Curse of the mummy's tomb

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Sari and I pushed our way through them, trying to lose ourselves in the crowd.
Finally, we came to a stop near the entrance of what appeared to be a large department store. Breathing
hard, I rested my hands on my knees, leaned forward, and tried to catch my breath.
"We've lost him," Sari said, staring back in the direction from which we'd come.
"Yeah. We're okay," I said happily. I smiled at her, but she didn't return the smile.
Her face was filled with fear. Her eyes continued to stare into the crowd. One hand tugged nervously at a
strand of her hair.
"We're okay," I repeated. "We got away."
"There's only one problem," she said quietly, her eyes still on the crowd bustling toward us on the
sidewalk.
"Huh? Problem?"
"Now we're lost," she replied, finally turning to face me. "We're lost, Gabe. We don't know where we
are."
I suddenly had a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I started to utter a frightened cry.
But I forced myself to hold it in.
I forced myself to pretend I wasn't afraid.
Sari had always been the brave one, the winner, the champ. And I was always the wimp. But now I
could see that she was really scared. This was my chance to be the cool one, my chance to show her who
was really the champ.
"No problem," I told her, gazing up at the tall glass and concrete buildings. "Well just ask somebody to
direct us to the hotel."
"But no one speaks English!" she cried, sounding as if she were about to cry.
"Uh . . . no problem," I said, a little less cheerily. "I'm sure someone . . ."
"We're lost," she repeated miserably, shaking her head. "Totally lost."
And then I saw the answer to our problem parked at the curb. It was a taxi, an empty taxi.
"Come on," I said, tugging her arm. I pulled her to the taxi. The driver, a thin, young man with a wide
black mustache and stringy black hair falling out of a small gray cap, turned around in surprise as Sari
and I climbed into the back seat.
"The Cairo Center Hotel," I said, glancing reassuringly at Sari.
The driver stared back at me blankly, as if he didn't understand.
"Please take us to the Cairo Center Hotel," I repeated slowly and clearly.
And then he tossed back his head, opened his mouth, and started to laugh.
10
The driver laughed till tears formed in the corners of his eyes.
Sari grabbed my arm. "He's working for Ahmed," she whispered, squeezing my wrist. "We've walked
right into a trap!"
"Huh?" I felt a stab of fear in my chest.
I didn't think she was right.
She couldn't be right!
But I didn't know what else to think.
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