Trip to Ancient Egypt

By Kylan Mogg

On a nice warm day, Bessie, the cow, and Charley, the horse, were playing a fierce game of checkers on the front porch.

“Alright dearie, I will place my move here. Now queen me!” Bessie demanded, clapping her hooves together.

“First of all, you cannot move five spaces in one turn. Second, it’s called king me, not queen me. Finally, never call me dearie,” Charley said as he was still gazing at the checkerboard.

“Well excuse me for trying to bring some beauty into this game,” Bessie huffed.

“It’s not about beauty. This game is about intelligence,” Charley replied.

“Hey, guys! What are you doing?” Bow, the dog, asked as he sat down beside them.

“Oh, just showing Bessie how to lose at checkers,” Charley said.

“How did you do that?” Bessie asked after Charley jumped the rest of her checkers in one move.

“It wasn’t hard. All I had to do was get you talking about fashion,” Charley laughed.

“Well, I never!” Bessie said as she flipped the checkerboard off the table.

“Hey, Charley! You got a letter in the mail,” Suzie, the sheep, said.

Charley took the letter from Suzie and opened it.

Dear Charley,

How is my favourite nephew these days? I hope he is still the young adventurer that I knew when he was little. I am on my way to investigate The Great Pyramid of Hoodoo. I wanted to know if you would like to come with me on this archaeological dig? You can even bring your friends. Give me a call.

Love,

Uncle Chip

“Who is it from?” Bessie asked.

“It’s from my Uncle Chip. He is going to investigate the Great Pyramid of Hoodoo and invited me along to go with him. Uncle Chip said I could even bring all of you,” Charley said excitedly.

“I always wanted to go to Egypt,” Bow said.

“Me too! It’s time that the people know who their queen is,” Bessie said. Charley, Bessie, Bow, and Suzie went to tell the others about the trip. The gang packed all their bags and bought plane tickets to Egypt.

After they arrived in Egypt Charley made a phone call to let his Uncle know that they landed safely in Egypt.

“Now Charley who is this uncle of yours?” Polly, the duck,  asked curiously.

“Uncle Chip is a famous archaeologist who travels the world discovering new things,” Charley replied.

“How come you never mentioned him before?” Rocky, the rooster, asked.

“We kind of lost touch after the big family fight about five years ago,” Charley, said.

“What happened?” Holly, the hen, asked.

“Nothing much, although there was an ambulance involved. Hey, look there he is,” Charley said. Uncle Chip was a middle-aged solid grey horse that had white splotches all over him. He was wearing an explorer hat and vest.

“Charley!” Uncle Chip said as he hugged Charley.

“Uncle Chip!” Charley yelled.

“How is my favourite colt?” Uncle Chip asked.

“I am doing just fine,” Charley replied.

“I always knew you would do something good with your life!” Uncle Chip said gleefully.

“Ugh… He lives on the farm.” Bessie said sarcastically.

“And this must be all of your friends,” Uncle Chip said.

“Yes. This is Rocky, Bessie, Holly, Polly, Porky, Bow, and Suzie,” Charley said.

“Hi!” they all said.

“Are y’all ready to go?” Uncle Chip asked.

They all nodded. They got the luggage and checked in at their hotel. After freshening up, the gang met at the front of the hotel with bags packed to camp out at the pyramid.

“Where is the pyramid located, Mr Chip?” Holy asked.

“It is about four miles East of Death Valley. And please call me Uncle Chip,” Uncle Chip said.

“Di-iid he just say Death Valley?” Porky, the pig, asked.

“No, he said call me Uncle Chip. You think he could hear with those big ears,” Bessie told Polly.

“You said they looked beautiful,” Porky whined.

“They do, in theory,” Bessie said laughing.

“Don’t worry Porky. It just the name of a place,” Uncle Chip said. The animals all got on a bus and headed to the campsite near the Pyramid of Hoodoo. When they got there, the animals were amazed.

“This is amazing!” Bow exclaimed. All the animals admired the great pyramid.

“Alright gang, I would like to introduce you to my assistant Camille, the camel,” Uncle Chip said.

“Hello! Are y’all ready for an adventure?” Camille asked.

“Of course!” they all replied.

“Well let’s get going!” Uncle Chip said. The animals followed Chip to the entrance of the great pyramid.

“This is so exciting,” Holly said.

“I’m a little scared,” Charley cried.

“Come on my little colt. I will be there to protect you,” Uncle Chip laughed.

“Whatever you do, don’t touch anything. There might be booby traps in here,” Camille instructed.

“Like we would step on one,” Suzie said. Suddenly, Suzie stepped on a stone that sunk into the ground.

“Duck!” Camille yelled. All the animals fell to the ground as a spear came flying toward them.

“That was close,” Rocky said.

“I broke a nail!” Bessie whined.

“Sorry,” Suzie said. The gang followed the path toward the resting place of Pharaoh Hoodoo. There were golden hieroglyphics on all the walls, along with pictures of birds, cats, and even elephants. After walking through mountains of sand, they finally made it to the burial chamber.

“Who is this Pharaoh Hoodoo?” Polly asked.

“Pharaoh Hoodoo is known as being the great King of Egypt. He became king at the age of 9, and had a powerful reign. There is also a story of him having magical powers,” Camille said.

“What kind of powers?” Holly asked.

“At the day of his coronation he was given a jewel known as the Eye of Hoodoo. This jewel was a huge diamond that allowed him to control the elements such as water, air, earth and fire,” Camille went on.

“That’s amazing!” Porky said.

“Can we see the Eye of Hoodoo?” Bessie asked.

“He hid the jewel so that no one could have the power,” Uncle Chip said.

“Well I never,” Polly said.

“What did he look like?” Rocky asked. Uncle Chip took a picture of King Hoodoo from his pocket.

“Oh, my dog,” Bow said. King Hoodoo looked exactly like Bessie. His fur was white with black splotches all over his body.

“I told you I was a queen!” Bessie yelled.

“They do look similar,” Camille said analyzing the picture.

“It is said that one day he will return to take revenge on the ones who try to steal his precious diamond,” Uncle Chip said.

“Like who would take his diamond? That would be very rude,” Porky said.

All of the animals continued to look around the burial chamber, where they discovered priceless artefacts and jewels.

“Bessie, what do you think you’re doing?” Charley asked.

“I am just taking what belongs to me. As you can see, I am descendent from King what’s-his-face,” Bessie said as she started putting jewels in her bag.

“That is called grave-robbing!” Charley exclaimed.

“No, it’s called an inheritance,” Bessie replied. She continued to put various jewels in her bag until she hit a button on the ground. The tomb began to shake, causing everyone to lose their balance.

“I didn’t do it!” Bessie yelled.

“Uncle Chip, what do we do?” Rocky yelled.

“Hold on to something!” Uncle chip replied. The burial chamber continued to shake, and then a stairway appeared from the floor.

“What just happened?” Holly asked.

“I think Bessie hit some type of button that unlocked a secret chamber,” Camille replied.

“Let’s go explore!” Polly cheered.

“Alright everyone, do not touch anything! We don’t know what is down there. Follow me,” Uncle Chip said. The gang followed Uncle Chip down the stairs. There was dust flying through the air. Cobwebs covered the entire walls.

“What do you think is down here?” Bessie asked.

“I am not sure,” Uncle Chip said. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, there was a long dark hallway. They followed the hallway until they came to a new room. There was a great stairwell with a diamond on the very top.

“Is that what I think it is?” Charley asked.

“Yes! It is the Eye of Hoodoo!” Camille replied. Everyone admired the great blue diamond.

“This is the discovery of a lifetime!” Uncle Chip said.

“Then let’s go tell the team what we found,” Rocky suggested. The animals began to follow the path back to the burial chamber until they saw Camille going for the diamond.

“Camille what are you doing?” Uncle Chip said.

“Claiming what should be mine. I have spent three years with you only to discover bones. This is the first discovery that will change my entire future. I will be rich, and it will be all mine,” Camille said wickedly.

“What about the curse?” Charley said.

“That’s just a story. It’s not true,” Camille replied.

“No!” Uncle Chip said, but it was too late. Camille grabbed the diamond. The entire pyramid started shaking again. Huge boulders fell from the ceiling. The gang went to take cover. After the room stopped shaking another chamber door opened, with an army of mummies entering the room.

“Who dares to enter my secret chamber?” Pharaoh Hoodoo howled.

“Um… I think we need to go,” Bow said. The animals started to run, but the army began to attack. The gang was grabbed by the army of mummies. The mummies grabbed Rocky and Suzie.

“Never touch a queen! Shazam!” Bessie yelled as she struck a mummy. The mummies cornered the gang against the wall. Camille started to sneak away.

“It’s not us. We didn’t take your diamond. She did!” Charley bellowed pointing at Camille. Camille began to run with the diamond. Pharaoh Hoodoo moved his hands in a swift motion that caused the sand from the ground to block her path. He then used his other hand in another motion and made the power of air send her to him.

“How dare you try to steal my greatest treasure. As punishment, you will serve as my servant for 1000 years,” Pharaoh Hoodoo ordered. Camille was taken away by the army into the doorway.

“Thank you, my friends, for helping me,” Pharaoh Hoodoo said.

“It was just an honour to be able to witness your return,” Uncle Chip said.

“As a reward, you will be blessed with one thousand gems,” Pharaoh Hoodoo said.

“Wait! Before you go, could you make me Queen of the Nile or something?” Bessie asked.

“Bessie!” Rocky yelled.

“I’m coming. Geeze, you think I could talk to my relative longer,” Bessie whined.

“Fear not Bessie, you have always been royalty and will be in the future,” Pharaoh Hoodoo spoke. Then he suddenly disappeared. A great sandstorm surrounded the animals and magically deposited them at the entrance of the pyramid.

“Well, that was exciting!” Polly said.

“Who knew that Camille was crazy?” Holly laughed.

“Thank you, Charley! You and your friends have made this one of my favourite travels in a long time,” Uncle Chip said.

“No problem. We have this sort of thing where we totally save the world. It all started with the witches,” Charley explained. The gang told Uncle Chip of their previous adventures and hoped to go on more in the future.

 

 

- Total nr. of readings: 738 Copyright © The author [2020] All Rights Reserved. This story may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author except for personal use.