The Missing Mummy Read online

  “Would you share it with the mummies?” Ruth Rose asked Josh.

  “Nope.”

  More time passed. Dink yawned, and his eyes grew heavy. He pulled the closet door shut, darkening the small room. Then he lay down, and they all drifted off to sleep.

  Suddenly, a huge blast shook the room. The folding chairs fell over with a crash, and a box of cleaning stuff flew off a shelf.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose bolted up out of a sound sleep.

  “What the heck was that?” Josh said. “It sounded like a bomb!”

  “I smell smoke!” Ruth Rose said in the dark.

  Dink opened the closet door a crack, then pulled it shut again. “The place is filled with dust,” he said, wiping his eyes.

  “What happened?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Just then Dink heard voices.

  “Someone’s out there,” Josh said. “We’re rescued!”

  “Quiet!” Dink whispered. “They wouldn’t bomb the place to rescue us.”

  Dink nudged the door open a crack. He peered through the floating dust, then suddenly scooted back.

  Two shapes in dark clothing slipped past the closet, inches from the kids’ noses. Both carried black gym bags.

  As the kids watched, the two figures separated, stopping in front of two of the glass cases. Dink heard glass breaking, and then a piercing alarm bell sounded.

  “Grab as much as you can. Then we’re outta here!” one of the intruders said.

  “They’re not here to rescue us,” Dink whispered. “They’re here to steal the mummies’ gold!”

  The thieves worked fast. Through the door crack, Dink watched the two dark forms fill their satchels with the gold.

  “Jeez, this stuff is heavy,” one of them grunted. The crooks dragged the heavy satchels across the floor.

  Dink tried to memorize the black clothing, the thieves’ ski masks, and the satchels. As the crooks passed the closet, he noticed that one of them seemed to have a white stripe between his waist and knees.

  Then both were gone, and the treasure chamber was quiet.

  Dink waited several seconds, then pushed the closet door all the way open.

  The gold was gone. Two large hunks of stone lay on top of broken glass. Dust covered everything.

  As Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose stepped out of the closet, the alarm bell stopped as suddenly as it had started.

  “Where did they go?” Josh whispered in the now silent room.

  Before Dink could answer, they heard the tomb door slide open. A second later, Officers Peters and Washington stormed into the treasure chamber.

  “Freeze!” Officer Peters shouted. Then he took a second look. “What…it’s the kids!”

  Dr. Tweed appeared behind the two officers. “Please explain why you’re in here,” he said. One of Dr. Tweed’s eyes was twitching.

  “We were trying to find the woman who took the mummy,” Ruth Rose said. “Then the door closed all by itself.”

  “We fell asleep in the closet,” Josh said. “A few minutes ago, we heard a loud bang. Then two guys came in and stole the gold!”

  Dr. Tweed stepped over broken glass and examined the shattered cases. “Nothing is left,” he said. “A priceless treasure has been stolen.”

  “Let’s check out the wall,” Officer Peters said.

  Everyone followed him into the tomb. A large, jagged hole had been blown through one of the walls. Through it, Dink could see the tall, thick shrubbery behind the museum.

  The floor around the hole was littered with chunks of stone, but the two standing mummies didn’t look damaged. On the table, the child mummy’s coffin was closed. The mask on its lid stared peacefully up at the ceiling.

  “Well, thank goodness!” someone shouted. Dink turned around. His parents ran into the tomb.

  Ruth Rose’s parents came in next, quickly followed by Josh’s folks.

  “What happened to you kids?” Dink’s mom asked, giving him a hug. “We’ve been calling practically the whole city of Hartford for hours!”

  “We got locked in,” Josh said. “We were trying to find the mummy snatcher!”

  “What mummy?” Ruth Rose’s mom asked.

  “Let’s save the story till we get home,” Dink’s dad suggested. “You kids must be starving.”

  “I am!” Josh said.

  At ten the next morning, Officers Peters and Washington stopped by Dink’s house. Dink called Josh and Ruth Rose, and they all sat in the backyard.

  “I hope you got a good night’s sleep,” Officer Peters said, smiling. “We just talked to your parents, and they said it would be okay if we asked you some questions.”

  “If that’s okay with you,” Officer Washington said.

  The kids nodded.

  Officer Peters glanced at his notes. “We think the woman who stole the mummy wanted to get everyone to leave the tomb,” he explained. “In all the confusion, someone hid a small bomb near the wall.”

  “We’ve had a chat with Dr. Tweed,” Officer Washington added. “Now we’d like to hear your part of the story.”

  The kids explained everything that had happened up until they had been awakened by the bomb blast.

  “Sometimes,” Officer Washington said, “in the excitement of the moment, we forget small things. I’d like you to think back to the point when you saw the two thieves enter the treasure chamber. Tell me everything you remember, even the smallest detail.”

  Dink went first. “Well, they were both wearing dark clothes. I think they had ski masks over their faces.”

  “One of them talked,” Ruth Rose said. “He said-”

  “It was a man’s voice?” interrupted Officer Peters.

  Ruth Rose closed her eyes for a minute. “I think so. It was a low voice,” she said. “He said, ’Let’s grab as much as we can and get out of here.’”

  “Did the other one say anything?” asked Officer Washington.

  Ruth Rose thought for a minute. “I think one of them said whatever they were carrying was heavy,” she added.

  Officer Peters nodded and made a note.

  “I remember smelling something,” Josh said.

  Both officers looked at him.

  “I don’t know what it was, but…” Josh stopped, looking embarrassed.

  “We’re listening,” said Officer Washington. “You smelled …”

  “It was something to eat, I think.”

  Officer Peters smiled at Josh.

  “What, hamburgers, pizza …?”

  Josh shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t remember.”

  “I remember something else!” Dink said suddenly. “One of the guys had a white stripe on his clothes.”

  “A white stripe?” Officer Peters repeated. “I thought they were dressed in dark clothes.”

  Dink nodded. “They were, but I saw a white stripe right here.”

  He stood up and drew an imaginary line just above his knees.

  “Did you see him from the front or back?” Officer Washington asked.

  “Both,” Dink said. “But the stripe was just in front.”

  The officers took notes, then closed their pads.

  “You’ve been very helpful, kids,” Officer Washington said. She looked at Josh. “If you remember that smell, give me a call.” She handed him a card.

  Josh took the card. “Um, can we go back to the museum?” he asked. “Today is Tyrannosaurus Tuesday!”

  “Sure,” Officer Washington said. “Just be careful of those big teeth!”

  At one-thirty that afternoon, the bus dropped the kids off in front of the museum. The digital sign over the bank Said 90 DEGREES.

  “We’ve still got a half hour,” Josh said. “I could use a snack.”

  “Josh, we just ate!” Ruth Rose said. “I think you’re part wolf.”

  Josh growled and wiggled his eyebrows.

  “It’s too hot to eat, anyway,” Dink said. “Let’s go sit in the shade for a few minutes.”

  The kids followed a gravel path aro
und the side of the museum. They passed trees, shrubs, and flower beds. At the corner of the building, they found a goldfish pond and a few benches. Fat goldfish came to the surface, as if expecting food.

  “Look!” Josh said, pointing at the back wall of the museum. “That must be where the bomb blew up.”

  A large sheet of plywood covered the blasted-out hole. Bags of cement and a stack of cinder blocks stood nearby.

  “The crooks must have run right past this bench,” Josh said.

  The kids sat down. From their bench, they could see the bank clock on Main Street.

  “I wonder where they went,” Dink said. “They couldn’t have carried that gold far.”

  Ruth Rose pulled the museum map from her back pocket. On one side was a drawing of the rooms inside the museum. On the other side was a map showing the little park, the museum, and Main Street.

  Josh pointed at Main Street. “Maybe they had a getaway car waiting,” he said.

  Ruth Rose shook her head. “Parking isn’t allowed in front of the museum. If the crooks had left a car there, the police would have noticed it.”

  “And there are no other streets near the museum where they could have parked,” Dink observed, studying the map.

  Josh glanced around at the trees and shrubs. “So where did they take the gold?” He looked down at the ground. “Maybe they buried it!”

  Dink shook his head. “They were in a hurry. I can’t see them taking the time to dig a hole,” he said. He checked the digital sign in front of the bank. “Anyway we’d better get inside. It’s almost two o’clock.”

  The kids left, following the path back around to the front of the museum.

  “Yum, I smell something good,” Josh said as they hurried up the front steps.

  “You’re always smelling something good,” Ruth Rose said.

  They entered and paid the woman behind the counter. An inflated rubber tyrannosaur stood in the center of the lobby. In its teeth, it held a sign that said FOLLOW THE ARROWS.

  A minute later, the kids found Dr. Tweed standing outside an open door.

  “Hello again,” he said. “Come on in. We’re just about to start.”

  A bunch of kids were sitting in a circle of desks. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose slid into three empty seats. In the middle of the circle stood a giant dinosaur skeleton. Its huge head almost touched the ceiling!

  “I’m sure most of you recognize Tyrannosaurus rex,” Dr. Tweed said.

  Dink stared up at the skeleton. He tried to picture what the massive dinosaur would have looked like when it was alive.

  “Today,” Dr. Tweed went on, “we are going to study this prehistoric carnivore—”

  A boy in the front row raised his hand. “Did you get the mummy back?” he asked.

  “Yes, one of our guests found it in the ladies’ room,” Dr. Tweed said. “Now, as I was say—”

  “I saw on TV that someone broke in and stole the treasure,” a girl said.

  Dr. Tweed sighed. “Yes, that is true. The thieves are still at large, and the treasure is missing. But we are here to discuss dinosaurs today.”

  He opened a cupboard and pulled out a long bone. “A tyrannosaur leg fossil,” he said. “This dinosaur lived and died in what we now know as Utah. You can touch the bone, but please be gentle.”

  The kids crowded around Dr. Tweed to touch the fossil.

  “What do we know about the tyrannosaur?” Dr. Tweed asked.

  Answers came swiftly:

  “They had big teeth!”

  “They ate other dinosaurs!”

  “They laid eggs!”

  “Good,” Dr. Tweed said. “Did you also know that Tyrannosaurus rex had an amazing sense of smell? It could smell its food from hundreds of yards away.”

  “Like Josh,” Dink whispered.

  “And T. rex also had a very small brain for his size,” Dr. Tweed went on.

  “Like Dink,” Josh mumbled.

  Dr. Tweed dimmed the lights and showed slides. The kids learned how the dinosaur lived, what it ate, and how it raised its young.

  When the slide show was over, Dr. Tweed turned the lights up again. He pulled open a cupboard. “Now you can construct your own dinosaur.” He asked for volunteers to pass out clay, wood, and wire.

  “Your creation will stand on the wood. Use the wire to help shape the legs and tail.”

  Soon twenty pairs of hands were building miniature tyrannosaurs.

  “This is fun,” Josh said. “Maybe I’ll be a sculptor instead of a painter.”

  Ruth Rose looked at Josh’s pile of clay. “Josh,” she said, “we’re supposed to make dinosaurs. Yours looks like a potato.”

  “Very funny,” Josh said. Then his eyes opened wide. “That’s it!”

  “That’s what?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “That’s what I smelled last night when we were in the closet!”

  “Potatoes?” Dink asked.

  Josh shook his head. He closed his eyes and sniffed. “French fries!” he said.

  Dink shaped a tail for his dinosaur. “All I smelled was dust from the bomb. How could you smell French fries?”

  Josh was making a row of teeth for his tyrannosaurs. “Because I have an amazing sense of smell,” he said.

  “I’m afraid we’ve run out of time,” Dr. Tweed said. “You may take extra clay and finish your sculptures at home.”

  He handed out cardboard boxes for carrying the clay dinosaurs.

  “Thank you all for coming,” Dr. Tweed said as everyone got up to go. “Tomorrow is Wet Wednesday. I will be away, but one of my colleagues will be here in my place. Be sure to wear shorts and old sneakers, and bring permission slips from your parents.”

  A few minutes later, Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose stood in front of the museum holding their boxes.

  “What time does our bus come?” Josh asked.

  “They run every half hour,” Ruth Rose said, glancing across the street at the bank clock. “It’s three-thirty now. We must have just missed one.”

  Josh grinned. “Good, we have time to get a snack.”

  Dink rolled his eyes. “Josh, my folks are still freaked about the bomb. I promised I’d get right home after the museum today. Let’s just go wait in the shade.”

  They walked around to the little pond and sat on a bench. Immediately, the goldfish came up for handouts.

  Suddenly, Josh stood up and stuck his nose in the air. “I smell it again!” he said. He swiveled his head, like a periscope looking for enemy ships.

  “There!” he said, pointing back along the park path toward Main Street. A small restaurant stood next to the bank.

  A sign in the window said AUNT FREDA’S FABULOUS FRIES.

  “Forget your stomach, Josh,” Dink said. “The next bus will be here soon.”

  Josh slumped back on the bench.

  “I’m being falsely accused,” he said. “All I’m trying to do is figure out what happened to that gold.”

  “Okay,” Dink said. “So tell us.”

  “Okay,” Josh said. “I smelled French fries last night. They sell French fries across the street. So maybe the robbers work there. Maybe that’s where they took the gold!”

  “I saw those crooks dragging the gold,” Dink said. “There’s no way they carried it all the way to that restaurant.”

  Ruth Rose looked at Dink. “Still, Josh might be right about the thieves working there,” she said. “Maybe we should go over and check it out.”

  “But our bus … “

  “Come on, Dinkus,” Josh said, standing up. “We’ll catch the next one.”

  “Okay, but I still think it’s just a trick,” Dink said. “You’d do anything for a plate of fries.”

  The kids carried their boxes through the park, across Main Street, and into the restaurant.

  They sat in a booth by the window. Overhead, a ceiling fan hummed, and a jukebox played an Elvis song.

  Six teenagers were just leaving. They left behind a small mountain of dirty dishes and glas
ses.

  A roly-poly woman came through a swinging door with three glasses of ice water. She had gray hair and wore a white apron over her dress.

  “Welcome to Aunt Freda’s,” she said. “I’m Aunt Freda. I’ll bet you’ve been to the museum, right?”

  “How did you know?” asked Ruth Rose.

  The woman pointed to Ruth Rose’s small box. WADSWORTH MUSEUM was printed on the side.

  “We made dinosaurs out of clay;” Josh said.

  “Oh, that would be Dr. Tweed,” Aunt Freda said. “He’s one of my regular customers. So, what can I get you today?”

  “Fries and a lemonade, please,” said Josh.

  “You’ll love my fries,” Aunt Freda said. “The best in Hartford!”

  “I’ll have the same,” Ruth Rose said.

  Dink made it three, and Aunt Freda bustled away to the kitchen.

  Josh leaned forward and whispered, “Maybe Aunt Freda was one of the robbers!”

  Dink grinned. “She doesn’t exactly look like a robber,” he said.

  “Plus, the crooks were taller and thinner,” Ruth Rose said.

  Aunt Freda returned with their fries, drinks, ketchup, and napkins. “Let me know how you like my fries,” she said. “It’s my secret recipe!”

  The kids dug in, sharing the ketchup.

  A few minutes later, a woman with short dark hair came out of the kitchen. She was wearing an apron and carrying a large plastic tub.

  The woman walked over to the table with the dirty dishes and began cleaning up. Dink heard her grunt as she lugged the loaded dish container into the kitchen.

  “What’s the matter?” Ruth Rose asked Dink, who was staring after the departing woman.

  Josh waved a French fry in front of Dink’s face. “Why the big eyes, Dink?”

  “That woman,” he said. “The way she was lugging that pile of dishes …she reminded me of one of the robbers last night.”

  “Hot diggety,” Josh said. “At last someone agrees with me!”

  Ruth Rose turned and looked toward the kitchen. “You know, she has short dark hair just like the woman who came out of the rest room before I found the mummy.”

  The three kids stared at the kitchen door.

  “And she smells like French fries!” Josh said.

  Aunt Freda walked over to their booth. “My, you did a good job on those fries,” she said. “Anything else?”