Clarke Libby and the Egyptian Escapade

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-915444-77-6
Verlag: Firefly Press Limited
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 4, 240 Seiten

Reihe: The Travelling School Mysteries

When the travelling school arrives in Egypt, the students soon get caught up in a sequence of strange and dangerous events. Have they truly awakened a mummy's curse, or is somebody trying to scare them away? Libby and her friends must use all their detective skills to exhume the truth.

Jo Clarke is an award-winning book blogger and primary school librarian. Her blog, BookloverJo, enables her to indulge her love of reading children's books. She is actively involved in the children's book community and has been a judge for both the British Book Awards and Alligator's Mouth Book Awards. Growing up she liked nothing better than reading mystery and boarding school stories by torchlight, when she should have been fast asleep. Her love of these books has inspired her to write.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Clarke, Jo

Weitere Mitwirkende

Moor, Becka

Leseproben

Chapter 1

Chaos and Confusion

The heat was the first thing that Libby noticed as they exited the airport, followed by the noise. It was a different type of heat from what she’ d experienced in the summer holidays. The rainforest had been damp and humid. Here it was fierce, despite it being almost winter in Egypt. She normally loved arriving in new places but this time it felt different. She’ d been reluctant to leave her mum behind after they had made no progress looking for her dad.

‘Are you okay?’ asked Connie, squeezing her hand.

Libby forced a smile on her face. ‘I’m fine, tired that’s all.’

‘It’s been a long day,’ said Connie. ‘You’ll feel better when we get to school.’

She didn’t want her best friend to know how she was truly feeling. Connie was the only person she’ d confided in about her dad, but she still felt odd talking about it.

‘I suppose so,’ Libby said. Maybe it had been a mistake to come back to school. Her aunt, Miss Mousedale, who was their headteacher, had felt that it would be better for Libby to be with her friends.

‘Where is our guide?’ Miss Mousedale frowned. She shielded her eyes from the blinding sunlight and scoured the crowds. ‘The school promised he would meet us at the airport.’

There were taxis all lined up with their owners shouting over each other trying to attract the tourists’ attention.

‘Don’t worry, they’ll be here soon.’ Libby reassured her. ‘They won’t leave us stranded.’ She could see her aunt was even more stressed than normal.

‘Look, someone is waving.’ Connie pointed to a tall, large man with black hair and a beard standing by a minibus. On the side, it read International School of Cairo. ‘Is that him?’

Miss Mousedale sighed with relief. ‘Thank goodness. Hurry up now girls. We must be at the school before anyone else arrives.’

Libby and Connie quickly followed Miss Mousedale towards the minibus. The driver bowed his head and smiled.

‘As-salamu alaykum. My humble apologies for my lateness,’ he said. ‘I’m Hassan Faisel el-Kahir, at your service. Let me take your bags.’

He loaded them into the boot and ushered them on board.

‘We must make haste,’ he instructed. ‘It will be rush hour soon.’

He swung the minibus out into the stream of traffic, narrowly avoiding another car going past. The driver beeped his horn and waved a fist at them but then drove off. Libby looked out of the window at the torrent of cars that surrounded them. The lanes of traffic seemed to merge into one. The bus in front was so full, there were people hanging on to the back of it. In all her years of travelling, she’ d never seen anything quite like it. In the distance she could see a thin white ornate tower which rose up out of a domed building; chanting sounds drifted on the air.

‘Welcome to my beautiful country,’ Hassan shouted, trying to make his voice heard over the sound of shouts and horns coming from around them. ‘I will be looking after you for your whole stay. Anything you need, just ask.’

‘That’s good to hear,’ Miss Mousedale replied. ‘I’ve never been to Egypt before, but the trustees of the school were keen for the children to come to Africa.’

‘You have chosen well,’ Hassan replied. ‘I will show you so many wonders. But first we must get you settled. You’ve had a long trip.’

‘I can’t wait,’ Connie said. ‘Do you think we’ll see the pyramids soon?’

Hassan nodded. ‘I have it all arranged. Now relax and enjoy the ride.’

Libby gripped the seat in front of her as the minibus zipped in and out of the traffic. Her mind was a blur. What if her mum managed to find her dad and she was thousands of miles away on the other side of the world? She tried to take in her surroundings to distract herself. In the distance ahead, she spotted a billboard with the familiar gold and blue mask of Tutankhamun on it. It was advertising the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum, where the Tutankhamun collection was now housed. She pointed it out to Connie, who grabbed Libby’s arm and started chattering away. ‘You’ll never guess what happened in the holidays? We went to visit Highclere Castle, where Lord Carnarvon lived. He discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb.’

‘That’s not strictly true,’ Hassan interrupted. ‘It was actually a local boy, but I will tell you more when we visit the tomb.’

Connie’s eyes lit up. ‘Egypt is going to be amazing! Don’t you think?’

‘Yes,’ mumbled Libby. She didn’t want to dampen Connie’s enthusiasm, but she was too distracted. She listened while Connie talked non-stop. Her friend didn’t seem to notice that Libby was quieter than normal.

***

The minibus pulled up outside an old stone building, reddish in colour. On the steps outside Libby spotted some familiar faces: Noah and Sebastian. Beside them stood Miss Khatun. The last time Libby had seen her was in New York: no one else had seen her hiding on the street watching them while they had been in the diner, so Libby had convinced herself she’ d imagined it. Miss Khatun already looked anxious and it was only the first day of school. What did she have to be so stressed about? Libby wondered.

Noah rushed down the steps and opened the door of the minibus. ‘Good job you’re here.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘We need a break from the eagle eyes of Miss Khatun.’

‘Whatever do you mean by that, Noah?’ Miss Mousedale frowned. ‘I thought you’d come to help with the bags. I should have known it was too good to be true.’

‘Sorry.’ Noah grimaced. ‘I’m just happy to see these two, that’s all.’

‘Go, go.’ Hassan laughed. ‘I will bring the bags in. I have two girls a similar age. They just want to chat. Let’s leave them be.’

Libby and Connie clambered out. After the coolness of the air conditioning, the heat felt strange. Miss Khatun was watching them all carefully.

‘There are some refreshments inside,’ Miss Khatun said. ‘And, boys, remember what I said. No one will be leaving school without an adult under any circumstances. Don’t get any ideas.’

‘Yes, Miss Khatun,’ they mumbled in unison.

The girls followed Noah and Sebastian across an elaborately-patterned tiled floor towards a brightly-painted room. Some of the other students were already there. Libby smiled in their direction, but didn’t attempt to talk to them. They were so much older than her she wouldn’t know what to say to them. On the table there were jugs of juice and a large silver teapot. Dainty cups and saucers were laid out and trays of tiny multi-coloured sweets that looked like jewels.

‘What’s up with Miss Khatun?’ asked Libby. ‘She’s even more on edge than usual.’

Noah rolled his eyes. ‘It’s okay for you two. Seb and I have had to put up with her all summer.’

‘All summer?’ Libby was confused.

Sebastian shook his head. ‘Mum and Dad decided we both needed some extra tuition over the holidays.’ He glared at Noah. ‘Because someone wasn’t paying attention last term and was behind. We both ended up doing extra work.’

‘I’ve said sorry a million times already,’ Noah moaned. ‘It’s been no fun for me either. That still doesn’t explain why she had to go with us everywhere we went, though.’

‘You know Mum and Dad were busy,’ Sebastian said. ‘They probably just wanted us to have some company.’

Noah rolled his eyes. ‘I’d rather be alone than stuck with Miss Khatun!’

Libby smiled for the first time that day. ‘Well, hopefully you’ve learned your lesson and you’ll try harder this year.’

‘Are you kidding me?’ laughed Noah. ‘It was you who spent most of last term distracted by Count Alvarez or whatever his name was.’

Libby had to admit that Noah had a point. She’ d spent far too much time thinking about mysteries recently and the boys didn’t even know about the latest one: the sightings of her dad.

‘Well, we’ll be far too busy this term to do anything other than enjoy the sights,’ said Connie. ‘I’ve got a list of places I want to visit.’ She rooted around in her rucksack for her notebook. A book fell on to the floor and Libby picked it up.

‘Why have you...