Free Off the Wall by P.J. Night Page A

something might happen!” Megan looked pleadingly at Lucy.
    â€œI could walk her back,” Jane offered, trying to seize the opportunity to end this little adventure.
    â€œNo,” said Daria, simply. “The three of us are in this together.”
    Jane was too tired to protest.
    â€œPlease let me come with you on your errand. I can help!” Megan whined.
    â€œI don’t think that would be a good idea. You wouldn’t like it, I promise,” said Lucy.
    Megan crossed her arms defiantly. “Well, I promise you that if you don’t tell me, I’ll start screaming rightnow. And I’m really good at screaming. Do you want to hear me?”
    She stretched her mouth open and drew in a big breath.
    â€œFine,” said Jane. “You can come with us. It’s okay.”
    Still holding her mouth wide open, Megan made a questioning sound in her throat.
    â€œBut you have to promise you won’t scream if you come with us,” Jane added.
    Megan snapped her mouth shut. “I promise,” she said.
    â€œWait,” Jane said. “Let us tell you what we’re doing before you decide. If you end up not wanting to come, you can walk back to the Great Hall. But either way, you can’t tell anyone about this.”
    Megan nodded, and the three other girls quickly filled her in. The argument about the mummy at dinner. The bet. The search so far. Being chased by the guard. Seeing the cat that led them to her.
    When they’d finished, Megan said—pretty calmly, for her—“If you think I’m going back to the Great Hall alone to wait for a mummy to come in and shred me with its hook, you’re crazy.”
    â€œUm, Megan? It’s pirates who have hooks,” Lucy corrected her.
    â€œWhatever. If a mummy rips me to shreds with its hook, my parents will sue the museum. I’m just saying. I’ll go back to the Great Hall, but not without you guys. You have to come with me.”
    â€œYou know, maybe we should give up anyway,” said Lucy slowly. “Even if the mummy’s out there, it’s not standing there waiting for us to find it. It’s probably moving around too. And the museum’s way too big for us to search the whole thing.” She turned to Daria. “Let’s just say you’re right. There’s no mummy.”
    Daria looked very smug. “You sure wasted a lot of time figuring that out.”
    â€œIt wasn’t a waste of time,” Lucy protested. “We had fun. Didn’t we, Jane?”
    â€œI guess we did,” replied Jane. She was surprised to realize that it was true.
    And she was happy that this ordeal would soon all be over.
    â€œNow all we have to do is find our way back,” said Daria.

    â€œI knew we’d get lost,” fretted Megan a few minutes later. “Remember how Willow said this place is like a maze? We could be trapped here for weeks! Don’t you think we should scream until a guard finds us?”
    â€œNo, no! Terrible idea. Look, there’s a sign for the Egyptian wing,” said Lucy. “We can retrace our steps to the Great Hall from there.”
    â€œDoesn’t it seem like days since we were last here?” said Jane as they passed through the entrance to the Egyptian exhibit.
    â€œMore like years. Centuries. ” Lucy yawned with all of her body. She felt so tired, she could have fallen over right there, but instead she put a hand out to steady herself against the wall. Except Lucy’s hand didn’t stop at the wall—it went right through—and Lucy almost fell over for real.
    â€œWhat?” Lucy said to no one in particular.
    â€œWhat is it?” asked Jane.
    Lucy studied the dusty, dark curtain that her hand was gripping. Its color blended perfectly with the paint color of the wall, but even so, Lucy couldn’t believe that for all her times in this museum, she’d never noticed it before. She pulled it back to