Ice Mummy

Ice Mummy

Chapter 1 AN AMAZING DISCOVERY It is September 19, 1991, a bright, sunny day. German tourists Helmut and Erika Simon are hiking in snow-covered mountains. The mountains are called the Alps. The Simons are near the border where Austria meets Italy. They have hiked here many times before. There is usually snow on the ground, even in the summer. But this year the weather has been warm. There is not as much snow as usual. Suddenly Erika sees something odd sticking up in the snow. What could it be? At first Helmut thinks it is a doll's head. He is wrong.

“ It's a man! ” cries Erika. The man lies facedown, half buried in the ice. The Simons look closely. The man is dead. Was he a hiker? they wonder. Did he get lost in a storm? Did someone kill him? Quickly they take a photograph of the body. Then they hurry to the next hikers' shelter to report their discovery.

The man who runs the shelter calls the police right away. The Alps can be dangerous. The trails are rocky and steep. Fast-moving storms can catch hikers off guard. Sometimes hikers die. The police are called to bring out the bodies.

The police are very busy. They cannot come that day. They cannot come the next day, either. The man who runs the shelter decides to hike up the mountain to see the body for himself. How strange! the man thinks. He has seen people frozen in the ice before. Their skin always looks white and waxy. But the skin of this body is brown and dry. That's not all. Broken pieces of carved wood are scattered around the body. And the body is dressed in clothing made of animal skins. It gives the man from the shelter an odd feeling. This body must be very old. How old? He thinks it might be a hundred years old. . .