The Curse of the Pharaoh #1 Read Free

carrier. As soon as the limo peeled out, she unlatched it, and the Siberian cat curled up on her lap.
    They were off! There was only one problem: Would Dash be on time?

A gatha’s parents were allergic to all normal methods of transportation. They liked parasails, hang gliders, and hot-air balloons for wafting around the English countryside, and when they went overseas, they preferred to travel by donkey cart, broken-down jeep, or vintage steamboat.
    “We Misterys are adventurers!” her father would chuckle. “A jumbo jet? Ha! Doesn’t have half the charm of an ocean liner like the
Titanic
!”
    Agatha rolled her eyes. “Dad, the
Titanic
was sunk by an iceberg,” she would remind him. He’d take a few puffs on his pipe and change the subject.
    Agatha loved adventure as much as the next Mistery, but the convenience of modern transportation was a definite plus.
    Especially when she was in a hurry.
    The limo dodged through London traffic and sped to the airport. Agatha and Chandler found two tickets booked under their names at the VIP check-in desk. Within minutes, they boarded a luxurious Egyptair Boeing 777, nonstop to Luxor. Surrounded by cool air conditioning, they took their seats and placed Watson’s carrier in the seat reserved for Dash.
    The Siberian cat was used to flying and was already fast asleep. Agatha buried her nose in a book. She had brought the two volumes on cacti and poisons, along with some guidebooks on Egypt. She began with the book about poisons, looking for more information about her new
Indionigro petrificus
. Chandler shifted around,trying to make himself comfortable. He was too bulky to fit in his seat and his legs stuck out into the aisle, forcing him to apologize to everyone who tripped over his shoes on their way up the aisle.
    They watched as Egyptians and tourists boarded in droves. There were families on summer vacations and young couples going on honeymoons. Soon, the plane was full and the roar of the engines got louder with each passing minute.

    “Flight attendants, prepare to depart,” the captain said over the loudspeaker.
    Chandler raised his eyebrows. “Where is Dash?” he asked, looking worried.
    Agatha twisted around, peering back at the hatch. “He’s arguing with a flight attendant,” she sighed. “Typical!”
    They pricked up their ears to listen in.
    “I told you, it isn’t a cell phone, so I don’t need to turn it off during takeoff,” Dash was telling a young flight attendant. “It’s a new generation of Nintendo!”
    “It’s so small!” she said, frowning suspiciously. “Show me!”
    With an impatient snort, Dash unhooked his titanium gadget from the strap of his bag, pressed a button, and handed it to her.
    The attendant stared at the flashing screen and seemed to relax. “And it plays
Super Mario
, too?” she asked. “Where can I buy one?”
    Dash scooped it out of her hand with impressive dexterity. “It’s kind of a prototype model,” he told her. “It isn’t on sale yet.”
    “But…but…”
    “So, I can go now, right?”
    Without waiting for an answer, Dash strode down the aisle. The fake screen trick had worked perfectly. He felt like a real secret agent.
    Agatha waved at him, but he was whistling happily, lost in fantasies of becoming the world’s greatest spyware designer.
    “Watch out!” warned his cousin.
    “Huh, what?!”
    Too late.
    Dash didn’t see Chandler’s leg poking into the aisle. He tripped and fell onto the carpet, yelping in pain. Then he started frantically scrabblingaround on the floor, searching under the other passengers’ seats.
    “Where is it?!” he screeched. “I can’t find it!”
    Agatha tried to calm him. “Find what? Can I help?”
    “My EyeNet! It’s gone! So much for our mission.”
    So
that
was why he was freaking out.

    The EyeNet was the state-of-the-art gadget the Eye International Detective Academy gave to its students. Dash never let his EyeNet out of his sight, and he felt lost without