Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 Amy decided she was never watching Animal Planet again. Once you'd lived Animal Planet, it lost its charm. She edged away from the bank of the river. Behind her, the trees and foliage looked thick and impenetrable. Without the sun, the river had taken on a dark and oily look. "Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal on earth," Dan said. "Five thousand pounds per square inch. That's, like, twelve times stronger than a great white shark. They move fast, even on land. But the best way to run away from them is straight ahead, not zigzaggy. Just run really fast." "Dan! Zip it," Amy said. "They hunt at night. They wait in ambush for their prey."

"This isn't helping." "They drag you underneath the water and roll around and around with you and drown you before they chomp you. If you're lucky. You've got to get your hands around their jaws and hold them closed—" "Dan, get lost!" "I am lost!" There was a short silence. Across the dark river, the lights of Luxor glittered. Behind them on the west bank of the river, the ancient kings and queens slept in the limestone cliffs, the mummies still undiscovered, the hills cradling their spirits. The sky overhead was thick with more stars than Amy had ever seen. It would have been beautiful if only Amy could stop worrying about getting clamped in crocodile jaws. "I'm just trying to be helpful," Dan said. "If we can attract a boat's attention, someone will see us," Amy said. She could see the individual lights on the ends of boats— feluccas, Theo had called them—out on the river. "How do you say yoo-hoo in Arabic?"

"I believe that yoo-hoo could be part of a universal language," Dan said. "Like ow. Or— you're stepping on my foot." "That's universal?" "No, you're stepping on my foot. Ow." Amy moved. "Yoo-hoo!" Her voice sounded thin. It was swallowed up by the darkness. She tried to remember if crocodiles hunted by noise. She decided not to ask Dan. "YOO-HOO!" she shouted. The tiny boat lights stayed on their courses, tacking lazily back and forth. "Well, Nellie and Theo will come looking for us," she said. "How will they look for us?" Dan asked. "Jonah stole the boat!" "They'll hire a boat, and—" "Shhh," Dan stopped her. "Just because I told you to be quiet before—" "Shhh! Listen." Amy didn't hear anything. Then she heard a soft splash.

She froze. "Do you see anything?" she whispered. "I thought I saw… two eyes," Dan whispered. "Out there… by those reeds. Crocodiles stay submerged until they attack…." Amy looked. She didn't see anything by the reeds. What she did see was a giant log floating close to the riverbank. Then she saw that the log had two eyes and a snout. The crocodile turned and began to glide toward the beach. "D-d-d-d…" "What?" "C-c-croc…" The crocodile lumbered onto the beach, and Amy forgot how to move. It looked like a walking dinosaur. Something primitive and evil and hungry for flesh. Every impulse had been driven from her brain except for terror. The crocodile opened its mouth. Amy felt mesmerized by what looked like hundreds of sharp, pointed teeth. Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal on earth…. "Run!" Dan hissed. He yanked at her arm.

Amy wheeled, stumbled, and took off, running across the beach toward the center of the island. The sand sucked at her shoes. It was like running in a nightmare. Amy looked back. The crocodile was following them! "Don't zigzag!" Dan shouted. But she wasn't zigzagging. She was stumbling. Her legs were shaking so badly that she couldn't run. They crashed into the underbrush, following a narrow path that snaked through the trees. Amy's T-shirt snagged on a branch but she ripped it free and kept running, jumping over roots and ducking under branches. Over the sound of their gasping, they heard the actual thump of the crocodile hitting the path. The swish as its gigantic tail hit the greenery. It was so dark under the trees that it was like running underneath a black hood. Amy's heart banged against her chest. She could already feel the hot breath of the beast. Any moment it would snatch her from behind and whirl her in the air as

its jaws cut her in two. The path suddenly ended, spilling them out on a beach. Moonlight silvered the sand. It was as if someone had turned on the lights. "Where to now?" Amy asked, whipping her head around. Down by the water, a shadow slipped away from a palm tree. A man stood, dressed in the white galabia that many Egyptian men wore. "Help us!" Amy screamed. "Amy…" Dan stopped short. "He's got a knife." Moonlight glinted on the blade the man held at his side. Amy turned around. Behind her on the path she saw the green eyes of the crocodile coming toward them. Faster. "I don't care," Amy said. "Come on!" They ran down the beach toward the man with the knife. Better that than a crocodile's jaws. The man sheathed the knife as they approached him. The crocodile was running across the beach now. The man suddenly backed away, then