Return of the Mummy (7 page)

“Daddy!” Sari shrieked.

Uncle Ben lay on his back, knees raised, hands at his sides, his eyes shut. Sari and I shoved the heavy stone lid open another foot.

“Is he — ? Is he — ?” Sari stammered.

I pressed my hand on his chest. His heart was thumping with a steady beat. “He’s breathing,” I told her.

I leaned into the mummy case. “Uncle Ben? Can you hear me? Uncle Ben?”

He didn’t move.

I lifted his hand and squeezed it. It felt warm but limp. “Uncle Ben? Wake up!” I shouted.

His eyes didn’t open. I lowered the hand back to the bottom of the mummy case. “He’s out cold,” I murmured.

Sari stood behind me, both hands pressed against her cheeks. She stared down at Uncle Ben, her eyes wide with fear. “I — I don’t believe this!” she cried in a tiny voice. “Dr. Fielding left
Daddy here to smother! If we hadn’t come along …” Her voice trailed off.

Uncle Ben let out a low groan.

Sari and I stared down at him hopefully. But he didn’t open his eyes.

“We have to call the police,” I told Sari. “We have to tell them about Dr. Fielding.”

“But we can’t just leave Daddy here,” Sari replied.

I started to reply — but a frightening thought burst into my mind. I felt a shudder of fear roll down my body. “Sari?” I started. “If Uncle Ben is lying in the mummy case … then where is the mummy?”

Her mouth dropped open. She stared back at me in stunned silence.

And then we both heard the footsteps.

Slow, scraping footsteps.

And saw the mummy stagger stiffly into the room.

I opened my mouth to scream — but no sound came out.

The mummy lurched stiffly through the chamber doorway. It stared straight ahead with its vacant, tarry eyes. Under the ancient layers of tar, the skull grinned at us.

Scrape. Scrape.

Its feet dragged over the dirt floor, trailing shreds of decaying gauze. Slowly, it raised its arms, making a terrifying cracking sound.

Scrape. Scrape.

My throat tightened in terror. My entire body began to tremble.

I backed away from the mummy case. Sari stood frozen with her hands pressed against her cheeks. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back with me. “Sari — get back! Get back!” I whispered.

She stared in terror at the approaching mummy. I couldn’t tell if she heard me or not. I tugged her back farther.

Our backs hit the chamber wall.

The mummy scraped closer. Closer. Staring at us through its vacant, blackened eye sockets, it reached for us with its yellowed, tar-encrusted hands. Sari let out a shrill shriek.

“Run!” I screamed. “Sari — run!”

But our backs were pressed against the wall. The mummy blocked our path to the doorway.

Moving stiffly, awkwardly, the ancient corpse dragged itself closer.

“This is all my fault!” I declared in a trembling voice. “I said the words five times. I brought it back to life!”

“Wh-what can we do?” Sari cried in a hushed whisper.

I didn’t have an answer. “Uncle Ben!” I shrieked desperately. “Uncle Ben — help us!”

But the mummy case remained silent. Even my frantic screams could not awaken my uncle.

Sari and I edged along the chamber wall, our eyes locked on the approaching mummy. Its bandaged feet scraped over the floor, sending up dark clouds of dust as it moved heavily toward us.

A sour smell rose over the room. The smell of a three-thousand-year-old corpse coming to life.

I pressed my back against the cold stone of the chamber wall, my mind racing. The mummy stopped at the mummy case, turned stiffly, and continued lurching toward us.

“Hey!” I cried out as an idea burst into my mind.

My little mummy hand. The Summoner.

Why hadn’t I thought of it before? It had saved us last year by raising a group of ancient mummies from the dead.

Could it also summon them to stop? Could it make them die again?

If I raised the little mummy hand up to Prince Khor-Ru, would it stop him long enough for Sari and me to escape?

It was only seconds away from grabbing us.

It was worth a try.

I reached into my back jeans pocket for the mummy hand.

It was gone.

“No!” I uttered a surprised cry and frantically grabbed at my other pockets.

No mummy hand.

“Gabe — what’s wrong?” Sari demanded.

“The mummy hand — it’s gone!” I told her, my voice choked with panic.

Scrape. Scrape.

The foul odor grew stronger as the ancient mummy dragged nearer.

I was desperate to find my mummy hand. But I knew there was no time to think about it now. “We’ve got to make a run for it,” I told Sari. “The mummy is slow and stiff. If we can get past it …”

“But what about Daddy?” she cried. “We can’t just leave him here.”

“We have to,” I told her. “We’ll get help. We’ll come back for him.”

The mummy made a brittle cracking sound as
it stepped forward. The sound of an ancient bone breaking.

But it continued toward us, moving stiffly but steadily, its arms outstretched.

“Sari — run — now!” I screamed.

I gave her a hard shove to get her going.

The room blurred as I forced myself to move.

The mummy made another loud cracking sound. It leaned its body forward and reached out as we dodged around it.

I tried to duck under the mummy’s outstretched hand. But I felt the scrape of its ancient fingers against the back of my neck — cold fingers, hard as a statue.

I knew it was a touch I would never forget.

My neck tingled. I lowered my head from its grasp — and plunged forward.

Sari let out low sobs as she ran. My heart raced as I hurried to catch up to her. I forced myself to run, but my legs felt so heavy, as if they were made of solid stone.

We were nearly to the doorway when we saw a flickering light.

Sari and I both cried out and skidded to a stop as a beam of light swept into the room. Behind the light, a figure stepped into the doorway.

Shielding my eyes from the sudden brightness, I squinted hard, eager to see who it was.

“Nila!” I cried as she raised the flashlight beam to the ceiling. “Nila — help us!” I choked out.

“It’s come alive!” Sari shouted to her. “Nila — it’s come alive!” She pointed back toward the mummy.

“Help us!” I screamed.

Nila’s green eyes widened in surprise. “What can I do?” she asked. And then her expression changed quickly to anger. “What can I do about you two kids? You shouldn’t be here. You’re going to ruin everything!”

“Huh?” I cried out in surprise.

Nila stepped into the room. She raised her right hand.

In the dim light, I struggled to make out what she was holding up.

My little mummy hand!

She raised it toward the mummy! “Come to me, my brother!” Nila called.

“How did you get my mummy hand? What are you doing?” I demanded.

Nila ignored my questions. She held the flashlight in one hand. She gripped the little hand in the other, holding it up toward the approaching mummy.

“Come here, my brother!” she called, waving the hand, summoning the mummy. “It is I, Princess Nila!”

Its legs cracking, its brittle bones breaking inside the gauze wrappings, the mummy obediently dragged itself forward.

“Nila — stop it! What are you
doing?”
Sari shrieked.

But Nila continued to ignore us. “It is I, your sister!” she called to the mummy. A triumphant smile crossed her pretty face. Her green eyes sparkled like flashing emeralds in the darting light.

“I have waited so long for this day,” Nila told
the mummy. “I have waited so many centuries, my brother, hoping that someday someone would uncover your tomb and we could be reunited.”

Nila’s face glowed with excitement. The little mummy hand trembled in her hand. “I have brought you back to life, my brother!” she called to the mummy. “I have waited for centuries. But it will all be worth it. You and I will share all this treasure. And with our powers, we shall rule Egypt together — as we did three thousand years ago!”

She lowered her eyes to me. “Thank you, Gabe!” she cried. “Thank you for the Summoner! As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it. I knew it could bring my brother back to me! The ancient words weren’t enough. I needed the Summoner, too!”

“Give it back!” I demanded, reaching out for it. “It’s mine, Nila. Give it back.”

A cruel laugh escaped her throat. “You won’t be needing it, Gabe,” she said softly.

She waved the hand at the mummy. “Destroy them, my brother!” she ordered. “Destroy them now! There can be no witnesses!”

“Nooo!” Sari shrieked. She and I both dove to the doorway. But Nila moved quickly to block our path.

I shoved my shoulder against her, trying to push her away like a football lineman. But Nila held her ground with surprising strength.

“Nila — let us go!” Sari demanded, breathing hard.

Nila smiled and shook her head. “No witnesses,” she murmured.

“Nila — we just want to get Daddy out of here. You can do what you want!” Sari insisted desperately.

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.

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 another 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 onto 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 on to 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 three 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.

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.