“What am I going to do?” I asked myself out loud.
I can’t let them cut open my brain. I can’t let them operate on me.
I stopped suddenly, grabbing the back of the red couch. I had a sudden flash.
“Megan—are you here?” I called. “Are you back? Are you hiding in here?”
Silence.
“Megan?”
No. Not here.
I was suddenly afraid for her too. The guards had dragged her away when they caught her trying to help me. What had they done to her?
She was General Rameer’s daughter now. He wouldn’t harm her—would he?
Several hard raps on the door made me jump.
The door swung open and Lieutenant Henry swept in, his ponytail flying behind him. He wore the same outfit as on the plane—a green-and-black camouflage jacket over baggy khakis.
His dark eyes glanced around the room, then settled on me. “Excellency,” he said, bowing his tanned head slightly. “Pardon the intrusion.”
I just stared at him. I didn’t know how to reply.
“General Rameer sent me to speak to you,” Lieutenant Henry said. “He wishes for there to be no trouble.”
“Me too,” I murmured. I dropped onto the arm of the couch with a sigh.
“We only ask you to restore the pride of our nation,” Lieutenant Henry continued, speaking emotionally, gesturing with both hands.
“All of our people will rejoice when the mummy of Pukrah is restored to its place in the palace, along with the sapphire.”
He paused, expecting me to say something. But again, I just stared back.
“You will make so many people happy by revealing the mummy’s hiding place,” Lieutenant Henry continued. “Why do you hesitate, Excellency? Why do you make things difficult for everyone?”
I jumped to my feet. “I’m not trying to make things difficult!” I cried. “I’m telling the truth. I don’t remember anything about Pukrah’s mummy. I don’t know anything!”
Lieutenant Henry nodded and made a clicking sound with his tongue and teeth. “Too bad,” he said softly. He waved to the door.
Two brown-uniformed guards stepped into the room.
“Take the boy to surgery,” Lieutenant Henry ordered.
I struggled to escape them. I twisted and squirmed and kicked.
But it was no use.
They forced me to change into a paper surgical robe. A few minutes later, I was lying on my back, strapped down to a metal stretcher.
Four guards wheeled me into an operating room in the basement of the palace. Blinding bright lights flashed on overhead.
Blinking, I stared up at two doctors and a nurse, all in white surgical gowns, white masks over their mouths and noses.
“The operation will be simple,” one of the doctors announced. He grabbed my head in one hand, the way you’d pick up a melon from a grocery shelf.
“We will cut like this,” he said. He scraped his finger along the top of my head. “One long slice. Then we saw open the skull to get to the brain.”
“Please hurry,” I heard a familiar voice say from somewhere behind me. General Rameer’s voice, low and calm. “The whole nation is waiting for that memory chip.”
The other doctor raised a black rubber mask over my head. “First we will put you to sleep,” he said, leaning over me. “When I place this over your mouth and nose, begin taking deep breaths.”
He began to lower the mask.
“No—wait!” I screamed. “Wait— please! I remember now! It all just came back to me! Please—stop! I remember everything!”
“Wait!” I heard General Rameer’s cry from the back of the operating room.
The doctors stepped aside, and the general leaned over me. He stared hard at me, biting his bottom lip, trying to decide if I was telling the truth. He scratched his white curly hair, studying my face.
“Your memory came back to you, Michael?” he asked finally.
“Yes!” I cried. “Everything. It—it was like someone turned a switch.”
General Rameer turned to the doctors. “Unstrap him from the table. The guards will bring him to me in the map room.”
“Should he change into his clothes?” one of the doctors asked.
General Rameer frowned. “No. Leave him in the operating gown. Just in case …”
A few minutes later, I stood in the little basement room surrounded by wall maps.
General Rameer stepped to my side. His walking stick clicked on the floor. He eyed me suspiciously.
“I am so glad your memory returned, Michael,” he said. “The operation would be painful for you. It would take you many months to recover.”
I took a deep breath. His words sent a sharp pain shooting through my head. I imagined a knife cutting through my brain.
“Yeah. I’m glad too,” I murmured, avoiding his probing eyes. “It all just came back to me—in a flash.”
“Very good, very good,” he muttered.
He guided me to the orange-and-yellow wall map we had studied that morning. “Okay, here we are,” he said, moving the tip of the stick across the star that marked the Royal Palace.
“Show me, Michael. Show me what you remember. Where will we find the sacred mummy and its hidden jewel?”
I turned to the map. My eyes swept over the desert and its dozens of rock cliffs and caves.
I couldn’t focus. I was too frightened. They were all a blur to me.
“Can you find the mummy’s hiding place on this map?” General Rameer urged. “Can you point to the location, Michael?” I could hear the impatience growing in his voice.
“Well …” I ran my hand over the middle of the map.
A wave of panic swept over me. My heart raced. I struggled to keep breathing normally. But my throat was so tight, I made a wheezing sound with each breath.
What am I going to do? I asked myself.
I don’t have a clue about the mummy’s hiding place.
I don’t know anything.
But I can’t let them cut into my brain. I can’t!
I’ll stall him, I decided. I’ll pick a cave that’s really far away. And then …
Then …
Maybe I can escape before he finds out it’s a wild goose chase.
Wild goose chase. That was one of my dad’s expressions. He said that all the time.
I pictured Mom and Dad back home in Long Island.
Then I remembered that they may not be my mom and dad.
“Michael? I’m waiting.” General Rameer’s voice broke into my troubled thoughts.
“Uh … yeah.”
I pointed to a cave way down at the bottom of the map. “Pukrah’s mummy is hidden in the back of this cave,” I told him, trying to keep my voice from trembling.
The general narrowed his eyes at me. Studied my face for a long moment.
I turned away and concentrated on the map. My chin started to tremble. I covered it with one hand.
“The mummy is … uh … hidden behind a wall of stones,” I added.
Very good, Michael, I congratulated myself.
That’s a nice detail. It makes it sound as if you really know what you are talking about.
General Rameer leaned forward. He brought his face inches from the map and squinted at the cave I had picked.
After a few seconds, he straightened up. “That cave is the hiding place? You are sure?”
My whole body trembled. I hoped he couldn’t see it.
I nodded. “Yes. That’s the one.”
“Very good.” A smile crossed General Rameer’s face. He placed a hand on my shoulder. “We will leave first thing in the morning. You will lead the way.”
I couldn’t get to sleep that night. I was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. A thousand horrifying thoughts raced through my mind.
Moonlight from the window fell on the tall grandfather’s clock against the wall. The clock read 2:00 A.m.
I heard a stirring sound. Soft thuds.
And a hand tightened over my mouth.
Kicking, thrashing, I struggled to sit up.
The bed table light flashed on. And I stared up at Megan.
She raised a finger to her lips. And slowly took her hand from over my mouth. “Ssshhh.”
“You scared me to death!” I wheezed. “How— how did you get in?”
Her green eyes flashed in the yellow light. She tossed her bangs away from her eyes. “Don’t make a sound, Michael,” she warned. “There are four guards outside your door tonight. And they are all awake and alert.”
I sat up against the headboard and straightened my pajama shirt. “What did they do to you?” I whispered. “I mean, after they caught you in here with me?”
“They didn’t do anything,” she replied. “I’m the general’s adopted daughter— remember?”
I nodded.
She dropped down beside me on the edge of the bed. She was dressed entirely in black—black tank top, black skirt over black tights.
“I came to warn you,” she whispered. “Did you tell the general the true hiding place? I hope so.”
I stared at her. I didn’t know what to say. Should I tell her the truth?
She didn’t wait for me to reply. “I hope you told the truth, Michael. These men are desperate—and very cruel. If you lied to them …” Her voice trailed off.
A noise at the window made us both gasp.
Another large insect bumping the glass.
Megan’s eyes locked on mine. “Did they tell you about the curse, Michael?”
“Huh? Curse?” I choked out.
“General Rameer and his men are so superstitious,” Megan whispered. “They were probably too superstitious to tell you about the curse.”
“Tell me,” I insisted.
“The mummy of Pukrah belongs to the people of Jezekiah,” she explained. “It is said that if Pukrah falls into the wrong hands … if his mummy falls into evil hands … Pukrah will walk! Pukrah will walk the earth until the evil is destroyed.”
“Wow,” I murmured.
“The men are all superstitious, Michael,” she continued. “Sure, they want to own the jewel hidden inside the mummy. But mainly, they want the ancient mummy. They are so superstitious! They don’t believe they can rule the kingdom unless they own the mummy.
“It is totally important to them,” Megan continued. “So if you are trying to fool them …”
I let out a long sigh. Could I tell her the truth? Could I tell her my horrible secret?
No, I decided.
No.
I think I can trust her. But I don’t want to get her into trouble with her new father. I’d better not share my secret with her.
“Everything’s … fine,” I said. But my voice cracked as I said it. She stared at me. “Yes?”
“Yes,” I insisted. “The memory chip—it clicked in. Really. All of a sudden, I remembered everything.”
She continued to stare at me, studying me.
“I looked at that map, and it suddenly became so familiar,” I continued. “I knew the right cave as soon as I saw it.”
A smile spread over her face. “Michael —that’s great!” she cried.
“Yeah. Right,” I agreed.
Did she believe me? Yes. I was sure that she did.
“I was so worried about you!” she cried. “I— I didn’t want anything to happen to you!”
“No problem,” I assured her.
Her smile grew even wider. “I’ll be coming along tomorrow,” she declared. “It’ll be so exciting!”
She moved quickly to the window. “See you in the morning,” she whispered.
And then she silently disappeared out the window, leaving the curtains fluttering.
“Yeah, exciting, for sure,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “It’s going to be real exciting.”
I knew that Megan was only trying to help me. But her stories about how cruel and desperate General Rameer’s men were did not help calm me down.
And I knew the story about Pukrah’s curse would give me nightmares for years to come—if I lived that long!
If I lived past tomorrow …
What will they do to me when we get to the cave and the mummy isn’t there? I wondered. What will they do when they learn I was lying?
Kill me on the spot?
Drag me back to the palace, remove the memory chip from my brain—and then kill me?
Why wasn’t the memory chip working?
Because I’m the wrong boy? Because I’m not the son of the kingdom’s rulers? Because a horrible mistake has been made?
These questions repeated and repeated until I felt my brain about to explode!
I lay trembling under the covers, staring up at the ceiling, thinking … thinking.
I didn’t sleep for a moment. I was still wide awake, questions rolling through my mind, when the guards came in to awaken me.
They handed me a green-and-black camouflage suit.
“Excellency, you are to get dressed,” one of them instructed. “We leave at dawn.”
I stood up, stretching, and peered out the window. In the far distance, I saw a thin line of red, the sun beginning to rise at the horizon.
I’m doomed, I realized.
Doomed.
I gulped down a quick breakfast of toast and orange juice. Then the guards led me outside.
A red ball of a sun still hung low on the horizon. It cast a rosy glow over the dozens and dozens of people scurrying around, over soldiers, palace guards, servants.
An endless line of Jeeps and army trucks jammed the road outside the palace. I watched armed soldiers hoisting themselves into the backs of olive-colored troop vans. Servants loaded piles of supplies into smaller trucks.
Whistles blew. I saw Lieutenant Henry in the middle of the road, shouting instructions.
The guards led me through the crowd to the Jeep at the head of the line. Megan stood at the side of the Jeep, wearing a brown-and-green camouflage suit and a brown beret tilted over her hair.
She greeted me with a nod. “Good morning, Excellency,” she said. Her eyes were on the guards at my sides.
“No, it isn’t,” I whispered. I motioned behind me. “I thought we were going on a mummy hunt,” I said. “Why is General Rameer bringing along all these soldiers?”
“For safety,” Megan replied. She pointed to the desert. “There are still many rebel soldiers out there. They haven’t given up. The war continues.”
“Oh, great,” I groaned. “Something else to worry about!”
General Rameer appeared, wearing a brown army uniform, the jacket chest covered with sparkling medals. He clapped me on the back. “A great day!” he declared happily. “A great day for the kingdom of Jezekiah! At last, our national treasure will be back to where it belongs!”
Megan and I exchanged glances.
General Rameer motioned for us to climb into the Jeep. Megan sat up front with the driver. The general and I sat together in the back.
“How long does it take to get to the cave?” I asked him.
He unfolded a map and stretched it across his lap. “We should be there by nightfall,” he replied. He turned to me with a smile. “It is a small kingdom, Michael. It only looks big on this map. You can travel anywhere in Jezekiah in one day.”
One day to live, I thought. I have one day to live.
The general was staring at me. I forced a smile to my face. I didn’t want to let him see how frightened I was.
A van filled with soldiers pulled in front of our Jeep. Two other vans moved to our sides.
We were surrounded by armed men. Their job, I realized, was to protect the general—and me—from rebel attack.
General Rameer stood up in the back of our Jeep and swept his walking stick forward, a signal to move out. A few seconds later, we began to move, slowly at first, then picking up speed on the narrow paved road that led through the desert.
The sun was high in the sky now, and the air grew hot. The road ended after only
a few miles, and the Jeep bounced over sand and rock.
General Rameer studied his map, shouting directions to the driver. I gazed out at the desert that surrounded us.
White rock and yellow sand as far as I could see.
I suddenly felt as if I were on another planet. This must be what it’s like to ride over the surface of the moon, I thought.
Ahead of us, swirls of wind sent sheets of sand rolling over the ground like dry ocean waves. On all sides, tall white rock formations rose up like small mountains.
We passed a tiny, round pool of blue water surrounded by low-leaning palm trees. It looked like a movie set. It didn’t look real.
Beyond the pool, a deep shadow fell over the sand. The shadow of a high rock cliff, dark caves cut into the bottom.
Ugly black-and-white desert birds, tall and scrawny, perched on the rocks. They stood perfectly still, staring down at us as we rumbled past.
The sunlight made the swirling sand sparkle like gold. Tall white granite cliffs gleamed ahead of us.
Strange, beautiful scenery. But of course I couldn’t enjoy any of it.
I knew that every minute in the desert was bringing me closer to my doom.
Every cave we passed, every rock formation, made me shudder.
There’s no escape, I realized. There’s nowhere out here to run.
By tonight, General Rameer will know the truth. The mummy will still be hidden. Everyone will know that I lied, that I led them all to the farthest cave because I didn’t know what else to do.
We stopped for lunch at a flat area surrounded by low rocks.
I pulled Megan aside. I was desperate to talk to her.
“Do you have any ideas?” I demanded. “What am I going to do?”
She squinted at me as if she didn’t know what I was talking about. “I don’t know how I can help you, Excellency,” she replied loudly.
“Huh? Megan?”
I turned and saw my two guards behind me. Listening to every word.
No way I could talk to Megan.
I choked down a sandwich. I don’t know how I swallowed it. My throat was dry as sand, my stomach knotted, rumbling.
I gazed up at the scrawny black-and-white birds perched above us on the rocks. were they desert vultures?
Would they be feasting on me tonight?