بازگشت مومیایی فصل 04

Return of the Mummy - Chapter 4

I saw Sari’s eyes grow wide with fright. She let out a low gasp.

“Uncle Ben—!” I finally managed to scream. “Turn around! It—it—!”

My uncle narrowed his eyes at me, confused.

The mummy staggered closer, its hands reaching out menacingly, about to grab the back of Uncle Ben’s neck.

“A mummy!” I shrieked.

Uncle Ben spun around. He let out a startled cry. “It walks!” he shouted, pointing at the mummy with a trembling finger. He backed away as the mummy advanced. “It walks!” “Ohhh.” A strange moan escaped Sari’s lips.

I turned and started to run.

But then the mummy burst out laughing.

It lowered its yellowed arms. “Boo!” it cried, and laughed again.

I turned and saw that Uncle Ben was laughing, too. His dark eyes sparkled gleefully. “It walks! It walks!” he repeated, shaking his head. He put his arm around the mummy’s shoulder.

I gaped at the two of them, my heart still pounding.

“This is John,” Uncle Ben said, enjoying the joke he’d pulled on us. “He’s been doing a TV commercial here. For some new kind of stickier bandage.” “Sticky Bird Bandages,” John told us. “They’re just what your mummy ordered!”

He and Uncle Ben enjoyed another good laugh at that. Then my uncle pointed to the camera crew, packing their equipment into a small van. “They finished for the day. But John agreed to hang around and help me scare you.” Sari rolled her eyes. “Nice try,” she said dryly. “You’ll have to do better than that, Daddy, to frighten me.” And then she added, “Poor Gabe. Did you see his face? He was so freaked out! I thought he was going to spontaneously combust or something!” Uncle Ben and John laughed.

“Hey—no way!” I insisted, feeling my face turn red.

How could Sari say that? When the mummy staggered out, I saw her gasp and back away. She was just as scared as I was!

“I heard you scream, too!” I told her. I didn’t mean to sound so whiny.

“I just did that to help them scare you,” Sari insisted. She tossed her long braid over her shoulder.

“I’ve got to run,” John said, glancing at his wristwatch. “As soon as we get back to the hotel, I’m going to hit the pool. I may stay underwater for a week!” He gave us a wave of his bandaged hand and went jogging to the van.

Why hadn’t I noticed that he was wearing a wristwatch?

I felt like a total dork. “That’s it!” I cried angrily to my uncle. “I’m never falling for one of your dumb jokes again! Never!” He grinned at me and winked. “Want to bet?”

“What about Gabe’s present?” Sari asked. “What is it?”

Uncle Ben pulled something out of his pocket and held it up. A pendant on a string. Made of clear orange glass. It gleamed in the bright sunlight.

He handed it to me. I moved it in my hand, feeling its smoothness as I examined it. “What is it?” I asked him. “What kind of glass is this?” “It isn’t glass,” he replied. “It’s a clear stone called amber.” He stepped closer to examine it along with me. “Hold it up and look inside the pendant.” I followed his instructions. I saw a large brown bug inside. “It looks like some kind of beetle,” I said.

“It is a beetle,” Uncle Ben said, squinting one eye to see it better. “It’s an ancient beetle called a scarab. It was trapped in the amber four thousand years ago. As you can see, it’s perfectly preserved.” “That’s really gross,” Sari commented, making a face. She slapped Uncle Ben on the back. “Great gift, Dad. A dead bug. Remind me not to let you do our Christmas shopping!” Uncle Ben laughed. Then he turned back to me. “The scarab was very important to the ancient Egyptians,” he said, rolling the amber pendant in his fingers, then dropping it back in my palm. “They believed that scarabs were a symbol of immortality.” I stared at the bug’s dark shell, its six prickly legs, perfectly preserved.

“To keep a scarab meant immortality,” my uncle continued. “But the bite of a scarab meant instant death.” “Weird.” Sari muttered.

“It’s great-looking,” I told him. “Is it really four thousand years old?”

He nodded. “Wear it around your neck, Gabe. Maybe it still has some of its ancient powers.” I slipped the pendant over my head and adjusted it under my T-shirt. The amber stone felt cool against my skin. “Thanks, Uncle Ben,” I said. “It’s a great present.” He mopped his sweaty forehead with a wadded-up handkerchief. “Let’s go back to the tent and get something cold to drink,” he said.

We took a few steps—and then stopped when we saw Sari’s face.

Her entire body trembled. Her mouth dropped open as she pointed to my chest.

“Sari—what is it?” Uncle Ben cried.

“The s-scarab—” she stammered. “It… escaped! I saw it!” She pointed down. “It’s there!” “Huh?” I spun away from her and bent down to find the scarab.

“Ow!” I cried out when I felt a sharp stab of pain on the back of my leg.

And realized the scarab had bitten me.