23 - Return of the Mummy Read online

  Nila ignored her and raised her eyes to the mummy. “Destroy them both!” she called. “They cannot leave this tomb alive!”

  Sari and I spun around to see the mummy lumbering toward us. Its blackened skull glowed in the dim light. It trailed long strips of yellowed gauze across the dirt floor as it dragged itself closer.

  Closer.

  I turned back to the door. Nila blocked the way. My eyes darted frantically around the chamber.

  No way to escape.

  No escape.

  The mummy lurched toward Sari and me.

  And reached out its cold, cold hands to obey Nila’s cruel command.

  24

  Sari and I darted toward the door. But Nila blocked our escape.

  Its vacant eyes gazing blindly at us, its jaw frozen in a hideous skeletal grin, the mummy hurtled toward us.

  Raised its arms stiffly.

  Stretched out its hands.

  Dove at us with a final, desperate lurch.

  And to my shock, reached past Sari and me—and wrapped its tarred hands around Nila’s throat.

  Her mouth opened in a choked cry of protest.

  The mummy tilted back its head as it gripped her. Its tarred lips moved, and a dry cough cut through the air. And then the whispered words, dry as death, escaped the mummy’s throat:

  “Let me… rest in peace!”

  Nila uttered a choked cry.

  The mummy tightened its fierce grip on her throat.

  I spun around and grabbed its arm. “Let her go!” I screamed.

  A dry wheeze erupted from the blackened skull. Its hands tightened around Nila, bending her back, bending her toward the floor.

  Nila’s eyes shut in defeat. Her hands flew up helplessly. The flashlight and the mummy hand fell to the floor.

  I grabbed my little mummy hand and shoved it into my jeans pocket. “Let go! Let go! Let go!” I shrieked. I leaped on to the mummy’s back and tried to pull its hands from Nila’s throat.

  It let out a defiant roar, a harsh whisper of anger.

  Then it heaved itself up straight and struggled to toss me off its shoulders.

  I gasped, startled by the mummy’s surprising strength.

  As I started to slide off the mummy’s bandaged back, I reached out my hand, grabbing desperately, grabbing air, trying not to fall.

  My hand grabbed onto Nila’s amber pendant.

  “Hey—!” I cried out as the mummy gave a hard toss.

  I tumbled off.

  The pendant tore off its chain. It fell from my hand, crashed to the floor—and shattered.

  “Noooooooooo!” Nila’s horrified wail shook the walls.

  The mummy froze.

  Nila spun out of the mummy’s grasp. Backed away. Her eyes wide with terror. “My life! My life!” she shrieked.

  She bent and struggled to pick up shards of amber from the floor. But the pendant had shattered into a hundred tiny pieces.

  “My life!” Nila wailed, staring at the smooth pieces in her palm. She raised her eyes to Sari and me. “I lived inside the pendant!” she cried. “At night, I crept inside. It kept me alive for over four thousand years! And now… now… ohhhhh…”

  As her voice trailed off, Nila began to shrink.

  Her head, her arms, her entire body grew tinier… tinier… until she disappeared into her clothes.

  And a few seconds later, as Sari and I gaped down in horror and shock, a black scarab crawled out from under the sweatshirt and jeans. The scarab moved unsteadily at first. Then it quickly scuttled away over the dirt floor, disappearing into the darkness.

  “That—that beetle—” Sari stammered. “Is it Nila?”

  I nodded. “I guess,” I said, staring down at Nila’s crumpled clothes.

  “Do you think she was really an ancient Egyptian princess? Prince Khor-Ru’s sister?” Sari murmured.

  “It’s all so weird,” I replied. I was thinking hard, trying to piece it all together, trying to make sense of what Nila had said.

  “She must have returned to her scarab form every night,” I told Sari, thinking out loud. “She crawled into the amber and slept inside it. It kept her alive—until…”

  “Until you smashed the amber pendant,” Sari whispered.

  “Yes.” I nodded. “It was an accident—” I started.

  But I choked on my words as I felt a cold hand close on my shoulder.

  And knew that the mummy had grabbed me from behind.

  25

  The hand rested on my shoulder. The cold seeped through my T-shirt. “Let go!” I screamed.

  I spun around—and my heart skipped a beat. “Uncle Ben!” I cried.

  “Daddy!” Sari leaped forward and threw her arms around him. “Daddy—you’re okay!”

  He pulled his hand off my shoulder and rubbed the back of his head. He blinked his eyes uncertainly and shook his head, still a little dazed.

  Behind him, I saw the mummy standing hunched over, frozen. Lifeless once again.

  “Whew. I’m still groggy,” Uncle Ben said, sweeping a hand back through his thick, black hair. “What a close call.”

  “It’s all my fault,” I admitted. “I repeated the words five times, Uncle Ben. I didn’t mean to bring the mummy back to life, but—”

  A smile crossed my uncle’s face. He lowered his arm around my shoulders. “You didn’t do it, Gabe,” he said softly. “Nila got there first.”

  He sighed. “I didn’t believe in the power of the chant,” he said softly. “But I do now. Nila stole your mummy hand and chanted the ancient words. She used The Summoner to bring the mummy to life. Dr. Fielding and I were both suspicious of her.”

  “You were?” I cried, surprised. “But I thought—”

  “I became suspicious of Nila at dinner,” Uncle Ben explained. “Remember? She asked me what were the six ancient words to bring the dead to life? Well, I had never revealed that there were six. So I wondered how Nila knew there were six words.”

  Uncle Ben put an arm around Sari’s shoulders, too, and led us to the wall. Then he leaned his back against the wall, rubbing the back of his head.

  “That’s why I hurried to the communications tent right after dinner,” Uncle Ben continued. “I phoned the Cairo Sun. They had never heard of Nila at the newspaper. So I knew she was a fake.”

  “But we saw Dr. Fielding pull you from the tent,” Sari broke in. “We saw him force you into the pyramid, and—”

  Uncle Ben chuckled. “You two aren’t very good spies,” he scolded. “Dr. Fielding didn’t force me to do anything. He had spotted Nila sneaking into the pyramid. So he found me at the communications tent. And the two of us hurried to the pyramid to see what Nila was up to.

  “We got there too late,” Uncle Ben continued. “She had already brought the mummy to life. Dr. Fielding and I tried to stop her. She hit me over the head with her flashlight. She dragged me to the mummy case. I guess she stuffed me inside.”

  He rubbed his head. “That’s all I remember. Until now. Until I awoke and saw Nila turn into a scarab.”

  “We saw Dr. Fielding hurry out of the pyramid,” Sari reported. “He walked right past me. He had the weirdest look on his face, and—”

  She stopped and her mouth dropped open. We all heard the sounds at the same time.

  The scraping of feet on the floor outside the burial chamber.

  My heart jumped to my throat. I grabbed Uncle Ben’s arm.

  The footsteps dragged closer.

  More mummies.

  More mummies brought to life, staggering toward the prince’s tomb.

  26

  I reached into my jeans pocket for my little mummy hand. Pressing my back against the wall, I raised my eyes to the chamber doorway—and waited.

  Waited for the mummies to appear.

  But to my surprise, Dr. Fielding burst into the room, followed by four dark-uniformed police officers, hands at their gun holsters.

  “Ben—are you okay?” Dr. Fielding called to my uncle. “Where i
s the young woman?”

  “She… escaped,” Uncle Ben told him.

  How could he explain that she had turned into a bug?

  The police explored the chamber warily. Their eyes came to rest on the mummy, frozen in place near the doorway.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay, Ben,” Dr. Fielding said, placing a hand warmly on Uncle Ben’s shoulder. Then he turned to Sari. “I’m afraid I owe you an apology, Sari,” he said, frowning. “When I ran out of here, I must have been in shock. I remember seeing you outside the pyramid. But I don’t remember saying anything to you.”

  “That’s okay,” Sari replied quietly.

  “I’m really sorry if I frightened you,” Dr. Fielding told her. “Your dad had been knocked unconscious by that crazy young woman. And all I could think about was calling the police as fast as possible.”

  “Well, the excitement is over,” Uncle Ben said, smiling. “Let’s all get out of here.”

  We started toward the doorway, but a police officer interrupted. “Could I just ask one question?” he asked, staring at the upright mummy in the center of the floor. “Did that mummy walk?”

  “Of course not!” Uncle Ben replied quickly, a grin spreading over his face. “If it could walk, what would it be doing in this dump?”

  Well, once again, I turned out to be the hero of the day. And, of course, later in the tent, I wasted no time in bragging about my courage to Sari.

  Sari had no choice. She had to sit there and take it. After all, I was the one who had stopped the mummy and turned Nila back into a beetle by smashing her pendant.

  “At least you’re not too conceited!” Sari shot back, rolling her eyes.

  Lame. Really lame.

  “Well, that scarab crawled away and disappeared,” she said. An evil smile crossed Sari’s lips. “I’ll bet that bug is waiting for you, Gabe. I’ll bet it’s waiting for you in your cot, waiting to bite you.”

  I laughed. “Sari, you’d say anything to try to scare me. You just can’t stand the idea that I’m the hero!”

  “You’re right,” she replied dryly. “I can’t stand the idea. Good night, Gabe.”

  A few minutes later, I was in my pajamas and ready for bed. What a night! What an amazing night!

  As I slid into the cot and pulled up the covers, I knew it was a night I would never forget.

  “Ouch!”

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