I realized I was still holding the mummy hand over my head. I lowered it slowly, and gazed at Sari and Uncle Ben. They were standing beside me, their faces filled with confusion. And relief.
“The mummies—” I managed to utter.
“Look,” Sari said, pointing.
I followed the direction of her gaze. The mummies were all back in place. Some were leaning, some propped at odd angles, some lying down.
They were exactly as they had been when I entered the chamber.
“Huh?” My eyes darted rapidly around the room.
Had they all moved? Had they raised themselves, stood up, and staggered toward us? Or had we imagined it all?
No.
We couldn’t have imagined it.
Ahmed was gone. We were safe.
“We’re okay,” Uncle Ben said gratefully, throwing his arms around Sari and me. “We’re okay. We’re okay.”
“We can go now!” Sari cried happily, hugging her dad. Then she turned to me. “You saved our lives,” she said. She had to choke out the words. But she said them.
Then Uncle Ben turned his gaze on me and the object I still gripped tightly in front of me. “Thanks for the helping hand,” Uncle Ben said.
We had an enormous dinner at a restaurant back in Cairo. It’s a miracle any of us got any food down since we were all talking at once, chattering excitedly, reliving our adventure, trying to make sense of it all.
I was spinning The Summoner around on the table.
Uncle Ben grinned at me. “I had no idea how special that mummy hand was!”
He took it from me and examined it closely. “Better not play with it,” he said seriously. “We must treat it carefully.” He shook his head. “Some great scientist I am!” he exclaimed scornfully.
“When I saw it, I thought it was just a toy, some kind of reproduction. But this hand may be my biggest discovery of all!”
“It’s my good luck charm,” I said, handling it gently as I took it back.
“You can say that again!” Sari said appreciatively. The nicest thing she’d ever said to me.
Back at the hotel, I surprised myself by falling asleep instantly. I thought I’d be up for hours, thinking about all that had happened. But I guess all the excitement had exhausted me.
The next morning, Sari, Uncle Ben, and I had a big breakfast in the room. I had a plate of scrambled eggs and a bowl of Frosted Flakes. As I ate, I fiddled with the little mummy hand.
All three of us were feeling good, happy that our frightening adventure was over. We were kidding around, teasing each other, laughing a lot.
After I finished my cereal, I raised the little mummy hand high. “O, Summoner,” I chanted in a deep voice, “I summon the ancient spirits. Come alive. Come alive again!”
“Stop it, Gabe,” Sari snapped. She grabbed for the hand, but I swung it out of her reach.
“That isn’t funny,” she said. “You shouldn’t fool around like that.”
“Are you chicken?” I asked, laughing at her. I could see that she was really frightened, which made me enjoy my little joke even more.
Keeping it away from her, I raised the hand high. “I summon thee, ancient spirits of the dead,” I chanted. “Come to me. Come to me now!”
And there was a loud knock on the door.
All three of us gasped.
Uncle Ben knocked over his juice glass. It clattered onto the table and spilled.
I froze with the little hand in the air.
Another loud knock.
We heard a scrabbling at the door. The sound of ancient, bandaged fingers struggling with the lock.
Sari and I exchanged horrified glances.
I slowly lowered the hand as the door swung open.
Two shadowy figures lumbered into the room.
“Mom and Dad!” I cried.
I’ll bet they were surprised at how glad I was to see them.
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05 - The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb Page 9