by John Paulits
“Is it there?” Emery asked.
Philip knelt and ran his fingers through the dirt. He dug down and found nothing.
“How deep did you bury it?” Philip asked.
“Not deep,” Leon said. “Is it there? Tell me you found it.”
Philip lifted his head. “It’s not here, Leon.” He looked at Emery, who shook his head to indicate he had nothing to do with its not being there.
“Oh, it’s out there!” Leon cried, stamping his feet and shaking his hands in terror. “There! Ah, there it is! I see it! I see it!”
Philip and Emery looked. In the direction of Mrs. White’s backyard, something white flickered by, appearing and disappearing through the tiny spaces between the leaves in the bushes.
“It’s there! It’s here!” Leon screamed. “It’s coming for me again!”
Philip and Emery stood speechless.
Leon took off as fast as he could back to his house. Philip and Emery ran right behind him.
Philip phoned for his dad to come pick up him and Emery and told him to be sure to drive. They dropped Emery at home, the boys promising to meet in the pyramid tomorrow. Philip insisted his father not pull away until he saw Emery safely inside his house.
~ * ~
The next day, Emery wriggled through the bushes and found Philip waiting.
“I just called you,” Emery said. “You weren’t home.”
“Of course, I wasn’t home. I’m right here. Why’d you call?”
“Leon.”
“Scared of mummies?”
“No. Worse. He phoned me and said when the museum people gathered up the Egyptian stuff that flew across the floor yesterday, they couldn’t find one thing. Now, they think Jane’s father might have taken it.”
“What! What’s missing?”
“A scarab from four thousand years ago.”
“Maybe they didn’t look everywhere,” Philip said. “Scarabs are pretty small.”
“No, Jane told Leon they looked all night. It’s really missing. They asked Jane’s father to come into the museum today so they could talk to him.”
“It doesn’t mean they think he took it.”
Emery shrugged. “Jane said it does.”
“Is Leon coming here today?”
“I told him where we’d be, but he said the mummy was out there somewhere, and he couldn’t leave the house.”
“Dumbbell,” Philip muttered.
Emery said, “We saw the mummy through the bushes yesterday, didn’t we?”
“We saw something.”
“The buried mummy was missing, and we saw it through the bushes,” Emery argued.
“Don’t tell me you’re going crazy, too?”
“What did we see, then?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.”
Both boys jumped at the sound of someone diving through the bushes into hidden space.
“Leon,” Emery cried. “What are you doing here? I thought you were afraid of the mummy getting you.”
“I am afraid,” Leon said, more frightened looking than the boys had ever seen him. “I ran here. All the way. I figured out why the mummy’s after me, but I didn’t do it on purpose. I really didn’t. You know I didn’t.”
“Do what?” Emery asked.
Leon turned to Philip. “Did Emery tell you? An ancient scarab is missing. Remember when everything went flying through the air?”
“Yeah, I remember when you knocked the table over and broke the glass.”
“Ohhhhh,” Leon moaned. “But I didn’t do it on purpose. The mummy scared me. You saw the mummy. It called my name. You heard it.”
Philip had nothing to say.
Leon went on. “I didn’t look through my goody bag until today, after Jane called about her father. They think…”
“I told Philip,” Emery interrupted.
“I took out the stuff and down in the bottom of the bag, I found this.” Leon dug into his pocket and showed the boys what he’d found—a small piece of jewelry resembling a large beetle, painted pale blue with gold outlines. “Did you guys get one of these in your bags?”
Philip and Emery said they hadn’t.
“I knew it. I knew it. It’s got to be the missing scarab. It flew into my bag when everything went…” Leon blasted his hands apart. “The mummy knows I have it and wants it back.”
Philip frowned. “But… but you didn’t have the scarab when the mummy showed up.”
“But it knew I was going to have the scarab. Everybody says the ways of ancient Egypt are mysterious.”
Philip didn’t know what everybody said about the mysterious the ways of ancient Egypt, but he knew one thing. Leon held the missing scarab in the palm of his hand.
Chapter Nine
“So give it back,” Philip said.
“I can’t give it back. They’ll blame me and think I took it on purpose.”
“No, they won’t,” Emery said.
“They will. The mummy does.” Leon bowed his head. “They won’t think accident. They’re blaming Jane’s father, aren’t they? Now they’ll blame me!” In a sad, soft voice Leon said, “Anyway, sometimes I do stuff. You know, dumb stuff. I never mean to do dumb stuff. It just happens. I don’t want to do something as dumb as this. Jane would hate me for getting her father in trouble. I’d look so dumb. Everybody already knows I knocked the table over and broke the glass and now…” He held up the scarab. “Everybody would know about this.”
“Maybe Jane’s father isn’t really in trouble,” Philip said. “And you won’t be.”
“No, he’s in trouble,” Leon said. “Jane was crying when she told me. Her father helped them clean up when we left the room. There was only him and museum boss and the guy who mopped and the guy who shined the glass. Jane’s father only stayed a little while and then went home, but the others stayed and kept looking for things. Jane said when they found out the scarab wasn’t there, the museum boss called the police. The police came and searched the three people, even the museum boss. Only Jane’s father didn’t get searched because he wasn’t there. He’s in trouble, and so will I be in trouble. I don’t want to look so dumb. And the mummy knows. He’s after me, not Jane’s father. You gotta help me. Please! I know! One of you guys say the scarab fell into your bag and you give it back.”
Philip and Emery looked at one another and both burst out, “No, no.”
“I don’t think so,” Philip said.
“We’ll think of something else,” Emery said.
“The museum’s open today,” Philip said. “Let’s go and put the scarab someplace where they’ll find it. They’ll think they missed seeing it the first time.”
Leon brightened. “You think so. Yeah. I’ll ask my dad to drive us. He’ll do it.”
“If he says no, we can ask my dad,” Philip said. “And if he says no, we’ll ask Emery’s dad. Somebody’ll take us.”
Certain they had the problem solved, the boys hurried to Leon’s house.
Leon’s father said he’d be happy to drive the boys to the museum. While he went to get his wallet and keys, the boys sat in Leon’s kitchen to wait.
“Where’ll we put it?” Leon asked.
“Under something but not too under,” Emery suggested. “They need to find it.”
Philip said, “Maybe next to the bird head sarcoph…” Leon screamed and cut him off. The boys followed Leon’s horrified stare. There at the kitchen window for the briefest moment, the tiny buried mummy quivered and disappeared.
“It’s watching me,” Leon said slowly. “Did you see it?”
“Philip,” Emery said. “It was the buried mummy.”
Philip didn’t answer.
“I’m taking the scarab back,” Leon shouted at the window.
Leon’s father called from the living room, and the boys, walking in a very tight pack, followed him to the car. Leon declined his father’s suggestion he sit up front, preferring to huddle with Philip and Emery in the rear seat.
“We gotta put it back
so the mummy leaves me alone,” Leon whispered. “You think they’ll find it by the… the sarchoph… thing.”
“You could always knock something else over and throw the scarab in with the stuff,” Philip snapped.
“That’s not funny,” Leon said glumly.
“They’ll find it. Don’t worry, Leon,” Emery said.
When they pulled into the museum parking lot, Leon’s father said, “How long do you think you’ll be? An hour? I’ll meet you at the entrance in an hour?”
Philip whispered to Leon, who then said, “Dad, can you pay our way in?” The boys had rushed off without any money.
Leon’s father frowned. “Again? I suppose so.”
Everyone went up the skinny stairs, and Leon’s father bought their tickets. “Right here,” he said. “One hour.”
By now, the three boys knew their way to the Egyptian exhibit.
“This’ll be easy,” Emery said. “Put the scarab someplace, then we can go see the dinosaurs or the suits of armor.”
“Thanks, guys,” Leon said. “You’re really good friends.”
Philip felt the blood creep into this face, glad the problem he caused had such an easy solution.
The boys turned into the hallway leading to the Egyptian exhibit. They walked past the party room and stopped short. A long, yellow tape with the word POLICE printed on it stretched across the hallway as well as the door to the exhibit.
“We can’t get in,” Leon said, his voice resuming a panic level.
“Throw it on the floor and let’s get out of here,” Emery said.
“May I help you?” The boys turned and recognized Mr. Tyson, the museum boss. “This exhibit is closed for now. You’ll have to find somewhere else to go.”
Mr. Tyson stood, arms folded, staring and didn’t move until the boys left. The boys wandered toward the dinosaur exhibit.
“We should go back and try again,” Philip said.
“He’ll see us,” Emery said.
Leon listened closely, hoping to hear an answer to his problem.
“All we gotta do,” Philip said, “is duck under the tape, open the door to the room, and toss the scarab inside.”
“But what if he sees us again?” Emery said.
Leon moaned. “If we don’t put the scarab back, the mummy will keep coming after me.”
Philip cried, “We have to try something!”
“Okay, okay,” Emery said. “Let’s go again.”
The boys returned to the Egyptian hallway.
“Look and see,” Emery whispered.
Philip poked his head around the corner.
“Nobody,” Philip reported.
“Where’d he come from last time?” Emery asked.
“There’s another door past the room where Jane had the party,” Philip said. “It looks like an office. Probably from in there.”
“I think he must have seen us through the window when we walked by,” Emery said. “We can duck under this time.”
“Come on, guys,” Leon begged. “Do it. You don’t want me to spend my whole life being chased by a mummy, do you?”
Philip got down on his hands and knees and crawled. Emery came behind him, then Leon. They looked like circus elephants in a parade. They passed the office door and slipped under the first tape barrier. When they reached the door to the exhibit, Philip grabbed for the doorknob.
“We’re gonna make it,” he whispered over his shoulder.
“What do you think you’re doing?” came an angry voice. “I told you this area is closed. Now, if you don’t go somewhere else immediately, I’m going to have a guard escort you out of the museum.”
The boys rose and filed sheepishly past the man.
“We only wanted to see the stuff,” Leon said.
“You’ll have to come back another time,” the man said. “Don’t let me catch you up here again.”
The boys walked aimlessly around the dinosaur exhibit for a few moments, Leon studying the floor rather than the dinosaurs.
Finally, Philip said, “Maybe the man saw us because we were three people. If only one of us goes…”
The boys exchanged looks.
“I don’t want to do anything by myself,” Leon whimpered. “The mummy was here on Saturday. It might still be here.”
Philip brushed aside Leon’s fears and said, “Me or you, Emery?”
“To go back alone?” Emery asked, wide-eyed.
“I’ll do it, then” Philip said.
“What if the guy catches you?” Emery asked.
“I’ll say… I’ll say I lost my money, and I thought I dropped it there.” Philip reach out to Leon. “Gimme the thing.” He’d gotten Leon into this trouble. Dressing like a mummy was supposed to be a joke; something funny; something to scare Leon, but he’d ruined the party; messed up the exhibit; gotten Jane’s father accused of a crime; and had Leon walking around with a four-thousand-year-old jewel, being chased by a mummy.
Philip took the scarab from Leon, shoved it into his pocket, and said, “If I have to run, and can’t meet you at the entrance, I’ll meet you in the parking lot. I’ll be hiding. Don’t look for me. I’ll see you.” Philip headed back to the Egyptian exhibit.
The hallway remained deserted and very quiet. As Philip took his first step out into the hallway, the door of the exhibit opened, and Mr. Tyson, along with two men in suits and ties, came out talking together. Philip stared a moment, then jumped back.
“Let me lock up, Detective,” Mr. Tyson said. “Where do you think it could have gone?”
The detective answered, “You scoured the whole room, you said?”
“Up and down, back and forth multiple times. We’ve accounted for every item on the museum list except for the scarab.”
“Valuable, eh?”
“It’s part of the funerary collection of Amenhotep, who died some four thousand years ago. What do you think?”
“So, they put this scarab thing inside his pyramid?”
“His tomb.”
“Right, his tomb.”
“They did. And it’s lasted all this time until it comes to my museum. To answer your question: Yes, it is valuable.”
“From what you told me, it had to be the professor. You said he’s very interested in Egypt, plus he stayed and helped you clean up the mess. Then he disappeared. I don’t see how it could be anyone else.”
“Have you spoken to him yet?” Mr. Tyson asked.
“No. You did, I hear.”
“I did. He came in early this morning but swears he knows nothing.”
“We’ll have to talk with him. Police detectives sometimes shake people up, and bingo! The truth comes out. What do you think, Hal?”
“I think we need to pay him a visit.”
“Today?” Mr. Tyson asked.
“Soon as we finish up here.”
“Good. I’ll give you his address. Come into my office.”
Philip knew he couldn’t replace the scarab with the police around and the exhibit door locked, so he hurried to the museum entrance. Leon and Emery were already waiting.
“Did you do it?” Leon asked eagerly.
“I couldn’t. The boss guy locked the room and stood there talking to two policemen.”
“Policemen!” Leon groaned. “I knew it. I’m gonna be in trouble. Big trouble. Why did the scarab have to fall in my bag? Why me?”
“They’re going to Jane’s house and talk to her father,” Philip reported. “One policeman said he was the only one who could have taken the scarab.”
“When are they visiting?” Emery asked.
“As soon as they finish here. I heard them say so.”
“Let’s go to Jane’s house and see,” Emery said. “We can pretend we’re visiting.”
Leon’s father appeared.
“You fellows ready. Have a good visit?”
The boys mumbled their answers and made their way to the museum parking lot.
“You’re coming with us, Leon,” Philip whispered.
“You don’t want to be alone with the mummy on the loose.”
Leon’s shoulders drooped. “Why me? Why am I so unlucky? You still got it?”
Philip felt the scarab in his pocket. “Right here.”
“You’re gonna think of something, right?” Leon pleaded.
Philip didn’t answer, and the three boys climbed into the back seat of the car.
Chapter Ten
The boys rode quietly homeward. Philip felt sorry for Leon. He did a lot of goofy things, but this time, for once, Leon hadn’t done anything wrong. He was just unlucky. Very unlucky. Philip didn’t understand how he or anybody else could be so unlucky. Twenty kids at the birthday party, and with all those goody bags available, which one did the scarab fly into? Straight into Leon’s bag, of course! Philip knew he had to do something. What, though?
Leon’s father dropped them in front of Jane’s house, and they walked nervously up the front path to her door.
“She’s your friend, Leon,” Philip said. “Knock.”
Leon knocked, and Jane’s mother opened the door.
“We came to see Jane,” Leon said.
“To thank her for the party,” Philip added.
“Come in. Come in. Anything to brighten the mood,” Mrs. Davenport said.
The boys entered the living room and saw Mr. Davenport sitting on the sofa, his elbow on the arm of the sofa, his chin in his hand. Jane sat slumped in a chair. To Philip, her sad face made her look as if she’d been scolded for something she didn’t do and couldn’t convince anyone of her innocence. She sat up when she saw the three boys.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
Philip said, “Uh, we… we came to thank you for the party.”
“Party! Some party.” She glared at Leon. “If I ever catch the knucklehead who came dressed like a mummy, I’ll turn him into a mummy for real.”
That comment quieted Philip.
Fidgeting, Emery said, “The party was good… real good until the mummy scared everybody.”
“Never mind. Never mind,” Jane said. Mr. Davenport rose from the sofa and left the room. Jane followed him with her eyes. “You know, the stupid police think my father took the missing scarab. Did Leon tell you?”
