The Case That Time Forgot by Tracy Barrett Read Free Book Online Page A

put. She knew that if she held still, she’d manage to blend in with the crowd and hear what he had to say. This was a talent she’d always had, and she found it useful in situations like this one.
    â€œThe two sphinxes here still show the effects of the German bombs dropped on them in the Second World War,” the tour guide said, and then he droned on with facts about the sphinxes’ weight, how old they were, and what the writing on them meant.
    Xena caught a glimpse of someone lurking around the monument. She shifted her position to get a better look, but he ducked into the crowd. Xander didn’t seem to notice the shadowy figure, and she knew that if she said something, the tour guide would see her and make her leave. She kept one eye on her brother while she turned the rest of her attention to the guide.
    â€œNow, this obelisk,” the man said, pointing to the column, “was brought here from Egypt in 1877. It weighs a hundred and eighty tons. Although it was made fifteen hundred years before the birth of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, it has always been jokingly referred to as Cleopatra’s Needle.”
    Xena gasped. A needle—but without an eye! And it had been there well before Amin had come to London. This
must
be the needle in the riddle! She looked around for Xander, only to see him frantically waving to get her attention. As soon as he saw her looking at him, he pointed to a stand of trees. She spotted someone in a dark hooded sweatshirt and jeans, before whoever it was darted out of the shelter of the trees and sped toward the sidewalk. Xena squeezed through the crowd and sprinted after him.
    She paused and looked around. Where had hegone? Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone running away at full speed down the sidewalk. Hooded sweatshirt, jeans—it was the same person! She took off again, dodging people and dogs and baby carriages. The person ahead of her tore through a crosswalk just as the light changed. Horns beeped and brakes squealed, but her quarry leaped onto the sidewalk on the other side and disappeared into the crowd.
    Xena leaned over, hands on knees, to catch her breath. The person she was chasing had blended in with the other people going home or shopping, and by the time the light changed, he—or she?—would be far, far away.
    When Xena could breathe regularly again, she turned back to the park. She found Xander standing near the trees where the mysterious figure had first appeared. “Too late,” she said.
    â€œNot entirely!” Xander pointed at the ground. In the mud were two perfect footprints. Xander pulled the notebook out of his back pocket and flipped to the drawing he’d made of the print in the shower room at school. “Look! It matches, even down to that little circle on the right print.” He bent down and measured it with his hand.
    Before Xena could answer she felt a drop ofrain hit her head, and then another, and then it was pouring. London weather was like that—if it wasn’t raining, it either had just stopped raining or was about to start. They ran for the Underground station.
    In the train car they sat close to each other so they could talk without being overheard. Luckily a group of students got on and were making enough noise to drown out most sounds.
    â€œDid you get a good look at him?” Xander asked. Xena shook her head. “Me either.” Xander sounded as disappointed as she felt.
    â€œI’m not even sure it
was
a him,” Xena said. “Whoever it was had that hood pulled up, and anyone could have been wearing jeans.”
    â€œWell, at least we know something about his shoes. Or her shoes. What was that tour guide saying, anyway?”
    â€œThat tall thing is an obelisk. You know what that means?”
    Xander nodded. “Like a column, only squared off with a pointy tip, like the Washington Monument.”
    â€œExactly. That one by the Thames is Egyptian,