Ben got out of his sleeping bag and floated through the classroom door.
Ahead of him the shadowy figure was creeping down the corridor.
Ben floated after him.
"Who is that?" he thought.
The figure was holding some sort of book.
"Hey!" Ben called out, and the figure whirled around in surprise.
"Waldo!" Ben exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
"Phew! Thank goodness it's you!" Waldo looked relieved to see Ben.
"I couldn't sleep," the wizard explained.
"I kept thinking about Uncle Tut. I promised Cleo that I'd help her wake him up.
I've brought my spell book this time. I'm sure I can wake him up."
Ben didn't want to hurt Waldo's feelings.
But the wizard's spells rarely worked, and so many things had already gone wrong on this field trip.
"Um, Waldo, do you think a spell is safe?" Ben asked carefully.
"I mean, what if you make a mistake? Dr. Bones is already furious at us, and Miss Bungle said—"
"It'll be fine," Waldo said. "It can't hurt to try, right?"
"Um . . ." Ben didn't know what to say, so he just nodded slowly.
"Okay, well, I'll come with you, just in case something happens.
How are we going to get to Uncle Tut?
Al Normal said he locked the main entrance at eight o'clock."
"I bet we can go through the construction site, if we're careful," Waldo said.
"I saw some construction workers entering the museum from the education wing."
"Okay," Ben said with a shrug. "I guess we can try."
He and Waldo slipped downstairs to the first-floor construction area.
As they got closer, they noticed someone else had gotten there first.
"Cleo!" Ben whispered.
"What are you doing here?"
"I can't wait until morning," Cleo whispered back.
"I need to rescue my uncle now!"
Waldo held up his spell book. "Don't worry. We'll figure this out."
Ben looked around uneasily.
"Let's go," he whispered. "Before we get caught."
The three monsters examined the construction area.
It was still filled with scaffolding, tools, buckets, partially finished walls, and other obstacles.
Ben knew he'd have no trouble getting through, but his friends might.
"I'll go first," Ben said.
"I'll try to warn you guys about obstacles in our way."
Cleo and Waldo nodded, and Ben floated into the construction area.
"These workers are really sloppy," he whispered to Waldo and Cleo, who were following close behind.
"They've left buckets and tools everywhere. Watch your step."
"We will," Waldo replied.
"Ouch!" said Cleo.
Ben whirled around. "What's wrong?"
"My wrapping got caught on that nail."
She laughed nervously. "It would be really embarrassing if I unraveled."
They started forward again.
"Whoops!" said Waldo as something crashed loudly to the floor.
"What's wrong now?" Ben turned and saw Waldo lying on the ground, holding his ankle.
"I tripped on something," Waldo said.
"I twisted my ankle." He rubbed it. "Ouch."
"Can you stand?" Ben asked.
"Sure. I—Yow!" Waldo yelped as he stood, and his leg buckled under him.
Cleo looked worried. "I think you sprained your ankle, Waldo," she said.
"Or worse. We'll have to go back."
"No!" Waldo protested. "We can't give up on Uncle Tut."
"Look at you, Waldo," Cleo whispered.
"You can't walk. And if we get caught . . ."
"I can keep going," Ben said.
"I can move much more quickly than you guys. I can wake Uncle Tut on my own."
Cleo looked torn. "Are you sure, Ben?" she asked.
Ben shrugged. "I'll try my best."
"Thanks," Cleo said. She flashed him a grateful smile.
"I'll take Waldo back upstairs. I have some extra wrapping.
I bet I can wrap his ankle without Miss Bungle or Mr. Freaky finding out."
"Good luck!" Waldo whispered as Ben continued floating through the construction site.
Without the other two monsters slowing him down, Ben quickly made his way into the main part of the museum.
He floated toward the Egyptian display.
But before he could enter, he saw two figures sneaking into the exhibit.
"That's interesting," Ben thought. "Some other students are sneaking around the museum."
Ben floated toward a papyrus display.
Now he could see two zombies prowling around, whispering furiously to each other.
As Ben drew closer, he spotted something glinting in their pale hands.
"Huh," Ben thought. "What is that?
It looks like gold—" He gasped out loud. It was jewelry.
"Yikes!" he thought. "Those zombies haven't come to help Uncle Tut.
They're stealing the jewels from the Egyptian exhibit!"