“Awesome!” said Bab. “Where to? Tokyo? New York? The NASA space centre?”
“No. We’re off to the ancient Incan cities of Peru!”
Bab looked at her sideways. “Mum . . . you do know that means more mummies and ruins, right?”
The Prof gave him a cheeky wink. “How could I resist?”
At first, Bab felt a bit guilty about leaving Mumphis behind. After all, he was Pharaoh again. But then he realised that, unlike his mum, he wasn’t going to be around for thousands of years. It was about time the Animal Mummies learned to look after themselves.
So he assembled all the townsfolk in the square and spoke to them through one of the Mumphis microphones powered by mummy magic.
“I know you guys find it hard to remember what to do sometimes,” Bab said to the gathered townsfolk.
“I don’t,” said Phil the Dog Mummy, raising a paw. “Wait, sorry, what were you saying, Pharaoh? I’ve forgotten.”
Bab smiled. “It’s okay, Phil. I just don’t want Mumphis to fall apart like it did after I lost the Pharaoh’s Beard. So I’ve made something for while I’m away. If you ever need to know how to fix stuff, or what time to go to bed at night, just read these instructions. Elephant Mummies, bring ’em out!”
Six Elephant Mummies dragged a huge sandstone wall out from behind the Pyramid. Bab had spent several days, with his mum’s help, painting hieroglyphs all over it. The pictures told the Animal Mummies what to do in lots of different situations: how to count, how to do your shopping, how to get dressed, how to rebuild a collapsed awning.
Bab had changed since he’d first come to Mumphis. Back then, he was a frightened kid who’d never been in charge of anything beyond his own bedroom. He’d had no encounters with magic or mummies. Today, he felt like a real leader, ready to call the shots – most of the time, anyway. And he’d dealt with more magic than most actual magicians.
He’d been through plenty of pain, too, outside and in. He’d faced death, even been dead. And he’d lost his dad, twice.
He was a tougher, wiser Bab Sharkey.
But there’s still plenty of life in front of me, he knew.
“See you guys in a bit!” he announced. The Animal Mummies waved and whistled, and some of them dabbed tears away with bits of papyrus. Bab waved back and headed for the Sharkey Shack to pack his things.
“And don’t you two forget about me,” he said to Scaler and Prong. “I expect some cold, bandagey hugs when I come back.”
His two best friends just grinned at him and waved.
It’s good they’re not too sad about me going, he thought. They need some independence. But man, I feel way sadder than them!
Bab felt even sadder when he and Prof Sharkey checked into their hotel room in Peru.
“What’s the matter, Babby-Boo?” his mum asked.
“Nothing really,” Bab mumbled. “I’m excited to be here, I just miss Mumphis a little. That place is my home now, you know?”
“Don’t worry, Bab, we’ll soon take your mind off it. The archaeological wonders of Peru are truly a . . . Waaaarghh!”
Prof Sharkey sprang backwards as she popped open her suitcase. Instead of finding her luggage inside, a big mummified fish popped out.
“Didn’t mean to scare you, Shoshan,” said Scaler, unable to hide a grin. “But when you announced this little vacation of yours, I decided I felt like a break myself.”
“Scaler!” cried Bab, picking her up and giving her a cold, bandagey hug. “You tricky stowaway.”
Prof Sharkey got up, giggling uncontrollably. “What a cheeky Fish Mummy you are! I do hope you transferred all my luggage into Babby’s suitcase, or I’ll have nothing to wear.”
“Er, here’s the thing,” said Scaler. “Bab didn’t have any spare room in his suitcase.”
“Because I’m in it!” honked Prong, exploding out of Bab’s case in a stink of cheesy bandages.
“Woo-hooo!” screamed Bab. “You two are the best!”
Prof Sharkey cried with laughter. “Well, this has turned into a bigger holiday than I’d planned. Come on you lot, let’s hit the museum!”
“I hope they have a little shop that sells shirts and pants,” said Bab as they headed out.
“And toothpaste,” added the Prof. “Ooh, and marshmallows of course. All that packing for nothing, hee-hee!”
Scaler laughed like a goof. “Hwuk, hwuk! The marshmallows were the one thing we kept in Bab’s suitcase.”
“But I ate them on the way,” Prong admitted, picking bits of marshmallow packet out of her beak. “They were good, but they could use more dust.”
The Incan Museum was an elegant old building with fancy archways and carved pillars. Prof Sharkey bought tickets for Bab and herself. Scaler and Prong were invisible to the lady selling the tickets. She gave Bab an odd look.
“You’re not taking parmesan cheese into the museum, I hope?” she asked.
“Not at all,” said Bab. “Erm, we just ate a big Italian lunch. As you do in Peru.”
In the museum, Prong was delighted by the pretty courtyard in the middle. She went to have a little bathe in the bird bath. Scaler, on the other hand, was amazed by the cool musical instruments the Incas used to use.
“I gotta get my hooves on that flute thing,” she said.
It was the ancient Incan mummies that really wowed them all. Most of them were people, but Bab could scarcely contain his excitement at what he saw inside one glass case. It was an Incan animal mummy!
“What is it?” he asked. “A small, pudgy Puppy Mummy?”
Prof Sharkey peered at the squashy, wrapped creature. “I think it’s a guinea pig. The Incas used to keep them as pets. How adorable!”
Bab noticed that Scaler and Prong were both staring at the mummy as if hypnotised. “Don’t go nuts, you two. These mummies aren’t living like you guys.”
He and his mum moved on to check out some amazing old pots,
