05 - The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead)

champ.
    “No problem,” I told her, gazing up at the tall glass and concrete buildings.
“We’ll just ask somebody to direct us to the hotel.”
    “But no one speaks English!” she cried, sounding as if she were about to cry.
    “Uh… no problem,” I said, a little less cheerily. “I’m sure someone…”
    “We’re lost,” she repeated miserably, shaking her head. “Totally lost.”
    And then I saw the answer to our problem parked at the curb. It was a taxi,
an empty taxi.
    “Come on,” I said, tugging her arm. I pulled her to the taxi. The driver, a
thin, young man with a wide black mustache and stringy black hair falling out of
a small gray cap, turned around in surprise as Sari and I climbed into the back
seat.
    “The Cairo Center Hotel,” I said, glancing reassuringly at Sari.
    The driver stared back at me blankly, as if he didn’t understand.
    “Please take us to the Cairo Center Hotel,” I repeated slowly and clearly.
    And then he tossed back his head, opened his mouth, and started to laugh.

 
 
10
     
     
    The driver laughed till tears formed in the corners of his eyes.
    Sari grabbed my arm. “He’s working for Ahmed,” she whispered, squeezing my
wrist. “We’ve walked right into a trap!”
    “Huh?” I felt a stab of fear in my chest.
    I didn’t think she was right.
    She couldn’t be right!
    But I didn’t know what else to think.
    I grabbed the door handle and started to leap out of the taxi. But the driver
raised a hand, signaling for me to stop.
    “Gabe— go !” Sari pushed me hard from behind.
    “Cairo Center Hotel?” the driver asked suddenly, wiping the tears from his
eyes with a finger. Then he pointed through the windshield. “Cairo Center
Hotel?”
    Sari and I both followed his finger.
    There was the hotel. Right across the street.
    He started to laugh again, shaking his head.
    “Thanks,” I shouted, and climbed out.
    Sari scrambled out behind me, a wide, relieved smile on her face. “I don’t
think it’s that funny,” I told her. “The cab driver has a strange sense
of humor.”
    I turned back. The driver was still staring at us, a broad smile on his face.
    “Come on,” she urged, tugging at my arm. “We have to tell Daddy about Ahmed.”
    But to our surprise, our hotel room was empty. My note was still on the table
where I had left it. Nothing had been moved or touched.
    “He hasn’t been back here,” Sari said, picking up my note and crumpling it
into a ball in her hand. “Ahmed lied—about everything.”
    I flopped down on the couch with a loud sigh. “I wonder what’s going on,” I
said unhappily. “I just don’t get it.”
    Sari and I both screamed as the door to the room flew open.
    “Daddy!” Sari cried, running to hug him.
    I was sure glad it was Uncle Ben, and not Ahmed.
    “Daddy, the strangest thing—” Sari started.
    Uncle Ben had his arm around her shoulder. As he led her across the room
toward the couch, I could see that he had a really dazed expression on his face.
    “Yes, it’s strange,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Both of my workers…”
    “Huh? Are they okay?” Sari asked.
    “No. Not really,” Uncle Ben replied, dropping onto the arm of the armchair,
staring hard but not really focusing on me. “They’re both… in a state of
shock. I guess that’s how to describe it.”
    “They were in an accident? In the pyramid?” I asked.
    Uncle Ben scratched the bald spot at the back of his head. “I don’t really
know. They can’t talk. They’re both… speechless. I think something—or
someone—frightened them. Scared them speechless. The doctors are completely
confused. They said that—”
    “Daddy, Ahmed tried to kidnap us!” Sari interrupted, squeezing his hand.
    “What? Ahmed?” He narrowed his eyes, his forehead wrinkling up in confusion.
“What do you mean?”
    “Ahmed. The guy at the pyramid. The one who wears the white suits with the
red bandanna and always carries the clipboard,” Sari