The Pursuit of the Ivory Poachers (11 page)

Chief Abasi wobbled on his feet before taking a step back. He was obviously in a bit of shock. “I can't believe this,” said the chief. “Trevor was a trusted friend of the Maasai people.”

“Unfortunately, I don't think Trevor was anybody's friend,” said Jack. “He pretended to be nice so nobody would suspect him of the crime. But Trevor's locked up now, so he'll have plenty of time to think about what he's done.”

Chief Abasi shook his head. “Well then,” he said to Jack, “we owe you and the GPF a great deal of thanks. You've rid our area of some nasty poachers and the elephants here in Kenya will be safer thanks to your efforts.”

“No problem,” said Jack, who was pleased with himself. “I'm just happy I could help.” He held out his hand. “If there are any more problems, give me a call.”

“I will,” said the chief, putting his hand in Jack's. “Be safe in your travels. And to help guide you, I would like to give you a gift.” Chief Abasi left Jack for a moment and walked to his hut.

When he returned, he had a beaded necklace in his hands. “This is for good luck,” he said, handing it to Jack. “And for the luck of your family.”

Little did the chief know, thought Jack, how much luck the Stalwart family actually needed. As Jack looked down at the red necklace, he thought about his brother Max.

Jack took the object and smiled. “Thank you,” he said as he placed it around his neck. “I'll treasure it always.” Jack waved goodbye to the chief and stepped on his Flyboard.

Leaving the homestead behind, he flew across the hot plains and stopped near a cluster of bushes. He packed his gadget away, and after pushing a few buttons on his Watch Phone, closed his eyes and yelled, “Off to England!” Within moments Jack was transported home to his bedroom.

As soon as he arrived, Jack grabbed the book on ancient Egypt off of his bookcase and sat down with it and his brother's note. He flicked through the pages and found one with a list of all the tombs in Thebes, then laid out what was left of the code again:

AMNNTAUOTKH

Then Jack compared the tomb names with the letters in the code. The first name on the list was Merenptah, but that didn't work. Scrolling down, he tried to match every name with the anagram, but nothing seemed to fit. By the time he got to the last name, he didn't hold out much hope. Jack wrote out the letters anyway. After all, King Tut was the most famous mummy in the world.

TUTANKHAMON

As he was writing, he realized that nearly every letter fit with the anagram from Max's note. The only problem was that in the book Tutankhamun was spelled with a “u' instead of the “o' that was in Max's code. Drat, thought Jack. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe the letters spelled another mummy's name.

But it was so close. Perhaps, wondered Jack, there was another spelling. He knew this was common when it came to ancient names for people and places. Feeling excited, he raced to his computer and punched the name Tutankhamun into the search field. Three different spellings for the famous boy king showed up.

One of them was spelled with an “o.”

Jack looked down at the necklace that Chief Abasi had given him. “Thanks,” he whispered to the man who had given him the necklace and his incredible good luck.

TUTANKHAMON

It was a perfect match.

Jack and his mum drove into the village hall car park. “I'll pick you up in an hour,” she said. Jack opened the door, quickly waved “goodbye” and shut the door behind him. His mum had some grocery shopping to do. She put the car in gear and pulled away.

Every weekend, twenty kids including Jack met to learn judo from Mr Baskin,
one of the best judo instructors in Great Britain. Judo is a type of martial art from Japan. Thanks to Mr Baskin, Jack had already earned his yellow belt. Not only was judo recommended by the GPF, it was something that Jack loved doing.

As he entered the building, he spotted his friends Richard and Charlie. They were also dressed in the judo uniform called a
judogi
. A
judogi
was a white jacket and trousers with a special belt tied around the waist. Jack walked over to say “hi,” but almost at the same time Mr Baskin yelled out to the class.

“OK, everyone!” he said. “Let's begin.” Jack went over to the edge of the mat, tidied up his
judogi
and tossed off his flip-flops. Then he, Richard, Charlie, and the rest of the class stepped onto the mat and waited for instructions.

“Floor work!” Mr Baskin said. “Commando style!” he added.

Everyone knew what to do. Hurrying to one side of the mat, the first row of students dropped to the floor and lay on their stomachs. Then they used their elbows to pull themselves across the mat, like soldiers in a trench. Almost as soon as they'd finished, Mr Baskin shouted another command.

“Cartwheels!” he said.

Jack could hear the rest of the boys sigh in dread. While the girls in the class loved doing cartwheels, it was difficult for Jack and the other boys to get their legs around.

Jack did his best, and when he'd made it across the mat, he heard Mr Baskin call everyone back to the center. They returned to the middle, sat back on their heels and listened carefully to what the teacher had to say.

“Can anyone tell me what
hansoku-make
means?” he asked.

Jack knew the answer. He raised his hand. “Disqualification,” he offered when Mr Baskin called on him.

“Yes!” said Mr Baskin, pleased that the first answer of the day was a correct one.
“And what causes a disqualification?” he asked.

Charlie's hand shot up. “Putting your fingers up an opponent's sleeve,” he answered.

“Well,” said Mr Baskin, “that wouldn't cause a
hansoku-make
. Can anyone tell me what putting your hands up an opponent's sleeve
would
cause?”

Richard raised his hand. “A
shido
?”

“Excellent!” Mr Baskin said. “Yes, putting your fingers up someone's sleeve would cause a
shido
, or small penalty. “What else?” he asked, searching for other means of disqualification.

A girl a few kids back from Jack raised her hand. Although Jack didn't know her name, he knew that she was more skilled than him because she was wearing an orange belt.

“Punching someone in the face,” she replied, with a naughty smile.

The instructor smiled back. “Good one, Charlotte,” he said. “Any other ideas?”

Charlie raised his hand again. “What about if you wear metal or jewelery?” he asked.

“Yes!” said Mr Baskin, excited that his class had been paying attention to previous lessons.

Another girl raised her hand too. Jack recognized her as Emma, a girl who lived a few streets over from him. She was eight years old.

“Biting someone?” she offered.

“Excellent,” said Mr Baskin. “All of those things – punching, wearing metal, and biting – can lead to disqualification.

“Now,” he continued, moving on from the questions and answers, “today, we're
going to learn a new throw. It's called a
harai goshi
. It's known as the ‘sweeping hip throw' and is an excellent move that can have a number of results.”