Eric twisted his mouth and considered that. “If she’s really mad, she’s going to make me do chores until I’m half dead.”
I slumped to the ground and joined my friends. “I don’t think that’s actually possible,” I said. “I mean, to make you do chores until you’re half dead.”
“Sure it is,” he countered. “She just has to keep giving me more chores.”
I shook my head. “What I’m saying is, she’d have to make you do chores until you’re really dead, and then she’d have to divide that amount of work by two. Because half of the chores that killed you, is the number of chores that will make you half dead.”
“Hey, you’re right,” Eric said. “It’s a good thing our mom’s artistic and not mathematic. I doubt she’ll do those calculations or—”
“Argh!” Rachel cried. “Please stop it. You’re both giving me a headache.”
A few minutes later we saw Mr. Miles approach. We quickly stood up.
“Well,” he said, “I’ve got some good new, and I’ve got some bad news. What do you want to hear first?”
“The good,” Rachel said.
His cowboy hat nodded. “Okay, I spoke with the re-searchers and they won’t be demanding charges be filed against you.”
“Not even the university?” I asked.
“Nope, not even them,” he said. “Dr. Bell told me that setting up the dig was excellent real-life field training for his archaeology students. He was disappointed they didn’t find anything, of course, but the experience was invaluable.”
“Wow!” Eric said. “That is good news.”
“And the bad news?” Rachel said.
“I called my contact at the police department,” the reporter said. “They watched the press conference on TV and are now aware of your involvement, so there will be consequences. But my contact also assured me you won’t be arrested.”
“No juvie?” I said.
He shook his head.
“And no jail time?” Rachel said.
“That’s right,” he said. “No prison for you three.”
“Hmm,” mumbled Eric.
Rachel looked at her brother. “What?”
“Well,” he smirked, “I was sort of hoping we might get fingerprinted.”
I WAS SURPRISED we didn’t get into that much trouble from our parents. Mom and Dad grounded me, of course. But I like to think that was only because they had to—so they’d look like responsible parents. They seemed to enjoy the attention as much as everyone else in Sultana. Dad even whispered to me that he sold more gas in those seven days than he had in seven months!
Business at the Rivercrest Motel & Restaurant continued to improve even after we confessed, and Mrs. Summers didn’t get fired. In fact, the owner heard so much about her artistic abilities, he hired her to paint a giant mural of the hoax on the side of the hotel. It turned out to be pretty amazing, by the way. Lots of people drive out to Sultana just to see her mural, our tablet (on display in the restaurant), and the site of the infamous discovery by the river.
Mr. Miles surprised us all one day by presenting us with a $1,000 cheque. He explained that the tip we called in about our fake tablet resulted in a story that went viral. And because the story was so popular, we won his newspaper’s Tip of the Month. Go figure, right? Dad said that he already benefited from all the extra gas sales, and suggested I give my share to Mrs. Summers. I would do anything to keep Eric and Rachel from having to move, so that was fine with me.
While we’re on the subject of Mr. Miles, he sure stopped by the Rivercrest a lot to chat with Mrs. Summers. And after a month, he even offered her a position with the newspaper as a graphic artist. She accepted the job right away, of course, and now she works from home doing advertisements, art work, and other design stuff. Mr. Miles still comes out to Sultana for work meetings, but we’re starting to think that’s just because he likes her.
And in case you’re wondering about our punishment, here’s what happened.
The police sent a community relations officer to Sultana to give us the bad news. Basically, she said that we may have had good intentions when we created the hoax, but the hoax was still a nuisance, and it cost people a lot of time and money. As a consequence, she ordered us to each perform one hundred hours of community service. She said that included things like maintaining the grass at the cemetery, picking up litter around town, and doing any other things we thought might benefit Sultana. Every hour of community service had to be documented on a spreadsheet and signed by an adult.
One hundred hours may sound like a lot, but to be honest, it wasn’t so bad. We did most of the work together, and hanging out in the graveyard was actually kind of interesting.
I’m not really into self-analysis, or introspection, or any of that stuff, but once in a while I stop and wonder if our hoax was worth all the trouble. When that happens, I stick my hand in my pocket and pull out the broken corner from our first tablet. And after admiring that fake piece of history for a minute, I think, Yes, it was all absolutely worth it.
Author Q & A
Q: On the surface, History in the Faking is about three kids who outsmart an entire town with a brilliant prank. But it is also about the friendship between the three main characters and the lengths they will go to stay together. When you started writing this book, did you think of the characters first, or did you set out to write a book about a prank involving a fake archaeological find and let the characters evolve from there?
A: I had the idea for the book first. I often found myself wondering, “Who were the first people to come to North America after the First Nations?” For almost five hundred years everyone believed Christopher Columbus discovered America. And then, fifty years ago, we found proof that the Vikings got here before Columbus. “But,” I said, “what if other people came to North America even before the Vikings.” Like maybe the Egyptians . . . ?
So I started thinking about a story where kids find ancient artifacts from thousands of years ago. That story had potential, but I quickly decided that it would be a lot more fun if a fake artifact was discovered (one the kids made!), and it fooled a bunch of smarty-pants experts.
The characters (Cody, Eric, and Rachel) were exactly the kids I needed to make the story interesting, exciting, and funny. Cody is anxious, but compassionate. Eric is funny and bold. And Rachel is smart and courageous. A perfect team.
Q: Is Sultana, Manitoba, based on a real town, or is it a combination of different small towns you’ve visited or lived in?
A: The name of the town (Sultana) is fictional and is a composite of several towns in eastern Manitoba where I live (Pine Falls, Lac du Bonnet, Seven Sisters, and Elma). There are many communities here that are a perfect setting for middle-reader fiction. You can almost draw a line in Manitoba that separates the vast prairies to the west and the wild boreal forest to the east. It’s a fantastic place for young people and for adventure—with farms, parks, lakes, rivers, and wilderness.
Q: Did you know a lot about ancient Egyptian culture and hieroglyphics before your wrote this book, or did you have to do quite a bit of research? What was the most interesting thing you learned?
A: I’ve always been interested in ancient Egypt, but I certainly didn’t know enough to write an accurate story. So I did a lot of research. Only it didn’t feel like research because the subject was so fascinating. In fact, long after the book was finished, I was still reading books on ancient Egypt.
I think the most interesting things I learned about ancient Egypt were t their language and writings—the hieroglyphics. Did you know that Egyptologists now understand the meaning of most hieroglyphics, but they still don’t know what their spoken language actually sounded like? In other words, in the movies, when you hear someone talking “ancient Egyptian,” everyone is just guessing what it may have sounded like. Interesting, right?
Q: Are there any other books that you would recommend for kids who want to learn more about ancient Egypt or archaeology?
A
: There dozens of great books on the subject. Here are a few of my favourites:
Eyewitness: Ancient Egypt, by George Hart
I Wonder Why the Pyramids Were Built, by Philip Steele
Hands on Archaeology, by John White
Q: What advice would you give to kids who want to write stories about their own adventures, real or imagined?
A: My #1 tip is: don’t try to be perfect with your first draft. Just write your story and have fun. Don’t worry about grammar, typos, or anything else. Just write it all down. If you try to make every sentence and every paragraph and every page perfect as you’re writing, it will slow you down and you’ll get discouraged. And you may even forget the awesome adventure you sat down to create. So spill your guts and write that first draft. It’s a lot of fun polishing and fine-tuning a story, but you have to have something to edit. So finish your story first!
Questions for Discussion
Before you read History in the Faking, how much (or how little) did you know about ancient Egypt? List three things you know about ancient Egypt now that you have read the book.
Did you think it might be possible for ancient Egyptians to travel to North America? Why or why not?
Ancient Egyptians wrote things down using picture symbols called hieroglyphics. Try your hand at inventing your own symbol-writing system and use it to write your name.
List three adjectives to describe each of the book’s three main characters: Cody, Eric, and Rachel. Which character did you identify with most, and why?
Eric and Rachel are twins, but their personalities are very different. How would you describe their relationship? If you have a brother or sister, is your relationship similar to that of Eric and Rachel? Why or why not?
The story is told from Cody’s point of view. Do you think his character changed from the beginning of the story to the end? Why or why not? If so, how did it change?
Cody, Eric, and Rachel invented the hoax of the Egyptian tablet, but they had good intentions. If you were in their place, would you have done the same thing? Do you think it’s ever okay to lie, if your lie is designed to help people?
At the end of the story, Cody, Eric, and Rachel decide to confess to the hoax. Have you ever had to confess something wrong that you did? How did that make you feel—before the confession and after?
Why do you think Dr. Peabody didn’t believe the kids when they first tried to confess to the hoax? Why do you think Mr. Miles did?
Pretend that you and your friends have decided to plant a fake archaeological artifact in your hometown as an April Fool’s Day prank. What kind of artifact would you make? How would you make it and where would you bury it? What would you do to make sure that people believed it was real?
Questions for Reading Comprehension
What are Cody and Eric watching Dr. Murray do at the beginning of the story?
How many people live in Sultana, Manitoba?
What does Cody mean when he says “I’m trying hard to be more logical now”? What sorts of things did he worry about before?
What is the name of the restaurant where Eric and Rachel’s mother, Mrs. Summers, works? Why is it impossible for Mrs. Summers to make a living from selling paintings?
According to Eric, why do tourists usually come to Sultana?
Why did the Pioneer spacecraft have a plaque with symbols on it?
Who first comes up with the idea of planting an ancient tablet in Sultana?
What is Eric’s nickname for Rachel? Why did he give her this name?
Describe Rachel’s bedroom in your own words.
What is the title of Rachel’s book on ancient Egypt? What does the book say about why the hoax to fake ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics in Australia didn’t work?
Why do Cody and Rachel realize that they shouldn’t translate English words into Egyptian hieroglyphics if they wanted to convince people that the table is real?
What backstory do Cody, Rachel and Eric invent about the Egyptians who came to came to North America?
Who was Tuthmosis? Why do the kids choose him?
Where do the kids find the clay to make their tablet? What excuse does Eric give to the man who found him trespassing there?
How did ancient Egyptians carve hieroglyphics in tombs?
Where does Eric get the piece of slate that they used for their tablet? Why did it make sense that the ancient Egyptians would have used local stone found in North America instead of Egyptian stone?
In your own words, describe how the kids cut, carved, and baked their tablet.
Why does Rachel carve a box around the symbols that represented the name of the king?
What does Rachel mean when she says the finished tablet looks “too crisp”?
Who is Mr. Jelfs, and which piece of equipment do the kids want to borrow from him?
According to Mr. Jelfs, what is the difference between a Chevette and a Chevelle? Why did Cody tell Rachel to say the wrong car name to Mr. Jelfs?
Where does Cody bury the tablet so that Dr. Murray is sure to find it? What is Eric’s job while Cody does the burying? What did Cody forget to bury with the tablet?
Why does Dr. Murray look for footprints around the tablet?
What tip does Cody give to Shawn Miles, the reporter at the Star Times?
Who is Mrs. Papenfuss?
In your own words, summarize the front-page newspaper story about the discovery of the tablet.
Who are Professor Bell and Dr. Peabody?
Why is Cody so worried about the amount of attention the discovery of the tablet is getting?
According to Dr. Peabody, what route would the ancient Egyptians have taken if they had indeed come to Manitoba?
What is carbon-14 testing? What would make it not work?
Whom do the kids confess to first that the tablet was all a hoax?
What is Mr. Miles’s plan to convince Dr. Peabody and everyone else that the kids did in fact make the tablet themselves?
What do the pictograms on the second tablet say?
Why does Mr. Miles give the kids a cheque for $1,000?
What punishment do the kids get for being responsible for the hoax, and why does Cody think it was all worth it in the end?
About the Author
ANDREAS OERTEL was born in Germany but has lived most of his life in eastern Manitoba. He now lives with his wife Diane on the beautiful Lee River, near Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, Canada.
Andreas has degrees from the University of Winnipeg and the British Columbia Institute of Technology, and a lifelong passion for archaeology, ancient civilizations, and writing, especially for young people. In addition to creating fun books for tweens, Andreas enjoys travelling, reading, watching movies, and exploring the great outdoors.
Andreas is the tallest writer in Canada (194 centimetres or 6 feet 4 inches) and can often be found exploring Manitoba beaches with his trusty metal detector Lucky.
Visit andreasoertel.com to learn more about Andreas and the Shenanigans books.
A Preview Of
Stones of Time
Book Two in the Shenanigans Series
Join Cody, Eric and Rachel as they travel back in time.
Coming Spring 2015 from
Wandering Fox Books
* * *
“WAKE UP,” a voice begged. “Please, they will come back soon.” The voice belonged to a girl—a girl who spoke with a German accent.
I ignored her and tried to return to the peace and quiet of my unconsciousness.
“Hurry!” the same voice said, getting more urgent. “We must leave this place now.” I felt someone pulling my arm and then—
SLAP!
Ouch—that stung. I opened my eyes and saw a girl with short brown hair and big brown eyes kneeling in front of me. “Anna?” I asked, rubbing my cheek.
Her shoulders slumped. “Yes,” she said, sounding relieved. “Did Papa send you?”
“Yeah,” I felt too dizzy to stand, but I sat up and looked around the clearing for Er
ic. Only he wasn’t there. “Oh no!” I groaned. Where the heck did he end up?
“Don’t worry,” Anna said, “your friend is over there, throwing up. He’s very nauseated.” Anna pointed to a cluster of pine trees on the edge of the clearing. I noticed her arm was scratched up and covered with bug bites.
“Don’t you mean nauseous?” I said, and then quickly added, “That’s good though – I mean, not that he’s throwing up, but that he’s here.”
Anna frowned. “No. I mean nauseated. Nauseous means ‘something that causes nausea.’” She must have realized she was still pulling on my arm and let go of it. “We have to leave this place before they return.”
Eric wobbled over on shaky legs. Lucky for him, he had missed the English lesson. “I feel awful,” he moaned. “But am I ever happy you’re here with me.”
I tried to stand up too. “Yeah, and Bruno and Rudi were right about everything so far. We landed in the same place on the timeline as Anna. And the wormhole window did extend enough for me to pass through with you. Now we just have to get back with Anna and Rachel.”
“I think they took her away,” Anna said.
“What?” Eric asked.
“The girl. Rachel. Is she about my age with a blonde ponytail?” Anna asked.
Eric and I stared at each other. “Yeah, that’s exactly her,” I said. “Have you seen her?”
“Yes,” Anna said. She hesitated for a moment, looking almost guilty, like it was her fault Rachel wasn’t with us now. “But as I said, they took her away,” she repeated.
“Who took her?” Eric demanded.
“I don’t know who they are.” Anna looked nervously toward the west. “But we have to hide. Please. They’ll come for you both soon. Your arrival made a lot of noise.”
She was making me feel very edgy now. I scanned the forest around us for signs of danger. There didn’t seem to be anything alarming, but Anna’s fear was contagious.
History in the Faking Page 11
