It is now or never. If nobody else is going to do anything, I decided, I will do something.
In the middle of the night, I crept silently out of my bed and went to the workshop where Father keeps his tools. He has one handsaw he uses to cut large objects. I climbed on the stepladder and took the saw off the wall.
I put it in a cloth sack and made my way through the darkness to the banks of the Ramleh railway depot. I ran and walked, hiding in the shadows. It was less than a mile, but it felt like five. I was out of breath when I made it to Cleo.
There was nobody guarding it, just as I had hoped. I removed the saw from my sack and placed the blade against one of the wooden boards near the bottom of the turning machine. While spying on the Americans, I had determined that if one of those boards could be cut in two, the whole machine might collapse.
I began sawing the wood. The saw made some noise, but I tried to work as quietly as possible. I made it about halfway through the board. I just needed a few more minutes to cut all the way through.
“Hey!” somebody suddenly shouted in English. “You!”
I turned around. Two Americans were standing there with a lantern.
“It’s a girl!” one of them yelled.
“Drop the saw!” ordered the other.
Both men had guns. They grabbed me and ripped the saw out of my hands.
“Come with us,” they ordered.
They threw me in a large wagon pulled by a horse. I didn’t know where they were taking me. Maybe they were going to put me in jail. Or worse. I begged for their mercy. They refused to speak to me the whole time we were in the wagon. I have never been so frightened in my life. We traveled a long time in the dark. Finally, we arrived at a house. My house.
“Is this where you live?” one of the Americans asked.
“Yes.”
“Get out,” the other one ordered. “Try that again and you will see what will happen to you. You are lucky you are just a child.”
“Can I have my saw back?” I asked.
“No!”
Father was furious when he was awakened from his sleep. He was furious at me for sneaking out in the middle of the night. He was furious at me for taking his saw without permission and letting the Americans take it away. And he was furious at me for risking my life.
But at the same time, I noticed a little gleam in his eye when it was all over. I think he was secretly just a LITTLE proud of me for what I had attempted. I may have failed in my mission, but you also fail if you don’t try.
DECEMBER 4, 1879
I was not going to go watch Gorringe and the Americans turn Cleo on its side today. I thought it would be too painful to see. But everybody else was going and Father didn’t punish me, so I decided to go.
It looked like the whole town was there to bear witness to the sad event. When I got there, I could see that the Gorringe had replaced the board I had sawed halfway through. He also had a team of security guards in a big circle around Cleo to prevent troublemakers like me from disrupting things. There would be no stopping him now.
Before he could turn Cleo on its side, Gorringe would have to raise it a few inches off its pedestal. To do this, he had a machine called a hydraulic jack. It used water to lift up heavy objects. I don’t know how it worked, but it was like magic. We watched in amazement as the 220-ton obelisk was silently lifted straight up off its pedestal.
It looked like today was going to be a horrible day. But it turned out to be WONDERFUL. You see, Gorringe had forgotten about one important detail—the crabs!
I should explain. In Roman times, a bronze sculpture in the shape of a crab had been attached to the base below each of the four corners of Cleo to stabilize it. Why crabs? During the Roman Empire, crabs symbolized strength. The Romans even put images of crabs on their coins.
When Gorringe gave the signal for his men to pull on the cables to turn Cleo, the bottom of the obelisk bumped against the crabs and it did not move an inch! Perhaps Gorringe is not quite as clever as we thought he was.
We all cheered. I knew the Americans would fail! The gods are conspiring against them.
Now they will have to abandon this foolish endeavor. They will finally see their folly and go home. What a glorious day it was for Alexandria, and all of Egypt!
DECEMBER 5, 1879
The Americans did NOT give up and go home. They simply removed the crabs from the top of the pedestal. They are going to try again. I will say one thing about Gorringe. He is not a quitter.
All morning, rumors were spreading that there was going to be a big protest at Cleo today when the Americans again attempt to turn it. Hundreds of people are here. The crowd is noisy. Our beloved Cleo is attached to a complicated system of pulleys, winches, rope, and steel cables. On one side of the obelisk, a tall stack of wooden pallets has been positioned. I don’t know what they are there for. The Americans are not using a steam engine to operate their turning machine, as far as I can tell.
It is 11 a.m. Everyone is watching with fear and sadness in their eyes.
Gorringe just shouted, “Go!”
Six men on one side of Cleo are pulling on the cables attached to the top. The crowd has fallen silent.
There is a creaking sound. Very slowly Cleo is beginning to turn.
The obelisk is starting to turn.
“It’s moving!” somebody shouted.
Wait! There is a sudden loud SNAP, like the sound of a bullwhip. One of the steel guide wires has broken! I KNEW the Americans would fail! I prayed that their entire turning machine would collapse in a heap. It would serve them right.
Cleo stopped moving for a moment...and then it began moving FASTER.
