بازگشت مومیایی فصل 22

Return of the Mummy - Chapter 22

“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 him…” “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 his 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.

“He’s come alive!” Sari shouted to her. “Nila—he’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.