The Egypt Game

Elizabeth is delighted to be included. She is so impressed by the ceremonies the other two have developed that April and Melanie agree letting her in the group was a good idea. They cast her in the role of Queen Neferbeth with Marshall once again as Pharoah Marshamosis. April and Melanie play priestesses who are evil and good by turns.

Just as the game gets into full swing, tragedy strikes the neighborhood. A little girl who lives a few blocks away from the Casa Rosada has been found murdered, and this isn’t the first incident. The same thing happened a year earlier.

Out of fear, all the parents in the neighborhood insist on keeping their children indoors. The police have no clue as to the culprit’s identity, but many people point the finger at the Professor because he’s odd. Mr. Schmitt, the owner of the variety store, circulates a petition to drive the Professor out of the neighborhood. April is the only person who sticks up for him, and her friends follow suit on the strength of her conviction. The children stay indoors and speculate about the murderer.

The four children try playing the Egypt Game indoors, but it doesn’t feel the same. Eventually, April proposes creating costumes for when they can go back to the storage lot. They make a crown for Marshamosis, and the ladies in the building donate some old cheap jewelry to sew onto other costumes. The children pass off their sewing efforts as preparation for Halloween. Since the holiday is only days away, none of the adults question them. April throws herself into sewing to avoid thinking about her absent mother. In her infrequent letters, Dorothea never mentions when she’s returning to get April.

When Halloween rolls around, a few of the neighborhood fathers agree to escort groups of children on trick-or-treating rounds. The Egypt group schemes to slip away to visit their temple. April thinks:

It would be really terrific—a nighttime ceremony in the spooky half-light, and with everybody wearing their new Egyptian costumes. They would only stay for a few minutes, and they’d get back to the trick-or-treaters before they were missed (81-82).

Melanie is secretly worried about disobeying the rules but doesn’t tell April. On Halloween night, all four children are decked out in their new finery with heavy eye makeup to mimic Egyptians. The adults they encounter are enchanted by the effect. April pretends that she has received a psychic message from the gods and tells the others that the mighty ones have summoned them to return to Egypt.

Out on the street with the Halloween revelers, the crew runs into two fellow students—Ken Kamata and Toby Alvillar. Toby is the class prankster with a talent for making people laugh, while Ken is good-looking in “a big blunt cocky way” (93). They “were just about the most disgusting boys in the sixth grade, in a fascinating sort of way. They were best friends and always together, and everybody always voted for them for everything and wanted to be on their team” (92).

Ken is dressed as a monster, and Toby is supposed to be a TV set. After joking with the Egyptians for a few minutes, Ken and Toby move on to catch up with their group. As the four children hang back, April spies a shooting star. She says that this is a secret omen calling them back to Egypt.

In the storage lot, the children prostrate themselves before the altars and perform a ceremony celebrating their return. April says that Set is angry that they’ve been gone so long and demands a sacrifice. Each child takes a turn communing with Set’s spirit to decide what the sacrifice should be: “Elizabeth snatched her hand down and suggested eagerly that Set’s message was that they should stick their fingers with a needle and write him a letter in their own blood” (100).

While the others are impressed with her suggestion, they have nothing sharp to stick themselves with. April says that Set told her they should sacrifice Marshall’s plush octopus, Security. Marshall objects loudly and retaliates by saying that Set told him they should sacrifice April. Ever the peacekeeper, Melanie says that Set told her that they should sacrifice a few strands of hair and nail clippings; this becomes their token offering.

The children complete their ceremony. They are at the point of leaving when two shapes hurtle over the fence. At first, they are afraid it might be the murderer, but the invaders turn out to be Ken and Toby. Although the boys haven’t yet seen the entire Egyptian shrine, April is afraid that they will expose the secret playground. While the boys protest that they won’t tell their classmates, they threaten to tell the FBI or write a school report.

April wants to punch them. Instead, she says that the boys will get them in terrible trouble with their families if they expose the truth. The boys initially seem moved by the plea, but then go back to teasing the Egyptians. At the last moment, Elizabeth has an idea: “‘Please,’ she said, in a feathery little voice. ‘Please don’t tell on us, and we’ll let you play, too’” (109-10).