Imagine a small red brick house. Imagine a small bedroom with a red blanket. Imagine a small head with a round face and freckles, red hair sticking up. Steve was asleep in his bed. The alarm clock rang and he woke up. He got out of bed like a sleepwalker, got washed, dressed very slowly in his designer jeans and then went downstairs to have his breakfast. He sat at the table eating coco-pops. His sister Katie came in. She was bright and pretty and wore her blonde hair in a pony tail.
'Hurry up!' she said to Steve. 'We'll be late for school!'

Ten minutes later they left the house and went to the corner of the street to meet their friends as usual. Katie's friend Lauren was already waiting. She had short brown hair and glasses. Steve didn't like her much as she was very bossy. Just then Boff arrived. He was a strange sight. He was very tall and thin like a stick insect. His face was quite spotty and his hair wasn't combed. His clothes were really uncool but he didn't seem to notice.

They set off walking along the road to school – past the shops, past the enormous grey factory building and down towards the river. Then suddenly they heard a noise behind them.
'Woof, Woof!'
'Oh, no,' said Steve. 'It's Benjie.'
Benjie was Steve's dog and he was very very disobedient. He often escaped and Steve had to take him home again. Benjie ran off in front of them into a field.
'Oh, no,' said Steve, 'he's seen a rabbit! He's gone into the field. We'll have to catch him.'

The four children groaned and then climbed over the fence into the field to look for Benjie.
'Here, Benjie!' they shouted.
But the dog ran off into the distance, chasing a rabbit.

At the back of the field was a wall. The rabbit and the dog ran towards it – and then disappeared!
'Where are they?' cried Katie. 'They've just gone!'
They went closer to the wall and looked. There was a hole at the bottom of the wall.
'Maybe they went down there,' said Lauren.
Steve went down to look and then fell over.
'Ow!' he cried, and then disappeared!
'Where is he?' said Katie.

The three children went down the slope towards the hole. Suddenly they felt their heads spinning and turning, and the world went black. They felt as if they were flying, and indeed they were – back into the mysteries of time itself.

They landed with a thump and a bang.
'Ouch!' cried Katie, as she banged her head.
'Where are we?' asked Lauren.
'Look over there. What's that?' asked Steve.
'It's a Pyramid!' said Boff. 'We studied them at school in history.'
'Then we must be in Egypt!' said Steve.
'Yes, look ... there are five of them … and they are building another one over there!'
'But they built the Pyramids more than 2000 years ago!' said Lauren.
'Wow! Let's go and look at that one! There's a door to the inside. Come on!' said Steve.

They walked across a sandy desert area and stood in front of an enormous Pyramid. They went in and saw amazing coloured paintings on the walls. There were pictures of people hunting animals, pictures of food and pictures of rich people wearing fantastic gold jewellery. There was also strange writing on the walls.
'This must be a tomb,' said Steve.

Suddenly they heard a voice.
'Who are you?' it boomed.
They froze with fear and turned around. They saw a tall, thin boy with long black hair. He was wearing a white cloth like a skirt, leather sandals and an amazing bead necklace.
'We are travellers,' said Boff, 'but I think we are lost. Who are you?'
'My name is Ramses,' the boy replied. 'Come. I will show you my house.'

They followed the boy towards the river. There was a small village settlement with square white houses. They went into a low white house. Inside it was dark and cool. They sat on mats on the floor.
'Are you hungry?' asked Ramses.
'Yes, a bit,' replied Steve. Steve was always hungry.

Ramses clapped his hands and a girl entered the room. She had dark eyes and a gentle smile.
'This is my sister Osi,' said Ramses. 'Please bring us some food.'

After a few minutes Osi returned with a plate of fruit, some bread and some cool water to drink.
'You are welcome,' said Ramses, looking at their strange clothes. He thought trousers were very strange.

After their meal Ramses wanted to show them his village. They left the house and walked around. The village was next to a huge river. Along the river it was green and there were trees and crops growing. Ramses explained that this was the black land, but further away in the desert was the red land.

My father is a farmer,' said Ramses, 'but now the water is rising and the flood is coming so he is helping to carry stones for the Pyramid.'

Near the river there were lots of ducks making a noise. The children laughed and went closer to the river. It was hot and the sun was high in the sky.
'Let's swim!' said Ramses.
They all splashed around in the river having fun. The water was cooling and they jumped off the river bank just to make a splash. Ramses was a good swimmer and swam out into the middle of the river.

While they were watching him, they suddenly heard him yell 'Aaagh!' and then he disappeared under the water. Steve was standing on the bank of the river. He looked at the water and saw the dark shape of a fish. It was huge and seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. Then they saw Ramses' head above the water and the mouth of a huge fish with sharp teeth.
'Help!' shouted Ramses. 'A puffer fish!'

Steve picked up a sharp stick and threw it at the water. It speared the fish, which then sank in the water. Ramses climbed back to the river bank.
'You saved my life!' he said. Puffer fish are very dangerous – they are poisonous and kill you if they bite.

They returned to the house and Ramses told his mother and father what had happened. They kissed Steve and thanked him again and again for saving their son.

That evening they invited all their family and friends to a huge feast. They sat in the garden behind the house and ate all kinds of meat and incredible fruit. They presented the children with beautiful lotus flowers.

At the end of the feast they were tired.
'We must try to get back home,' said Lauren.
When everyone in the house was asleep, they left the house quietly and walked through the village to the place near the Pyramid where they had arrived.
'I think it was near here,' said Katie.

They found a hole in the pile of rocks near the entrance to the Pyramid. Steve and Boff went first. They looked into the hole – and disappeared! Then Katie and Lauren followed. They felt dizzy and everything swirled around in the air. They were flying again ... though time and space ... through the timewarp.

They landed with another bump and found themselves on the ground in the field. Steve fell flat on his face. When he looked up he saw Benjie sitting there waiting and wagging his tail.

'We're back!' cried Lauren. 'Did we really go back in time and space or was it all a dream?'
Katie looked down at the beautiful lotus flower she was holding.
'No,' she said, 'we definitely are time travellers!'

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