The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll Read online

  Benny was pleased they had all the snacks they wanted, but by the time they could finally see the Egyptian desert below them, everyone agreed they were ready to get off the plane.

  Benny pressed his face against the window. “There’s a huge river down there!”

  “That’s the Nile,” Henry told him. “It’s the second-longest river in the world. Only the Amazon River is longer.”

  “There is a huge city next to the huge river,” Violet said. “I didn’t know Cairo was so big. The desert here comes right up to the edge of it.”

  “It’s so different than what we saw in New Mexico,” Jessie exclaimed. “There aren’t any mountains, but there is a lot of sand.”

  “I see pyramids!” Benny cried.

  “Those must be the pyramids at Giza,” Jessie said. “I read they were on the outskirts of Cairo.”

  “Make sure you are buckled up,” Emilio called back. “We’re coming in for a landing.”

  The plane landed and then taxied to a stop in front of a long, low building. “Where are all the big planes?” Benny asked.

  “This is the terminal for private jets,” Emilio said as he came out of the cockpit. “You will be meeting Tricia Silverton, Trudy Silverton’s sister.”

  “You’re not coming with us?” Violet asked Emilio.

  “No. Mrs. Silverton has another job for us. We need to pick up an important package in Paris as soon as we can. But don’t worry. Mrs. Silverton has arranged for someone to meet you and take you through the terminal to meet Tricia.”

  He went over and opened the door. “Make sure you have everything you need. Take your backpacks and the duffel bag. I don’t know where we are taking the Paris package, so it could be a few days before we get back.”

  Mr. Ganert came out of the cockpit. “Don’t lose those artifacts,” he warned.

  “We won’t,” Henry said as he picked up the duffel bag.

  “Don’t let them get damaged either,” Mr. Ganert added.

  Henry didn’t answer. He knew the artifacts were well protected. They were in special boxes that museums used to transport valuable items. The padded boxes kept the artifacts from getting damaged.

  A young man in a dark suit wearing an airport badge around his neck was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Hello,” he said. “I’m Mr. Khater. Welcome to Egypt. Come this way, please.” They followed him into the building where he helped them show their passports to the right people. When they were finished, he walked with them out into an area where drivers were waiting for passengers. Many of the drivers were holding up signs with names on them. None of the signs said Aldens.

  “Do you see the person who is to meet you?” Mr. Khater asked. “I was told her name was Tricia Silverton.”

  “We don’t know what Tricia looks like,” Violet said.

  Mr. Khater frowned. “Oh. Perhaps she will recognize you.”

  Jessie didn’t want to tell him Tricia had never seen the Aldens before.

  They waited and the area emptied out as passengers met up with their drivers. When there were only a few people left, a young woman rushed in and scanned the crowd.

  “Do you think that’s her?” Benny asked.

  “I don’t think so, but she doesn’t look like a driver either,” Jessie said. “The drivers are more dressed up.” This woman had on white jeans and a black shirt with a big red scarf draped around her shoulders. They heard her speak in another language to one of the few remaining drivers.

  “Unless Tricia Silverton is Egyptian, that young lady is not her,” Mr. Khater said. “She’s speaking Arabic.”

  They all waited a few more minutes, and no one else entered the waiting area.

  “I just realized something,” Henry said. “The person we’re waiting for will be looking for Christina Keene, not us.”

  “You’re right!” Jessie gasped. “Christina was the one who was supposed to deliver the items!”

  “And maybe Tricia sent someone else to meet Christina.” Henry said. He looked over at the woman with the red scarf, who was still looking around the waiting area. He walked over to her. “Excuse me. Are you waiting for Christina Keene?”

  “Yes,” the woman said, looking surprised.

  “I’m Henry Alden,” he said. “Christina couldn’t come. My brother and sisters and I are here in her place.” He waved in the direction of where the others stood. “Mrs. Silverton sent us.” The others came over and Henry introduced them.

  The woman said, “My name is Rania Galal, but you’ll have to forgive me. I’m a little confused.”

  “Could you take us to Tricia?” Jessie asked. “She can explain everything better than we could.”

  Rania shook her head. “No, I’m sorry I can’t. Tricia left Egypt yesterday.”

  Where Is Tricia?

  “She…she left?” Henry said in disbelief. He looked over at Jessie, whose eyes were wide with surprise.

  Rania took her cell phone out of her bag. “Let me make a call. Tricia asked me to pick up Christina because I had to attend in meeting in Cairo. She said she had some urgent matter to take care of. I’ll call her.” They waited while the woman made the call. When she spoke into the phone, they could tell she was leaving a message. She said, “Tricia, it’s me, Rania. There’s been a change of plans. Christina isn’t here. Some other people named the Aldens are here instead. Give me a call.”

  She hung up the phone. “I’m not quite sure what to do now.”

  “We should contact Trudy Silverton,” Jessie said. “She might know where her sister went. Do you know Trudy?”

  “I’ve met her,” Rania said. “The Galals and the Silvertons have been friends for a long time.”

  Jessie took out her phone. “Trudy said we could FaceTime with her anytime we needed help.”

  Jessie made the call and Trudy’s face appeared on the screen. Trudy’s colorful purple-dyed hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed, and her face was strained.

  “I’m so glad you called,” she said. “I was about to call you. We received a strange message from Tricia. She said she couldn’t meet the plane, but she didn’t explain why. The message said she’d arranged for other people to help Christina, but she didn’t say who.”

  “Rania Galal is here,” Jessie said. “She came to pick up Christina.”

  Trudy’s face brightened. “Oh, that’s good to know. Can I speak to her?”

  Rania looked over Jessie’s shoulder. “Hi Trudy. Tricia asked me to take Christina back to my family’s resort. She was in a big hurry and didn’t say where she was going. Do you want me to take the Aldens there instead?”

  “That would be wonderful,” Trudy said. “We’re still trying to figure out what to do. It’s very upsetting not to know what is going on. It’s not like Tricia to take off without telling anyone where she is going. Jessie, until we locate my sister, you’ll have to take care of the items without her help. Be very careful who you trust. Go with Rania, and I’ll call you again in a few hours. Just watch out for Anna Argent. I have a feeling this has something to do with her.”

  Violet was alarmed at that. She moved so Trudy could see her. “Anna couldn’t follow us to Cairo, could she?”

  “You never know what Anna can manage to do,” Trudy said. “She’s very, very clever.”

  “We’ll be careful,” Henry said.

  Trudy rubbed her eyes. “Okay, I’ll talk to you soon. Thank you, Rania.”

  After Trudy hung up, Rania asked, “Who is Anna Argent?”

  Henry didn’t think they were supposed to tell other people about the Reddimus Society, so he said, “She has tried to steal things from the Silvertons.”

  “Oh, you mean the Reddimus Society,” Rania said. Seeing his surprised expression, Rania added, “I know all about it. Don’t worry. We’ve helped them out when we could. I don’t think this Anna person will be a problem here though.”

  The Aldens went with Rania out to her car. She helped them put their luggage in the trunk and th
en said as they got in the car, “Cairo is a very busy city with quite a lot of traffic. Just sit back and enjoy. It’s a long ride.”

  The city was full of people and cars. Jessie tried to look everywhere at once. “I’ve never heard so many people honking their horns at once.” She wished they could get out and explore, especially some of the markets they passed. People were selling all sorts of things from small stands, including fruits, spices, jewelry, clothing, and rugs.

  Violet twisted around and peered out the back window of the car. “At least Anna Argent could never follow us through this, even if she were here.”

  Benny felt better hearing that. Anna Argent was probably a long way away from them.

  Once the car left the city, they drove through many miles of desert and some towns and smaller villages until Rania finally announced, “We are here.”

  She pulled the car into a driveway that had clumps of palm trees on either side and a sign that read Desert Stars Camp. They drove down the driveway until they reached a big white building with a sign on it that said Lodge. There was another smaller building next to it. In front of that building stood a group of camels drinking water from a round stone trough. An older teenage boy holding the bridle of another camel waved at Rania as they drove by. She passed the lodge and parked the car, gesturing toward some large white canvas tents among more palm trees. They weren’t like ordinary camping tents. They were more like small buildings. Each had a big awning over the doorway that shaded a table and chairs placed to one side.

  “Some of our guests stay in the lodge, but others like the experience of a tent in the desert.”

  “Wow! That sounds like fun!” Benny said.

  “I’m glad you think so.” Rania stopped the car and opened her door. “My family thought tourists would enjoy experiencing how travelers explored Egypt many years ago. Of course, now all the tents have running water and electricity, so it’s not exactly like it was then. The tents even have Wi-Fi.”

  “That’s funny,” Jessie said. “I’ve never heard of Wi-Fi in a tent.”

  Violet was still thinking about the camels they had passed. “Are the camels friendly?” she asked as they got out of the car. “Can we visit them?”

  “You can do more than that,” Rania said. “Most visitors enjoy the camel rides. I’ll introduce you to my nephew. He is in charge of the camel stables at the moment, when he isn’t in school.”

  “I’d like that job,” Violet said.

  “Tareq, my nephew, likes it too.” Rania went to the back of the car and opened the trunk. “My uncle owns the hotel, and he thinks we should all learn as many parts of the business as possible.”

  Before they could get their luggage out, a small yellow van pulled up next to them. The van had an assortment of cakes and pastries painted on it. A man got out and took a white cardboard box out of the back. He said something in Arabic to Rania as he handed her the box.

  Rania translated for them. “He’s from the bakery in the town near here. He says he has a delivery for Christina Keene. I suppose we’ll take the delivery instead.” She handed the box to Jessie and then took some money out of her bag. The man accepted the payment, hopped back in the van, and drove away.

  Benny had perked up at the word bakery. “Is it time for a snack?” he asked. “It’s been a long time since we ate. There is probably something good in that box.”

  “Why don’t we get settled in where we are sleeping, and then we’ll open the box,” Jessie suggested.

  “Right this way,” Rania said. “We had planned on Christina staying in the tent at the far end. It’s only got two beds in it at the moment, but I’ll have some cots brought in.”

  They took their backpacks and the duffel out of the trunk of the car and followed Rania into the tent.

  It wasn’t like any tent they had ever seen. Colorful rugs covered the floor. There were two beds and a few small tables and chairs. A brass camel stood in the corner as a decoration.

  “It really is like a hotel,” Benny said. “When I saw the tents, I thought there would be sleeping bags.”

  Rania laughed. “No, our guests wouldn’t like that very much. There is even a shower in the bathroom, just through that door in the back. Now, will you be all right for a little while? I need to check with my uncle on some hotel business.”

  “We’re fine,” Jessie assured her.

  “I’ll see you later then.” Rania patted Benny on the cheek. “I think Benny wants you to open the bakery box.”

  After Rania left, Jessie put the box on one of the tables and took the lid off. Inside were rows of small pastries and an envelope with Christina written on it. Next to Christina’s name was a drawing of an owl.

  “That looks like the owl on the Reddimus Society logo.” Henry took out the card Trudy Silverton had given them before they left home. Besides her name and contact information, it had a big decorative R inside a circle made up of swirls. An image of an owl was placed so it looked like it was sitting on top of the letter. It matched the little owl on the envelope.

  “It looks like the owls on our flashlights too!” Benny said. Trudy had given all the Aldens flashlights before they had gone on their trip to New Mexico.

  “This might give us some answers about where Tricia Silverton went.” Jessie opened the envelope. She pulled out a single piece of paper.

  “What does it say?” Benny asked.

  “It looks like a riddle.” Jessie read it out loud.

  I still stand,

  The only one left of the seven.

  Wonders we were.

  Wonder still am I.

  If you can find when I was finished,

  Then you will be able to gaze

  On he who commanded I be built.

  From the smallest come the Great.

  “That’s a hard riddle,” Violet said. “Read it again please.”

  Jessie did. “I don’t have any idea what it means. Even if we solve it, I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do with the answer.”

  “Maybe if we had a snack, we could think better,” Benny suggested.

  Henry picked up the bakery box. “Good idea. I don’t know what these are, but I’m sure they are good. You pick first.”

  Everyone sampled the treats, picking out which ones were their favorites while they discussed the riddle. They were still talking about it when Jessie’s phone rang. It was Trudy. Her hair was even more messed up, and she had dark circles under her eyes. “I’m sorry. I haven’t found out anything about Tricia,” Trudy said. “I’m afraid you’ll just have to bring the artifacts back home, and we’ll keep them until we have more news.”

  “Why don’t you just tell us where the items need to go?” Jessie asked. “We can deliver them ourselves, with Emilio and Mr. Ganert’s help.”

  Trudy sighed. “That would be a good idea, except we don’t know where they belong or who to return them to. Tricia has all that information. She had filed a report in our computer system, but the file got deleted somehow. I don’t understand how that happened. I’ve been trying to recover the file, but I haven’t been able to so far.”

  “Can’t we open the cases up and figure it out ourselves?” Violet asked.

  “You won’t be able to open the cases. Tricia had them delivered to us already locked up. She’s the only one with the security codes. I’m afraid if we tried to break into them, we’d damage the items.”

  “There are still some things I don’t understand,” Henry said. “Why did she send them to you in the first place? Why didn’t she take them back to where they belong?”

  Trudy turned her head away from the screen and said, “I’ll be right there.” She turned back. “Tricia was planning to deliver them all, but then she got a good lead on a famous stolen painting. She had to follow up on it right away. We haven’t heard from her since then. That part isn’t so unusual. Tricia has never checked in very often.”

  Henry picked up the paper with the riddle on it. “I think this might be a clue to at lea
st one of the artifacts. It came addressed to Christina.” He read the riddle and then said, “It has to be important.”

  “I don’t know what that means. My sister has always been very good at riddles—too good. Sometimes they are impossible to figure out. I have to go now, but I’ll be back in touch when Mr. Ganert and Emilio are back with the plane to pick you up. Bye for now.” She hung up the phone.

  “We came all the way here, so we can’t just give up,” Benny said.

  “I don’t want to give up either. There have to be more clues somewhere.” Jessie opened the duffel bag and took out one of the boxes. They had all been wrapped in paper and tied with twine. Emilio had explained they were wrapped that way to disguise that there were valuable items inside. She untied the twine and pulled off the wrapping. Underneath was a small wooden box. The box was old, the wood worn on the corners.

  Next, she unhooked the small brass latch. Inside the wooden box was another box made of hard black plastic. She took it out. It had a keypad lock on it.

  “There could be a clue on the case,” she said. “Maybe it has something written on it.” They examined the case very carefully. It was made of hard black plastic and had a nine-number keypad on a lock holding the box closed. There was nothing written on it.

  “Let’s compare it to the rest,” Henry suggested. “If each box is different, that might be a clue.”

  They unwrapped all of them and took the cases out of the boxes. All the cases were identical.

  Violet picked up one of the wooden boxes they had set aside and opened it up again. She peered inside. “These aren’t all exactly alike. Some look older than others. And this one is all marked up on the bottom inside piece. It looks like someone used a marker on it.” She pointed to six black dots. “It looks like the pattern you see on dice.”

  Benny opened another box. “This has dots on it too, but there are only five.”

  “So the dots could be a clue!” Henry said. “We may be able to figure this out after all.”