The Time Travel Machine…Part 5

Emma turned around and looked at the large guard in front of her. She gulped before saying, “This is wrong! You know that, Mr?” The egyptian man stared down at her.

“Oh, sorry. I mean, Sir.” Emma was breathing heavily.

“Take this Rat and put her to work,” He said to the fellow with the wip. The guard chuckled. “Gladly!”

As Emma was exchanged between the workers, she began to wonder if she should button her lip. The Wip Man narrowed his eyes at Emma and glowered down at her. “Get working.” he snarled. Emma silently nodded, and stumbled over to where a boy her age was making bricks.

“How do you do this?” Emma whispered. The weak boy didn’t answer. “Eh-hem!” Emma called out again. Still no answer. “YOO-HOO!” she waved her hand in front of his face. The boy yanked her hand away from his face.

“Stop it! If I get caught, I’ll be wipped! So leave me alone!” he stalked off angrily.

Emma nodded. “Ok. I’ll be quiet,” she answered, and looked down at her work. Slowly, Emma grabbed some dirt and dipped it into water from a bucket. She cringed as the mud squished between her fingers, but knew that getting wipped would hurt more.

Emma let the mud drip from her fingers. Then, she turned to see what the person on her left was doing. The girl was packing the mud into a square, then putting it to the side, probably to dry. Emma looked at her own mud and shaped it into a lop-sided square. Then she took a deep breath and began the process again.

It was hard work, but Emma did it as best as she could. After a while, the sun began to drop behind the burning pyramids. I’ll never make it home again before school, Emma thought with dismay. She rubbed her tender fingers, and turned to see the Wip Man looming above her.

“Keep working,” he said. Emma swerved around and worked even faster. Soon candles were lit, and dark began to crawl over the camp. A guard kept careful watch. At last, though, a guard began dismissing groups of people. To where, I wonder? Emma thought.

She hoped she would be the next person to leave, but she wasn’t. Group after group left. Finally, Emma and three other people were dismissed. Emma followed in the back, wondering where her group was headed.

As they walked, Emma looked around, and observed her group. The leader was a tall, bent-over man about 65 years-old. The person behind him was a girl with long, ratty hair. The last member of the group was a lady with brown hair. Emma was dying to know where they were headed.

To be continued…