The Alternate Ending

An Alternate Ending to The Mummy The Will and The Crypt
Original book by John Bellairs



Johnny woke up suddenly. He sat up and rubbed his eyes to find he was in a hospital. Grandpa, the Proffesor,and Fergie were there. Grandpa’s eyes look red and puffy as if he had been crying. They were all looking grim and cheerless. Suddenly, Johnny remembered the whole reason why he had snuck up to the Squam House, has creeped into the haunted estate at midnight, had been chased by a mummified Chad Glomus, and had almost been burnt to a crisp.
“Where’s Grandma?” Johnny asked. When nobody answered, but merely looked gravely at each other, Johnny raised his voice and asked again. “Where is Grandma? Why isn’t she here? Where…”
“Grandma’s surgery… failed. I’m sorry Johnny,” Grandpa said without taking his eyes off the floor. He didn’t want Johnny to see that he was crying. Johnny was looking from the Professor, to Fergie, and back to the Professor with a look that suggested he was waiting for one of them to yell “April Fools!” Neither of them did.
Waves of despair crashed over Johnny. This couldn’t be happening! Grandma couldn’t be… Johnny couldn’t bring himself to even think the word. The D word. He wouldn’t be able to bare not ever seeing grandma smile again, or hear her laugh. Even though he had a giant headache and was hurting all over, he attempted to get up.
“No, Johnny. You can’t get up. You have a concussion. Lay down and just rest,” said the professor.
A couple of days later Johnny was back home, thinking that life was just going to back to normal when a white limousine pulled up into the driveway. Two women stepped out of it. One of them was very rich looking and was carrying an envelope. The other one looked remotely familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen her before. She looked pale and had scraggly blonde hair.
“Are you Johnny Dixon?” asked the rich looking one when he came to the door.
“Yes…” Johnny replied falteringly.
“I am Annabelle Glomus. This is for you Johnny,” the woman said, handing the envelope to Johnny. He took it and opened it slowly with shaking hands. Inside it was $10,000.
“For finding the will?” Johnny asked. The woman smiled warmly at him and nodded. Johnny could hardly talk, but he managed to say, “But I… I can’t accept this, Mam’. I didn’t find it.”
“Come on. You can’t turn that down, Johnny,” said the pale blonde woman, At first Johnny was scared because she knew him and he didn’t know her, but then she smiled at him and he remembered where he had seen her before.
“But, but, that’s impossible! Your dead!” he cried!
“No I’m not! If I were dead I wouldn’t be here!” replied Johnny’s mother.
Pretty soon they were all gathered around the dining table; Johnny, Grandpa, Johnny’s mother (named Josephine) and even Annabelle Glomus.
“So Josephine, will you please explain why you faked being dead?” asked Grandpa impatiently.
“Calm down, Peter! And I did not fake my death! Just let me explain!” Josephine continued, “Johnny was just a baby when it happened. Me and my sister Darlene were out walking one night. We were kidnapped, took away. Everyone thought that I had died but it was actually Darlene. We were identical twins and the kidnappers had switched our wallets to bamboozle the police. I’ve been looking for you forever Johnny! Trying to find out where you live, any trace even the faintest that might point me to your wherabouts. And then a week ago I bought the paper. And there you were on the front, my little baby!” Josephine concluded. Grandpa let out a low whistle. Josephine was crying tears of happiness while hugging Johnny as if she’d never let go.
As she sniffled Josephine stated, “And there’s more Johnny! Come with me everybody!” They ran outside and there standing in the driveway, leaning nonchalantly was a weather-beaten Aaron Dixon, Johnny’s father. So the Dixons were back together, at least for now.

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