Guess what! I'm going to the desert on one of dad's research trips! There are signals that there are humans living in the desert! The place is supposed to be deserted! Harry (my 5-year-old younger brother) is coming too! Someone who used to be my dad's partner went missing in that desert, spooky! I woke up early and decided to have a bit of a lie in! When I finally got up... I went downstairs for my breakfast. In the dining room mum was looking anxious, dad was looking annoyed and Harry looked excited. I was excited too! The day was just like any other. I went to bed early. We'd be leaving the next day. I'd have to get up bright and early tomorrow. It took about 6 hours to get there. Dad set up the human-tracker device on top of our motor home. It said that there was a whole crowd of people outside the window. There were only some odd-shaped bushes outside. What if people were behind? I told dad that I would be going outside. I looked at the door, it was open. Harry! Through the open door I saw a figure carrying a something and running. Could the thing be Harry? Why didn't I keep him in my sight? Was it my entire fault? I heard a distant laugh! A cold, cruel laugh! Dad dashed out after them but they had disappeared over the horizon. Dad came back in, looking worried. All the same, he tried to soothe me! Half an hour later, I went to bed. I fell asleep quickly. When I was in some sort of man-made tent. Next to me was . . . HARRY! I shook him slightly and he woke up. Some of the leaves parted and the head of a man appeared in the tent. "Ooga nook!" he cried! Harry and me looked at each other, confused. The man laughed "get up!" he translated. Then he disappeared. We got up and went outside. The man that came into the tent was sitting on a log. Standing in front of him was... DAD! "What do you want?" dad asked him. "You to leave, with all of your equipment!" The man demanded.
"I can't do that!" dad said.
"Then you shall go to the snake pit!" the man declared. I could feel someone picking me up and carrying me away. First, I thought that it was dad. It wasn't. The person suddenly dropped me and I fell down, down, down . . .! I fell on something soft and squishy. Dad landed beside me. Snakes were beneath us. I wasn't sure where Harry was! Was he all right? What had happened to him? The snakes started moving, slithering around me. They were curling around me legs and waist. I was terrified! Dad was struggling beside me. I looked up and saw the face of the Englishman. He looked thoughtful. He was looking at my dad. He suddenly smiled. "Sam!" he cried. "Tom!" dad cried, "my work partner!" I thought he had looked familiar! Now I knew why! He threw a vine into the pit. The snakes were still loose so I could wriggle free. Dad could too! We climbed up the vine, with me in the lead. Tom ran off and came back a minute later, holding Harry. The tribe was following him! We all ran to the motor home and climbed inside. After a minute the motor home slowed down and then came to a gradual stop. We were out of gas, in the middle of nowhere with a whole tribe chasing us! What could be worse! I could see the tribe in the distance, gaining on us! We were toast! HELP! | 
