‘And so it is time to open the exhibition,’ she said. ‘I would like to give the honour of cutting the ribbon to the four friends without whom it would not have happened. It was their cleverness and courage that stopped Professor Fitzherbert and his family from stealing all this treasure and made sure that everyone can enjoy it.’
The audience applauded and cheered as Mona handed the scissors to Agnes.
Agnes took the scissors, but instead of cutting the ribbon she passed them to Rose.
‘I think that Rose should open the exhibition, because she showed, as always, exceptional bravery,’ Agnes said.
‘Thank you,’ Rose replied, a blush creeping over her face. She cut the ribbon, saying, with a grin to the others, ‘Welcome Nefertiti to the world!’
The following day, Rose, Violet and Art sat on a bench in the communal garden. It was autumn, and the garden was bathed in mellow orange sunshine, and the lawn was littered with golden leaves. The three friends had met up to talk about their plans for Halloween, but had ended up discussing the theft of the mummy instead.
‘We should have worked out who the thieves were sooner,’ Violet said. ‘We were too taken in by Professor Fitzherbert’s charm.’
‘We did miss some really obvious clues,’ Art said.
‘Like the fact that Miss Beasley and the twins started work at the museum at the same time as Professor Fitzherbert,’ Rose said.
‘And we should have investigated Miss Beasley’s empty flat more,’ Violet said.
‘Oh well, we’ll have to learn that lesson for next time,’ Art said.
‘Do you think there’ll be a next time? Do you think there’ll be another crime to solve?’ Rose asked.
‘Oh yes,’ Violet replied confidently. ‘In fact, I feel almost sure of it.’
Violet’s extra-helpful word glossary
Violet loves words, especially if they sound unusual, so some of the words in her story might have been a little tricky to understand. Most of them you probably know, but Violet has picked out a few to explain . . .
Egyptology – the study of everything to do with life in Ancient Egypt.
Archaelogist – a person who studies what life was like for people who lived in the past, usually more than a thousand years ago. Archaeologists often spend a lot of time on ‘digs’, which is when they are carefully digging in the ground looking for objects or buildings from the past.
Budding – you might be described like this when you are beginning to do something and are keen and getting good at it. For example, Violet, Rose and Art are ‘budding’ detectives.
Amulet – a piece of jewellery which is supposed to bring good luck
Culprit – the person who has committed the crime
Galavanting – wandering around
Whirling Dervish – when you twirl around like a spinning top
Ferocious – fierce
Gleefully – happy
BOOK LIST AND AUTHOR’S NOTE
There are many amazing books on Ancient Egypt, but the ones which were particularly useful to me were:
DK Eyewitness Project Book on Ancient Egypt by Jen Green. Published by DK 2009.
Egyptworld by Stella Caldwell. Published by Carlton Kids.
How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs by Mark Collier and Bill Manley. Published by the British Museum Press 2014.
The British Museum is a place I love and was a great inspiration to me in writing the story, but I did make up the details such as the Professor’s door so please don’t go looking for it!
FIRST PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN IN
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COVER AND INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS COPYRIGHT © 2017 BECKA MOOR
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Violet and the Mummy Mystery Page 7
