Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17 It was only nine in the morning, and the temperature in Aswan was well over ninety. In the airport, Amy felt sweat snake down her back, and she shrugged off her backpack and looped it over a shoulder. With every step, it bumped into her waist pack. She wasn't about to complain. If she did, Dan would just throw her a look of disgust and call her a wimp, and she wouldn't be responsible for her actions. Then again, he probably wouldn't call her names. They weren't talking to each other. Slam, slam, went her backpack against her waist pack. She trudged after the others. Nellie was first, heading toward the taxi stand. Theo had called Hilary for help, and she'd recommended the Old Cataract Hotel, "where Grace always

stayed in Aswan, ducks… darling Saladin, do get your claws out of my arm, thank you…." Dan was after her, putting as much distance between himself and Amy as possible. Theo walked in front of Amy, digging for the sunglasses in his shirt pocket. Crowds of tourists waiting for luggage milled about, and a tour guide called out, "This way, people!" as another large clump of tourists moved toward a row of buses. Theo dropped his sunglasses and leaned over to pick them up. Amy felt someone bump into her from behind as she stopped short. She felt the chafing from the waist pack, and she reached down to move it slightly. To her surprise, she brushed a hand. "Hey!" She felt her waist pack being tugged. The crowd pressed in on her. She couldn't turn, and she couldn't move forward. Amy started to panic. "Help!" she cried, but nobody heard her. Theo didn't turn. He was waving at Nellie. She felt as though she were being squeezed by a roomful of writhing snakes. She couldn't get her breath. It was so hot, and the moving bodies around her trapped her. She couldn't break free. "H-h-help!"

Her voice was so puny, barely a squeak. Ahead, she saw Dan turn. His eyes met her panicked ones. He knew immediately she was in trouble. He started to force his way back to her. "Dan!" She tried to move toward him and almost fell. "Dan, help! My waist pack!" Suddenly, his arm popped through the crowd and he yanked on her wrist. He pulled her as hard as he could, knocking a woman out of their way. Amy felt the pressure on her waist pack ease. She twisted around and scanned the crowd. Instead of writhing snakes, she saw sweaty tourists anxious for ground transportation. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone move, but it was only an older couple, a fat man in a straw hat and his wife looking down and searching through her bulging tote bag. Amy saw the light glint on her silver snake ring. "Hurry, you two!" Theo stood at the cab, the door open. Amy tumbled into the backseat next to Dan.

"Hey, someone tried to saw this off from behind," Dan said. Amy unbuckled the waist pack with shaking fingers. She saw the mark of a knife trying to slice through the canvas. At the sight of the fresh cut, a chill went down her back. "That was close." "You've got to watch your belongings in crowds," Theo said. "I'm glad you reacted so quickly, Amy." "It was Dan, actually," Amy said. "Yeah, I managed to do something right," Dan said. Theo looked out the window. "Why don't we drop our bags at the hotel and catch a boat over to Agilika Island right away?" "Wait," Dan said. "I thought Philae was the name of the island. That's where the guidebook said the temple was." "Philae is the name of the site, but Agilika is the island," Theo said. "Philae Island has been completely underwater since the 1960s." "What?" Amy blurted. The Clue was underwater?

"That's when the High Dam was built. Even before that, after the building of the first dam back in 1902, the island was submerged during certain parts of the year. People would actually look down at it through the water." "So what happened to the buildings on the island?" Amy asked. "They were saved and moved to Agilika," Theo explained. "The island was landscaped to look exactly like Philae. It's as close as you can get to an authentic experience. The only thing that's changed is the island itself. You'll see the Temple of Isis just as it existed on Philae." "Do you mean that the original island of Philae still exists, it's just under the Nile?" Dan asked. Theo nodded. "Under the lake that was created by the dam. But there's nothing to see on it now." Theo and Nellie began to talk, and Amy spoke in a low tone to Dan. Since he'd practically saved her life, it was hard to stay as mad at him. "We still have a chance," she whispered. "The poem said the rosy pillar would cast a shadow at noon. Since the buildings are positioned exactly

the same, the same shadow will fall on the same place on the 'long protecting arm'— whatever that is. If we're lucky, Katherine's clue will still be there." "Either that, or we need to stop at Snorkels-R- Us," Dan said. The taxi drew up in front of the Old Cataract Hotel, a beautiful spot right on the Nile. Theo offered to take care of storing their bags and "distribute a little baksheesh." When he headed back to the cab, a bellman ran up and handed him a small slip of paper. Theo read it and frowned, then slipped it into his shirt pocket. "What was that?" Amy asked as he slid into the front seat. "Nothing. Just… a welcome greeting from the front desk." Dan reached over the seat and grabbed it out of Theo's pocket. He scanned it quickly. "Some welcome." He showed it to Amy and Nellie. An Egyptian drawing of Osiris, god of the underworld, was at the top. Underneath was written: