Return of the Mummy by R. L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page B

about Dr. Fielding. Let’s just talk about Prince Khor-Ru and how you’re going to be rich and famous!”
    Uncle Ben laughed. “It’s a deal,” he told her.
    Nila waited for us by the campfire. Uncle Ben had invited her to join us for a barbecue. She wore a white sweatshirt over loose-fitting jeans. Heramber pendant caught the light from the half-moon just rising over the tents.
    She looked really pretty. She flashed Uncle Ben a warm smile as we came near. I could tell by his face that he liked her.
    “Sari, you’re taller than Gabe, aren’t you!” Nila commented.
    Sari grinned. She loved being taller than me, even though I’m a little older.
    “Less than an inch,” I said quickly.
    “People are definitely getting taller,” Nila said to my uncle. “Prince Khor-Ru was so short. He’d be a midget today!”
    “It makes you wonder why such short people built such tall pyramids,” Uncle Ben said, grinning.
    Nila smiled and took his arm.
    Sari and I exchanged glances. I could see what Sari was thinking. Her expression said: What’s up with those two?
    We had a great dinner. Uncle Ben burned the hamburger rolls a little. But no one really minded.
    Sari downed two hamburgers. I could only eat one. That gave her something else to boast about.
    I was really getting fed up with my bragging cousin. I found myself trying to think of a way to get back at her.
    Nila and Uncle Ben kidded around a lot.
    “That burial chamber looked like a movie set,” Nila teased my uncle. “It was all too perfect. All that gold. And that perfect little mummy. It’s all a fake. That’s what I’m going to write in my article.”
    Uncle Ben laughed. He turned to me. “Did you check out the mummy, Gabe? Was this one wearing a wristwatch?”
    I shook my head. “No wristwatch.”
    “See?” Uncle Ben told Nila. “No wristwatch. So it’s
got
to be real!”
    “I guess that proves it,” Nila said, smiling warmly at my uncle.
    “Daddy, do you know the words to bring the mummy to life?” Sari broke in. “You know. The words on the tomb that Dr. Fielding was talking about?”
    Uncle Ben swallowed the last bite of his hamburger. He wiped the grease off his chin with a napkin. “I can’t believe that a serious scientist would believe such superstition,” he murmured.
    “But what
are
the six words to bring the mummy to life?” Nila demanded. “Come on, Ben. Tell us.”
    Uncle Ben’s smile faded. He shook his finger at Nila. “Oh, no!” he declared. “I don’t trust you. If I tell you the words, you’ll bring the mummy back to life just to get a good photograph for your newspaper!”
    We all laughed.
    We were sitting around the campfire, its orange light flickering over our faces. Uncle Ben set his plate down on the ground and spread his hands over the fire.
    “Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari!”
he chanted in a deep voice, waving his hands over the flames.
    The fire crackled. A twig made a loud popping sound that made my heart skip a beat.
    “Are those the secret words?” Sari demanded.
    Uncle Ben nodded solemnly. “Those are the words of the hieroglyphs over the entrance to the tomb.”
    “So maybe the mummy just sat up and stretched?” Sari asked.
    “I’d be very surprised,” Uncle Ben replied, climbing to his feet. “You’re forgetting, Sari — you have to chant the words five times.”
    “Oh.” Sari stared thoughtfully into the fire.
    I repeated the words in my mind.
“Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari!”
I needed to memorize the words. I had a plan to scare Sari.
    “Where are you going?” Nila asked my uncle.
    “To the communications tent,” he replied. “I have to make a phone call.” He turned and made his way quickly over the sand toward the row of canvas tents.
    Nila let out a surprised laugh. “He didn’t even say good night.”
    “Daddy’s always like that,” Sari explained, “when he has something on his mind.”
    “Guess I’d better go, too,” Nila said, climbing to her feet and