نفرین آرامگاه مومیایی فصل 9

The Curse Of The Mummy’s Tomb - Chapter 9

Seeing Ahmed’s eyes on me in the rearview mirror, I fiddled with the seat belt, pretending to fasten it. As I did this, I leaned close to Sari and whispered in her ear, “Next time he stops.” At first she didn’t get my meaning. But then I saw that she understood.

We both sat tensely, eyes on the door handles, waiting in silence.

“Your father is a very smart man,” Ahmed said, staring at Sari in the mirror.

“I know,” Sari replied in a tiny voice.

The traffic slowed, then stopped.

“Now!” I screamed.

We both grabbed for the door handles.

I pushed my door open and flung myself out of the car.

Horns were honking in front of me and behind me. I could hear Ahmed’s surprised shout.

Leaving the car door open, I turned to see that Sari had made it to the street, too. She turned to me as she slammed her door shut, her eyes wide with fear.

Without a word, we started to run.

The car horns seemed to grow louder as we headed into a narrow side street. We were running side by side, following the narrow brick street as it curved between two rows of tall, white stucco buildings.

I feel like a rat in a maze, I thought.

The street grew even narrower. Then it emptied into a wide circle filled with a small market of fruit and vegetable stands.

“Is he following us?” Sari cried, a few steps behind me now.

I turned back and searched for him, my eyes darting through the small crowd attending the market.

I saw several people in flowing white robes. Two women entered the market, dressed in black, carrying a basket loaded high with bananas. A boy on a bicycle swerved to keep from running straight into them.

“I don’t see him,” I called back to Sari.

But we kept running just to make sure.

I’d never been so scared in my life.

Please, please, I begged silently, don’t let him be following us. Don’t let him catch us!

Turning a corner, we found ourselves on a wide, busy avenue. A truck bounced past, pulling a trailer filled with horses. The sidewalk was crowded with shoppers and businesspeople.

Sari and I pushed our way through them, trying to lose ourselves in the crowd.

Finally, we came to a stop near the entrance of what appeared to be a large department store. Breathing hard, I rested my hands on my knees, leaned forward, and tried to catch my breath.

“We’ve lost him,” Sari said, staring back in the direction from which we’d come.

“Yeah. We’re okay,” I said happily. I smiled at her, but she didn’t return the smile.

Her face was filled with fear. Her eyes continued to stare into the crowd. One hand tugged nervously at a strand of her hair.

“We’re okay,” I repeated. “We got away.”

“There’s only one problem,” she said quietly, her eyes still on the crowd bustling toward us on the sidewalk.

“Huh? Problem?”

“Now we’re lost,” she replied, finally turning to face me. “We’re lost, Gabe. We don’t know where we are.” I suddenly had a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I started to utter a frightened cry.

But I forced myself to hold it in.

I forced myself to pretend I wasn’t afraid.

Sari had always been the brave one, the winner, the champ. And I was always the wimp. But now I could see that she was really scared. This was my chance to be the cool one, my chance to show her who was really the 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.