Free Curse of the Mummy's Uncle by J. Scott Savage Page B

and knocking the flashlight out of his hands. Wrapped in Carter’s yarn, like a fly in a spiderweb, Nick could only watch in terror as the dark figure turned Angelo around.
    â€œWhat are you boys doing down here?” a stern voice asked.
    â€œDr. Canul,” Nick said, a wave of relief washing over him. A bright light shined in his eyes, almost completely blinding him.
    â€œI told you three to stay in your tents.”
    â€œWe, um, had to go to the bathroom,” Carter said,trying to untangle the yarn from himself and Nick.
    â€œThe bathroom ? At this time of night?” Dr. Canul’s dark eyes glared at each of the boys. “And you chose to do it inside one of the greatest archaeological digs of this century?”
    Nick felt something sharp jabbing him in the back, and retrieved one of Carter’s knitting needles. “Well, we didn’t exactly go to the bathroom. We were going to, but . . .”
    â€œWe saw flashlights,” Angelo jumped in. “And we were afraid thieves were breaking into the pyramid. And look who we found. Maybe you can explain what you’re doing down here at this time of night.”
    The doctor’s thin lips pressed so tightly together that they looked sharp enough to slice cheese. “I have no need to answer to a bunch of trespassing children. But if you must know, my men discovered a new cache of valuable pieces just after dinner. I wanted to get them safely stored and cataloged before morning.”
    â€œPieces?” Angelo asked. “Are you sure you don’t mean alien artifacts ?”
    â€œAliens?” Dr. Canul sputtered. “Is that what this is about? Please tell me you’re not one of those crazies.” He rolled his eyes. “ Take me to your leader .”
    Angelo dropped his head. Nick couldn’t help feeling sorry for his friend.
    â€œWhat are these?” Dr. Canul asked, picking up the bag of swabs.
    Carter snatched it out of his hand. “Q-tips.”
    The doctor narrowed his eyes.
    Carter stuck a finger into one ear and twisted it. “Jungles give me nasty earwax. I could start a candle factory.”
    Dr. Canul puffed out his cheeks and exhaled loudly.
    â€œThere’s something down here,” Nick said, pointing past the archaeologist. “I heard it whispering.”
    Dr. Canul rolled his eyes. “Did you really?” He waggled his fingers in the air. “Maybe it’s ghosts. Booo . Booo .”
    â€œI heard it too,” Carter said. “It was kind of a whooshing sound.”
    â€œWe all heard it,” Angelo agreed.
    â€œCome with me.” Dr. Canul marched them around the corner to a small waterfall dropping into a pool of deep blue water. “What you heard was this. You boys could easily have stumbled into it in the dark. And drowned.”
    The archaeologist pointed to the stairs. “This is exactly the sort of reason you shouldn’t be here. And Iwill see to it that you do not step a foot inside this site again. You three will return to your tents, where I will wake up your parents and tell them exactly what you have done.”
    â€œThat won’t be necessary,” Nick said, thinking of his mom’s reaction. “You have things to do here, and we can tell them ourselves.”
    The tall, bearded man shook his head and marched them up the stairs.
    Nick gulped. This wasn’t going to be pretty.
    â€œI can’t believe you did something like that,” Mom growled. It was seven o’clock the next morning, and she was still furious. “If we were home, I’d ground you for the rest of your life. I’m tempted to leave you in the tent for the rest of the day.”
    Angelo opened his mouth, but Nick shook his head. He knew his parents well enough to understand that nothing he and his friends said now would make a difference. Besides, he could just imagine his parents’ response to one of Angelo’s rambling lectures on how the