‘Can you believe we’re actually about to do this?’ George said breathlessly as they followed Khalid and Bast out of the tent and across the sand. Amina had decided to stay behind with Professor Gladstone to discuss the details of the archaeological dig.

‘I know, it’s kind of amazing, isn’t it?’ Leah said, her stomach fizzing as they weaved their way through the forest of white tents. English scholars with pale skin scurried to and fro, papers clutched under their arms and their clothes covered in dust. There were Egyptians, too, who mostly carried tools and shovels. Leah noticed that all of them were men and she wondered if Amina was the only female Egyptologist amongst them.

Khalid led them to the base of the largest pyramid – the one Gladstone had said belonged to Khufu – and began to walk around it. In the golden light of the sun, the stepped limestone surface glowed a soft yellow.

‘Why does the pyramid look like it isn’t finished?’ Mimi asked, gesturing to the top. ‘It’s as if someone started to unzip it but left the top on.’

Mimi was right. The bulk of the pyramid was uneven, as though a giant bird had pecked away at the exterior. Only the top looked smooth like someone had perched a cap on top.

‘You can thank the thieves for that,’ Khalid answered. ‘Over the years, people have robbed bits of limestone from the pyramids. Only the very top was too difficult for them to reach.’

‘Why would people steal stone?’ Mimi said, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

Khalid shrugged. ‘To build other things.’

They rounded one side of Khufu’s tomb and Leah couldn’t help but let out a gasp of amazement. Sitting in front of the three pyramids was a great stone structure.

‘The Great Sphinx,’ Khalid told them. ‘He’s my favourite. He guards the tomb of all three pharaohs, but he was built particularly to protect Khafre’s pyramid. The one in the middle.’

‘It’s so big,’ Mimi said in awe.

‘It’s even bigger up close,’ Khalid told her. ‘Come on, the entrance to Khufu’s pyramid is just up here.’

Leah was reluctant to turn her back on the marvellous figure of the sphinx, but she managed to pull her gaze away. They trotted after Khalid as he led them to a set of jagged steps cut into the front of the pyramid.

‘Be careful,’ he told them as they started to climb. ‘The stone is uneven.’

But they managed the ascent without accident. Finally, they stood before the black hole that was the entrance. Two lit torches had been positioned on either side of the entrance, and their flames flickered hypnotically in the desert wind. Bast sat herself beneath one of them and Leah thought she looked like something from an Ancient Egyptian painting.

‘Here we are,’ Khalid announced. He ran his hand affectionately over the stone. ‘Khufu’s tomb.’

William started to stride forward into the darkness, but Khalid stuck out his hand, barring William’s way. ‘Hey! What are you doing?’

William stopped. ‘Aren’t we going inside?’

‘No way!’ Khalid gaped. Bast hissed in agreement. ‘We can’t just wander inside like that! It could be dangerous!’

‘But your aunt goes in there, doesn’t she?’ Leah asked. If Khalid wasn’t going to take them inside the pyramid, how were they supposed to find the amulet?

‘She does, but she’s had special training and she knows what she’s doing. And she always goes in with a team of other archaeologists,’ Khalid said, frowning.

‘So . . . will she go in with a team when she follows the map to find the Pharaoh’s Fortune?’ Leah asked, curiously.

‘Well, no . . .’ Khalid replied, rubbing the back of his head.

‘So we can go in, then?’ William said eagerly. His hand was in his pocket, gripping the watch and Leah could tell that he was even more desperate to get home than she was.

Khalid threw his hands up, his eyes wide. ‘No! It’s too scary – there’s no light and we could get hurt!’

Leah bit her lip in frustration. They needed to get into that pyramid, but there was no way they were going to be able to get around Khalid now.

William seemed to realise the same thing. He scowled and crossed his arms. ‘How will your aunt get to the amulet, anyway?’ he asked. ‘I’m guessing there aren’t any signposts in there?’

Khalid smiled and shook his head. ‘No, but she has the map to help her. Although, she’ll need to find the secret tunnel first.’

‘Using those numbers?’ Leah asked, remembering the list of hieroglyphs on the side of the map.

‘That’s right,’ Khalid said. He straightened suddenly as if he’d remembered something and turned to William. ‘Speaking of hieroglyphs, there are loads of them on the walls of some of the smaller ruins nearby if you want to go and look at them? You could practise your new codebreaking skills.’

William’s face lit up. ‘That sounds cool!’

‘Do you want to come, too?’ Khalid asked Leah, George and Mimi, but after a quick look at her friends, Leah shook her head.

‘That’s okay. You guys go ahead. We’ll meet you back at the camp.’

Together, the five of them carefully climbed back down the pyramid, and then Khalid and William hurried off together, chattering excitedly.

George watched them go, scratching his head in confusion. ‘I don’t understand why Khalid would willingly want to spend any more time with William than he needs to.’

Leah shrugged. ‘I guess they’ve become friends?’

‘They both like all that weird codebreaking stuff,’ Mimi sniffed.

‘Well, it’s obviously not weird to them,’ Leah replied.

‘William is still a problem, though, L,’ Mimi said with a frown as they started to trudge back to the camp. ‘It makes me feel funny that he still has the watch.’ Her hand went to her pinafore pocket, where Leah knew the compass was tucked safely away.

‘What if William misses the signal for us to go home?’ George said anxiously. ‘We could be stranded here if that happens!’

Leah hadn’t thought of that. The thought of missing their chance to get home made her feel a bit sick.

‘We need a plan to get it back,’ she said grimly. ‘What about tonight? When William’s asleep, I’ll try and snag it from his pocket.’

‘But even if we have the watch,’ Mimi said, ‘we can’t do anything without the amulet. We need to find the Pharaoh’s Fortune if we’re ever going to get home.’

The lost amulet did make things a little complicated. Khalid wouldn’t take them inside the pyramid and even if he did eventually agree, they didn’t have the map to help them get around all the traps. Leah frowned. There had to be a way for them to get the Pharaoh’s Fortune. How else were they going to get home?