“What’s the mummy’s curse?” Jessie asked.
“Some people believe mummies should not be removed from where they were buried,” said Pete. “They believe mummies carry evil spells to punish anyone who disturbs them. That’s the mummy’s curse.”
“Really?” Benny asked, his eyes wide.
“A long time ago, when scientists were digging up a mummy, if someone died or got hurt or something else bad happened, people would say it was because of the curse,” Pete went on.
“Is there really such a thing?” Violet asked.
“What do you think?” Pete said.
“No. If something bad happened it was just a coincidence,” Henry said firmly.
“That’s right,” Pete said. “There’s no such thing as ghosts or magic spells. And there’s no such thing as a mummy’s curse.”
Still, Benny’s eyes were wide. “But Tina fell right after she looked at the mummy,” he said.
“I was just joking before,” Pete said kindly. “It was an unfortunate accident, but it wasn’t the mummy’s fault.”
But Benny didn’t look as if he believed that. He backed away from the crate holding the mummy. He was afraid he might fall and get hurt, too.
The phone rang again. “Hello?” Pete said, picking up the receiver. “Yes, Reginald, that’s right.” The Aldens watched as Pete listened to what Dr. Snood was saying. He did not look happy.
“No, it’s not a room we normally use,” Pete said, “But—”
Again he was silent as Dr. Snood spoke. The children wondered what he was saying.
“All right,” Pete said. “I’ll see what I can figure out.” Then he hung up the phone and sighed heavily.
“Is something wrong?” Violet asked gently.
“Well, if there were a mummy’s curse, I’d say it’s struck again,” Pete said.
“What do you mean?” Benny asked. He sounded nervous.
Pete smiled at Benny’s worried look. “Don’t worry, Benny. It’s not that bad.” He patted Benny on the shoulder. “The exhibit was going to be in a hall we don’t usually use. That was Dr. Snood on the phone. He said the cleaning crew is too busy to clean the extra room. And there’s no money left in the budget to hire an extra crew. Without Tina and without the cleaning crew, we’ll never get the exhibit ready in time.” He sighed again.
“I have an idea,” Jessie said.
“You do?” Pete asked, peering wearily over his fingers.
“We could help you,” she said.
Pete sat up and smiled. “That’s nice, but this is a big job. I’m not really sure you’d be able to help us get our exhibit ready in time.”
“But there are lots of things we could do,” Jessie said. “We’re great cleaners. We could do the work you needed the cleaning crew to do. And we’ll do it for free.”
“Yeah,” said Henry, getting excited. “And we can carry boxes and help Dr. Dickerson. Whatever needs to be done.”
Pete was looking thoughtful.
“Why don’t you call our grandfather and ask him,” Henry suggested.
Pete picked up the telephone, and a few minutes later it was decided. The Aldens had a job. “You start first thing tomorrow,” Pete said.
“Great,” said Jessie. “We’ll be back tomorrow morning, bright and early!”
As they headed out, the children stopped in the prep room to pick up their jackets, which they’d left there.
While Henry, Jessie, and Violet put on their jackets, Benny turned to look at the two huge crates that were still at the end of the room. He couldn’t resist stealing one last peek at the mummy. Benny walked over, got up on the stepladder, and peered down into the crate. The mummy was lying there, just as it had been before. Its blank face pointed up at the ceiling as if it were waiting for something.
Benny thought about the mummy’s curse. The room seemed too quiet. He looked up and realized the others had left without him. Suddenly, he felt lonely and a little bit scared. He quickly got down from the stepladder.
“Hey, you guys, wait for me!” he called, running to catch up.
As they were leaving the building, Henry noticed a familiar face in the lobby. It was the woman he’d seen at lunch.
This time, the woman walked right up to them and introduced herself. “Hi, I’m Lori Paulson. I saw you guys in the café.”
“Yes, we were there,” Jessie said, surprised to be recognized by a stranger.
“So what have you been doing here all afternoon?” Ms. Paulson asked.
“We got to see the—” Benny began, but Jessie interrupted him.
“What my little brother was starting to say was, we just love this museum. We’ve been exploring.”
“And we got to see the—” Benny began again.
This time, Henry grabbed Benny’s arm and pulled him off to the side. “Remember, Pete said the new exhibit is supposed to be a secret,” he whispered.
Meanwhile, Jessie was talking to Ms. Paulson. “We’re the Aldens. I’m Jessie and this is my sister Violet. Those are my brothers, Henry and Benny.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Ms. Paulson said.
“What have you been doing here all afternoon, Ms. Paulson?” Jessie asked.
“Call me Lori,” she said. “I’ve been ... Oh, I just love the museum, too.” She smiled, and for a moment Jessie thought she looked uncomfortable. “I come here all the time.”
Now Benny remembered not to talk about the mummy. He asked Lori, “Don’t you love the dinosaurs?”
“I didn’t know they had dinosaurs here,” Lori said.
“Not real dinosaurs, of course,” Benny said. “But they’ve got a bunch of skulls and bones in that big room at the back.”
“Thanks for telling me,” Lori said. “I’ll have to check that out.”
Jessie looked at her watch. Their housekeeper, Mrs. McGregor, would be putting dinner on the table soon. “I’m sorry, but we’ve got to be going.”
“Oh, um ...” Lori seemed to want to ask the children something. Finally, she said, “Did I see you talking to the curator at lunch?”
“Yes, Pete Miller is a friend of our grandfather’s,” Henry said.
Lori’s face lit up. “Did he mention anything about the new Egyptian exhibit?”
The Aldens all looked at each other, not sure what to say. They didn’t want to lie, but they also knew they weren’t supposed to talk about the exhibit.
“He just told us that it was opening in a couple of weeks,” Henry said at last.
“What’s going to be in the exhibit?” Lori asked. “Will there be a mummy?”
“We’ve got to go,” Jessie said, pointing to her watch. “Sorry.”
“But—” Lori began, but the Aldens quickly headed off before she could ask any more questions.
As the Aldens walked down the front steps of the museum, Henry turned to the others. “She was in the cafeteria when we were having lunch. She kept staring at us the whole time.”
“I wonder why she’s so curious about the new exhibit,” Jessie added.
“Maybe she just likes mummies,” Benny said. “Like me.”
“I get the feeling there’s something more to it,” Henry said. “You should have seen how she was watching us during lunch. And there’s something else strange about her.”
“What?” asked Violet.
“She says she comes here all the time. So how come she’s never seen the dinosaur bones?” Henry said.
“That is pretty strange,” Jessie agreed.
“I think maybe Lori Paulson isn’t telling us the truth,” Henry said.
“But why would she lie?” Violet asked.
“I bet it has something to do with the Egyptian exhibit she’s so curious about,” said Jessie.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m too hungry to worry about Lori Paulson,” Benny said. “Let’s go home for dinner!”
The next day, the Aldens arrived before the museum opened, ready to work. The building was quiet and almost empty. As they walked down the long, dark hallway to the prep room for the Egyptian exhibit, their footsteps echoed on the hard floor.
A light was shining under the door of the prep room. When the Aldens pushed the door open, they were surprised to see not Sam or Pete, but Dr. Snood. He was standing up on the stepladder, peering down into the mummy’s crate. He seemed to be deep in thought.
“Hello, Dr. Snood,” Jessie said.
Dr. Snood looked up suddenly. He seemed startled, as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t. He quickly stepped down from the stepladder. “I was just ...”he began, but his voice trailed off.
“The mummy is really cool, isn’t it?” Benny asked.
“It isn’t cool,” Dr. Snood snapped. “It is a valuable artifact from four thousand years ago. You must never touch it, or any of the things in this exhibit. Do you understand?”
The Aldens were stunned. Benny was only being friendly. Why was Dr. Snood getting so angry?
“Yes,” Henry said. “We understand.”
Dr. Snood’s eyesmoved quickly around the room, as if he were looking for something. Then, picking up his briefcase, he walked out without another word. |