Scientists are always trying to invent new things. One of the most popular ideas is a time machine. But they don’t realise how dangerous time travel can be. I do. I've been there. But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll start at the beginning, so you can hear the whole story. Everything began on a seemingly average day. On the eighth of July, at 5:23 precisely, one crucial event that seemed so insignificant at the time set off a chain reaction that would change our lives, and the world. Literally. My story starts at my home in Sydney, Australia, with my brother, my sister and my parents. My brother Gordon, aka Gordo is the calm, logical one of us who never panics. He has scruffy dirty-blonde hair, brown/hazel eyes and light olive skin. My sister Cynthia is most clearly described as fearful but funny, and is known as the beauty of the family with straight black hair that goes nearly halfway down her back, cool hazel eyes and a dark but doll-like complexion. I’m Emma, the main explorer who likes going out of my comfort zone. I have shoulder length black hair, hazel eyes, quite plain skin and a photographic memory, as my family is constantly reminding me. (It helps to find the car keys) We all attend Pymble public school, and our parents work as professional instructors at indoor ski resort. On that day, dad received a letter requesting him and mum to go and teach kids to ski in a two-month course in Canada. So within the space of a week, our bags were packed, and we found ourselves on a five-hour train trip to Grandpa’s house. Grandpa’s a nice man, but he’s not used to guests or children, so in the house he has no games, toys or anything to play with. By the third day there we were getting bored. We had explored the old house, done some gardening, played some of the classic games like Tag and Hide and Seek, sang along with and learned every song on the few records we could find and played charades for hours on end. We decided to go bushwalking out the back of the house, where there was a five acre forest. We thought it would be fun to camp out for a few nights, so we each filled a back pack with snacks, some portable cooking equipment, a first aid kit, a tent, our Swiss army knives, and a whole lot of other equipment that we thought we might need. But just as we went out the door, the sky opened up and we had to rush back in. Now we had to find something to do while we waited for the rain to stop. Then Cynthia thought of the shed. We didn’t think there would be much to do in there, but we had nothing better to do. After a little rummaging around in the musty hallway, we unearthed a moth-eaten umbrella, and, squeezing under it, we tromped out to the shed without even bothering to take off our backpacks. It was too hard enough to get them on. As usual, the door was unlocked. After a short struggle we managed to prise open the heavy wooden door on stiff hinges that creaked like angry mice fighting. We darted in, shaking the rain droplets off our coats where the holey umbrella had let the water in. Just for the fun of it we pretended to be explorers in the jungle, and each carrying a pack; we separated to have a look for anything of interest. After roughly half an hour of shouting, showing off our finds and generally making a mess, Gordo found the box that started the real adventure. It was a deep maroon brown, made of wood and covered with intricate carvings. It had a small, but ornamental, lock on the front that we opened with one of Cynthia's bobby pins and old-fashioned hinges. I felt like there was something strange about it, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Once we had opened it with a screwdriver from an old toolbox we all gazed inside and just had time to glimpse a pure white, softly glowing crystal, as smooth as glass, perfectly made, with knife-sharp edges that came to a perfect point. Barely had I realised this crystal exactly matched a picture of the fabled lost treasure of Cleopatra, when the centre of the valuable crystal began to glow like the sun. I gasped. Cynthia screamed. Gordo, as always, stayed calm. I saw a brilliant flash of light that blocked out my vision completely.
And for a while, I didn’t see anything at all…
“Emma! Emma, are you all right? Wake up! Please, wake up!” It was Cynthia. I blearily opened my eyes.
“Huh? Cynthia, is that you? Wherrami?” I looked around, and then gasped in pain. Somehow I had hurt my ankle on the way to wherever we were. I tried to sit up, but swayed and lay back onto the ground. I heard Gordo’s soft, reassuring voice beside me.
“Take it easy, Emma, you’ve been asleep for ages” Eventually I sat up and began to take in more of the details of our surroundings. We were in a desert covered in clumps of coarse, yellow grass, near some trees. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue and the hot sand seemed to shimmer and glow in the intense heat. The air was thick and dry, and as I looked around I saw what looked like large rabbits nibbling at the dry grass. How on earth had we gotten here? I thought back to when we found the box. I remembered an image of the box and the object inside. Now I realised why the box had seemed strange. It had no rust on it! In addition to the fact that the box itself was free of rust, none of the rust or dirt in the shed had rubbed off onto it. Presumably while I had been unconscious, Cynthia and Gordo had started setting up a sort of camp. Well, maybe just Gordo. I attempted to stand but gasped at the pain from my ankle and collapsed into a heap on the ground. Gordo and Cynthia rushed over to help me and bound up my leg with a straight, sturdy stick and bandages from the first aid kit. I thanked my lucky stars that we had brought our backpacks with us. With Gordo and Cynthia's help, I managed to hobble to the tent. To make myself useful, I began to set up our bedding for the night. Meanwhile, Gordo had woven a snare from the dry grass, managed to catch one of the oversized rabbits and was now cooking it into a stew. We all knew that if we were going to survive, we would need to live off the land. Mostly. I crawled outside, and following a tip I once heard about how to get water out of leaves, I dug a hole, filled it with some of the sparse greenery and placed an empty cooking pot in the middle. Then I stretched the cling wrap from around some of our food over the top and placed a stone on each corner and one in the middle. The moisture in the leaves evaporated in the hot sun, hit the plastic and condensated. The stone in the middle weighed down the plastic so the condensation dripped down into the pot. By the time I had finished, Gordo had finished making dinner and we ate. The meat was a little bit tough, but full of flavour. Exhausted by our long day, we soon went inside and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, our unvoiced concerns of where to go and what to do and how we could get home hung heavy in the air. We all knew we couldn’t stay here for long. As half- formed plans raced around in my head, Cynthia came up with the most sensible solution to our dilemma.
“If we keep walking in the one direction, we’ll eventually have to get to somewhere.” she suggested simply. Gordo and I agreed this was the best idea, but where would we go? Which direction? There was nothing but hot desert plains from where we stood to the horizon and I had a nagging doubt that with my injured ankle I wouldn’t get far. The others seemed to be thinking the same thing. After a short hunt around, we found a pair of sturdy branches I could use as crutches, packed up, and set off. Then, after several hours walking steadily due north, I saw a shape in the distance. Inspired by this promising sight, we hurried on. Within another hour, we could see the shape more clearly. It seemed to be a high mound, wider at the base and pointed at the top. As we drew closer, we could see movement on it, and slowly, the moving dots became people. Tired, I requested a stop. We sat on some nearby rocks and watched the people on the shape. Suddenly, I realised where, or when, we were. The box had taken us on a ride through time, and here we were seeing the pyramids new, thousands of years after they were built!! The dots were ancient Egyptians!! We set off again, energised by this amazing sight. Soon we were within their sight, and a group came to see who, or maybe what, we were. Once we realised they were coming to meet us we stopped walking. We were lucky to have landed in a time that had people, (instead of dinosaurs) but what would they say if we told them that we were time travellers who had appeared out of nowhere? They would think we were crazy and take us to their boss for sentencing! Anyway, we had no way of knowing what they were talking about. Wait... their boss! Before the box had transported us here we had all seen the crystal inside. I had thought it was Cleopatra’s lost treasure. Would that mean we were in Cleopatra’s time? “They’re coming towards us.” said Gordo, breaking my train of thought. “Should we stay or run?” Hmmmm... It was a tricky question. We could get in big trouble, but weren’t we already in danger? We had no food, nowhere to go. The people coming towards us could be enemies, but so could the land. We couldn’t stay alone, and if it was Cleopatra’s treasure in the box, maybe she would know what the box was. Or perhaps she could help us get back home. I looked at the approaching people and sighed, knowing there was only one way to find out.
“We go to meet them.” I answered. Cynthia and Gordo looked at me like I was mad. “Look,” I explained, “As I see it, we have two choices. We can go see who those people are, or try to live in the desert, alone, for the rest of our lives. We can’t stay, so we might as well go.” I had decided not to tell the others my suspicions of who the people might be, as it could lead to raised hopes. There was an interesting silence before the others nodded. We had no choice. We began walking again, this time heading slightly eastwards. As the scouts came closer, we could hear them murmuring among themselves. I couldn’t understand what they meant, but maybe it was something to do with the fact we had appeared out of nowhere. Finally they caught up to us. They garbled something in Egyptian. The three of us stared blankly. We were literally lifted roughly into a smelly wood cart, and I jumped with pain as my injured ankle knocked against the side. A scratchy blanket was thrown over us, presumably to block out the harsh sun. In wordless agreement, we pulled the cloth further over us to hide ourselves completely, knowing we should obey these strange people, at least for now. After about half an hour of jolting around in the stinking hay that filled most of the cart we lurched to a halt. The heavy blanket that I now understood had been shielding us from the prying eyes of the townsfolk was pulled off and we found ourselves outside a sandy coloured building, much larger than all the rest surrounding us. We were pulled out of the cart and half carried, half dragged into the palace. They took us to a massive, airy room. There was an uncomfortable looking chair on the other side, where a beautiful woman sat. I gasped. My previous idea had been correct. It was Cleopatra. She stood up, fuming. She was one of those people who could look even more beautiful when they are angry.
“What is the meaning of this!?” she demanded, in English. “Who dares disturb the queen?” The guards simply looked at her, a confused look on their faces. Cleopatra sighed and repeated the question in Egyptian. They babbled something back, and the look on her face changed from anger to astonishment. She turned to face us, her expression gentle and worried. “So you have found the box. I have waited many years for you.” We stared blankly. “Come” she called simply over her shoulder she strode off. “I have much to tell you” We started to follow, but I tumbled to the floor as my makeshift crutch buckled and collapsed. Cleopatra turned back at the sudden noise. She cursed under her breath. “Of course. How silly of me. You two, (she pointed at Gordo and Cynthia) help your sister.” Cynthia and Gordo hooked their arms underneath my shoulders and lifted me off the ground. We followed her in to a small room where there was a strange object hovered in a mist of light. Cleopatra held her palm facing the wall then walked to the opposite wall where she tapped some random pebbles from a rocky layer in the wall. The light around the weird object faded and she crossed the room and caught it before it hit the ground. I had to say, she would make a good cricketer. She brought the thing back over to where I stood, fiddled with something on the side and touched the thing my leg. I immediately felt the pain in my ankle disappear. I tentatively stood up, and found my leg was as good as new!
“Thank you” I stammered. She merely smiled mysteriously and beckoned us to follow her.
“Come. I have much to tell you.” she told us as she walked off. I tore off my splint and ran after her, needing to take three steps for every stride she took. She led us into a small, comfortable living room. She gestured for us to sit. Soon we were all settled in squashy chairs. “So” she said when we were all ready. “I believe you will have many questions?” We all started talking at once.
“What is that box?”
“What’s it for?”
“Why did it bring us here?”
“How can we get home?”
“How does the box work?”
“Are we really in another time?”
“How can you speak English?”
“How come you’re the only one who knows who we are?”
“Where did the box come from?”
“How come it gave me a broken ankle?”
“One at a time!” We all stopped speaking. “First, names. I, as you may have already guessed, am Cleopatra, current queen of Egypt. And you are?” We quickly introduced ourselves. Cleopatra continued. “I cannot tell you how the box works. Yes, you are in my time. And a good time it is to, don’t you think?” We all nodded in bewilderment. “You were brought here to help make some of the great discoveries of the world, and to help repair it. In my youth I travelled far through time and space, thus needing to learn many other languages. I have not told anyone of this time of my travels. I would be burnt as a witch or at least jailed for life! The box was invented by a stranger from the future who said the human race had become extinct except for him, and he had invented the box to try save the earth from utter destruction. I learnt the secrets of the box and how to use it. After he died I modified the box so that anyone who found it would be brought here so I could tell them what I have told you. The one flaw of the box is that it always injures one or more of those who use it. However, this invention-” She held up the thing she had used to mend my leg “will repair any damage inflicted by the box. I will leave it to you. And finally, you can only get home by finding and opening the box in this time, then the next, and so on until you are transported back to your time. In each time zone you must repair whatever it was there that happened, but was not supposed to, so there will be a future for your race. Each time, there will be something in the box from that time. You will find the box in a small oasis over three days walk through the desert, where I hid it. I will give you what you need to get there.” She relaxed in her chair, exhausted by her long speech. The three of us looked at each other in amazement and disbelief. How could this be happening to us? Suddenly something struck me.
“How come you haven’t already mended these rips in time?” I accused. “If you have already travelled in time, you can keep going! Why did you have to pull us out of our home to do something you could have done?!” I was furious now. “Our grandfather will be worried sick! We could be gone for weeks! Our family will call the police, they won’t know where we are, they’ll freak! As far as they know, we disappeared into thin air; we didn’t even tell anyone we were going to explore the shed! And even when we get back, how are we going to explain that we disappeared for weeks without a word, and then reappeared with no warning?” I stopped my frantic babbling. I was panting like I had just run a marathon. Cleopatra looked at me. I realised I had made myself look rather stupid. Cynthia was staring at me. Gordo, however, was deep in thought.
“Emma has a point there. You could have gone yourself, anytime after you modified the box. Why do you need us?”Cleopatra smiled at him.
“That is a sensible question. But to fully repair the damage done to the time stream, it will require for you each to be in different places in the same time period. As for the question of how to explain where you went, you won’t have to. The box will return you to the time only a few minutes after you left. Nobody will even know you ever left. Now come with me. I will prepare you for your journey.” she finished.
Half an hour later we were fully prepared to walk to the oasis Cleopatra had described, with food, water and camels. Yes, camels. They would carry us and our equipment to our destination, and when they had drunk their fill from the oasis they would be able to find their way back home. Cleopatra was giving us some last minute directions.
“Now when you get to the oasis, let the camels drink, then point them back towards the pyramids, which are due east of the oasis. They should walk straight back on their own. They have been trained to walk back to where they came from if their owners leave them. Our heads were spinning from this sudden overdose of information, but we knew clearly what we were meant to do. We thought we were about to leave, but Cleopatra suddenly and strangely ordered all the slaves out. There were some mutters of protest, but no one dared refuse, even those who were meant to guard her constantly. Once everyone was gone she stepped in close and handed each of us another strange device. “These communicators” she whispered hurriedly “will allow you to speak to anyone you meet. When you need to communicate in a different language, say what you want to tell the other person into the communicator and it will translate for you. It will also work in reverse-translating another’s words into a language that you will understand. And there is one more thing. The stranger I told you about who gave me the box, he had a secret. The only reason I ever found out about it was one night just after he arrived he was talking in his sleep. All that I could make out was something about the box, and he kept talking about threes. This could be important, or maybe it is completely irrelevant. But either way, be careful. You are the last hope for the human race.”
“So no pressure” I muttered to myself. I expected disapproval, but Cleopatra just smiled. “Good luck, friends. You will need it. Hup!” She tapped the camels lightly. They started walking. The three of us waved until she was almost out of sight.  As soon as we were out of earshot we started talking amongst ourselves.