by Adam Stower
Coo took the coin from Ben and held it under Herbert’s velvety nose.
‘Now, I know that most of the time Herb looks like a hairy pillow with a leg at each corner, but he’s actually a really good tracker. If he can show us where he got this, it might give us some answers.’
Herb snuffled the coin for a moment. Then he tipped his head to the open door, sniffed the breeze, and shot off like a cuddly rocket.
Running as fast as they could, they followed Herbert along the broad branches and high walk-ways that wound through the treetops.
They whooshed down slides to the mossy forest floor and ran on after Herbert as he crashed through tall ferns and thick undergrowth. Every now and then he would pause to sniff the air, before dashing off in a fresh direction. Ben had never been this far from the tree house before. It was dark and damp. The wet leaves squelched beneath his feet and the tall thin trees cut out the faint autumn light as they neared the edge of the woods.
Suddenly, the ground dipped steeply and Ben and Coo found themselves following Herb into a narrow ravine. The rocky walls were slimy, with dark green moss and twisted tree roots.
They paused for breath when they reached the far end. Ben looked up and froze.
CHAPTER NINE
They were standing in front of a gloomy, dripping cave, the rocky edges black and sharp like enormous rotten teeth.
‘You’re not scared of the dark are you, Pole?’ said Coo, rummaging around in her bag.
‘No!’ said Ben, a little too quickly. ‘Well, only dark dark,’ he admitted. ‘I’m fine with light dark.’
‘Ha! You’re brilliant, Ben! Bonkers!’ said Coo. ‘Well, don’t worry. We can use one of these,’ she added, pulling out a glowing jar of fireflies and tying it to the tip of her spear.
The faint light of Coo’s firefly lantern skipped and flittered across the glistening walls and ceiling of the cave as Herbert led them inside and down a narrow passage.
‘It looks like we’re going deep. Grab Herbert for a minute, will you, and come with me,’ said Coo as she stepped through a side-passage into a large cavern.
Coo beamed. ‘I grow them. They’re from all over the world. And there’s a few I whipped up myself,’ she added, proudly patting the trunk of the most gigantic blue mushroom Ben had ever seen.
‘They’re really useful,’ said Coo, pointing out a few favourites. ‘Those make good medicine, those ones inflate and float in the air, and those ones explode.’
‘It’s fantastic!’ said Ben.
‘A-ha! These are the ones I’ve been looking for.’ Coo stepped up to a fungus that looked like a giant marshmallow stuck to the cave wall, tore off two large pieces and threw one to Ben.
It felt cool and spongy in his hands.
‘Oh, great! I’m starving,’ he said, having felt hungry ever since his dad had taken over the cooking.
‘Oh crikey, don’t EAT it!’ said Coo. ‘It’ll bring you out in spots and you’ll not know which way is up for days! No, squeeze it hard, and shake it.’
Ben squashed it. He felt it pop and crackle inside and grow warm. Then he shook it hard with both hands and to his delight it burst into bright green light.
‘Ha-ha! That’s … that’s … AMAZING!’ Ben grinned, whirling the mushroom around his head and splashing the floor with glowing juice.
‘I call them Glowshrooms,’ said Coo, squashing and shaking her own one to life. ‘Not bad, eh?’
‘Now come on,’ she said, sticking the Glowshroom on to the tip of her spear. ‘There’s no time to muck about.’
Leaving the Mush Room behind them, Ben and Coo followed Herbert as he padded off into the dark. The path snaked and dipped through caves big and small, squeezing through cracks tight enough to make their ribs squeak, and through caverns large enough to comfortably hold a football pitch, a multiplex cinema and probably a bowling alley too, if you stood it up on one end.
Eventually, they ducked into a passageway that seemed to shrink with every step until the ceiling was so low that Coo and Ben were forced to crawl behind Herbert on their hands and knees.
‘He’s slowing down,’ said Coo. ‘We’re close.’
A moment later they emerged from the other end onto a narrow ledge.
Herbert stopped, turned to Coo and wagged his rump.
‘This is it!’ said Coo. ‘This is where Herb found the coin.’
Beneath them was a large cave. Faint daylight seeped in from a tunnel on the far side.
‘Well, it looks like someone’s been up to mischief!’ said Coo.
Heaped against one wall there was a big black bag, stuffed to bursting with gold coins that spilled across the floor, and stuck to the walls were photos, maps and plans of all the museums that had been burgled.
‘Blimey! It’s the Midnight Mob!’ gasped Ben.
Suddenly, a rock clattered along the tunnel opposite.
‘Someone’s coming!’ whispered Coo.
They ducked down low and peeked over the ledge.
CHAPTER TEN
Five shadowy figures came into view – four short ones and a tall one.
‘It’s the girls!’ hissed Ben into Coo’s ear. ‘Pickering’s caught the girls!’
Daisy, Petal, Primrose and Lovely Susan tripped and skidded down into the cave. Behind them came Pickering. His fake eye had slipped all the way round and it shone horribly white in the dim light.
‘We’ve got to help them!’ said Ben, getting to his feet.
‘Hold on!’ whispered Coo, clamping a hand around Ben’s mouth and pulling him back down. She sat as still as a hawk and watched from the ledge through narrowed eyes.
‘Light the lamps,’ ordered Pickering in the gloom, ‘I can’t see a thing.’
His voice was harsh now. Gone was the smooth chuckling professor who had seemed so friendly.
Yellow lamplight lit up the cave, casting flickering shadows across the rocky walls.
Ben, Coo and Herb sank lower.
The academy girls gathered around Pickering.
Then Daisy spoke. ‘Is it safe, professor?’
Ben shot a questioning glance at Coo.
Pickering checked the tunnel and cocked an ear to listen.
Silence.
‘Yes, all clear,’ he said.
Then he smacked himself on the back of his head, popping the ping-pong ball out into his hand.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said, holding it up. ‘I’ll keep an eye out for trouble.’
The girls all burst into horrible laughter.
‘Ha! It’s about flippin’ time!’ said Petal. ‘These knickers don’t half pinch!’
‘And these perishing shoes! Torture!’ Lovely Susan groaned. ‘I’ve got toes like mashed plums.’ Ben gawped in disbelief as they tossed their hats away and threw off their blazers and skirts. They kicked off their shiny little shoes and tugged their blouses over their heads.
‘Yeah, and my throat’s red raw from speaking like this all the time!’ squeaked Daisy, coughing a few times until her voice dropped to a low grumble.
‘Aaaah, what a relief! This itches like mad!’ Primrose sighed, snatching her hair from her head.
The girls were gone. Their disguises littered the cave floor.
Ben stared down from the ledge.
‘Crikey! They’re not girls at all!’ he whispered to Coo, unable to tear his eyes away.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘Well done, girls! Phase one is complete! It works every time!’ said Pickering triumphantly, putting on an eye patch. He twirled on the spot, flapping his hands and fluttering his eyelids.
‘No one ever suspects the Professor and his Academy Girls!’
The men rocked with laughter. ‘Ha-ha! Nice one, boss!’
‘And we mustn’t forget the oh-so-helpful Poles,’ said Pickering, clasping his hands to his heart. ‘Those dopes made it easier than ever for us to get a sneaky peek at the treasure and plan tonight’s little adventure. Speaking of which,’ he said, pulling a fresh bottle of r
um from a crate, ‘we strike at midnight!’
He pointed at each of them in turn. ‘It’s the same as last time, lads. DODGE, you get us in through the skylight; SHIFTY, you fritz the alarms; JELLY, you get us through the time-lock doors to the Treasure Chamber; and CRUSHER, you’re on lookout. Got it?’
‘Got it, boss.’
‘Good lads,’ said Pickering, pulling the cork from the bottle with a squeaky POP and sloshing rum into cups. ‘A toast,’ he said, raising his cup. ‘THE MIDNIGHT MOB!’
‘Well, well, well,’ Pickering said. ‘Followed us, did you, Pole? SPYING on us, were you?’
‘Er. No,’ said Ben feebly. ‘Um, I was just passing…’
Pickering looked suspiciously up at the ledge from where Ben had tumbled. ‘Dodge, Crusher! Quick! Go and check! He might not be alone.’
They scampered up to the ledge and out of sight.
‘Shifty, tie him up.’
‘Is it time for another accident at the pudding factory?’ said Shifty gleefully, tying Ben’s hands with elaborate knots. ‘He must’ve heard everything.’
‘I didn’t!’ said Ben. ‘Honest! You don’t even look like robbers! Oh, er, I mean, um, I don’t know anything! I really ought to be getting home … Let me go, please! I won’t tell! You don’t need to drag me along, I’ll just get in your way!’
‘Ha! Thank you, Pole, what an excellent idea,’ grinned Pickering. ‘You’re coming with us to rob the museum!’
‘What? No!’ Ben wriggled desperately.
‘Oh yes you are, Benny-boy,’ said Pickering. ‘You’re going to be our little hostage, so if we bump into your mum, she won’t be any trouble, will she? Not if she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you, that is!’
‘There’s no one there, boss!’ said Dodge and Crusher, skidding back down from the ledge.
‘There was some footprints, but they disappeared over the edge of a pit. If there was anyone there, they’ll be a splotch at the bottom by now.’
Pickering smiled cruelly at Ben. ‘Well, it looks like you’re on your own, chum.’
‘Please!’ Ben pleaded. ‘I don’t want to go! What about the CURSE? I don’t want to be shrivelled!’
Jelly nudged Crusher. ‘The squirt’s gone doolally. Crazy in the coconut.’
‘No! Remember what my mum said?’ insisted Ben.
Pickering scoffed. ‘Only a pudding-brain would believe that piffle.’
‘Heh-heh! Yeah!’ nodded Dodge and Jelly, glancing sideways at each other. ‘Pudding-brains, yeah.’
‘So we’re going, right?’ said Pickering, staring at each of them in turn before swivelling his eye towards Ben. ‘And you are coming too, got it?’
Ben nodded feebly.
‘Well then,’ he said, ‘break it up and get some rest, you lot!
CHAPTER TWELVE
Midnight.
The moon peeped out from behind silver clouds and cast a pale white light over the City Museum.
Six dark figures scurried silently across the roof.
They stopped beside a skylight and peered through it to the entrance hall far below.
Ben stared into the inky blackness. He turned to Pickering. ‘It’s not too late,’ he whispered desperately. ‘If we leave now the curse won’t get us!’
‘Quiet!’ hissed Pickering fiercely, his single eye glinting in the moonlight.
Dodge cut a neat hole in the glass, just big enough for him to slip a hand through and flip the window catch.
One by one, the gang clipped themselves to a rope, slipped over the edge and slid down through the open skylight into the huge dark hall beneath them.
‘Now you, Pole,’ snarled Pickering, and he shoved Ben backwards through the window.
Ben whizzed down the rope. At the bottom, rough hands caught him, lashed a rope around his waist and held him close like a dog on a short leash. Pickering was the last one down.
‘OK, lads,’ he whispered, clicking on his head-torch. ‘Follow me, and don’t make a sound.’
They set off through the dark.
‘Quiet, I said!’ hissed Pickering. ‘Not a peep!’
‘I thought I told you to shut it!’ he hissed again.
‘Muh-me t-t-too,’ trembled Jelly. ‘I’m fuh-fuh-fuh-freezing.’
‘Oh n-n-n-no! It’s the f-fever!’ said Ben, shivering in the dark.
Pickering’s torch lit up Ben’s frightened face.
The gang looked nervously at Pickering.
‘It’s an old b-b-building, Pole,’ he said. ‘A damp old building and n-nothing more. Now c-come on, let’s move. It’s this way.’ He tugged on Ben’s rope and dragged him out of the hall.
They turned the corner and stepped into a long and deserted corridor. Pickering paused. Tiny red lights blinked in every dark corner.
‘Cameras,’ he whispered. ‘Shifty, you’re up.’
‘Yes, b-boss.’ Shifty nodded. He dropped to the ground and slithered on his belly like a fat adder to tinker with a small black junction box bolted to the wall.
There was a flash and a crackle and all the cameras blinked off.
Shifty gave Pickering the all clear. ‘The alarms are fritzed too, boss.’
‘Excellent!’ Pickering grinned. ‘Let’s go!’
Their torchlight flickered and bobbed in the dark as they snuck through a hall full of statues, stuffed animals and ornate suits of armour that gleamed in the pale moonlight streaming in from the high windows. Pickering led the way, dragging Ben after him. Dodge, Shifty, Crusher and Jelly followed close behind.
‘Hey, Dodge,’ whispered Crusher, nudging Dodgy Dave in the ribs. ‘What’s up with the squirt?’
Dodge shone his light at Ben who was muttering to himself and darting nervous glances around the room.
‘He’s off his chump!’ said Dodge. ‘He looks potty to me.’
‘C-can you see them?’ Ben blurted out. ‘They’re everywhere!’
‘What now?’ said Pickering, spinning round. ‘I told you to keep quiet!’
‘W-warnings!’ Ben pointed a trembling finger. ‘Look! All around us! Horrible!’
‘You must be seeing things!’ sneered Pickering, shining his torch around. ‘There’s nothing there.’
‘Seeing things?’ said Crusher. His voice wobbled. ‘What, like in the CURSE?’
‘Oh no! It’s the SECOND sign!’ Jelly gazed into the dark. ‘I SEE ’EM TOO! Turn off your lights!’
One by one the gang switched off their torches.
They blinked and rubbed their eyes. Jelly’s voice echoed in the gloom.
Ben pulled at the rope around his waist. ‘Let me go, Pickering! I don’t want to get SHRIVELLED!’
‘QUIET, POLE!’ hissed Pickering, yanking Ben close. ‘A mummy’s curse will be the least of your problems if you don’t stop wriggling and do what I say!’
‘And that goes for the rest of you, too!’ he snarled under his breath. ‘We’re going to steal that treasure. No trick of the light’s going to stop us! Got it?’
‘Yes, boss,’ mumbled the gang, still staring wide-eyed at the glowing warnings.
Pickering strode forward, pulling Ben with him. The gang scampered after them, anxious to get the gold and get away as fast as they could.
They crept on, along corridors and up wide marble stairs. At last, they came to the huge metal doors of the Treasure Chamber. They were locked tight.
‘This is it, lads!’ said Pickering in an excited whisper.
‘Yes, boss,’ said Jelly, slipping his cutting torch from his shoulder. He fired it up, adjusted its flame to a hot blue point and started work.
Ben had to shield his eyes from the bright sparks that spat and fizzed from the door as Jelly began to cut. When he was done, a large wobbly circle glowed orange on the door. Jelly gave it a sharp kick and it fell inwards, landing with a CLANG on the other side.
Pickering bent down and stepped through the hole in the doors, dragging Ben behind him. The others followed, taking care not to burn themselves
on the hot, glowing edges.
‘Well, gentlemen,’ said Pickering, throwing his arms wide, ‘here it is.’
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
They gasped. The crates and packing cases were gone. The treasure was on glorious display.
It was utterly magnificent! It was mind-bogglingly, eye-gogglingly amazing! (If there was such a word as ‘eye-gogglingly’, that is.)
If all the treasures of the world were each marked out of ten, then the Mummy’s Gold would score a solid one hundred and seven. Out of ten. That’s how incredible it was. It might possibly even score one hundred and eight, if the judge was particularly fond of enormous diamonds.
Golden trinkets, goblets and daggers, all glittering with jewels, spilled from chests. Gold statues stood guard, draped in tribal robes and clutching ornate clubs studded with precious stones. Dazzling treasures were on display in every direction and in the centre of it all, perched on a golden skull, was the Mummy’s Crown.