The Mission to Find Max: Egypt (6 page)

Fitting the shape into the map, Jack waited for the name ‘Egypt' to appear. He grabbed his Book Bag from underneath his bed and ran back to the map. The light inside Egypt was growing brighter now.

Jack closed his eyes and said a silent prayer for good luck. When the time was right, he yelled, ‘Off to Egypt!' Then the light burst, and swallowed him into the Magic Map.

The next thing Jack knew, he was standing in the middle of a dusty, busy market place called a souk. Shops were selling just about anything you could imagine — ceramics, coffee, copper pots, dresses and King Tut T-shirts. A donkey cart clip-clopped in front of a queue of taxis.

Usually, when Jack arrived at a location, he had a contact to meet; someone in charge of the operation on the ground.

But this time he was all alone. Up ahead was a sign:

Now Jack knew where he was. He was in Cairo, Egypt's capital city. Jack also knew that Cairo was home to one of the most famous museums on King Tut, the Egyptian Museum. Since Max was probably guarding one of King Tut's treasures, Jack thought it would be a good place to start. After all, he needed to find out more about that diadem.

He pulled out the GPF's Map Mate. The Map Mate was a hand-held GPS navigation device that could tell you how to get from point A to point B. He waited for the device to pick up his signal, then he told it he needed to get to the Egyptian Museum.

Within seconds, the Map Mate had calculated his route. The museum was only ten minutes away. Jack followed the arrows, heading southwest through the noisy streets. Above him, clothes were strung across on ropes. Vendors were selling fruits and spices. Men were blowing horns in an attempt to get cobras to dance out of their woven baskets.

Finally Jack came to the Nile, one of the most famous rivers in the world. There, near its banks, was an enormous pink building — the Egyptian Museum.

Jack passed a copy of the ancient Sphinx at the front and walked into the great hall. He plucked a map from the tourist information center, and found what he was looking for — the curator's office. The curator was the boss of the museum, and if anyone had information about the diadem, it would be him.

Jack wandered along the narrow corridors until he came to a door at the back. Hanging on it was a plaque: ALI HASSAN, CURATOR. Jack knocked. A man answered in English. ‘Enter,' he said.

Jack opened the door. Sitting at a wooden desk in front of a typewriter was a dark-skinned man wearing glasses and a bushy moustache.

‘My name is Jack, and I would like some information for my school project. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?' asked Jack.

‘No, of course not – go ahead,' said Mr Hassan.

‘Well,' said Jack, ‘I was wondering about King Tut's diadem.'

The curator's eyebrows rose. ‘The diadem, huh?' he said. ‘It is written that whoever wears the diadem will rule the world.'

Jack's eyebrows rose in return. He had no idea that the diadem possessed so much power. Mr Hassan narrowed his eyes at Jack.

‘What school do you go to?' he asked.

For a moment Jack was thrown off guard.

‘The reason I ask,' Mr Hassan went on, ‘is that another English boy came to see me a few months ago. He too asked about the diadem. Perhaps you go to the same school?'

Jack's tummy did a flip-flop. ‘What did he look like?' he asked.

‘He was slightly older than you,' said Mr Hassan, ‘with fair hair.'

Jack couldn't believe it. He rifled through his trouser pocket and pulled out his wallet. Inside was a picture of Jack and Max at the beach. He showed it to the man.

‘Was this him?' he asked.

The curator nodded. ‘It seems as though you're already friends,' he said.

‘More than that,' said Jack excitedly under his breath. ‘What did he want?'

‘He wanted to know about the history of the diadem,' said Mr Hassan. ‘Specifically about who stole it from Howard Carter. I told him what I knew. Howard Carter had an assistant named Omar,' he explained. ‘Everyone called him “O”. The day after Howard Carter discovered it, Omar and the diadem disappeared.'

Before Jack could say anything, Mr Hassan carried on.

‘The diadem was found decades later by a villager in the ancient city of Thebes. The archaeologist Rachel Newington was brought in to care for it. Soon, however, it vanished again.'

Things were starting to fall into place. Max had written the name ‘Thebes' in his coded note to Jack. It was likely that he had been in Thebes guarding the diadem with Rachel. This was also where it had been found again.

The letter ‘o' was used instead of a ‘u' in the common spelling of Tutankhamun. Jack wondered whether Max had put it there as a clue about Omar.

‘What else did my, um, friend say?' said Jack.

‘He asked whether Omar had any children,' said the curator.

‘Anything else?' asked Jack.

‘Only that he was feeling ill,' said Mr Hassan. ‘The boy asked for a glass of water. So I left him in my office while I went to fetch it. When I came back, he was gone.'

Jack was worried. Maybe Max had some kind of horrible illness. Maybe he needed medical attention. But then Jack noticed the typewriter in front of Mr Hassan.

It was a common secret agent trick to ask for a glass of water so that you were left alone. Maybe it was here that Max had typed that coded letter to Jack. On Mr Hassan's very own typewriter.

Jack smiled, and thanked the curator for the information. Mr Hassan bade Jack farewell and went back to his work.

When Jack got outside, he saw something incredible. Perched on the back of the Sphinx was a falcon, just like the one he'd seen in England. It was staring at him. Jack started to feel uneasy. If it was the same one, then it was definitely following him.

Suddenly Jack heard laughter. He quickly turned to see who it was, and spotted a bunch of tourists standing next to a bus. When Jack turned back to the bird, it was gone. He looked up at the sky, but it was nowhere to be seen.