High Time for Heroes Read online

  “What a rude child you are!” said Lady Bickerson. “Is that how your parents taught you to speak to your superiors?”

  Jack was starting to get angry, too. “We don’t have superiors at home,” he said.

  Lord Bickerson glared at Jack and Annie. “It is high time you children left this boat,” he said. “Miss Nightingale does not even know who you are. None of us know who you are, or who your parents are!”

  “Excuse me, sir, but this is not your boat, is it?” Annie said. “I thought it belonged to Selina and Charles.”

  “Oooh!” the aristocrats both gasped.

  Lord Bickerson strode to the door. “Be gone!” he said. “You children are the very definition of the word impolite. Leave before I send for the local governor! He’d know what to do with you!”

  “Seriously? What does that mean?” said Jack.

  “It means go,” said Annie, “which I’m happy to do.”

  “Me too,” said Jack.

  Jack and Annie stood up. As they headed for the door, Annie looked back at the countess and her baby baboon. “Good-bye, Countess. Good-bye, Koku. It was great meeting you.”

  Jack nodded in agreement.

  “Must you leave?” said the countess.

  “I fear we must,” said Annie, echoing Florence. She curtsied, and Jack bowed. Then they both headed out the door.

  Outside, the sun was brighter and hotter than ever. Flies buzzed everywhere. Jack put his hat back on. “Come on, let’s get away from these beasts,” he said.

  “The flies or the aristocrats?” asked Annie.

  “Both!” said Jack.

  Jack and Annie headed over the gangplank to the riverbank, then walked toward some shade trees at the edge of the Nile. “Send for the local governor? Seriously?” said Jack.

  “Their behavior was unthinkable!” said Annie. “The very definition of impolite!”

  Jack laughed, but then he sighed. “We blew it,” he said. “We got sidetracked. How can we complete our mission now?”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll wait for the Bickersons to leave,” said Annie. “Then we’ll try to get back on board and visit with Florence.”

  “Okay, sounds like a plan. Sort of,” said Jack.

  “C’mon. Let’s wait on that big rock under the trees,” said Annie.

  Jack and Annie headed toward the shady rock. Not far away, Mustafa was sitting next to his rowboat, reading a book. The guide looked up, gave them a nod, then went back to his reading. Across the river, Ali was resting with his donkeys.

  “Could you believe the way those two talked about Florence?” said Annie. “She can’t be a nurse. She can’t work outside her house. She can’t even have her own opinions! How do you become great if people make you feel so bad about yourself? And did you notice how they tried to make us afraid of everything? That was crazy.”

  “Yeah … crazy,” said Jack. But the aristocrats’ warnings had gotten to him. Now he was on alert for all the beasts of the Nile. What do black mambas look like? he wondered. Do jackals ever come out during the day? When he heard the whine of a mosquito, he shook his head as if his hair were on fire.

  “What’s wrong with you?” said Annie.

  Before Jack could answer, he heard a loud call. WAHOO!

  Jack and Annie jumped up and whirled around.

  “Koku!” cried Annie.

  The baby baboon was scrambling toward them on all fours. Countess von Kensky hurried after her. “Koku! Wait!” she called.

  Koku leapt into Annie’s arms. “Well, hello!” cried Annie, hugging the baby baboon.

  “She wanted to find you!” the countess said, out of breath. “After you left, she screeched at the Bickersons. She even shook her little fists. So they ordered her off the boat, too! Now the poor couple is sitting there all alone!”

  “Oh, thank you, Koku, for sticking up for us!” said Annie.

  “I can see you like Koku and that she likes you,” said the countess. “Therefore I have a favor to ask you. Could you care for her this afternoon? I must take a ferry downriver to see a sick friend, but I cannot take Koku. My friend is afraid of creatures from the wild.”

  “Of course we’ll take care of her!” said Annie.

  “Uh, Annie? You know we have a mission, right?” Jack said under his breath. Their job was to find a secret of greatness—not to babysit a baboon.

  “Don’t worry, Koku won’t get in the way,” Annie said to Jack. She looked at the countess. “We’d love to!”

  “Thank you! Thank you very much! I trust you to be wonderful caretakers!” said the countess. She reached into her purse, brought out a chunk of brown bread, and gave it to Jack. “Please give her bits of this when she is hungry or sad. I won’t be back until nightfall. Where can we rendezvous then?”

  “Rendezvous?” said Annie.

  “Yes, meet up with each other,” said the countess.

  “Oh—how about Selina’s boat?” said Jack.

  “Good, good! You two are angels who dropped from heaven! Thank you so very much!” said the countess. “Be good, Koku!” And she hurried down the riverbank to catch her ferry.

  Uhh-woh? said Koku, looking after the countess.

  “Don’t be sad, baby,” said Annie, sitting back on the rock. “Your mom won’t be gone long.”

  Uhh-woh, the baboon said. She settled into Annie’s lap, and Annie kissed her head.

  “Would Koku like a snack?” Jack asked. He broke off a piece of bread and gave it to her. He put the rest in his pouch.

  Koku held the bread with her two tiny hands. She chewed thoughtfully, looking from Jack to Annie with her bright eyes. She uttered funny little noises between bites. Suddenly she screeched and pointed upriver.

  Jack and Annie turned to look. Florence had left Charles and Selina’s boat! Carrying a small bag, she was walking quickly down the riverbank toward Mustafa.

  “Now’s our chance!” Jack said.

  “Let’s go!” said Annie. Holding Koku, she hurried with Jack to Florence and the guide.

  “I’d like to explore the Valley of the Queens,” Florence was saying to Mustafa as Jack and Annie approached.

  “Hi there!” said Annie.

  Florence turned around. She looked startled. “Oh. Hello,” she said.

  Koku let out another screech.

  “We’re babysitting Koku,” Annie explained.

  Florence nodded. Jack could tell she didn’t really want to talk to them.

  “Are you going to take more notes this afternoon?” Annie asked.

  “Yes … I am,” Florence answered.

  “You’re just like Jack,” said Annie. “He loves to write in his notebook, too.”

  “Oh. How nice,” said Florence. Jack was embarrassed. Florence’s mind was clearly on other things. She nodded politely, and then turned back to the guide. “Shall we be off, Mustafa?”

  Mustafa helped Florence into the rowboat and took his position. As the guide picked up his oars, Florence glanced back at Jack, Annie, and Koku. They were all just standing on the bank, staring at her.

  Florence sighed. “Do you need a ride to the western shore?” she said.

  “Yes, please,” said Annie.

  “Then come,” Florence said. “You are welcome to join us.”

  “Thanks!” said Annie.

  Jack didn’t say anything. He didn’t feel welcome at all.

  Jack and Annie climbed in with Koku and sat behind Florence. Mustafa used his oars to push the boat off the riverbank. As he began rowing across the Nile, the white-bearded guide sang the same peaceful song he’d sung before.

  Annie gave Jack a thumbs-up sign.

  Not really, Jack thought. Florence was sitting with her back to them now, writing in her notebook. How could they ever get her to pay attention to them?

  “Look up Valley of the Queens,” Annie whispered to him. Jack took the handbook out of the pouch on his belt. Then he and Annie silently read:

  About 3,000 years ago, the wives of the phara
ohs were buried in the Valley of the Queens, near the Valley of the Kings. The tombs were cut out of limestone cliffs.

  “Excuse me, Miss Nightingale?” Annie said. “Have you ever been to the Valley of the Queens?”

  Without looking back, Florence shook her head.

  “We find it fascinating,” said Annie. She nudged Jack, letting him know it was his turn to speak.

  “Did you know that the wives of the pharaohs were buried there about three thousand years ago?” Jack said. “I believe their tombs were cut out of the limestone cliffs.”

  Florence barely nodded. She didn’t say a word or look back at them. Before Jack or Annie could think of another way to get her attention, the rowboat arrived on the western shore.

  “Miss Nightingale, your donkey!” Ali called out. The small boy stood with a donkey and a larger packhorse.

  “How lovely to see you, Ali,” said Florence.

  Mustafa stepped into the shallow water and pulled the rowboat onto the bank. He then helped everyone out of the boat.

  Jack and Annie stood with Koku and watched Florence mount the donkey. Mustafa climbed onto his packhorse. Jack felt helpless. He didn’t know how to stop Florence from leaving them.

  “Have a nice afternoon,” said Annie.

  Florence looked back at them. “I hope you have a nice afternoon, too,” she said. “I would ask you to join me, but I am … well, I’m afraid I need a bit of quiet and solitude right now.”

  “We understand,” said Annie.

  “Thank you,” said Florence. She turned back to the guide. “Lead the way, Mustafa.”

  Mustafa and his horse headed away from the river. Florence followed on her donkey. Jack, Annie, and Koku watched as they headed up the dirt road toward the distant mountains. Soon they disappeared from view.

  “Darn,” breathed Annie.

  “Yeah,” said Jack.

  “Donkeys for you, too?” Ali asked, coming up behind them. “You can travel to the ruins without a guide, you know.”

  Annie looked at Jack. “Want to?” she asked.

  “How do we get to the Valley of the Queens?” Jack asked Ali.

  “Very easy.” The boy pointed to the road. “Travel the same way they went,” he said. “Follow that road and never turn.”

  “That sounds simple,” said Annie. “Let’s go.”

  “Wait,” said Jack. He took all of his Egyptian coins from his pouch and showed them to Ali. “Do we have enough to rent two donkeys?”

  “Oh, yes!” Ali took only one coin. “Good for two donkeys all afternoon,” he said.

  “Okay, we’ll do it,” said Jack.

  “Yay!” said Annie.

  “Good. I will get them for you,” said Ali. He headed to the donkeys standing under the trees.

  “I wonder if there’s anything we need to know about riding donkeys,” said Jack. He opened their travelers’ handbook again and looked up donkey. He read aloud:

  Donkeys were first trained to carry travelers over 6,000 years ago in Egypt. The animals are easy to ride. But the traveler must approach them slowly and treat them with kindness and affection.

  “Easy!” said Annie. “That’s the way I always treat animals.”

  HEE-HAW!

  “Here they are!” said Ali, leading two donkeys toward Jack and Annie.

  Both donkeys were sandy brown with sweet faces. Their saddles were blankets made of heavy cloth. Their long, furry ears twitched to keep the flies away.

  “Hello there!” Annie said to one of the donkeys. “You have ears like a rabbit. Can I call you Bunny?”

  “Oh, brother,” said Jack.

  “Talk to yours, too,” Annie coached Jack. “Call her a sweet name. Kindness and affection, remember?”

  Jack rolled his eyes and scratched the ears of the other donkey. “Hi … um … Honey. Want to go for a ride?” he said. The donkey nuzzled her head against Jack’s hand.

  Ali laughed. “I think my donkeys like you very much,” he said.

  Holding Koku, Annie climbed onto the back of Bunny, while Jack climbed onto Honey.

  “You must take water,” said Ali. He tied tin canteens to the donkeys’ saddles. “Come back by sundown. There is danger in the hills after dark.”

  “Like what kind of danger?” asked Jack.

  “Wild jackals, tomb raiders,” said Ali.

  “Got it,” said Jack.

  “We’ll be back before dark,” said Annie.

  “Way before dark,” said Jack.

  “Good-bye, Ali. Thank you!” said Annie. “Giddyup, Bunny!” She led the way with Koku on her shoulder.

  “Follow them, Honey, please,” said Jack.

  The two donkeys left the lush riverbank and trotted up the same road that Mustafa and Florence had traveled.

  “Our donkeys remind me of the camels we rode to Baghdad!” Annie called back to Jack. “Remember Beauty and Cutie?”

  “Oh, brother,” said Jack. The camels had nearly ruined their mission.

  Bunny and Honey trotted past cornfields, palm trees, sheep, goats, mud huts, and children playing in the dirt. When the children saw Jack and Annie, they laughed and pointed at the baboon riding on Annie’s shoulder.

  Soon the dirt road opened onto a wider, rougher road that crossed a flat plain. The plain was bordered by the sand-colored mountains. Hot breezes blew clouds of dust as the donkeys clomped side by side over the dry, cracked earth.

  Through the gritty haze, Jack could see ruins scattered about the plain—broken columns and chunks of ancient walls half buried in sand.

  “Look!” said Annie.

  Two gigantic statues loomed ahead against the blue sky: enormous pharaohs on thrones, as tall as five-story buildings.

  “Let’s stop for a minute,” Jack called. He pulled on his donkey’s reins and took out the travelers’ handbook. He found a picture of the statues and read aloud:

  More than 3,000 years old, the Colossi of Memnon once guarded the temple of a pharaoh. Memnon means Ruler of the Dawn. Ancient Egyptians believed one of the giant statues sang every day at sunrise.

  Jack took out his notebook and pencil and wrote:

  Memnon=Ruler of the Dawn

  He looked at the ruins again. The pharaoh’s temple had vanished with time. The statues were faceless, their bodies broken and worn away by thousands of years of wind and sand. The wounded giants still looked amazingly powerful, though. Through the dry heat, Jack could imagine their ancient song.

  HEE-HAW!

  Jack jumped. “What’s that?”

  “A donkey! Up ahead somewhere,” said Annie, “past those temple ruins. I’ll bet it’s Florence’s donkey. Hurry! Let’s go!”

  Jack put away his notebook and pencil and the handbook. “Giddyup!” he said, and his donkey started walking again. “Annie, when we find Florence, try to act surprised, so she won’t think we’re following her. Be cool.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m always cool,” said Annie. “But we’ll have to find a way to stick close to her, so we can find out her secret of greatness.”

  “Yeah,” Jack sighed. “The only problem is I’m having trouble seeing what makes her so great,” he said. He thought Florence seemed unhappy and unfriendly.

  “But she is great,” said Annie. “I know she is!”

  Jack and Annie kept riding their donkeys through the heat and dust. When they stopped at the ruins of an ancient temple, there were no signs of Florence or Mustafa among the broken columns and crumbling walls. There were no signs of any living things.

  “I don’t see them,” said Jack. “We must have lost them somewhere.” He shivered, despite the heat. The quiet felt spooky to him. He grabbed his canteen and took a long drink of water. Annie did the same. Then she poured a little bit of water into her cupped hand and offered it to Koku.

  “Do you think we should keep going to the Valley of the Queens?” asked Annie.

  “I guess so,” said Jack.

  “Florence and Mustafa are probably already there,” said Ann
ie. “Giddyup, Bunny.”

  As the donkeys walked toward the cliffs, Jack couldn’t shake his uneasy feeling. Everything was the color of mud and sand. The only other living creatures were some vultures circling in the sky. As Jack stared up at the birds, Annie brought her donkey to a halt.

  “Oh, wow! Those must be the tombs of the pharaons’ wives!” said Annie. She pointed to several huge square holes carved into the limestone walls of the cliffs.

  “Yeah.” Jack shuddered. “You know, I think I’d like to go back. This place gives me the creeps.”

  “Are you afraid of ghosts?” said Annie.

  Jack shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe. Let’s just go,” he said. “We can wait for Florence back at Charles and Selina’s boat.”

  “Don’t you at least want to peek inside one of the tombs?” asked Annie.

  “Nope,” Jack said.

  “Well, okay, you don’t have to,” said Annie. “But if I don’t take a look, I’ll always wonder what I missed. Koku and I will be right back.”

  “No, Annie, let’s leave this place,” said Jack.

  “Just one teeny minute,” said Annie. Holding on to the baby baboon, she climbed off her donkey. “We’ll just take a quick look in that one.” She pointed to the nearest tomb cut into the mountain. “I promise we won’t go inside. We’ll hurry back.” With Koku sitting on her shoulder, Annie took off toward the tomb.

  Jack’s donkey shook her head and kicked her hind legs. “What’s wrong, Honey?” said Jack.

  Annie’s donkey started acting strangely, too. She brayed loudly and turned away from the cliffs. “Calm down, Bunny,” said Jack, trying to speak in a soothing voice. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

  Something was clearly bothering both animals. Jack’s donkey tried to turn around, and Annie’s donkey began trotting back the way they’d come!

  “Wait, Bunny!” Jack called as Annie’s donkey sped away. “Annie!” he shouted. “Come back now! Bunny’s running off!”

  Annie was standing at the entrance of the tomb. She turned around. “What?” she called.