot and huddled on a rock ledge, sit two small children.
Nikki struggles to get the children to safety. Flames roar around them. Trees splinter to the ground. But as Nikki tries to escape the fire, she doesn’t know that two poachers are also hot on her trail. They fear that she and the children have seen too much of their illegal operation—and they’ll do anything to keep the kids from making it back to the lodge alive.
The Rock Jockeys
Devil’s Wall.
Rick Williams and his friends J.D. and Spud—the Rock Jockeys—are attempting to become the first and youngest climbers to ascend the north face of their area’s most treacherous mountain. They’re also out to discover if a B-17 bomber rumored to have crashed into the mountain years ago is really there.
As the Rock Jockeys explore Devil’s Wall, they stumble upon the plane’s battered shell. Inside, they find items that seem to have belonged to the crew, including a diary written by the navigator. Spud later falls into a deep hole and finds something even more frightening: a human skull and bones. To find out where they might have come from, the boys read the navigator’s story in the diary. It reveals a gruesome secret that heightens the dangers the mountain might hold for the Rock Jockeys.
Hook ’Em, Snotty!
Bobbie Walker loves working on her grandfather’s ranch. She hates the fact that her cousin Alex is coming up from Los Angeles to visit and will probably ruin her summer. Alex can barely ride a horse and doesn’t know the first thing about roping. There is no way Alex can survive a ride into the flats to round up wild cattle. But Bobbie is going to have to let her tag along anyway.
Out in the flats the weather turns bad. Even worse, Bobbie knows that she’ll have to watch out for the Bledsoe boys, two mischievous brothers who are usually up to no good. When the boys rustle the girls’ cattle, Bobbie and Alex team up to teach the Bledsoes a lesson. But with the wild bull Diablo on the loose, the fun and games may soon turn deadly serious.
Danger on Midnight River
Daniel Martin doesn’t want to go to Camp Eagle Nest. He wants to spend the summer as he always does: with his uncle Smitty in the Rocky Mountains. Daniel is a slow learner, but most other kids call him retarded. Daniel knows that at camp, things are only going to get worse. His nightmare comes true when he and three bullies must ride the camp van together.
On the trip to camp, Daniel is the butt of the bullies’ jokes. He ignores them and concentrates on the roads outside. He thinks they may be lost. As the van crosses a wooden bridge, the planks suddenly give way. The van plunges into the raging river below. Daniel struggles to shore, but the driver and the other boys are nowhere to be found. It’s freezing, and night is setting in. Daniel faces a difficult decision. He could save himself … or risk everything to try to rescue the others, too.
The Gorgon Slayer
Eleven-year-old Warren Trumbull has a strange job. He works for Prince Charming’s Damsel in Distress Rescue Agency, saving people from hideous monsters, evil warlocks, and wicked witches. Then one day Warren gets the most dangerous assignment of all: He must exterminate a Gorgon.
Gorgons are horrible creatures. They have green scales, clawed fingers, and snakes for hair. They also have the power to turn people to stone. Warren doesn’t want to be a stone statue for the rest of his life. He’ll need all his courage and skill—and his secret plan—to become a true Gorgon slayer.
The Gorgon howls as Warren enters the dark basement to do battle. Warren lowers his eyes, raises his sword and shield, and leaps into action. But will his plan work?
Captive!
Roman Sanchez is trying hard to deal with the death of his dad—a SWAT team member gunned down in the line of duty. But Roman’s nightmare is just beginning.
When masked gunmen storm into his classroom, Roman and three other boys are taken hostage. They are thrown into the back of a truck and hauled to a run-down mountain cabin, miles from anywhere. They are bound with rope and given no food. With each passing hour the kidnappers’ deadly threats become even more real.
Roman knows time is running out. Now he must somehow put his dad’s death behind him so that he and the others can launch a last desperate fight for freedom.
The Treasure of El Patrón
Tag Jones and his friend Cowboy spend their days diving in the azure water surrounding Bermuda. It’s not just for fun—Tag knows that somewhere in the coral reef there’s a sunken ship full of treasure. His father died in a diving accident looking for the ship, and Tag won’t give up until he finds it.
Then the ship’s manifest of the Spanish galleón El Patrón turns up, and Tag can barely contain his excitement. El Patrón sank in 1614, carrying “unknown cargo.” Tag knows that this is the ship his father was looking for. And he’s not the least bit scared off by the rumors that El Patrón is cursed. But when two tourists want Tag to retrieve some mysterious sunken parcels for them, Tag and Cowboy may be in dangerous water, way over their heads!
Skydive!
Jesse Rodriguez has a pretty exciting job for a thirteen-year-old, working at a small flight and skydiving school near Seattle. Buck Sellman, the owner of the school, lets Jesse help out around the airport and is teaching him all about skydiving. Jesse can’t wait until he’s sixteen and old enough to make his first jump.
Then Robin Waterford walks in with her father one day to sign
up for lessons, and strange things start to happen. Photographs that Robin takes of the airfield mysteriously disappear from her locker. And Robin and Jesse discover that someone at the airfield is involved in an illegal transportation operation. Jesse and Robin soon find themselves in the middle of real danger and are forced to make their first skydives very unexpectedly—using only one parachute!
The Seventh Crystal
Chosen One,
The ancient palace lies in the Valley of Zon. It is imperative that you come immediately. You are my last hope. Look for the secret path. The stars will lead the way. Take care. The eyes of Mogg are everywhere.
As if school bullies weren’t enough of a problem, now Chris Masters has a computer game pushing him around! Ever since The Seventh Crystal arrived anonymously in the mail one day, Chris has been obsessed with it—it’s the most challenging game he’s ever played. But when the game starts to take over, Chris is forced to face a lean, mean, medieval bully.
The Creature of Black Water Lake
Thirteen-year-old Ryan Swanner and his mom just moved to the mountain resort of Black Water Lake. The locals say that beneath the lake’s seemingly calm surface, a giant, ancient creature lives. But Ryan’s new friend Rita tells him that’s just hogwash. She’s not afraid to go fishing out on the lake, even though, oddly, the lake seems to be nearly empty of fish. One day Ryan sees a small animal fall from a tree into the lake—and never surface again. Something is in the lake. And it’s alive.…