We Built This City by Matt London

Author:Matt London
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2016-02-10T16:00:00+00:00

INSIDE THE PYRAMID, GRAINS OF SAND COVERED THE STONE FLOOR, AND EVIE’S SHOES MADE LOUD scraping noises with each step. She led the way down the narrow corridor, aiming her flashlight into each dark nook and cranny.

“Evie,” Sprout whispered, staying close behind her, “Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

“What other way is there to go? We can’t go back. I didn’t see any turns. The only way is forward.”

The walls were lined with beautiful engraved hieroglyphs, pictograph symbols that the ancient Egyptians used to communicate. Evie couldn’t decipher the words, but in some cases the images were easy enough to understand. Farming is good. When you die, if your heart weighs more than a feather, some lizard-leopard-hippo-looking thing will eat you.

“Pyramids are amazing, aren’t they?” Evie mused.

“Sure, I mean, they’re mighty big and all, but . . . What do you mean?”

“How do you move giant bricks like that, and build something so huge, thousands of years ago?”

“I dunno,” Sprout said. “Hard work, I guess.”

“Some people think aliens built the pyramids.”

Sprout snorted. “I reckon Rick would give you a mighty lecture if he heard you say that, Evie.”

“Oh, I’m sure he would make fun of me. But who cares? Sure, maybe aliens had nothing to do with building the pyramids. Maybe there aren’t any aliens at all. But . . . I mean . . . don’t you wonder? What’s out there, beyond the stars?”

“I think the stars are amazing enough,” Sprout said. “Especially the sun. We all live because of the sun. The sun makes the plants grow.”

Evie felt a slight tremor in her voice as she spoke. “I want to know what’s out there. I’ve explored all seven continents with my dad. I created an eighth continent and I explored that too. I’ve been to the bottom of the ocean. What’s next?”

Evie pointed up.

Sprout stopped suddenly. “Hey now, look at this.”

The corridor ended abruptly at a flat yellow door. Evie leaned her flashlight against the wall to take a closer look. A grid of squares covered the door, and each square had English letters on it.

“What the heck is this?” Sprout removed his hat and scratched his head.

Evie read down the left column of squares. “H . . . Li . . . Na . . . Oh, I get it! It’s the Periodic Table of Elements.”

“Oh yeah!” Sprout grinned. “Professor Doran taught me about this. It’s the labeling system for chemical elements. I reckon it’s organized by atomic number, right?”

“Right,” Evie said. “2-Tor made us study it. The atomic number is the number of protons a given atom has. Each atom has a different number of protons. Top left—hydrogen. That one has a single proton.”

“That’s some mighty fine knowledge you got there, Evie.”

She giggled. “See, I do listen! Now how do we get past this door? Any ideas?”

“Hmm . . .” Sprout scratched his chin. “What was that access code we found?”

“Two-four-four.” Evie looked at the periodic table carved into the door. “Oh, I know!” She pushed the square that read Pu.

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