The Mission to Find Max: Egypt (7 page)

Jack shook his head and tried to focus on Max. His brother had come to Cairo to gather information about Omar. But why was Max interested in Omar? Nearly eighty years had passed since Howard Carter discovered King Tut's treasures. And Omar, or ‘O', was probably dead by now.

Either way, it was likely that Max had returned to Thebes, which was the ancient name for the city of Luxor. So Jack programmed his Map Mate to calculate the distance between Cairo and Luxor. Unfortunately it was eight hours away.

As he stared at the River Nile in front of him, Jack had an idea. Reaching into his Book Bag, he pulled out a long toy boat. He dropped it into the Nile, and within moments it had grown to the size of a real boat.

This was the GPF's Longtail Boat. The Longtail could travel at up to fifty miles an hour. And since Jack had to cover a long distance, it was the best gadget for the job.

Jack climbed on board and sat down at the back. With a quick flick of a switch, he was on his way.

When Jack arrived in Luxor, he moored the boat to the dock and climbed out. The Longtail Boat immediately shrank back to the size of a toy. He plucked it out of the Nile, and put it back in his Book Bag. ‘Where to now?' Jack asked himself. Up ahead was a sign:

Jack decided to explore. After all, maybe this Massri guy had information about the diadem. Maybe he'd even seen Max.

Jack walked along the dusty path towards the Valley of the Kings. He knew that this was an enormous valley where pharaohs and noble people were buried, from the sixteenth to the eleventh century.

Because robbers had found it easy to steal from the pyramids, the Egyptian kings of the eighteenth to the twentieth dynasties decided to hide their bodies in the valley. That way, it would be more difficult to find them and their treasures.

Little did the kings know that, hundreds of years later, millions of tourists would visit their burial grounds. So would archaeologists. In 1922 Howard Carter found King Tut's tomb here. From the looks of it, Salama Massri was hoping to become famous too.

Up ahead Jack saw a camp full of tents. Men, women, boys and girls were scurrying everywhere, carrying maps, tools and small objects. Some were sitting at tables, cataloging finds. Others were sifting through sand. It was like a factory; a factory for artifact-hunting.

‘Nice work, everyone!' a man was shouting from another tent. ‘Remember, whatever we find, we get to keep – I mean, turn over to the museum.'

Jack reckoned that must be Salama Massri. But he couldn't see him yet.

‘We need to find ten more artifacts today,' the man was bellowing. ‘And you know I don't like to be disappointed.'

The hired hands scurried around even faster. One of the boys bumped into another, causing him to drop what he was working on.

‘Careful!' the man roared.

The frightened boy picked up his tools and ran off.

‘Everything in this valley is valuable, even the smallest bit of grit,' the man said, stepping out of the tent and smiling at his workers.

As he did so, the sunlight bounced off his teeth, sending out a blinding ray of light. Jack quickly shielded his eyes with his hand. When the man closed his mouth, the light disappeared. It was then that Jack realized who it was. He nearly fainted on the spot.

Standing in the middle of the camp was none other than the man with the gold teeth; the madman from Cambodia who'd kidnapped Rachel Newington. Jack dropped to his knees and hid behind a table.

‘Remember,' the man sneered, ‘each of you is responsible for finding something. And if you don't,' he said, kicking sand into a girl's eyes, ‘you'll have to answer to me.'

Jack saw an Asian man in silk pantaloons walking over to join Massri. He was the same man who had helped Massri in Cambodia. The two of them left the camp.

Jack's head was spinning. What was the man with the gold teeth doing in Egypt? The last time Jack had seen him, he was being hauled away by the Cambodian police. Maybe he'd served his sentence and left Cambodia. Perhaps he had bribed the police to let him out early. Either way, it looked like the man with the gold teeth was none other than Salama Massri, head archaeologist of this dig.

Clues were popping in and out of Jack's head. He remembered finding a recording in Rachel Newington's house in Cambodia that suggested she knew the person who'd kidnapped her.

Maybe Salama and Rachel had worked in Egypt at the same time. Perhaps he was here looking for treasure, while Rachel and Max were guarding the diadem. The question was whether Massri also knew Max.

Then a thought struck Jack. Penny had told him that someone was hunting for his brother. What if that person was Massri? Massri was a greedy man who'd stop at nothing to get his hands on a priceless treasure. Maybe he knew that Max had the diadem and was trying to track him down.

The only way to find out was to search for clues. Jack looked around to make sure no one was watching, then lifted the flap of a nearby tent and sneaked inside.