From what we could make out, the conversations exploding all around us in Arabic with bits and pieces of English, two of Mounir’s men were desert guides, three were porters to lift and carry all our heavy gear and one was going to be our cook.

Just when I thought it was all done, a tall thin man in a jellabia stepped up. He had a long black beard and wore a white kaffiyeh headdress. He hurried up to Samantha and bowed low. “Please, Madame. I am Ahmed. I am here to guide you into the desert. I know this place better than the scorpions, better than—“

“No thanks, pal,” said Tommy, stepping between Ahmed and Samantha. “We’ve already got our guides.”

Ahmed narrowed his black eyes and surveyed the ragtag group near Mounir. “Those two?” he asked, sounding scandalized. “They do not know how to find the back end of a donkey.”

The two men he was pointing to reached for their knives, but Tommy took charge before things got out of hand. “These are official guides from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities,” he told Ahmed, whose face fell with disappointment.

Ahmed bowed to Samantha again, so fast I thought his kaffiyeh would fall off. “I will be your cook, then,” he said with a smile.

None of Mounir’s men even smiled. They looked at Ahmed suspiciously, and why not? This guy had come out of nowhere – literally – and was trying to mess up the sweet deal their boss had just rammed down Samantha’s throat.

“We’ve got our cook, too,” said Tommy, gesturing to the man Mounir had brought in for that purpose.

“Him?” Ahmed was horrified. “I can see that his hands have never even made hummus!” He cocked his head to one side and put his fists on his hips. He reminded me of a skinny bird. “Have you tried his cooking?” demanded Ahmed.

I glanced at Frank and raised an eyebrow. He frowned and shrugged. The accused man stepped forward. “My cooking is the best in all of Egypt, you son of a sheep-herder!” He reached for the handle of his knife, ready for action.

“Then you must taste it and decide for yourselves.” Ahmed suggested. “Afterward, you shall taste mine, and then we shall see whose is better.”

“We don’t have time for that,” Tommy insisted. “We’re getting ready to leave now.”

Mounir’s chosen cook shook his head. “I shall not let this...this son of a camel driver insult my cooking. I have some of my famous hummus right here.” He crouched down and reached into his sack. He pulled out a covered plastic bowl and set it down on the dock. He pulled the lid off and then dug into his sack for something else.

Everyone was watching him but Frank and I were keeping a close eye on Ahmed. His arrival was too suspicious. I grabbed Frank’s arm as Ahmed reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pouch. Kneeling down, he sprinkled some white powder and was standing again, the small pouch back in his pocket in less than ten seconds.

I shared a look with Frank. Our new ‘friend’ was apparently an accomplished cheater.

Mounir’s cook finally found what he was looking for, another plastic container, this one holding flat pita bread. He ripped one bread in half and handed it to Samantha along with the container of hummus. “You scoop it up onto the bread. Try it. It’s delicious.”

Samantha arched an eyebrow but scooped up a tiny bit of the food. “No!” I shouted. “Samantha, wait!” It all happened so fast and I hadn’t acted quickly enough. By the time I shouted my warning, Sam had already tasted the hummus.

Samantha made a face and threw the rest of the bread in the water. She spit once or twice to get rid of the aftertaste. “That is the most disgusting food I’ve ever tasted.”

“What?” the cook said, astonished. “Here, let me taste that.” He tried it and spat it out just as Samantha had done. “Something is wrong,” he muttered, staring down into the bowl.

“Now try mine,” said Ahmed. “I happen to have some here. I packed my own lunch – you must try it and see.” He offered some to Samantha. She didn’t look too happy to taste something that looked exactly the same as the stuff she’d just spat out.

“Please, just try it,” urged Ahmed.

“This is an outrage,” said Dr. Mounir, his face going red. “I have eaten Salim’s cooking for years and it is always the best.”

Samantha consented to try it again. “Mmmm, this is delicious. It’s amazing. What a difference.”

“I swear, mine tasted fine this morning,” Salim protested.

Tommy shook his head. “You’re fired.”

“Excuse me,” said Dr. Mounir. “But we have just agreed—“

“Too bad. Sam’s still the boss of this expedition and she prefers Ahmed’s cooking over your buddy Salim’s. Ahmed’s who we’re hiring.”

Salim glared at Tommy and Ahmed, then turned to look at Dr. Mounir for a long moment. When Dr. Mounir didn’t say anything, Salim grabbed his sack and stormed off down the dusty street, grumbling in Arabic. Ahmed shook Tommy’s hand. “Thank you, thank you,” he said, bowing over and over again. “You will not be sorry, I promise you.” Tommy gave Ahmed some money, they talked for a bit and Ahmed took off – I guessed to buy some groceries.

“I’m already sorry,” I whispered to Frank. “Did you see the stunt that guy pulled?”

“I did,” said Frank, staring off in the direction Ahmed had gone.

“Maybe we should have blown the whistle on him?” I shook my head. “I should have been faster. If that had been poison—“

Frank scowled. “We were caught by surprise. We won’t let that happen again.”

I glanced at him and then looked over at Samantha. Relief flooded through me to know she was okay. I gave a sharp nod. Our mission was to protect her. “You’re right. We won’t.”

Tommy took Samantha back to the yacht to wait on Ahmed and the rest of the group soon headed that way. Although Mom had said the real summer and heat started in May, it was hot away from the water and as the sun rose higher in the sky the temperature did too.

I suggested twice of returning to the yacht ourselves but Frank kept staring in the distance at Seti’s temple. I wanted to see it too but our first duty was to Samantha. “Come on, Frank, maybe the mummy tried again.”

“In broad daylight? Tommy’s with her.” Frank kept his gaze on the temple. “Come on.”

I slid a glance at the yacht. I could see someone had set up an umbrella to block most of the sun and a small table. I could see Dr. Mounir, Tommy and Samantha under the umbrella. “Where’s Leila and Dr. Volsky?”

Frank shrugged. “Probably below decks. I don’t think either of them like Dr. Mounir very much and want to avoid him.” He gestured to the temple. “Let’s check it out.”

We walked up to the entrance and found the columns were much bigger close up. They towered over us and the painted and carved figures were huge. Inside it was considerably cooler and darker. Still we could make out vivid paintings outlining the bas-reliefs. “Wow.”

“I hear voices,” said Frank, whispering.

We followed the echoing sounds to find Theo, Jurgen, Nels with Leila and Dr. Volsky. They were talking about a wall where rows of hieroglyphs encased in oval lines stood. Volsky was talking softly. “...first evidence of an actual king’s list. Historians have been able to expand their knowledge of early and middle kingdom pharaohs and their chronology.”

There was a hushness about the place and I found that seeing the glaring light of the camera and the loud whirring of tape sounded out of place in this temple. Volsky gestured to a painted wall and began talking about the evolution of Egyptian art. I nudged Frank. “Let’s go,” I whispered.

He frowned at me but followed me out of the temple. “What?”

I shrugged. “It just didn’t seem right, all that modern technology in that ancient place.”

Frank nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”

I tilted my head back to look at the columns. “How’d they do it, Frank? How’d they raise these huge temples...the pyramids...the Sphinx? How did they do it? We can’t even figure out how they built the pyramids.”

Frank shook his head. “There’s all kinds of theories about how the pyramids were built. Some people say now that it might have not been slaves but hired workers who did it. Then there’s the outlandish ones that claim aliens did it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh please.”

“Hey, some pretty famous people believe that theory.”

“What was Volsky talking about? What golden mummies?”

Frank gave me his patented ‘are-you-kidding?’ look. “I can’t believe you don’t know.”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking, now would I.”

Frank grunted and started walking back toward the yacht. I followed, getting aggravated. “Well?” I prompted.

He sighed. “Back in 1999, at the Bahariya Oasis, a donkey stumbled into a hole and discovered some gilded mummies from when Rome ruled over Egypt, around first century B.C.”

Didn’t I tell you my brother knows everything? “Okay.” I followed him up on deck. “So, where’s Bahariya Oasis?”

“It is southwest of Cairo,” said Dr. Mounir. He had a disgruntled look on his face. He shifted in his chair. “If I had gone at the first mention of the discovery, that would have been my find.”

His voice was low and he wasn’t exactly looking at anyone. I wondered if he even realized he’d said it out loud. I nudged Frank. “So what was found?”

“A total of one hundred and four mummies,” said Dr. Mounir, still staring at his cup and saucer on the table. “None royal, mind you, but one hundred and four golden mummies. It was the find of a lifetime.”

I blinked and turned to look at Frank. The expression on his face told he’d guessed it too. If Dr. Mounir felt he’d missed out with that discovery, Samantha’s expedition would more than make up for it. Already we’d heard the man might be corrupt and his handpicked team looked more like a bunch of desert cutthroats than guides and porters. I glanced over the railing toward the sand dunes. We were definitely on our own.

***

Ahmed returned later that afternoon with boxes full of groceries. After the food was strapped to one of the camels, the guides helped each of us get up on our camels. There was a total of ten camels, the porters and guides had to ride two to a beast, while everyone else got their own camel.

It wasn’t fun, I can tell you. Camels are not the most comfortable mode of travel and they don’t smell too good either. My rear end was sore after only fifteen minutes, so I was not looking forward to spending more than a day on the back of a camel. And twice the ill-tempered brute tried to bite me!

The sun was low in the sky ahead of us and made the desert look like a plain of steaming water. I was glad that Volsky had suggested we buy low-crown, wide brimmed hats and sunglasses, otherwise we could suffer heatstroke since the sand acted like a giant mirror reflecting the sun.

The further we moved from the Nile River, the higher the temperature climbed; even so late in the day, it had to be at least ninety or more degrees. I was glad I had several bottles of water just in case.

Frank was riding beside me and watching the members of the group ahead of us. Every once in awhile, he’d twist around to eye the porters behind us. “We need to talk to Samantha.”

I glanced at him and nodded. “Yeah. With these rejects from a bad movie, we need to stick close to her.” I looked ahead to where Tommy was riding just in front of her. “What about him?”

Frank shrugged. “If he throws a fit, we’re interviewing her.”

“Ahh, devious. I like how your mind works.” We spurred our camels and after a few moments of loping along (not fun, mind you), we caught up to Samantha Chilton. She looked perfect up there, with her sunhat and designer sunglasses. She was wearing a white blouse and khaki pants that came to mid-calf. She kind of sat almost cross-legged on the camel and didn’t seem to be suffering for the ride.

“Ms. Chilton,” said Frank in his most professional tone. “Do you think we could talk for a minute, maybe see how you want to do the interview when we get the chance?”

She pulled the sunglasses down her nose and smiled. “Of course. I was wondering when you’d want to do the interview.”

I nudged my camel closer to hers and just barely avoided being nipped. These beasts are dangerous. “We were thinking we’d like the atmosphere out here, rather than on the yacht or in town. This will be a good place to see what kind of questions you’d be willing for us to ask and what would you rather we avoid asking you?”

Frank gave me a surprised look and I just shrugged. It sounded good. Samantha Chilton nodded. “I can’t think of anything that I would want to avoid.” She shrugged and gave us a wide smile. “I’m an open book.”

Frank cleared his throat. “But about the map,” he said in a low voice. “Maybe the mummy last night was after that.”

Samantha’s cheery expression faded. “How’d you know about that?”

Frank lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug. “It’s common knowledge.”

Samantha shook her head. “No. I didn’t tell anyone about that, except Tommy...and my mother....No, I haven’t mentioned it to anyone.”

Frank and I shared a long look. I cleared my throat. “Someone was after that map when they killed Roger.”

She stared at me and yanked off the sunglasses. She looked at us, stunned and turned to me. “What?”

I swallowed hard, realizing she really didn’t know. Frank spoke up. “Roger Corson was murdered the night after you left London. A man – or a woman – dressed as a mummy was seen fleeing the apartment.”

Samantha gasped, turning pale. “Oh my God...” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. She shuddered. “And last night – that mummy in my cabin...”

Frank nodded. “You have to be very careful. It could be someone traveling with us.”

Samantha looked around at the other members of the expedition and shuddered again. “You mean...anyone?” She shivered and pulled her hat down low on her forehead. “Anyone?”

I looked at her and felt sorry for her. It was hard thing to realize not only was her former boyfriend dead, she couldn’t trust the people she thought she could. I nudged my camel closer. “How did you meet Tommy?”

“Oh, I was at the Atlantis – it’s a discotheque inside Shepheard’s Hotel. I ran into him my first night in Cairo. When I told him what I was doing, he wanted to come along and that was that.”

Frank narrowed his eyes. “So you don’t know anything about him.”

“I know he was Mr. Universe several years ago.”

“And what else?” I asked.

“He’s very nice. Has a bit of a temper but I trust him.”

Frank didn’t look satisfied but he didn’t push the issue. “What about Volsky?”

“Oh, he’s fine. He’s jealous because he doesn’t have the prestige and power that Dr. Mounir has.”

“And Dr. Mounir, what about him?” I asked.

She frowned at me. “What about him? He’s the assistant director of Egyptian Antiquities.”

I shared another look with Frank, realizing we were getting nowhere. Frank cleared his throat. “It’s still important that you be very careful. Somebody on this expedition wants that map of yours badly enough to kill for it.”

Samantha slipped her sunglasses back on and squared her shoulders. “I’m not backing down. Now that I know about Roger...for his sake, I’m going to find this treasure and give it to the Egyptian people.”

“I have a suggestion,” said Frank. “Tonight, see if you can get Theo to rig a closed-circuit camera outside your tent. That way, if anyone tries tonight, we’ll catch them red-handed.”

She studied us for a moment. “All right. Are you sure you’re reporters?”

“Yep,” I said. “Beautiful People magazine, that’s us.”

She kept looking at us and then shrugged. “You talk like cops on some of those American shows, that’s all.”

“We’re definitely reporters, Miss Chilton,” said Frank. “And when this is all over, we’ll write your story for all the world to hear. Just please be very careful, you’re in great danger. Especially at night.”

She nodded and urged her camel to join up with Tommy’s. I glanced at Frank. “You think it’ll work?”

Frank sighed. “They have one more chance tonight. We’ll catch them this time.”

“Right. Catch ‘em in the act, once and for all.”

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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.