The Lost Treasure of Persia

CHAPTER --------- 4

Two  days  later,  Skye  and  Brandon  were  sitting  on  a  bench  in  the  magnificent Tuileries Gardens, and eating their lunch with Professor Airbon.  The sun was bright with barely a cloud in the sky.  The Gardens themselves were massive and ran along the bank of the  River  Seine  from  the  Louvre.  Amongst  the  gardens  were  large  water  fountains and beautiful sculptures that Skye thought were good enough to  be  in  a  museum.  There  must  not  have  been  a  single  colour  that  Skye  couldn’t  see in  the  gardens; from red to  green, yellow  to  violet, colour  surrounded  them.  There  were  also  vendors  selling  delicious  chocolate  crepes, and others hiring deck chairs for people to sit on.  Skye was eating a baguette filled with more delightfully tasty cheeses.  She couldn’t believe how many different types of cheese there were to eat!  ‘We met Henri Chassel yesterday,’ Skye said between mouthfuls of her  baguette.  A  cloud  of  sadness  come  over  her  face  as  she  mentioned  Chassel’s name.  ‘Oh yes, he is a true gentleman,’ the Professor said, not for the first  time.  ‘We were very fortunate  that  he helped fund  our expedition.  We  never would have been able to succeed without him.’ He looked down at  the ground and frowned. ‘I haven’t had the heart to tell him yet about the  theft.’  Skye exchanged an embarrassed glance with Brandon. ‘Um, we told him,  Professor,’ she said.  ‘Oh dear,’ the Professor replied, sounding very anxious. ‘How did he  take it?’  Skye thought for a moment before answering. ‘Actually, not as badly as I  had thought he would.’  The Professor let out a long sigh of relief. ‘That is comforting. He was  deeply interested in all of our discoveries, and I imagined that the thought  of losing some of them would have made him furious.’ He frowned slightly,  as though he wished Henri Chassel were more upset about the loss. ‘Still, I  suppose someone like him has lots of interests,’ he added.  They ate their lunch in silence for a while, watching the people walking  leisurely through the Gardens, many of them being followed by small dogs.  ‘I do hope we can recover the stolen pieces quickly,’ the Professor said  after he had finished eating. ‘So far the police haven’t found anything; no 
finger  prints,  no  film  of  anyone  entering  the  room,  nothing.’  He  sighed  again.  ‘I  was  hoping  to  discover  more  about  the  women  who  lived  in  Xerxes’ palace.’  Skye’s head shot up with interest at the Professor’s comment. ‘Um, do  you  know  much  about  his  wives?’  she  asked  timidly,  then  immediately  wished  that  she  hadn’t.  She  never  said  anything  timidly.  Brandon  had  obviously noticed the hesitation in her voice and was watching her with a  look of concern on his face. She hated to admit it, but she was worried  about what Chassel had said to her. If she showed the Professor that she  believed too much in the bible, maybe he would think she was a fool too.  She lowered her head and looked down at her feet felling a little bit guilty.  Thankfully Brandon hadn’t seemed to have thought too much about it as  his attention was focused back on his iPhone.  ‘We  know  that  his  wife’s  name  was  Amestris’  the  Professor  said,  mercifully not having caught any hint of her embarrassment.  ‘Some  people  think  that  his  wife’s  name  was  Vashti,’  Skye  ventured  tentatively.  ‘Oh yes, the bible mentions that name. It is possible that Vashti and  Amestris  are  the  same  person,  with  their  names  just  being  written  in  different  languages.  Similarly  the  bible  mentions  the  king’s  name  as  Ahasuerus,  which  we  suspect  may  have  been  what  the  Greeks  called  Xerxes.’  Professor Airbon smiled at her. ‘You seem to know a lot about history,  especially biblical history. You’ve not actually told me how it is that you are  both so interested in these artefacts. Why did you fly half way around the  world to come and see them?’  Skye felt uneasy. She wanted to tell him about her aunt, and that they  were hoping to discover how Esther could have been so courageous. But  what Chassel said had scared her. She stared at the Professor and tried to  think of another answer. ‘Um,’ she began, but no other words came out.  ‘Wait!’ Brandon exclaimed, interrupting them. ‘Look at this!’  ‘What is it?’ Skye asked, immediately attentive. She was glad to have the  attention diverted away from her.  ‘Have a look at this picture,’ he said.  He turned his phone towards them so they could see the screen. On it  was a picture of the table in the Professor’s room from where the artefacts 
had been stolen. Skye looked closely but couldn’t see anything remarkable.  ‘I don’t see anything,’ she said at last.  ‘What about now,’ Brandon said as he zoomed in on the picture.  Skye looked again at where Brandon was pointing but could only see a  mark in the dust on the floor. ‘It’s just a mark on the ground,’ she said.  Beside her, the Professor was peering intently at the screen as well but  shaking his head; he couldn’t see anything either.  ‘Here’s another picture,’ he said, swiping to the next one.  Skye  looked  but  shook  her  head.  She  was  beginning  to  think  that  Brandon  wasn’t  taking  this  seriously.  It  was  just  a  photo  of  the  ground  underneath the table where the mark was. ‘Have you found anything or  not?’ she asked impatiently.  Brandon smiled at them as he zoomed in closer. Skye and the Professor  gasped at the same time. ‘It’s a foot print!’ she exclaimed. She smiled too  as she turned to the Professor. ‘I’m glad you haven’t had your floor swept  clean in a long time,’ she said.  ‘But it could be my foot print,’ the Professor said dourly.  ‘No,’ Brandon said happily, ‘I’ve already done some measurements and  this footprint is from a size 11 shoe. Your shoes aren’t that big.’  Now even the Professor was smiling. ‘Do you think this could be the  footprint of the thief?’  ‘Do you have any assistants or security guards that would have been in  the room?’ Skye asked.  ‘No, I’m the only one with the key,’ the Professor responded.  ‘Then this could be the foot print of the thief,’ Brandon said.  ‘But  how  can  we  use  this  picture  to  help  us  find  them?’  asked  the  Professor.  The Professor’s question was a good one. Skye and Brandon looked at  each other, puzzled. ‘We don’t know yet,’ Skye admitted. ‘But we can send  it to the police. Maybe it will help them in their investigation.’    It had been a long day and Skye and Brandon were both tired as they  returned to their hotel. ‘I don’t understand why the police haven’t found  anything yet,’ Skye said as they walked down the corridor to their room.  ‘The thief had obviously been planning this for a long time,’ Brandon  said.  Skye looked at him, confused. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked. 
‘All of the trouble they went to. They knew where the artefacts were  kept, they were able to break the cameras so that they wouldn’t take any  footage of them, and it was only the jewellery that they stole. It seems like  they’d known for a while what they wanted.’  ‘But they couldn’t have,’ Skye said dismissively. ‘Nobody knew about the  expedition until it was reported in the news.’  ‘Well,  we  didn’t  know  about  it,’  Brandon  grumbled  defensively,  ‘but  others would have.’  Skye was about to open the door to their room when she froze. ‘You’re  right,’  she  said.  ‘There  would  have  been  people  who  were  part  of  the  expedition  or  who  helped  to  organize  it.  They  would  have  known  well  before we did.’  ‘That’s what I said,’ Brandon mumbled grumpily.   Skye opened the door and walked into the room. ‘Maybe we can find a  list of all the people who ‐’ she stopped as she looked around the room.  Their room looked as though a tornado had blown through it. Their bags  were open and clothes were thrown all over the room. The wardrobe and  chest of drawers had been flung open and all of their contents strewn on  the floor.  ‘Oh no!’ Skye exclaimed.  Brandon looked to be in shock. ‘Who would want to rob us?’  ‘And what would they want?’ Skye replied, coming back to her senses.  ‘Have a look and see if anything is missing,’ she commanded.  They began searching through all of their belongings, checking pockets  and trying to remember anything that might have been missing. After 10  minutes of searching, they both sat down on the bed.  ‘I don’t get it,’ Brandon said. ‘Nothing’s been stolen.’  ‘I know; it doesn’t make any sense.’ Skye crossed her arms and tried to  think if there was anything they had missed. She tried hard to think of  anything that they had brought with them that might be missing. But there  wasn’t  anything.  Unless…  she  jumped  up  from  the  bed  and  searched  through the bottom of her bag again. Sure enough, there was something  missing. ‘The photos,’ she said.  ‘What photos?’ Brandon asked.  ‘The photos the Professor gave us; the photos of the jewellery. They’re  gone.’  They stared at each for a long moment. 
‘Someone knows that we’re looking for the stolen jewellery,’ Brandon  said ominously.  ‘Yes. And I think that person is also the thief.’ 

The Loast Treasure of Persia

CHAPTER ------------ 3


The sun was beginning to set when the taxi pulled up at the address  Skye had given him. She paid the driver as she and Brandon stepped out.  ‘Wow,’ Brandon said, staring up at the mansion in front of them.  When  they  had  returned  to  their  hotel  from  the  Louvre,  Skye  had  searched the internet for all of the information she could find about Henri  Chassel. She had discovered that he had funded many archaeological digs in  the  Middle  East,  but  more  importantly  that  he  lived  only  a  short  drive  outside of Paris. She and Brandon had wasted no time in hiring a taxi and  heading towards his house.  But  it  wasn’t  just  a  normal  house  ‐ it  was  a  mansion.  The  taxi  had  already driven down the longest driveway Skye had ever seen, an avenue of  beautiful horse‐chestnut trees that formed an arch over the entire length of  the driveway. On their right they passed a huge lush green lawn before  they finally stopped in front of the house next to a massive water fountain.  The  three  storey  mansion  itself  was  beautiful,  and  very,  very  large.  Marble columns stood out the front and it seemed to extend endlessly to  their right and left. It looked like it must have been at least a couple of  hundred years old, and ivy grew over sections of the walls.  ‘He must be incredibly rich,’ Brandon said. ‘Look at it, Skye, it’s massive.  I couldn’t even guess how many rooms are in there. And the way it’s been  built… it’s beautiful.’  Skye was speechless and could only nod her agreement.  Finally she pressed the buzzer on the door and after a short wait the  door opened. A man dressed in a smart suit stood on the other side. ‘May I  help you?’ he asked.  ‘Yes, my name is Skye Belle. We’ve come to see Mr. Chassel.’  ‘Do you have an appointment?’ the man asked.  ‘Um, no, but we would just like to talk to him about the artefacts that  were found in his recent expedition.’  The  man  stared  at  them  and  Skye  thought  he  looked  bored.  For  a  moment she thought he was going to tell them to go away and come back  when they had made an appointment, but finally he said, ‘One moment  please.’  The man closed the door and they heard his footsteps walking away on  the other side. 
‘I’ve  never  known  someone  who  had  a  butler  before,’  Brandon  said  while they were waiting.  ‘Neither  have  I.  I  thought  it  was  only  royalty  that  had  butlers,’  Skye  replied.  After the man had been gone for a few minutes they heard footsteps  coming towards the door. The door opened again and the butler regarded  them silently for a moment. ‘Mr. Chassel will see you. Please, follow me.’  He didn’t sound like he was happy for them to be following him.  They  walked  through  the  doorway  and  the  butler  closed  the  door  behind him. The entry that they found themselves standing in was even  more impressive than the outside. Marble covered the floor and in front of  them  was  a  grand  staircase  that  led  up  to  the  second  floor.  Even  the  handrail was made of marble!  They couldn’t admire it for too long though as they quickly followed the  butler down a hall that was so wide that Skye and Brandon could have  walked side by side with their arms outstretched and still not have touched  the walls. There were statues on either side of the hall, and paintings of  gardens and parks hung on the walls.  The butler stopped in front of a door and knocked.  ‘Yes,’ a voice called from inside.  ‘Your visitors, sir,’ the butler replied.  ‘Come in,’ the voice inside the room beckoned.  The butler opened the door and ushered them into what was obviously  a large study. A polished oak table sat in one corner, while shelves full of  books lined the walls. A large window behind the desk let in the bright  sunlight from outside.  Sitting in a luxurious green couch, Henri Chassel put down the book he  was reading and looked up to regard his visitors. ‘Hello,’ he said, smiling up  at them. ‘Please have a seat.’  ‘Thank you,’ Skye said as she and Brandon sat in the couch opposite.  ‘And thank you for seeing us, Mr. Chassel. My name is Skye, and this is my  brother Brandon.’  ‘A pleasure to meet you,’ he replied. ‘But please, my friends call me  Chassel. Now, I understand you are interested in the artefacts that were  found  recently.’  Skye  and  Brandon  nodded  their  heads.  ‘Well,’  Chassel  continued, ‘I only funded the expedition; I wasn’t there myself. I’m happy  to try and answer any questions you may have, but I may not prove as 
helpful  to  you  as  you  hope.  A  man  called  Professor  Airbon  is  currently  cataloguing the artefacts in the Louvre. I would suggest he would be of  more assistance to you.’  ‘We’ve already met the Professor,’ Skye said, ‘and seen the artefacts.  Well, most of them at least. You see Mr. Chass – I mean, Chassel, some of  them have been stolen.’  ‘Stolen!’  Chassel  said  incredulously.  ‘How  could  anyone  have  stolen  anything from the Louvre? It’s impossible!’  ‘Unfortunately someone has,’ Brandon said. ‘That’s why we’ve come to  see you. We thought maybe you might know why someone would want to  steal those artefacts.’  ‘What? Do you mean it? Were they really stolen?’  ‘I’m afraid so,’ said Skye.  Chassel stood up and began walking slowly around the room. ‘I can’t  believe it. Do you know what was stolen?’  ‘The Professor gave us some idea,’ Skye said, ‘but it appears that it was a  lot of the jewellery that was taken.’  ‘The jewellery?’ Henri asked, surprised. ‘I would have thought that some  of the plates would have been more valuable.’  ‘More valuable?’ Brandon asked. ‘What do you mean?’  ‘Well if someone wants to steal something, it is usually to sell it for  money.  I  wouldn’t  have  thought  that  the  jewellery  would  be  worth  as  much.’  ‘It must be valuable to someone,’ Skye said. ‘What can you tell us about  the artefacts?’  ‘Me?’ Chassel asked, sitting back down in his couch. ‘I couldn’t tell you  as much as the Professor could. I know all about the history of Persia and  King Xerxes, but beyond that, my interest is in helping to uncover things  from the past. It’s up to people like Professor Airbon to explain what those  things mean.’  Chassel looked at them intently for a long moment. ‘What interest do  you have in old dusty plates and coins?’  ‘We  were  hoping  to  find  some  clue  to  the  secret  of  Queen  Esther’s  courage,’ Skye said.  Chassel  watched  them  for  a  moment,  seemingly  not  understanding.  ‘Who is Queen Esther?’ he asked. 
This time it was Skye’s turn to be surprised. ‘Queen Esther was King  Xerxes’ wife. She was the one who went to speak with him, even though he  hadn’t asked for her, to plead for the Jews. She did it even though she knew  it could cost her life.’  Recognition slowly dawned on Chassel’s face. ‘Ah yes. Queen Esther. Of  the bible.’ He smiled at them, but it wasn’t a warm smile. Then he shook his  head.  ‘Dear girl,’ he said, in what sounded to Skye like a patronizing tone of  voice, ‘do you really believe those stories? Let me tell you something: there  was no Queen Esther. Xerxes’ wife was called Amestris.’ He shook his head  again and looked at them pityingly. ‘I had thought you were an intelligent  girl, not someone who believed in old make‐believe tales. I’ll give you a  small piece of advice.’ He leaned in closer and looked at her intently. ‘The  bible is just an old book filled mostly with things that never happened. If  you really wish to be taken seriously, next time I suggest that you don’t  mention fairy tales and make‐believe stories from the bible.’  Skye’s shoulders slumped. She hadn’t imagined that someone like Henri  Chassel would think she was a fool for believing in the bible. The worst of it  was she was beginning to feel like a fool now too, and she didn’t quite  understand  why.  Chassel  sat  in  his  chair  watching  her  pityingly,  which  somehow  made  her  feel  even  worse.  Her  head  bowed  down  and  her  shoulders slumped farther forward.  Finally she turned to Brandon. He seemed to be staring thoughtfully at  the book on the table that Chassel had been reading. Skye ignored it; she  wanted to leave, and quickly. ‘Let’s go Brandon,’ she said. ‘Thank you for  seeing us, Mr. Chassel,’ she added politely then tugged at Brandon’s sleeve  and they turned to go.  ‘Emile will show you out,’ Chassel said. They turned and began to leave  when Chassel called out behind them, ‘Remember what I said.’  The butler, Emile, walked them towards the front door. ‘I’m sorry, Skye,’  Brandon said. ‘He didn’t seem all that nice to you.’  ‘It’s  alright,’  Skye  said  sadly.  ‘Lots  of  people  don’t  believe  the  bible.  Sometimes they think it’s funny to make fun of those of us who do.’  ‘I know. But I thought he was especially mean to you,’ he mumbled  softly as they walked out and back towards the taxi that was still waiting for  them.  As much as Skye tried to put on a brave face, the encounter with Henri  Chassel had upset her deeply

The lost Treasure of Persia

CHAPTER ------ 2


Skye Belle was just like any other twelve year old girl.  Almost.  Naturally she was excited that she was twelve – after all, that was so  much  older  than  being  eleven.  She  enjoyed  being  outside  and  playing  sports with her friends, especially netball. And she loved most of the other  things that girls her age enjoyed doing, like playing games, helping her mum  with the cooking, and playing on her iPad. There was nothing out of the  ordinary in any of those things.  At school Skye was just like everyone else her age too. She studied hard  and did her best. In fact she often came first in all of her subjects. Not  everyone  can  come  first  in  their  class,  of  course,  but  there’s  nothing  unusual about being smart.  Even Skye’s family was fairly normal. She had one brother, Brandon,  who was ten. Being a little bit younger than her, Brandon could be a pain  sometimes. He didn’t always understand everything that Skye said and that  frustrated her. Not to mention the pranks that he liked to play on her –  boys could be so silly at times. But in between the occasional argument and  fit of anger, they would still play and laugh together. In fact, despite their  differences, they were the best of friends.  Skye’s parents were always quite busy with their work but they would  still make time each day to spend with Skye and her brother. Her parents  were obviously pleased with how well she did at school, but they would  have been proud of her even if she failed her subjects, so long as she tried  her best. Skye knew that her mum and dad loved her very much.  That isn’t to say that Skye’s life at home was perfect ‐ far from it. Of  course there were the pranks that Brandon would play on her. But she  would also get into trouble for things that could not possibly have been her  fault. Like last month when she was blamed for breaking the roof tiles. How  was she supposed to have broken the roof tiles? Sure she climbed up there  occasionally and set up her heavy telescope to look at the stars, but that  wouldn’t  have  broken  any  roof  tiles.  She  grumbled  that  sometimes  her  parents just didn’t see things the way that she did – something that anyone  her age could certainly understand.  Yes, Skye was just like any other twelve year old girl.  Almost. 
You see, unlike most other girls her age, Skye loved old things. Not just  any old things, but really, really old things, and the older the better. Ancient  things. Her dad was 43, so in Skye’s mind he certainly qualified as old. But  what she was really interested in were things that nobody thought existed  anymore, things that people thought had been lost forever.  But  as  much  as  she  loved  researching  and  reading  about  old  and  forgotten  things,  she  loved  trying  to  find  them  even  more.  Her  last  adventure had been the previous summer. After reading all she could about  the ark of Noah, she had decided that she would trek through the remotest  parts of Turkey to find it – and she had. Now an expedition was underway  to dig up the ark and restore it.  Skye was certainly resourceful and she was very, very determined. She  was also thankful that museums liked to pay for the things that she found;  otherwise she could never afford all of the travel.  Her  room  was  cluttered  with  old  things  she’d  found  that  she  had  decided to keep for a reminder rather than sell to the museums. But only  small things, like a few old Roman coins or pieces of ancient Greek pottery  – small things to remind her of her adventures and the things she’d been  able to find. Of course there were the usual things in her room, like her  yellow table and red and blue chairs, and the bookshelves that went up to  the ceiling. The bookshelves though didn’t actually have any books in them  but were filled with all of her toys. Her books were too important to keep in  an ordinary bookshelf – they were in the study in the grand old bookshelf.  It was made of oak and it smelled as old as it looked – Skye loved it.  Today  Skye  was  sitting  at  the  dining  table  eating  her  breakfast  and  reading the morning’s newspaper. She was finishing off a bowl of muesli  with fresh fruit and strawberry yogurt on top. Skye loved a healthy and  filling breakfast; it helped give her energy and made her excited about the  day. She was reading an interesting article about the discovery of some  ancient  coins,  pottery  and  jewellery  in  the  Middle  East  when  her  mum  walked in.  ‘Skye,’ her mum said, ‘your aunt Thelma is coming to stay with us for a  couple of nights.’  ‘Oh, that’s great,’ said Skye happily. ‘Aunt Thelma is lovely.’ Skye liked  her aunt. Not only did it seem that she was always smiling, but she was one  of the most beautiful singers Skye had ever heard. Thinking of her aunt’s 
singing voice suddenly made her frown. ‘Um, but isn’t she supposed to be  singing in a concert tonight?’  ‘She had to cancel for some reason,’ her mum replied. ‘She didn’t tell  me why on the phone. I guess we’ll find out tonight when she arrives.’  Skye hoped her aunt was okay. She really did have the most amazing  singing voice, and Skye felt sorry for the people who would miss out on her  concert. Oh well, her mum was right ‐ they would find out tonight.  Skye turned back to the newspaper and frowned. It always annoyed her  when  interesting  things like this discovery  of  ancient  artefacts  was only  reported on in a few lines, but then there were pages and pages filled up  with  stories  about  sport.  Her  dad  enjoyed  reading  those  pages  but  it  seemed like a terrible waste to her.    Later that night, while her dad was still at work, there was a knock on  the door. Skye ran over to answer it. ‘Who is it?’ she asked.  ‘It’s your aunt Thelma,’ the voice said from the other side of the door.  Skye could barely contain her excitement at seeing her aunt again. She  unlocked  the  door  and  opened  it  but  was  shocked  at  what  she  saw.  Normally her aunt would have greeted her with a huge smile that would  immediately make her want to smile too. But Aunt Thelma wasn’t smiling.  She looked haggard. ‘Hello Skye,’ she said tiredly, trying to force a smile  onto her face.  ‘Hello Aunt Thelma,’ Skye replied. She felt nervous about the change in  her aunt but tried not to let it show. ‘Come in. We’re very excited to see  you.’  ‘Thank you,’ her aunt said, and this time she did smile ‐ but it was only a  small one.  Her  aunt  came  in  and  Skye’s  mum  gave  her  a  big  hug.  ‘Thelma,  it’s  always  good  to  see  you,’  she  said.  Then  she  looked  at  her  sister  and  frowned. ‘You look so tired. Sit down.’  Aunt Thelma dropped her bags on the ground then let out a long sigh as  she fell onto the couch.  Skye and Brandon sat down and watched as their mum poured a cup of  tea for their aunt. ‘What’s wrong?’ her mum asked. ‘I know it must be  something important for you to have cancelled your concert.’  She gave Thelma the cup of tea. ‘Thank you,’ she said, and then took a  sip  of  tea  before  letting  out  another  sigh.  ‘I  just  feel  drained,’  she said 
finally, before the words started to pour out. ‘I feel like every time I walk on  stage everyone is waiting for me to fail, to sing the wrong words or sing out  of tune. I just don’t feel like I’m a very good singer anymore – or maybe  that I never was in the first place.’  ‘Thelma,’ Skye’s mum said, in a tone of voice that Skye knew was about  to be followed by something encouraging. ‘You know you’ve always been a  great singer,’ her mum continued, ‘and you’ve always doubted yourself as  well. You don’t need to doubt yourself, or the talent God has given you.’  Yep, Skye was right; she knew her mum’s tone of voice well.  ‘But this is different,’ Thelma said.  ‘I  really  don’t think I’m good any  more. And I’m scared of walking out on stage.’  Their mum started at Thelma for a long moment before walking over  and sitting next to her, embracing her in a big hug. Thelma leaned her head  on their mum’s shoulder and tears silently started to fall down her cheek.  ‘Kids,’ their mum said, turning to them, ‘do you mind giving your aunt  and me some time together alone please.’  Skye and Brandon stood up. Their mum was right, and no doubt she and  her aunt would be talking and crying late into the night.  As they were walking out of the room, Brandon stopped and looked at  Thelma. ‘Don’t worry, Aunt Thelma. You are a very good singer. You will  remember that soon.’  Tears formed in Thelma’s eyes again. ‘Thank you Brandon,’ she said as  she reached out and gave him a big hug.  Then Skye and Brandon left them and went upstairs.  Once they were in Skye’s room she began pacing, walking back and forth  across the room. ‘You’re right Brandon,’ she said. ‘Thelma is a very good  singer. She just needs to remember that.’  ‘Yeah,’ said Brandon, ‘she just needs her courage back again.’  Skye  spun  around  to  face  him.  ‘That’s  it!  She  needs  courage.  Now,  where’s  that  paper  gone.’  She  ran  over  to  her  table  and  pushed  some  things out of the way searching for the newspaper. ‘Ah, here it is.’  Picking up the paper she flicked through the pages until she found the  one she wanted. ‘Listen to this: Professor Airbon confirmed that the relics  from  his  archaeological  discovery  in  Iran  date  to  around  500  BCE.’  She  stopped  reading  and  frowned.  ‘Um,  I  hate  it  when  they  do  that,’  she  grumbled.  ‘Do what?’ Brandon asked. 
 ‘When they call the year BCE rather than BC,’ Skye replied.  ‘Why?’  ‘Because BC means Before Christ, and BCE means Before Common Era.  It’s the same when they replace AD with CE. AD stands for Anno Domini –  that is Latin and means The Year Of Our Lord. CE just stands for Common  Era. People keep trying to take Jesus out of history.’  ‘Why  would  they  want  to  do  that?  It  seems  silly,’  Brandon  replied  thoughtfully.  ‘I know.’ Skye frowned again then turned back to the paper. ‘The story  continues:  Professor  Airbon  believes  the  relics  are  remains  from  King  Xerxes’ royal palace.’  ‘Xerxes,’ Brandon said, laughing. ‘That’s a funny name.’  Skye glared at her brother with her hands on her hips. ‘King Xerxes was  the  most  powerful  man  in  the  world  at  the  time,’  she  said  in  her  best  lecturing voice.  Brandon tried to stop laughing as he saw his sister’s stern gaze. ‘It’s still  a funny name,’ he mumbled.  ‘Anyway,’  Sky  continued,  ignoring  her  brother’s  comment,  ‘what  is  important for us is not the king but one of his wives.’  ‘Really?’ Brandon asked, confused. ‘Who?’   ‘What do you remember about Esther from the bible?’ she asked.  ‘I remember a little from what mum and dad read to me. Mainly that  she was courageous. But they haven’t read that one for a while.’  ‘Courageous? She was one of the most courageous women in history!  Let me tell you the story again. It happened a long time ago,’ Skye began,  putting on her teacher’s voice, ‘almost 2,500 years ago in fact. Long after  King  David  had  died,  God’s  people,  who  were  called  the  Israelites  or  sometimes the Jews, stopped loving God and started living without him. So  God sent his prophets to warn the Israelites to turn back to him. But they  didn’t.  So  God  punished  the  whole  country  when  the  army  of  Persia  conquered them, and the Israelites were led away into exile.’  ‘Wait,’ Brandon said, interrupting her, ‘where’s Persia?’  ‘Persia was an ancient nation that is now called Iran,’ Skye replied.  Brandon  nodded  that  he  understood  so  Skye  continued.  ‘While  the  Israelites were still living in exile in Persia, the king, Ahasuerus – who we  think was actually King Xerxes,’ Brandon smirked again at the name but  Skye ignored him, ‘married one of the Jews called Esther and made her his 
queen.  But  one  of  the  king’s  princes  called  Haman  hated  the  Jews  and  wanted to kill all of them. So he made an evil plot and had the king sign a  royal law so that Haman could have all of the Jews, all of God’s people,  killed.  ‘But Esther was told by Mordecai ‐ ’  ‘That’s another funny name,’ Brandon interrupted, trying his best not to  laugh.  Skye frowned and growled slightly. Brandon took the hint and closed his  mouth. ‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘Mordecai, who had looked after Esther  since she was young, told her that she had to speak to the king and ask him  to stop the killing from going ahead.’  ‘That doesn’t seem very courageous,’ Brandon said. ‘After all, they were  married.’  ‘But in those days,’ Skye said, ‘even though she was his wife, Esther  wasn’t allowed to see the king unless he asked to see her. Otherwise she  could be put to death.’  ‘That’s horrible. Why?’  ‘It was a long time ago,’ Skye replied. ‘They did things differently back  then. But that’s where she showed such huge courage. Even though she  knew she could be put to death, she still went to see the king without being  asked.’  ‘I  can’t  imagine  mum  letting  dad  get  away  with  anything  like  that!’  Brandon joked. ‘And what happened?’   ‘The king was happy to see her. Eventually she asked him to stop the law  to kill the Jews. King Xerxes listened to her and made another royal law so  that the Jews wouldn’t be hurt. Then the evil Haman was killed for his  wicked plot.  ‘Even now, Jews around the world celebrate the Festival of Purim to  remember God saving them through Esther.’  Brandon thought for a moment then scratched his head. ‘So what does  that have to do with Aunt Thelma?’ he asked.  ‘Well, if this Professor Airbon has found some relics that belonged to  King Xerxes, then there may be something from Queen Esther there as well.  We might be able to find some clues as to how she was able to show such  great courage.’  Brandon was smiling now. ‘And then we could give something to Aunt  Thelma to help her get her courage back.’ 
‘Exactly,’ Skye said, smiling too.  ‘So where to now?’ Brandon asked.  ‘Well,’  Skye  said,  turning  her  attention  back  to  the  newspaper,  ‘this  article says that Professor Airbon is currently working at the Louvre.’  ‘The what?’  ‘The Louvre. It’s a museum. And it’s in Paris. So that means we’re going  to France!’  Brandon yelled with excitement – he’d never been to France before, and  it looked as though he and his sister were going to have another adventure  together.  Skye  was  grateful  that  Brandon  always  came  with  her  on  her  adventures.  Her  parents  were  glad  too,  because  they  thought  that  somehow he was looking after her. Humph! She was the older one, and it  was her that had to look after him! But, as painful as Brandon could be at  times, he shared her excitement and love of adventure and she in turn  enjoyed having him with her. It was good to have someone to share her  experiences with. She even had to admit, grudgingly, that he had helped  her in the past. But only once or twice. And she would have gotten herself  out of trouble without him anyway; it just would have taken a little longer,  that was all.  Skye jumped onto her iPad to book some air tickets for her and Brandon  to fly to France. She then told her parents where they were going. Even  though she knew that her parents always worried when she and Brandon  went travelling somewhere to search for lost items, she was thankful that  they still encouraged them to go. 

The Lost Treasure of Persia

CHAPTER ---> 1

Skye Belle was just like any other twelve year old girl.  Almost.  Naturally she was excited that she was twelve – after all, that was so  much  older  than  being  eleven.  She  enjoyed  being  outside  and  playing  sports with her friends, especially netball. And she loved most of the other  things that girls her age enjoyed doing, like playing games, helping her mum  with the cooking, and playing on her iPad. There was nothing out of the  ordinary in any of those things.  At school Skye was just like everyone else her age too. She studied hard  and did her best. In fact she often came first in all of her subjects. Not  everyone  can  come  first  in  their  class,  of  course,  but  there’s  nothing  unusual about being smart.  Even Skye’s family was fairly normal. She had one brother, Brandon,  who was ten. Being a little bit younger than her, Brandon could be a pain  sometimes. He didn’t always understand everything that Skye said and that  frustrated her. Not to mention the pranks that he liked to play on her –  boys could be so silly at times. But in between the occasional argument and  fit of anger, they would still play and laugh together. In fact, despite their  differences, they were the best of friends.  Skye’s parents were always quite busy with their work but they would  still make time each day to spend with Skye and her brother. Her parents  were obviously pleased with how well she did at school, but they would  have been proud of her even if she failed her subjects, so long as she tried  her best. Skye knew that her mum and dad loved her very much.  That isn’t to say that Skye’s life at home was perfect ‐ far from it. Of  course there were the pranks that Brandon would play on her. But she  would also get into trouble for things that could not possibly have been her  fault. Like last month when she was blamed for breaking the roof tiles. How  was she supposed to have broken the roof tiles? Sure she climbed up there  occasionally and set up her heavy telescope to look at the stars, but that  wouldn’t  have  broken  any  roof  tiles.  She  grumbled  that  sometimes  her  parents just didn’t see things the way that she did – something that anyone  her age could certainly understand.  Yes, Skye was just like any other twelve year old girl.  Almost. 
You see, unlike most other girls her age, Skye loved old things. Not just  any old things, but really, really old things, and the older the better. Ancient  things. Her dad was 43, so in Skye’s mind he certainly qualified as old. But  what she was really interested in were things that nobody thought existed  anymore, things that people thought had been lost forever.  But  as  much  as  she  loved  researching  and  reading  about  old  and  forgotten  things,  she  loved  trying  to  find  them  even  more.  Her  last  adventure had been the previous summer. After reading all she could about  the ark of Noah, she had decided that she would trek through the remotest  parts of Turkey to find it – and she had. Now an expedition was underway  to dig up the ark and restore it.  Skye was certainly resourceful and she was very, very determined. She  was also thankful that museums liked to pay for the things that she found;  otherwise she could never afford all of the travel.  Her  room  was  cluttered  with  old  things  she’d  found  that  she  had  decided to keep for a reminder rather than sell to the museums. But only  small things, like a few old Roman coins or pieces of ancient Greek pottery  – small things to remind her of her adventures and the things she’d been  able to find. Of course there were the usual things in her room, like her  yellow table and red and blue chairs, and the bookshelves that went up to  the ceiling. The bookshelves though didn’t actually have any books in them  but were filled with all of her toys. Her books were too important to keep in  an ordinary bookshelf – they were in the study in the grand old bookshelf.  It was made of oak and it smelled as old as it looked – Skye loved it.  Today  Skye  was  sitting  at  the  dining  table  eating  her  breakfast  and  reading the morning’s newspaper. She was finishing off a bowl of muesli  with fresh fruit and strawberry yogurt on top. Skye loved a healthy and  filling breakfast; it helped give her energy and made her excited about the  day. She was reading an interesting article about the discovery of some  ancient  coins,  pottery  and  jewellery  in  the  Middle  East  when  her  mum  walked in.  ‘Skye,’ her mum said, ‘your aunt Thelma is coming to stay with us for a  couple of nights.’  ‘Oh, that’s great,’ said Skye happily. ‘Aunt Thelma is lovely.’ Skye liked  her aunt. Not only did it seem that she was always smiling, but she was one  of the most beautiful singers Skye had ever heard. Thinking of her aunt’s 
singing voice suddenly made her frown. ‘Um, but isn’t she supposed to be  singing in a concert tonight?’  ‘She had to cancel for some reason,’ her mum replied. ‘She didn’t tell  me why on the phone. I guess we’ll find out tonight when she arrives.’  Skye hoped her aunt was okay. She really did have the most amazing  singing voice, and Skye felt sorry for the people who would miss out on her  concert. Oh well, her mum was right ‐ they would find out tonight.  Skye turned back to the newspaper and frowned. It always annoyed her  when  interesting  things like this discovery  of  ancient  artefacts  was only  reported on in a few lines, but then there were pages and pages filled up  with  stories  about  sport.  Her  dad  enjoyed  reading  those  pages  but  it  seemed like a terrible waste to her.    Later that night, while her dad was still at work, there was a knock on  the door. Skye ran over to answer it. ‘Who is it?’ she asked.  ‘It’s your aunt Thelma,’ the voice said from the other side of the door.  Skye could barely contain her excitement at seeing her aunt again. She  unlocked  the  door  and  opened  it  but  was  shocked  at  what  she  saw.  Normally her aunt would have greeted her with a huge smile that would  immediately make her want to smile too. But Aunt Thelma wasn’t smiling.  She looked haggard. ‘Hello Skye,’ she said tiredly, trying to force a smile  onto her face.  ‘Hello Aunt Thelma,’ Skye replied. She felt nervous about the change in  her aunt but tried not to let it show. ‘Come in. We’re very excited to see  you.’  ‘Thank you,’ her aunt said, and this time she did smile ‐ but it was only a  small one.  Her  aunt  came  in  and  Skye’s  mum  gave  her  a  big  hug.  ‘Thelma,  it’s  always  good  to  see  you,’  she  said.  Then  she  looked  at  her  sister  and  frowned. ‘You look so tired. Sit down.’  Aunt Thelma dropped her bags on the ground then let out a long sigh as  she fell onto the couch.  Skye and Brandon sat down and watched as their mum poured a cup of  tea for their aunt. ‘What’s wrong?’ her mum asked. ‘I know it must be  something important for you to have cancelled your concert.’  She gave Thelma the cup of tea. ‘Thank you,’ she said, and then took a  sip  of  tea  before  letting  out  another  sigh.  ‘I  just  feel  drained,’  she said 
finally, before the words started to pour out. ‘I feel like every time I walk on  stage everyone is waiting for me to fail, to sing the wrong words or sing out  of tune. I just don’t feel like I’m a very good singer anymore – or maybe  that I never was in the first place.’  ‘Thelma,’ Skye’s mum said, in a tone of voice that Skye knew was about  to be followed by something encouraging. ‘You know you’ve always been a  great singer,’ her mum continued, ‘and you’ve always doubted yourself as  well. You don’t need to doubt yourself, or the talent God has given you.’  Yep, Skye was right; she knew her mum’s tone of voice well.  ‘But this is different,’ Thelma said.  ‘I  really  don’t think I’m good any  more. And I’m scared of walking out on stage.’  Their mum started at Thelma for a long moment before walking over  and sitting next to her, embracing her in a big hug. Thelma leaned her head  on their mum’s shoulder and tears silently started to fall down her cheek.  ‘Kids,’ their mum said, turning to them, ‘do you mind giving your aunt  and me some time together alone please.’  Skye and Brandon stood up. Their mum was right, and no doubt she and  her aunt would be talking and crying late into the night.  As they were walking out of the room, Brandon stopped and looked at  Thelma. ‘Don’t worry, Aunt Thelma. You are a very good singer. You will  remember that soon.’  Tears formed in Thelma’s eyes again. ‘Thank you Brandon,’ she said as  she reached out and gave him a big hug.  Then Skye and Brandon left them and went upstairs.  Once they were in Skye’s room she began pacing, walking back and forth  across the room. ‘You’re right Brandon,’ she said. ‘Thelma is a very good  singer. She just needs to remember that.’  ‘Yeah,’ said Brandon, ‘she just needs her courage back again.’  Skye  spun  around  to  face  him.  ‘That’s  it!  She  needs  courage.  Now,  where’s  that  paper  gone.’  She  ran  over  to  her  table  and  pushed  some  things out of the way searching for the newspaper. ‘Ah, here it is.’  Picking up the paper she flicked through the pages until she found the  one she wanted. ‘Listen to this: Professor Airbon confirmed that the relics  from  his  archaeological  discovery  in  Iran  date  to  around  500  BCE.’  She  stopped  reading  and  frowned.  ‘Um,  I  hate  it  when  they  do  that,’  she  grumbled.  ‘Do what?’ Brandon asked. 
 ‘When they call the year BCE rather than BC,’ Skye replied.  ‘Why?’  ‘Because BC means Before Christ, and BCE means Before Common Era.  It’s the same when they replace AD with CE. AD stands for Anno Domini –  that is Latin and means The Year Of Our Lord. CE just stands for Common  Era. People keep trying to take Jesus out of history.’  ‘Why  would  they  want  to  do  that?  It  seems  silly,’  Brandon  replied  thoughtfully.  ‘I know.’ Skye frowned again then turned back to the paper. ‘The story  continues:  Professor  Airbon  believes  the  relics  are  remains  from  King  Xerxes’ royal palace.’  ‘Xerxes,’ Brandon said, laughing. ‘That’s a funny name.’  Skye glared at her brother with her hands on her hips. ‘King Xerxes was  the  most  powerful  man  in  the  world  at  the  time,’  she  said  in  her  best  lecturing voice.  Brandon tried to stop laughing as he saw his sister’s stern gaze. ‘It’s still  a funny name,’ he mumbled.  ‘Anyway,’  Sky  continued,  ignoring  her  brother’s  comment,  ‘what  is  important for us is not the king but one of his wives.’  ‘Really?’ Brandon asked, confused. ‘Who?’   ‘What do you remember about Esther from the bible?’ she asked.  ‘I remember a little from what mum and dad read to me. Mainly that  she was courageous. But they haven’t read that one for a while.’  ‘Courageous? She was one of the most courageous women in history!  Let me tell you the story again. It happened a long time ago,’ Skye began,  putting on her teacher’s voice, ‘almost 2,500 years ago in fact. Long after  King  David  had  died,  God’s  people,  who  were  called  the  Israelites  or  sometimes the Jews, stopped loving God and started living without him. So  God sent his prophets to warn the Israelites to turn back to him. But they  didn’t.  So  God  punished  the  whole  country  when  the  army  of  Persia  conquered them, and the Israelites were led away into exile.’  ‘Wait,’ Brandon said, interrupting her, ‘where’s Persia?’  ‘Persia was an ancient nation that is now called Iran,’ Skye replied.  Brandon  nodded  that  he  understood  so  Skye  continued.  ‘While  the  Israelites were still living in exile in Persia, the king, Ahasuerus – who we  think was actually King Xerxes,’ Brandon smirked again at the name but  Skye ignored him, ‘married one of the Jews called Esther and made her his 
queen.  But  one  of  the  king’s  princes  called  Haman  hated  the  Jews  and  wanted to kill all of them. So he made an evil plot and had the king sign a  royal law so that Haman could have all of the Jews, all of God’s people,  killed.  ‘But Esther was told by Mordecai ‐ ’  ‘That’s another funny name,’ Brandon interrupted, trying his best not to  laugh.  Skye frowned and growled slightly. Brandon took the hint and closed his  mouth. ‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘Mordecai, who had looked after Esther  since she was young, told her that she had to speak to the king and ask him  to stop the killing from going ahead.’  ‘That doesn’t seem very courageous,’ Brandon said. ‘After all, they were  married.’  ‘But in those days,’ Skye said, ‘even though she was his wife, Esther  wasn’t allowed to see the king unless he asked to see her. Otherwise she  could be put to death.’  ‘That’s horrible. Why?’  ‘It was a long time ago,’ Skye replied. ‘They did things differently back  then. But that’s where she showed such huge courage. Even though she  knew she could be put to death, she still went to see the king without being  asked.’  ‘I  can’t  imagine  mum  letting  dad  get  away  with  anything  like  that!’  Brandon joked. ‘And what happened?’   ‘The king was happy to see her. Eventually she asked him to stop the law  to kill the Jews. King Xerxes listened to her and made another royal law so  that the Jews wouldn’t be hurt. Then the evil Haman was killed for his  wicked plot.  ‘Even now, Jews around the world celebrate the Festival of Purim to  remember God saving them through Esther.’  Brandon thought for a moment then scratched his head. ‘So what does  that have to do with Aunt Thelma?’ he asked.  ‘Well, if this Professor Airbon has found some relics that belonged to  King Xerxes, then there may be something from Queen Esther there as well.  We might be able to find some clues as to how she was able to show such  great courage.’  Brandon was smiling now. ‘And then we could give something to Aunt  Thelma to help her get her courage back.’ 
‘Exactly,’ Skye said, smiling too.  ‘So where to now?’ Brandon asked.  ‘Well,’  Skye  said,  turning  her  attention  back  to  the  newspaper,  ‘this  article says that Professor Airbon is currently working at the Louvre.’  ‘The what?’  ‘The Louvre. It’s a museum. And it’s in Paris. So that means we’re going  to France!’  Brandon yelled with excitement – he’d never been to France before, and  it looked as though he and his sister were going to have another adventure  together.  Skye  was  grateful  that  Brandon  always  came  with  her  on  her  adventures.  Her  parents  were  glad  too,  because  they  thought  that  somehow he was looking after her. Humph! She was the older one, and it  was her that had to look after him! But, as painful as Brandon could be at  times, he shared her excitement and love of adventure and she in turn  enjoyed having him with her. It was good to have someone to share her  experiences with. She even had to admit, grudgingly, that he had helped  her in the past. But only once or twice. And she would have gotten herself  out of trouble without him anyway; it just would have taken a little longer,  that was all.  Skye jumped onto her iPad to book some air tickets for her and Brandon  to fly to France. She then told her parents where they were going. Even  though she knew that her parents always worried when she and Brandon  went travelling somewhere to search for lost items, she was thankful that  they still encouraged them to go. 
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