Disclaimer: The Magic School Bus and all related characters and indicia are the products of noted children's author the late Joanna Cole and are trademarks of Scholastic Inc. and Nelvana Productions, which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. as the Warner Bros. studio produced the television show. I own nothing except the plot of this story, which itself is inspired by the spin-off book Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt. Enjoy!


Chapter 1

It could go without saying that most days in Ms. Frizzle's class were more than mere lesson plans and class projects. With a field trip every other week and one big learning experience after another, Walker Elementary truly became a school where learning was mixed with fun.

The third week of September for Ms. Frizzle's class had started with a new assignment for the kids in social studies, which they discovered was another field in Ms. Frizzle's expertise. They were to bring paper, coloring utensils, and even items from home to set up the classroom for Egypt Week, which was one example of the Friz's methods of teaching two subjects for one class.

When they came to the room, the kids immediately began setting up the room according to the assignment. It was a bit difficult, but it also turned out to be quite fun.

"Here's a pharaoh's crown for you, Mr. Bones," Ralphie grinned as he set the crown on the classroom skeleton.

"I made a mummy mask for the blackboard," said Wanda as she finished painting the paper she had taped to a cardboard circle.

Arnold knew a few things about Egypt, so he helped Tim put together a cardboard pyramid and set it on the drawer by the window. Tim gave his friend five and said, "Thanks for your help, Arnold. I was wondering where to put the pyramid."

In a few minutes, the decorations for Egypt Week were complete, with a pyramid, a mummy mask, a pharaoh's crown, and stuffed and plastic animals around the room. The kids were all impressed with the work they had put into this task and were feeling confident enough to show it to Ms. Frizzle.

"Do you think Ms. Frizzle will like our display?" asked Phoebe.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she gave us a "pharaoh" chance at showing her!" chuckled Carlos.

"Carlos!" the class groaned in unison.

"Now the obvious question is: where is she?" wondered Keesha.

As if in answer to Keesha's question, the door of Ms. Frizzle's classroom closet began to rattle and tremble until it flew open, and out came Ms. Frizzle in a pyramid-covered dress with scarab earrings, riding a huge sphinx balloon calling "Wahoo!" She sailed through the air and then hopped off her balloon, which flew back into the closet.

"Good morning, class!" Ms. Frizzle smiled.

"Good morning, Ms. Frizzle!" the kids replied cheerfully.

"I see you've all been busy setting up the room for our social studies week," the Friz observed. "Very good, indeed."

The class smiled and shared relieved looks as they took their seats. It always helped to know that they had earned another success in their education, and they had been getting good grades all year (well, most of it, anyway). Ms. Frizzle stepped up to the board and Liz, the class lizard, hopped onto her shoulder. Then as she took a pointer, she asked, "Now to start off, who can tell me where Egypt is in the world?"

As usual, Dorothy Ann was the first to have her hand in the air, followed by a few of the other students. Ms. Frizzle smiled at the excitement of her students and said, "How about you, Keesha?"

Keesha tapped her finger to her forehead to think over the question, then said, "Egypt is in North Africa on the Mediterranean Sea. Right, Ms. Frizzle?"

"Excellent observation, Keesha," chirruped the Friz as she pointed to Egypt's location on the map. "Egypt is at the northeastern tip of Africa in the Sahara Desert, the largest desert in the world."

"Man, talk about a sandbox," Ralphie said with amazement. "How does anyone get water out there?"

"Isn't it obvious, Ralphie?" asked Arnold. "The Nile River. It's where the majority of water in the whole desert is found, especially in Egypt."

"According to my research, the Nile is the longest river in the world, stretching from sub-Saharan Africa into Egypt and flowing into the Mediterranean. That's over 4,000 miles!" Dorothy Ann said excitedly.

"Well done, D.A.," Ms. Frizzle said. "The Nile is the longest river on Earth. Without the river to provide fertile farmland, Egypt would not have been able to thrive, which brings us to the topic of our social studies unit for this week: Egypt in the ancient world."

"Does that mean we'll be learning how the Egyptians built the pyramids, conquered their enemies, and how the pharaohs lived with their magnificent palaces and great riches?" inquired Carlos.

"And don't forget those musty, dusty mummies!" chuckled Ralphie.

Ms. Frizzle laughed and said, "Ralphie, your enthusiasm is worth its weight in gold. But there is so much more to ancient Egypt than pyramids and pharaohs."

"There is?" the class chorused.

"Of course, class," Ms. Frizzle said jovially. "Ancient civilizations are known so well today because all aspects of them are studied. In the world of history, architecture, medicine, agriculture, and more are all vital to life in the past as well as the present."

"And I bet we're gonna hear all about it, aren't we?" piped Wanda.

"Better than that, Wanda," Ms. Frizzle grinned. "We're going to see it."

That's when Arnold noticed the Friz's scarab earrings glowing a brilliant blue and the eyes on her shoes winking. That's when he got that uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. It was field trip day!

"To the bus, Ms. Frizzle?" Phoebe asked in her ever-sweet voice.

"Mm-hm. Single file, please."

The class filed out of the room and boarded the incredible automobile behind every field trip their class took: their beloved Magic School Bus. They took their seats as Ms. Frizzle turned the key into the ignition and said, "Seat belts, everyone. Here we go!"

She pushed three buttons, pulled a lever, and the bus began to stretch and bounce and whirled around faster than a pinball. A split second later, the bus had turned into a time-traveling plane and the class was on their way through time and space on another memorable field trip. The kids looked out the bus windows at the incredible scene outside. As they left America, the cities and roads and automobiles disappeared and forests appeared. Modern ships turned into old sailing ships and none were sailing toward America.

"What a ride! Huh, Arnold?" grinned Carlos.

"I'll say," replied Arnold. "This really reminds of the last field trip when we went time-traveling."

"Hopefully, things will be a lot calmer where we're going," Keesha said.

"Not just where, Keesha," said Ms. Frizzle. "Where and when. Speaking of, we just need a few more hundred years and we'll be there."

Suddenly, the kids felt the time machine-bus descending from the air and then land somewhere. Then Ms. Frizzle announced, "Welcome to the ancient land of Egypt, class. Now let's get on out there and look around!"

She led the kids out of the bus, and the moment their feet touched the sand, their clothes turned into the sort that the ancient Egyptians wore, with the boys in linen shirts and kilts and the girls in linen dresses. Ms. Frizzle now wore a white dress covered in scarabs and ankhs with an Egyptian crown sporting a golden lizard's face and sandals tipped with lotus flowers, and Liz had a flower wrapped around one of her horns. Ms. Frizzle shrunk the bus and hid it in a pocket on her dress, and then the class observed their new outfits.

"Wow. I look good in this dress," Phoebe said as she did a little curtsy.

"Looking good, Keesha," teased Ralphie.

"Takes one to know one, buddy-boy," Keesha replied with a wink.

Then Dorothy Ann asked, "Ms. Frizzle, how far back in time have we gone?"

The Friz smiled and answered, "Oh, back to about 1272 B.C., give or take a month or so."

"1272 B.C.?" the kids all remarked.

"Then the first thing we should do is look for somewhere we can start our field trip," said Wanda.

"According to my research, the closest city to where we are is Egypt's current capital, Pi-Rameses," explained Dorothy Ann.

"Right you are, D.A.," replied the Friz. "And that's where all the best activity in ancient Egypt is at this time. To the city!"