Return of the Mummy (6 page)

I stared down at Sari.

She had closed the trunk lid and was leaning on it tensely, staring back at me. I could see that she was frightened. She chewed her bottom lip.

Should I chant the words for a fifth time?

I felt another chill at the back of my neck.

It’s just a superstition
, I told myself.
A three-thousand-year-old superstition.

There’s no way that moldy old mummified prince is going to come back to life just because I recite six words I don’t even know the meaning of!

No way.

I suddenly thought of all the old movies I had rented about mummies in ancient Egypt. In the movies, the scientists always ignored ancient curses warning them not to disturb the mummies’ tombs. Then the mummies always came to life to get their revenge. They staggered around,
grabbed the scientists by the throat, and strangled them.

Dumb movies. But I loved them.

Now, staring down at Sari, I saw that she was really scared.

I took a deep breath. I suddenly realized that I felt scared, too.

But it was too late. I had gone too far. I couldn’t chicken out now.

“Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari!”
I shouted. The fifth time.

I froze — and waited. I don’t know what I expected. A flash of lightning, maybe.

Sari climbed to her feet. She tugged at a strand of dark hair.

“Admit it. You’re totally freaked,” I said, unable to keep a grin from spreading across my face.

“No way!” she insisted. “Go ahead, Gabe. Chant the words again. Chant them a hundred times! You’re not going to scare me! No way!”

But we both gasped when we suddenly saw a dark shadow roll over the tent wall.

And my heart completely stopped when a hoarse voice whispered into the tent:
“Are you in there?”

My legs trembled as I stumbled back, closer to Sari.

I could see her eyes go wide with surprise — and fear.

The shadow moved quickly toward the tent opening.

We had no time to scream. No time to call for help.

Gaping into the darkness, I saw the flap pull open — and a smooth head poked into the tent.

“Ohhh.” I let out a terrified moan as the dark figure slumped toward us.

The mummy is alive!
The horrifying thought swept through my mind as I backed away.
The mummy is alive!

“Dr. Fielding!” Sari cried.

“Huh?” I squinted to see better.

Yes. It was Dr. Fielding.

I struggled to say hello. But my heart was pounding so hard, I couldn’t speak. I took a long, deep breath and held it.

“I’m looking for your father,” Dr. Fielding told Sari. “I must see him at once. It’s extremely urgent.”

“He — he’s making a phone call,” Sari replied in a shaky voice.

Dr. Fielding spun around and ducked out of the tent. The flap snapped shut behind him.

I turned to Sari, my heart still pounding. “He scared me to death!” I confessed. “I thought he was in Cairo. When he poked that skinny, bald head into the tent …”

Sari laughed. “He really looks like a mummy — doesn’t he?” Her smile faded. “I wonder why he’s in such a hurry to see Daddy.”

“Let’s follow him!” I urged. The idea just popped into my head.

“Yes! Let’s go!” I hadn’t expected Sari to agree so quickly. But she was already pushing open the tent flap.

I followed her out of the tent. The night had grown cooler. A steady wind made all of the tents appear to shiver.

“Which way did he go?” I whispered.

Sari pointed. “I think that’s the communications tent at the end.” She started jogging across the sand.

As we ran, the wind blew sand against our legs. I heard music and voices from one of the tents. The workers were celebrating the day’s discovery.

The moon cast a strip of light like a carpet along our path. Up ahead, I could see Dr. Fielding’s lanky body leaning forward, lurching awkwardly toward the last tent.

He disappeared around the side of it. Sari and I stopped a few tents away. We ducked out of the moonlight, into deep shadows where we wouldn’t be seen.

I could hear Dr. Fielding’s booming voice from the communications tent. He was talking rapidly, excitedly.

“What is he saying?” Sari whispered.

I couldn’t make out the words.

A few seconds later, two figures emerged from the tent. Carrying bright flashlights, they crossed the strip of yellow moonlight, then moved quickly into shadow.

Dr. Fielding appeared to be pulling Uncle Ben, pulling him toward the pyramid.

“What’s going on?” Sari whispered, grabbing my sleeve. “Is he
forcing
Daddy to go with him?”

The wind swirled the sand around us. I shivered.

The two men were talking at the same time, shouting and gesturing with their flashlights.
They’re arguing about something,
I realized.

Dr. Fielding had a hand on Uncle Ben’s shoulder.
Was he shoving Uncle Ben toward the pyramid? Or was Uncle Ben actually leading the way?

It was impossible to tell.

“Let’s go,” I whispered to Sari.

We stepped away from the tent and started to follow them. We walked slowly, keeping them in view but being careful not to get too close.

“If they turn back, they’ll see us,” Sari whispered, huddling close to me as we crept over the sand.

She was right. There were no trees or bushes to hide behind here in the open desert.

“Maybe they won’t turn back,” I replied hopefully.

We crept closer. The pyramid rose up darkly in front of us.

We saw Dr. Fielding and Uncle Ben stop at the opening in the side. I could hear their excited voices, but the wind carried away their words. They still seemed to be arguing.

Uncle Ben disappeared into the pyramid first. Dr. Fielding went in right behind him.

“Did he shove Daddy in?” Sari demanded in a shrill, frightened voice. “It looked like he pushed him inside!”

“I — I don’t know,” I stammered.

We made our way closer to the entrance. Then we both stopped and stared into the darkness.

I knew we were both thinking the same thing. I knew we both had the same question on our lips:

Should we follow them in?

Sari and I exchanged glances.

The pyramid seemed so much bigger at night, so much darker. The gusting wind howled around its walls as if warning us to stay back.

We crept behind a pile of stones left by the workers. “Let’s wait out here for Daddy to come out,” Sari suggested.

I didn’t argue with her. We had no flashlights, no light of any kind. I didn’t think we’d get very far wandering the dark tunnels by ourselves.

I pressed up against the smooth stones and stared at the pyramid opening. Sari gazed up at the half-moon. Thin wisps of cloud floated over it. The ground darkened in front of us.

“You don’t think Daddy is in any kind of trouble, do you?” Sari asked. “I mean, he told us he didn’t trust Dr. Fielding. And then —”

“I’m sure Uncle Ben is okay,” I told her. “I mean, Dr. Fielding is a scientist. He’s not a
criminal
or anything.”

“But why did he force Daddy into the pyramid in the middle of the night?” Sari asked shrilly. “And what were they arguing about?”

I shrugged in reply. I didn’t remember ever seeing Sari so frightened. Normally, I would have enjoyed it. She always bragged about how brave and fearless she was — especially compared to me.

But there was no way I could enjoy this. Mainly because I was just as scared as she was!

It
did
look as if the two scientists were fighting. And it
did
look as if Dr. Fielding pushed Uncle Ben down into the pyramid.

Sari crossed her arms over her sweater and narrowed her eyes at the opening. The wind fluttered her hair, blowing strands across her forehead. But she made no attempt to brush them away.

“What could be so important?” she demanded. “Why did they have to go into the pyramid now? Do you think something was stolen? Aren’t those police officers from Cairo down there guarding the place?”

“I saw the four policemen leave,” I told her. “They piled into their little car and drove away, just before dinner. I don’t know why. Maybe they were called back to the city.”

“I — I’m just so confused,” Sari admitted. “And worried. I didn’t like the look on Dr. Fielding’s face. I didn’t like the way he was so rude, just
bursting into the tent like that. Scaring us to death. Not even saying hi.”

“Calm down, Sari,” I said softly. “Let’s just wait. Everything will be okay.”

She let out a sigh but didn’t say anything in reply.

We waited in silence. I don’t know how much time went by. It seemed like hours and hours.

The slivers of cloud drifted away from the moon. The wind continued to howl eerily around the side of the pyramid.

“Where
are
they? What are they
doing
in there?” Sari demanded.

I started to reply — but stopped when I saw a flicker of light at the pyramid opening.

I grabbed Sari’s arm. “Look!” I whispered.

The light grew brighter. A figure emerged, pulling himself out quickly.

Dr. Fielding.

As he stepped into the moonlight, I caught the strange expression on his face. His tiny black eyes were wide and seemed to be rolling around crazily in his head. His eyebrows twitched. His mouth was twisted open. He seemed to be breathing hard.

Dr. Fielding brushed himself off with his hands and began walking away from the pyramid. He was half walking, half staggering, taking long, quick strides with his lanky legs.

“But — where’s Daddy?” Sari whispered.

Leaning out from the rocks, I could see the pyramid opening clearly. No light flickered. No sign of Uncle Ben.

“He — he isn’t coming out!” Sari stammered.

And before I could react, Sari leaped out from our hiding place behind the stones — and stepped into Dr. Fielding’s path.

“Dr. Fielding,” she cried loudly, “where is my dad?”

I pushed myself away from the stones and hurried after Sari. I could see Dr. Fielding’s eyes spinning wildly. He didn’t answer her question.

“Where is my dad?” Sari repeated shrilly.

Dr. Fielding acted as if he didn’t see Sari. He stepped past her, walking stiffly, awkwardly, his arms straight down.

“Dr. Fielding?” Sari called after him.

He hurried through the darkness toward the row of tents.

Sari turned back to me, her features tight with fear. “He’s done something to Daddy!” she cried. “I
know
he has!”

I turned back to the pyramid opening. Still dark and silent.

The only sound now was the howling of the wind around the stone pyramid wall.

“Dr. Fielding totally ignored me!” Sari cried, her face revealing her anger. “He stormed past me as if I weren’t here!”

“I — I know,” I stammered weakly.

“And did you see the look on his face?” she demanded. “So evil. So totally evil!”

“Sari —” I started. “Maybe —”

“Gabe, we have to go find Daddy!” Sari interrupted. She grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the pyramid opening. “Hurry!”

“No, Sari, wait!” I insisted, tugging out of her grasp. “We can’t go stumbling around the pyramid in the dark. We’ll just get lost. We’ll never find Uncle Ben!”

“We’ll go back to the tent and get lights,” she replied. “Quick, Gabe —”

I raised a hand to stop her. “Wait here, Sari,” I instructed. “Watch for your dad. Chances are, he’ll be climbing out in a few moments. I’ll run and get some flashlights.”

Staring at the dark opening, she started to argue. But then she changed her mind and agreed to my plan.

My heart pounding, I ran all the way back to the tent. I stopped at the tent opening and gazed down the row of tents, searching for Dr. Fielding.

No sign of him.

In the tent, I grabbed two flashlights. Then I went hurtling back to the pyramid.
Please,
I begged silently as I ran.
Please be out of the pyramid, Uncle Ben. Please be safe.

But as I frantically made my way over the sand, I could see Sari standing by herself. Even from a distance, I could see her frightened expression as she paced tensely back and forth in front of the pyramid opening.

Uncle Ben, where are you?
I wondered.
Why haven’t you come out of the pyramid? Are you okay?

Sari and I didn’t say a word. There was no need.

We clicked on the flashlights, then made our way into the pyramid opening. It seemed much steeper than I remembered. I nearly lost my balance, lowering myself to the tunnel floor.

Our lights crisscrossed over the dirt floor. I raised mine to the low ceiling. Keeping the light high, I led the way through the curving tunnel.

Creeping along slowly, I trailed one hand against the wall to steady myself. The wall felt soft and crumbly. Sari kept on my heels, her bright beam of light playing over the floor in front of our feet.

She stopped suddenly as the tunnel curved into a small empty chamber. “How do we know we’re going in the right direction?” she asked, her voice a quavering whisper.

I shrugged, breathing hard. “I thought you knew your way,” I murmured.

“I’ve only been down here with Daddy,” she replied, her eyes over my shoulders, searching the empty chamber.

“We’ll keep going until we find him,” I told her, forcing myself to sound braver than I felt.

She stepped in front of me, shining the light over the chamber walls. “Daddy!” she shouted. “Daddy? Can you hear me?”

Her voice echoed down the tunnel. Even the echo sounded frightened.

We froze in place and listened for a reply.

Silence.

“Come on,” I urged. I had to lower my head to step into the next narrow tunnel.

Where did it lead? Were we heading toward
Prince Khor-Ru’s tomb? Is that where we would find Uncle Ben?

Questions, questions. I tried to stop them from coming. But they filled my mind, pestering me, repeating, echoing in my head as we followed the tunnel’s curves.

“Daddy? Daddy — where
are
you?” Sari’s cries became more frantic as we moved deeper and deeper into the pyramid.

The tunnel curved up steeply, then leveled off. Sari suddenly stopped. Startled, I bumped into her hard, nearly making her drop her flashlight. “Sorry,” I whispered.

“Gabe, look!” she cried, pointing her beam of light just ahead of her sneakers. “Footprints!”

I lowered my eyes to the small circle of light. I could see a set of boot prints in the dirt. A heel and spikey bumps. “Work boots,” I muttered.

She circled the floor with the light. There were several different prints in the dirt, heading in the same direction we were.

“Does this mean we’re going the right way?” she asked.

“Maybe,” I replied, studying the prints. “It’s hard to tell whether these are new or old.”

“Daddy?” Sari shouted eagerly. “Can you hear me?”

No reply.

She frowned and motioned for me to follow. Seeing the many sets of prints gave us new hope,
and we moved faster, trailing our hands along the wall to steady ourselves as we made our way.

We both cried out happily when we realized we had reached the outer chamber to the tomb. Our lights played over the ancient hieroglyphs that covered the wall and the doorway.

“Daddy? Daddy?” Sari’s voice cut through the heavy silence.

We darted through the empty chamber, then slipped through the opening that led to the tomb. The prince’s burial chamber stretched out in front of us, dark and silent.

“Daddy? Daddy?” Sari tried again.

I shouted, too. “Uncle Ben? Are you here?”

Silence.

I swept my light over the room’s clutter of treasures, over the heavy chests, the chairs, the stone and clay jars piled in the corner.

“He isn’t here,” Sari choked out with a disappointed sob.

“Then where did Dr. Fielding bring Uncle Ben?” I asked, thinking out loud. “There’s nowhere else in the pyramid that they might come.”

Sari’s light came to rest on the large stone mummy case. Her eyes narrowed as she studied it.

“Uncle Ben!” I shouted frantically. “Are you in here somewhere?”

Sari grabbed my arm. “Gabe — look!” she cried. Her light remained on the mummy case.

I couldn’t figure out what she was trying to show me. “What about it?” I demanded.

“The lid,” Sari murmured.

I gazed at the lid. The heavy stone slab covered the case tightly.

“The lid is closed,” Sari continued, stepping away from me and toward the mummy case. Her light remained on the lid.

“Yeah. So?” I still didn’t understand.

“When we all left this afternoon,” Sari explained, “the lid was open. In fact, I remember Daddy telling the workers to leave the lid open for tonight.”

“You’re right!” I cried.

“Help me, Gabe,” Sari pleaded, setting her flashlight down at her feet. “We have to open the mummy case.”

I hesitated for a second, feeling a wave of cold fear run down my body. Then I took a deep breath and moved to help Sari.

She was already pushing the stone lid with both hands. I stepped up beside her and pushed, too. Pushed with all my might.

The stone slab slid more easily then I’d guessed.

Working together, Sari and I strained against the lid, pushing … pushing.

We moved it about a foot.

Then we both lowered our heads to peer into the mummy’s case — and gasped in horror.