Ancient Egypt had been peaceful. Calm. Quiet.

This place was the opposite. Pip covered his ears to block out the noise of cars whizzing, aeroplanes soaring, and trains zooming along nearby tracks.

“Where are we?” he shouted, but then noticed neither of his friends were nearby.

A helicopter hovered above him. Zena peered out of the cockpit window and waved.

“This is cool!” she yelled. “Do you want a go?”

Pip shook his head. He hated loud noises. Too much movement made him nervous. He wanted to go back to the library.

Sharky was down the road, gazing around at everything in wonder.

“This place is brilliant,” he said. “Bastet said I’d love it. Everything is so fast!”

“I don’t like fast,” Pip muttered.

Zena landed the helicopter right beside him, and jumped out onto the ground.

“Look over there,” she told him. “It’s our rocket!”

Sure enough, the rocket was on the other side of the road waiting for them.

“What does a rocket do?” Sharky asked. “Is it fast?”

“It’s the fastest way to travel!” Zena said. “Go and have a look.”

Sharky bounded across the road. The rocket door slid open, and he climbed inside.

“Let’s hurry,” Pip said. “We don’t want to—”

His words were drowned out by a roaring engine. A moment later, the rocket started to shudder. It rose into the air, with Sharky inside, waving at them from the window. Then, in a rush of smoke, the rocket zoomed into the sky and out of sight.

“Oh no!” Pip sank to his knees. “How will we get home now?” he asked.

Libro purred, then waved at a nearby wall.

“It’s the next word,” Zena said.

Pip sighed, then turned to look. There was a word graffitied onto the wall in big neon letters. Story.

Tell the world your story your story. That couldn’t be right. None of this made sense.

Just then, another magic door opened in the pavement beside them. Zena grabbed Libro before he could jump through.

“No chance,” she told him. “This time, we’re going together.”

“What’s the point?” Pip wailed. “The rocket’s gone. We’ll never get back to the library now.”

Zena patted his back. “We have to finish the quest. Each world and every word must mean something. We need to figure out what.”

Pip was confused. But his friend was right. They had to keep going.

He wiped his eyes, took Zena’s hand, then together they leapt through the door.