Nipper inched forward through the dimly lit hall. The only light came from the gaps around the panel behind him, so the farther he crawled, the darker it became. Soon he was in total darkness.

He stopped crawling and reached over his shoulder. He unzipped his backpack and fumbled around inside until he felt the headlamp he had borrowed from his dad’s office, and he pulled it out. He twisted a knob on the side of the square bulb, and it lit up.

“Wruf!” barked Dennis, and the incredibly bright bulb in his dog collar switched on.

“Gaah!” Nipper exclaimed, dropping the headlamp and covering his face with his hands. “Off, off!”

“Wruf!” the dog barked again, and the light switched off.

Nipper uncovered his eyes. He picked up the headlamp and stretched the elastic band around his head, illuminating the hallway. It was about three feet high and the walls were smooth. The bright lights revealed that he’d already crawled about a third of the way to their destination.

Nipper reached into the backpack again, took out the radio, and flipped the switch.

“And that’s the end of the third inning. The Yankees trail the Red Sox by three!”

“Okay, follow me,” he said to Dennis. “Let’s go.”

He switched off the radio and started crawling down the tunnel again. There were only six innings to go.

Slowly he made his way through the tunnel, dust sparkling in the beam of the headlamp. Then, a flash! A shaft of bright light beamed into the tunnel, and Nipper froze. He relaxed when he remembered that mirrors lined the chamber ahead. He climbed to his feet. Then, cautiously, he stepped through the opening into an eerie round room.

Beams of light bounced in every direction. Every surface glowed.

Except for the floor.

In the center of the room was a horrible black circular void.

But that was okay, he reminded himself. It was the reason why he had traveled so far to reach this place.

“It’s almost goodbye time,” Nipper said, patting his front pocket as if the emerald scorpion could hear him.

The room was just as it had been the last time he’d been there. The floor surrounding the pit was lined with cracked clay tiles and a layer of dried crud. Nipper scanned the walls, which were covered in carvings of fish, birds, sea creatures, and skulls. He thought the Egyptian art in the temple and museum above was interesting and cool. Down here, everything was strange and creepy.

Between the carvings, silver mirrors hung from brackets on the walls, reflecting rays of light around the chamber. Nipper guessed that this is what it would feel like to be inside a disco ball. It made him uncomfortable. He really didn’t like being inside balls anymore.

He flipped the switch on the radio.

“Triple play! The Yankees are out at first, second, and third base!”

Nipper’s heart raced. Was that the end of the game?

“As we go to the top of the fifth, the score is Boston, three, New York…zero.”

He let out a sigh of relief and switched off the radio. “I made it with five innings to spare.”

Nipper inched forward to the edge of the pit. He pictured himself covered with goo, slipping and sliding toward this pit the last time he was there. If Samantha hadn’t pinned his shirt to the floor with her umbrella, he would have tumbled over the edge. He would have disappeared forever.

Dennis growled softly, watching him approach the pit.

“It’s okay,” said Nipper. “I’m not going into that hole.”

Dennis kept growling.

Nipper reached into his backpack and felt the box of granola bars. He took out two and tossed them onto the floor in front of Dennis.

“You stay here,” said Nipper. “Have a snack…and keep quiet.”

Nipper turned back to face the pit. Carefully he leaned over and peered into the darkness. He could see maybe twenty feet down. Was it as bottomless as he thought? He reached into his pocket and took out the shiny, silver-colored penny Uncle Paul had given him. He held it out over the pit, let go, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

There was no sound. But did that mean the pit was truly bottomless, or was it just so deep that anything you dropped was way out of hearing range before it touched the bottom? Nipper figured it didn’t really matter. He was pretty sure that once something went in there, it was gone for good. That was his plan.

It was time.

Nipper reached into his pocket again and felt the sharp point of the emerald scorpion’s pincers. He pulled the evil ring from his pocket and examined it.

The cursed thing had come from this place. Now he was going to make sure it stayed down here for good.

Dennis had begun growling again, but Nipper ignored him.

“Here goes everything,” he said.

Nipper closed his eyes and stretched his arm out over the big dark pit.

“So long, evil ancient Egyptian curse,” he said. “One…two…two and a half…”

And something snatched the ring from his hand.