The Egypt Game

The next day, the boys return to the storage lot and even bring some props to augment the existing collection. Toby also brings pencils and paper and suggests that the group learn to write secret messages to each other in hieroglyphics: “The four original Egyptians were especially thrilled and amazed about the stuff the boys brought for Set. It seemed that sixth-grade boys just normally kept a lot of things around that were perfect for the altar of an evil god” (123).

Toby creates pictograms for the group, or visual representations of the players. April chooses the cat-headed goddess Bastet as her symbol. Toby becomes Ramose with the symbol of an owl. Ken is named Horemheb, whose symbol is a bloody sword. Melanie is Aida with the symbol of a bird. Elizabeth is Neferbeth with a heart symbol. Marshall is Marshamosis with the double-crown as his symbol.

The group continues to meet regularly to fine-tune their version of the Egyptian alphabet, which they finalize using colored pens. They buy these at Schmitt’s, which takes forever because Mr. Schmitt is too cheap to hire any additional help other than his cousin. Shortly after, a neighbor’s cat kills Elizabeth’s pet parakeet: “Elizabeth was brokenhearted, and it was while they were trying to cheer her up that April and Melanie got the idea for the Ceremony for the Dead” (131)

When the girls meet to discuss the ceremony with the boys, Ken and Toby decide to become the high priests of Anubis. The girls are pleased and surprised that the boys want to help create the new ceremony.

Toby throws himself into the part of the high priest and is particularly interested in mummifying the parakeet’s body. This requires the gathering of specific ingredients, including oil. The group has to settle for bicycle oil since this is the only kind that they can get their hands on. The bird is soaked in a brine bath, anointed and wrapped in oiled cloth, and  entombed with some birdseed and his special toys in a makeshift pyramid of bricks. Marshall spends most of his time observing the rest of the group. He is aware that they are being watched but doesn’t share this fact with anyone. By the end of the week, April thinks:

It was a good week in the land of Egypt. Melanie collected several new ceremonies to add to the sacred records; Ken began to find being an ancient Egyptian a little less embarrassing; and Elizabeth felt so proud of the important part that Petey had played, she almost forgot how much she missed him (140).

During class one day, the sixth graders get a lecture from their teacher on the subject of oracles, who were humans who claimed to speak for the ancient gods and goddesses. This immediately catches the interest of the Egyptians, who want to incorporate an oracle into their ceremonies. Toby and April get into a dispute about how an oracle should be represented in their game. April favors a priestess in a trance, like the Greek oracle of Delphi. Toby objects that this isn’t Egyptian enough and that the group should build a temple to the god Thoth, represented by Toby’s taxidermy owl. If someone has a question for the oracle, they should write it on a slip of paper and put it in the owl’s beak. A day later, the priest or priestess would present the god’s answer to the group. Ken writes a question on a slip of paper, which is then inserted in the owl’s beak. The Egyptians leave, eager to return the next day to see the result.

The following day, April officiates as the priestess of Thoth. When she retrieves the slip of paper, intending to give an answer herself as the god’s representative, she finds that a message has been written on the reverse side of the question. The handwriting is unrecognizable. Ken’s question is: “Will I be a big-league star someday” (154). To everyone’s surprise, the reply is: “Man is his own star, and that soul who can be honest, is the only perfect man” (155).

The entire group is puzzled. Everyone denies having written the response. Melanie suggests that they should try another question to see what happens. This time, April writes one and places it in the bird’s beak while Toby officiates the Thoth ceremony:

The things Toby did were just about the same, but somehow the feeling was different. Or perhaps, not so much different as more so. More spooky and supernatural. Even though all the Egyptians were positive that somebody was fooling and had somehow managed to write the answer to Ken’s question, there are times when being positive isn’t quite enough (157).

As the ceremony concludes, the sky suddenly grows dark, and a booming sound is heard. The children are already unnerved by the suggestion of the supernatural, but it turns out to only be a thunderstorm. They all flee the temple quickly and head for home. 

The following day, everyone waits impatiently during school hours before circling back to see the answer to April’s question. Marshall is impatient for a different reason. The day before, he accidentally left Security behind and is anxious to get his octopus back. That afternoon, the children search the storage lot, but the stuffed animal is nowhere to be found. When April checks her question, she finds an answer written on the reverse side:

Everyone crowded around, grabbing for the paper and asking questions. As it went the rounds, it left a lot of startled faces behind it. The back of the paper, which they all knew had been clean and blank when they had left Egypt the night before, was now covered with writing (163).

April asked, “When will I go home again?” (162). She is shocked to receive the reply: “The best thing we can do is to make wherever we’re lost in look as much like home as we can” (163). This frightens all the children, and they start talking about quitting the Egypt Game altogether. Later, the group will learn that Toby has secretly written this answer, as well as the answer to Ken’s question.

Marshall objects to quitting the game. He wants to ask a question, so Melanie writes it down for him: “Where is Security?” (165).