Frankie stood in front of the marble statue. He checked the question on his handout.

“Who ruled the Roman Empire in 60 AD?”

He read the little card on the wall.

THE EMPEROR NERO (RULED 54-68 AD)

Wow! he thought. That’s nearly two thousand years ago!

He wrote the answer: Nero.

Frankie heard the shuffle of footsteps and turned to see his friend Charlie dragging his feet. He was carrying his clipboard in his hands.

“This museum is the most boring place in the universe,” said Charlie.

“More boring than math class with Ms. Brown?” asked Frankie, grinning.

“Okay, the second most boring place,” said Charlie. “I can’t believe they canceled soccer practice for this.” He flopped onto the bottom step of the staircase, tossed the clipboard aside, and rested his chin in his gloved hands. Frankie saw Charlie had filled in some of the answers, but not many.

“Ahem!” said a voice. Mr. Donald strode out from behind another statue. “Charles, I don’t see how you’re going to complete your assignment unless you take those goalkeeping gloves off.”

Frankie saw his friend quickly hide his clipboard. “I answered all the questions,” said Charlie.

“Oh, really?” asked Mr. Donald, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t see how that’s possible. You haven’t even visited the Egyptian gallery yet and we have to leave in fifteen minutes.”

Charlie blushed. “Just going now,” he said. With a sigh he stood up and began to climb the stairs.

“Wait for me,” said Frankie. “I’m finished with the Roman questions.”

“Good job,” said Mr. Donald. “Your friend Louise is already up there. Almost done, I believe.”

“She would be!” grumbled Charlie.

As they followed the sign to the Egyptian gallery, they passed the café. Loud shouts and laughter came from inside. A moment later, Frankie’s brother, Kevin, and his friends spilled out. When his eyes landed on Frankie, he stopped laughing and sneered.

“It’s the Dork Squad!” he said. “Have you answered all of Donaldo’s questions yet?”

“Just keep walking,” Frankie whispered to Charlie. He’d hoped he wouldn’t bump into his brother’s class. They were at the museum, too, researching their own history projects.

Frankie and Charlie found Louise in the Egyptian room inspecting a green jar on a glass shelf. “This belonged to a pharaoh,” she said when she spotted them.

“A fair-what?” asked Charlie.

Louise rolled her eyes. “‘Pharaoh’ was the name ancient Egyptians gave their king,” she said.

“Yeah, I knew that,” mumbled Charlie.

“They used this jar to store the heart after the pharaoh was mummified,” said Louise.

“Yuck!” said Frankie. He checked his handout. “We have to find the names of five Egyptian gods,” he added. “Apparently the Egyptians worshipped more than sixty!”

“I’ve got four already,” said Louise. She grinned and hid her answer sheet as Charlie peered over her shoulder. “Don’t copy me!”

Frankie wasn’t interested in Louise’s answers. He was looking at something in the center of the room, separated by a red rope. It was like an open coffin standing on its end. The lid was decorated with the face and body of a man. He wore a colorful headdress, painted gold and red, and he had a strange, thin beard. Across his clothes were hundreds of tiny symbols.

“Check that out,” Frankie said.

“That’s the mummy’s sarcophagus,” said Louise.

“Sark-off-a-what?” asked Charlie.

“Like a coffin,” said Louise. “When a pharaoh died, his body was preserved as a mummy, then the mummy was put inside a sarcophagus, and then in a pyramid.”

Frankie marveled at the amazing painted details.

The card next to the exhibit read: SARCOPHAGUS OF UNKNOWN PHARAOH.

“I wonder what all the little pictures mean,” said Charlie.

“They’re called hieroglyphs,” said Louise.

“Hire-oh-what?” said Charlie, smiling. “Only kidding.”

Frankie peered even closer, right into the golden eyes of the unknown pharaoh. Then he felt his bag strap pull on his shoulder, almost dragging him off his feet. He spun around to see Kevin grabbing his bag.

“Hey! I’m not finished with you, little brother.”

“Give that back!” yelled Frankie.

“Ooh … scary!” said his brother. He unzipped Frankie’s bag and tipped it upside down. Out fell Frankie’s pencil case, his lunchbox, and his books. And, last of all, his battered soccer ball. He dropped the bag at Frankie’s feet.

“Pass it here!” said Kevin’s friend Liam.

Before Frankie could react, Kevin backheeled the ball to Liam.

“Don’t do that!” said Louise. “You’ll break something!”

“What are you scared of?” asked Kevin’s friend Matt. “The mummy’s curse?”

Charlie went to get the ball, but Liam chipped it over his shoulder to Rob. All Kevin’s friends were laughing. Frankie stuffed his things into his bag and sprang to his feet.

“Come and get your ball,” said Rob, stepping over it.

Frankie ran at him, his blood pumping. Rob tried to go around him, but Frankie kept his eye on the ball and tackled him. The ball spun up into the air, straight toward the ancient green jar.

Frankie, and everyone else, sucked in a breath.

The ball just missed the jar and rolled under the rope, toward the mummy’s sarcophagus.

“What are you kids up to?” said a voice over the silence. It was Mrs. Murray, Kevin’s history teacher. She might only have been five feet tall and about a hundred years old, but Frankie knew they were terrified of her. “Don’t you have work to do?” she said.

Kevin and his friends all scattered quickly, muttering “Yes, Mrs. Murray” and “Sorry.”

Mrs. Murray glared at Frankie, then followed them out of the room.

“Whew!” said Louise. “That jar is priceless!”

Frankie blew out a long breath and went to get his ball. He stopped right in his tracks when he saw the ball had somehow rolled inside the sarcophagus. “Weird,” he said.

“What?” asked Charlie.

Frankie pointed over at the sarcophagus. “Did you put it in there?”

Both Louise and Charlie shook their heads.

Frankie edged closer. He was going to have to step over the rope to get the ball. He looked up, checking for cameras. If Mr. Donald sees me, I’m going to be in deep trouble.

As he lifted a leg over the rope, the painted gold eyes of the pharaoh watched him intently. Frankie didn’t believe in a mummy’s curse, but he couldn’t help shuddering.

He reached out for the ball, heart thumping.

Then, with no one touching it, the sarcophagus lid snapped shut.