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

explained.
    “He told us you sent him to get us,” I said. “He came to the museum—”
    “Museum?” Uncle Ben climbed to his feet. “What were you doing at the museum?
I thought I told you—”
    “We had to get out of here,” Sari said, putting a hand on her dad’s shoulder,
trying to calm him. “Gabe wanted to see mummies, so we went to the museum. But
Ahmed came and took us to his car. He said he was taking us to you at the hotel.”
    “But he was driving the wrong way,” I continued the story. “So we jumped out
and ran away.”
    “Ahmed?” Uncle Ben kept repeating the name, as if he just couldn’t believe
it. “He came to me with excellent credentials and references,” he said. “He’s a
cryptographer. He studies ancient Egyptian. He’s mainly interested in the wall
writings and symbols we uncover.”
    “So why did he come for us?” I asked.
    “Where was he going to take us?” Sari asked.
    “I don’t know,” Uncle Ben said. “But I certainly intend to find out.” He
hugged Sari. “What a mystery,” he continued. “You’re both okay?”
    “Yeah. We’re okay,” I replied.
    “I’ve got to get to the pyramid,” he said, letting go of Sari and walking to
the window. “I gave my workers the day off. But I’ve got to get to the bottom of
this.”
    Clouds rolled over the sun. The room suddenly grew darker.
    “I’ll order up some room service for you,” Uncle Ben said, a thoughtful
expression on his face. “Will you two be okay here till I get back tonight?”
    “No!” Sari cried. “You can’t leave us here!”
    “Why can’t we come with you?” I asked.
    “Yes! We’re coming with you!” Sari exclaimed, before Uncle Ben had a chance
to reply.
    He shook his head. “Too dangerous,” he said, his eyes narrowing as he glanced
first at me, then at Sari. “Until I can find out what happened to my two workers in there—”
    “But, Daddy, what if Ahmed comes back?” Sari cried, sounding really
frightened. “What if he comes here?”
    Uncle Ben scowled. “Ahmed,” he muttered. “Ahmed.”
    “You can’t leave us here!” Sari repeated.
    Uncle Ben stared out the window at the darkening sky. “I guess you’re right,”
he said finally. “I guess I have to take you with me.”
    “Yes!” Sari and I both cried, relieved.
    “But you have to promise to stick close,” Uncle Ben said sternly, pointing a
finger at Sari. “I mean it. No wandering off. No more practical jokes.”
    I realized I was seeing a whole new side of my uncle. Even though he was a
well-known scientist, he had always been the jolly practical joker of the
family.
    But now he was worried.
    Seriously worried.
    No more jokes until the frightening mystery was cleared up.
    We had sandwiches downstairs in the hotel restaurant, then drove through the
desert to the pyramid.
    Heavy clouds rolled across the sun as we drove, casting shadows over the
sand, coloring the desert darkly in shimmering shades of blue and gray.
    Before long, the enormous pyramid loomed on the horizon, appearing to grow larger as we approached on the nearly empty
highway.
    I remembered the first time I had seen it, just a few days before. Such an
amazing sight.
    But now, watching it through the car windshield, I felt only dread.
    Uncle Ben parked the car near the low entrance he had discovered behind the
pyramid. As we stepped out, the wind whipped at the ground, tossing the sand up,
whirling it around our legs.
    Uncle Ben raised a hand to stop us at the tunnel entrance.
    “Here,” he said. He reached into his supply pack and pulled out equipment for
Sari and me. “Clip this on.”
    He handed each of us a beeper. “Just push the button, and it will beep me,”
he said, helping me clip mine to the belt on my jeans. “It’s like a homing
device. If you push the button, it sends electronic signals to the unit I’m
wearing. Then I can track you down by following the sound levels. Of course, I
don’t expect you to use it because I