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

reveal a small hallway.“Hold on,” she told the other girls. “What’s in here?”
    â€œLucy, let’s just go,” said Daria impatiently.
    â€œOne second,” Lucy whispered back.
    She peeked her head in and then began to walk through. Right now, it was pretty dark, with only the museum’s nighttime lights illuminating the displays. It was more of the same stuff she was so used to seeing in the Egyptian wing. Inscribed jewelry, marble jars, and stone statues. Why these were hidden, Lucy had no idea.
    And that’s when Lucy noticed it. At first she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but there it was in front of her, as plain as day.
    â€œJane, Megan, Daria,” she whispered. Her voice was barely audible.
    The other three girls joined her in the corridor and Lucy pointed ahead.
    At the end of the small hallway stood a sarcophagus only a little taller than the four girls. Its painted face should have been staring back at them. But it wasn’t. Instead the massive stone lid of this sarcophagus had been moved and pushed open. It must have weighed hundreds of pounds.
    And with the lid off, the girls could see that there was nothing at all inside the sarcophagus.
    Megan had been peeking fearfully over Jane’s shoulder. When she finally spoke, she sounded stunned.
    â€œIt’s empty! Jane, you were—you were right after all.”
    Her voice was rising to a scream.
    â€œA mummy is loose in this museum!”

CHAPTER 8
    â€œShut up, Megan!” hissed Jane, Lucy, and Daria in unison.
    â€œThe last thing we want to do is attract another guard’s attention,” Jane said.
    â€œBut the mummy climbed out! It could be anywhere!” whimpered Megan.
    â€œIt did not climb out,” Daria said emphatically. “Don’t be dumb. There are all kinds of reasons a sarcophagus might be open.”
    â€œLike what ?” said Megan.
    â€œWell—for cleaning,” said Daria after a second. “Even a sarcophagus probably has to get cleaned once in a while. And look!” She pointed to a dark square on the wall. “All these sarcophagi should have informationplaques. But you can see that this one’s card is missing.”
    â€œThat doesn’t prove anything about the sarcophagus.” Megan sounded sulky.
    â€œOf course it does. It proves they’re changing something or moving something or—well—doing something with this exhibit. Or maybe there was never any mummy in this sarcophagus. Maybe some grave robber stole it centuries ago. Maybe the museum didn’t bother putting a plaque up because this one is just for decoration. Think about it.”
    â€œWell, I don’t care. I hate this place. Let’s get back to the Great Hall. We go out that way.” Megan pointed at a distant exit sign. And for once, all four girls agreed on something, and they followed Megan out of the exhibit.
    â€œBefore we go back, can we eat something?” asked Lucy a few minutes later. “I’m starving. Do you think the restaurant where we had dinner is still open?”
    â€œNow that you mention it, I’m hungry too,” said Jane.
    â€œ I’m too upset to eat anything ,” said Megan, dramatically. “But maybe my appetite will pick up when we’re out of this exhibit. It would probably be good for me to have a snack.”
    There was no chance of getting lost on the way to therestaurant—it was right off the main lobby. But the girls walked in silence. They were all tired. Even with their discovery of the open sarcophagus, they hadn’t actually seen anything and were all weary from the night’s adventure.
    Unfortunately the museum restaurant wasn’t going to solve any problems for them. A big security grate had been pulled across the entrance.
    Jane sighed as they headed back to the lobby. “Why didn’t I eat more at dinner?”
    â€œI think there’s a vending machine