Tiy and the Prince of Egypt by Debbie Dee Page A

other hand, was entirely too fascinated by nothing other than chewing on air.
    Tiy whistled. She tugged. She clicked and made all sorts of funny sounds with her mouth.
    Nothing .
    Amenhotep glance d back, as he had dozens of times during their trek. Calling out for everyone to continue toward the pyramids, he turned his camel toward her. He set it at a gallop and Tiy was amazed at how easily he could get his camel to obey. Merymose’s face pinched with effort as he tried once more to turn his camel toward her.
    Amenhote p reached her and swung his legs around, leaping off his camel before it came to a stop. Tiy gasped in surprise, which seemed to please him. He grinned from ear to ear as he closed the distance between them
    “Having some trouble?” He asked with a playful smile.
    “Like you would not believe.”
    “Merymose likes you.”
    “I thought we were talking about the camel.” Tiy said, confused.
    “We are. ”
    “Oh . Well I can’t get him to move any further. He just sits here like a lump of fur.”
    “Do you like him?” Amenhotep asked.
    “Well, not really. He is smelly and hairy, and won’t move fast enough, but sure, I like him enough, for a camel.”
    Amenhotep laughed . “I meant Merymose. Do you like Merymose?”
    “Honestly Amenhotep, I can’t keep up with you . Merymose seems nice. Can we talk about him later? I’d rather get my lazy camel moving before the two of us are left alone in the desert.”
    Amenhotep rolle d his head back and laughed. “Of course. Here, take your shoes off and put them in that pouch.”
    P erplexed by his instructions, she scowled.
    “Trust me, Tiy. I know what I’m doing.”
    She nodded and pulled off her shoes. He was right, after all. His camel seemed to be the only one willing to obey.
    “Good,” he said . “Now, put your feet on his neck and use your toes to tickle his skin.”
    Tiy placed the soles of her feet on the camel’s fur and tickled his skin with her toes. Its head jolted up, and he began to walk.
    “It’s working!” Tiy said with a grin.
    “How about a race?” Amenhotep said, urging his camel to kneel so he could re-mount .
    She turned around to face him and called out. “Are you joking?”
    “You have until I mount this camel to decide. Are you afraid I’ll beat you to the pyramids?”
    Tiy bristled. She couldn’t resist a good competition , and he seemed to know it. Straightening her back, she nudged her toes into the camel’s neck a little harder. Its gait sped up along with her heart rate.
    She glanced back just in time to see Amenhotep’s camel raising his front legs to stand. She squealed and pushed her toes faster, massaging the camel’s neck harder. The camel shot off like a bullet. She bounced along, her eyes wide and her mouth open in a big grin. It was so strange to feel scared for her life, yet to be having so much fun. She whooped and hollered as she passed the others. The shock on their faces was something she never wanted to forget.
    Amenhotep closed the gap, but there was no way she was going to let him win. Pushing her toes further into the camel’s fur, she laughed and congratulated herself as the great sphinx grew larger. It would be her triumphant finish line.
    She was a little more than sixty cubits from the sphinx when she saw the sudden drop in the earth ahead and realized she should have asked someone how to stop a camel. Surely the animal would notice the deep hole and stop on its own, right? She leaned over and searched its glazed eyes. There was nothing that spoke of intelligence in them.
    She took a breath. Stopping a camel couldn’t be that much different than stopping a horse, right? She scrambled to shorten the rope and yanked hard. The camel barely slowed. She shouted at it, but it only hung its mouth open further, exposing its big teeth into a ridiculous smile.
    Amenhotep yelled at her, but the wind blowing against her ears was too loud to make out what he said. And the others were too far behind