06 The Writing on the Wall

6 The Writing on the Wall Jack and Annie squinted at the pyramid wall. A series of tiny pictures were carved into the stone. “ There are four pictures here, ” Jack told the ghost-queen. “ Describe them to me, Jack. One at a time, please, ” she said.

Jack studied the first picture. “ Okay, ” he said. “ The first one is like this. ” He made a zigzag in the air with his finger. “ Like stairs?” asked the ghost-queen. “ Yes, stairs! ” said Jack. “ Just like stairs. ” She nodded. Easy enough. Jack studied the second picture. “ The second one has a long box on the bottom, ” he said. He drew it in the air. The ghost-queen looked puzzled. “ With three things on top. Like this, ” said Annie. She drew squiggly lines in the air. The ghost-queen still seemed puzzled.

“ Like a hat, ” said Jack. “ Hat?” said the ghost-queen. “ No. More like a boat, ” said Annie. “ Boat?” said the ghost-queen. She got excited. “ Boat?” Jack took another look at the wall. “ Yes. It could be a boat, ” he said. The ghost-queen looked very happy. She smiled. “ Yes. Of course, ” she said. Jack and Annie studied the next picture. “ The third one is like a thing that holds flowers, ” said Annie. “ Or a thing that holds water, ” said Jack. “ Like a jug?” asked the ghost-queen. “ Exactly, ” said Jack. “ Yes. A jug, ” said Annie.

Jack and Annie studied the last picture. “ And the last one looks like a pole that droops, ” said Annie. “ Like a curved stick, ” said Jack. “ But one side is shorter than the other. ” The ghost-queen looked puzzled. “ Wait, ” said Jack. “ I’ll draw it in my notebook. Big! So you can see it. ” Jack put down the scepter and got out his pencil. He drew the hieroglyph. “ A folded cloth, ” said the ghost-queen. “ Well, not really, ” said Jack. He studied his drawing. “ But that is the hieroglyph for a folded cloth, ” said the ghost-queen. “ Well, okay, ” said Jack.

He looked at the fourth hieroglyph again. He still couldn’t see the folded cloth. Unless it was like a towel hanging over a bathroom rod. “ So that’s all of them, ” said Annie. She pointed at each picture. “ Stairs. Boat. Jug. Folded cloth. ” Jack wrote the words in his notebook. “ So what does the message mean?” he asked the ghost-queen. “ Come, ” she said. She held out her hand. “ Come to my burial chambers. ” And she floated away.