"Darbar Aloya Ta," it replied. "Now your name."
Amesh went to reply.
"Ignore it," I said. "Make your demand."
"Should I ask for my wish now?" Amesh asked me.
"First invoke its name. Then make your wish an order."
Amesh nodded at my instruction, which had just popped into my head. Frankly, I felt as if my mind was not my own. I felt like the carpet was still trying to warn me about the djinn, while the djinn was still checking me out.
As Amesh focused on the djinn, he flashed a cocky grin. That worried me. Cockiness and mastery were not identical. In fact, they were usually opposites.
"Darbar Aloya Ta," Amesh said firmly. "I demand you grant me great riches of jewels. A treasure chest full of them."
"Huh?" I gasped. He was asking for money when he should have been asking for a new hand! Money could always be earned; only magic could fix his handicap.
A red mist formed at Amesh's feet. A wind blew, taking the mist and twisting it into a spiral that spun before him, giving off bright sparks, changing into a pillar of fire. I heard a loud popping sound, and a gold chest appeared at Amesh's feet. The jewels inside it sparkled with exotic beauty. The pillar vanished.
I knew I had to get over my shock and watch closely what Amesh did next. The entire night had led to this moment. He had made his wish. It was not the one I had hoped for but it was done. Now he had to return the djinn to its cage and walk away.
But Amesh had fallen to his knees. He was running his fingers through the jewels, lifting them to his lips, kissing them, spilling them over the floor. His eyes were drunk with joy. He looked so happy—I scolded myself for being judgmental. His wish had not been my choice but it had been ... his.
All along I had been wrong. He wanted wealth more than anything. Now it was his. Now he could buy his Papi and Mira whatever they desired. From what I could see, the gems the djinn had given him were priceless. I suspected the richest men in the Middle East would sign over their fortunes to possess them.
Possess. The word haunted me for some reason.
"Do you see what I have! Sa—"
"Don't say my name!" I interrupted. "Not in front of the djinn!"
But the djinn had heard. I heard it whispering to itself.
Sa ... Sa ... Sa...
Amesh made a dismissive gesture. "Don't worry, I'm the one who freed it from the bottle. It owes me. You can't hear everything it's telling me. You can't see it, can you? It says you can't."
"No, I can't see it. But I can hear it, and I know it's telling you what you want to hear. For one thing, it doesn't owe you anything. It already granted you a wish. Remember the laws I told you about. If you make another wish, you will owe it."
Amesh plucked a large ruby from the chest and stared at it hungrily.
He giggled. "What are you talking about? I'm its master. That's why it told me its name. It's under my control. You saw how it obeyed me."
I took a step toward him. Yet I was afraid to step between him and the djinn. I suspected the creature would not allow that.
"Please," I said. "You promised me you'd make just one wish. We have to put the djinn back in its bottle. We have to get out of here."
"Why?" he asked, the silly grin still on his face. He was not hearing everything I said. The djinn had its own dialogue going on inside my friend. It did not want me messing with its plans. No doubt its plan was old, tried and true, for whoever opened its bottle. It probably kept giving the person whatever they wanted, as long as they kept making wishes...
I worried Amesh would make a second wish.
I was terrified he would make a third.
"We're in danger!" I pleaded.
He laughed and stood, shoving a few prized gems in his pocket. He held out a huge pearl to me, which was encircled with a diamond-studded gold band. It was a pendant—the pearl dangled from the end of a gold chain. Amesh came near.
"This one's for you. Take it. It's my gift to you."
He was close enough to slap. I felt I had to knock some sense into him. Mental telepathy, the ability to dominate a person's will—these were not powers I had expected the djinn to have. I realized I had been a fool to go along with Amesh, to help him get even a single wish. Because all of it had just opened a door—the djinn's front door.
I pushed his hand away. Unfortunately, he dropped the pretty pearl, and it bounced over the floor. He took a step back, stunned that I would reject him so blatantly. I wanted to shock him back to his senses.
"Keep your stupid jewel," I said.
His grin was gone, but something else had also vanished. There was a flatness in his gaze I couldn't quite understand. It was as if his inner light had been extinguished.
"What's wrong with my jewels?" he asked. "Not good enough for the proud princess?"
I tried to grab hold of him, to get him to focus on me.
"They belong to you, not me," I said in a clear voice. "They're what you wished for. That's fine; you're rich now. Let's leave this place with your riches. It's time to go." I paused. "Order the djinn back in its bottle."
He blinked at my last remark. I knew why. My words were not jiving with the words he was hearing inside, words he believed were his own thoughts. Yet I could pick up enough of them to know they were coming from the djinn.
Make another wish. Another wish. Don't stop. Make another wish...
Amesh believed he was in control, when he was really the puppet. He staggered back as if drunk and pointed an unsteady finger at me.
"You don't want my jewels because you think I'm a freak."
"That's not true. I think you're a great guy," I said.
"Right!" he shouted. "A great guy who has only one hand! A guy who can hardly dress himself in the morning! Yeah, you admire me, all right."
"It's true. What happened to your hand doesn't matter. You are who you are." I lowered my voice, desperate to reach him. "I never told you this before but it looks like a war wound to me. It makes you look kind of sexy."
He blinked again, this time with interest. "Really?"
I nodded vigorously. "I almost told you that when we met."
But I had gone too far. Doubt crossed his face as his internal war intensified. Again, I heard what the djinn said inside his head.
Hand. Wish for hand back. Hand will impress pretty girl.
Amesh shook his head and took another step back.
"I'll always be ugly in your eyes," he said.
I opened my arms wide. I reached for him, to hug him. I opened my heart. I did everything I could to pull him back from the abyss he was racing toward.
"Don't be silly. You're the cutest guy I've ever met."
"Sara..."
"I have a crush on you, Amesh," I said.
He heard me; I know he did. Because for an instant he smiled, and it was real. I sensed he was on the verge of sharing his feelings for me. Sure, it was a strange moment to share intimacies, but I didn't care. I just needed him to be safe.
Then I heard the djinn speak loudly in his mind. With power. The power we'd just given it when we'd both accidentally given it our first names.
Amesh. Wish for hand back. Amesh. Get hand back for Sara.
Amesh turned away from me then and was lost.
"Darbar Aloya Ta," I heard, as he began to make his second wish.
CHAPTER NINE
WHEN I AWOKE the following morning, I had the sun in my eyes and a throbbing headache. As I sat up, a bone in my back cracked. The morning was warm. The air was still and dry; the vast basin was as silent as a tomb. For a long time I just sat there, staring at the pond, the temples, the oval pools, and our bottled water.
I corrected myself: it was no longer our water; it was my water. That jerk, Amesh, was gone; my carpet was gone. He and his djinn had taken it and flown back to Istanbul. I was alone. Alone and stranded on an island swarming with invisible djinn where I might die.
I couldn't have been more furious! I wanted to kill him! But I also cou
ldn't help missing him. I was so worried about him.
I let these intense and opposite emotions burn inside me. I had no choice; it was as if they had a life of their own. To hate someone and to miss someone—all at the same time. It was too much for my brain to process.
The time was 10:35 a.m. I had slept seven hours.
Finally, I calmed down enough to check my supplies. The candy was finished. I had six protein bars left. It was time to ration, I decided. I'd eat just two bars a day, max. It was not as if the island had demonstrated that it could support human life.
Was there any reason to explore farther? An argument could be made for staying where I was, conserving my strength and food.
The marble sidewalk that stretched between the temples did not appear simply new. It was extremely clean. In other words, it looked as if someone was maintaining the site.
Yet it went against my nature to just sit around and hope for someone to rescue me.
Amesh and I had approached the valley from the east, and seen no one. However, north, south, west—each offered an equal promise of running into someone. It was sad but true—those who kept the basin tidy might be less than a mile away, but if I chose the wrong direction to hike, I could walk until I died.
I slowly chewed on a protein bar, in between sips of water, while I contemplated my dilemma. In the end I decided to hike up the ridge and make a thorough scan with my binoculars before I chose a course. Who knew, I thought, I might discover a village on the far side of the western hills. We had entered the basin in the dark yesterday, with our eyes focused on the pools and the temples. It was possible I was not as alone as I feared.
It was hard to stand, harder to get my feet moving. The previous day had destroyed my muscles. Yet before I hiked out of the basin, I revisited the three temples Amesh and I had entered and made sure the rocks I had used to prop open the doors were still in place. Indeed, I added more rocks to each one. It was always possible that I might be forced to flee to a temple for shelter—for protection not just from the elements, but from wild animals, or even more dangerous creatures. And the more choices I had, the better.
I ignored the cobblestone path as I exited the valley. It was too rocky for my taste, too long. Using my compass, I faced west and hiked straight uphill. In my pack were my four bottles of water. They were heavy but I was not worried about their weight. I would go through them quickly.
Straight up was steep. I had to stop and rest several times before I reached the ridge. No "surprise town" waited for me on the other side of the hill. But I was careful to study the terrain before deciding on a course. Due west did not look inviting. There was a range of hills taller than the one I was on. It stretched out of sight, to the north, another direction I was not thrilled about. Its hills looked like mountains. South had the fewest obstacles, and so south it would be.
My heart was still heavy. My emotions kept swinging—missing Amesh, cursing Amesh. But, to be blunt, I cursed him far more than I missed him.
I set off at a steady pace, hoping the exercise would distract me. The first part of my journey took me downhill, and I was not walking long when I noticed a change in the terrain. Most of it was caused by the addition of a new type of shrub that was dark green and had red berries on it. The fruit was unlike anything I had seen before.
It looked like raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries all put together. I wished I could look the fruit up in my BlackBerry, but it was still dead. Just my luck, I thought. The berries were probably poisonous.
Breakfast had been only an hour ago, and I was already starving. I decided to try one. Picking out what looked to be a ripe specimen, I bit into it carefully.
The juice that flooded my mouth floored me. Not only was it sweet, it had a taste that went straight to my brain and rang the pleasure bell. Without thinking, I stuffed another three in my mouth, chewing hungrily.
"Stop, Sara!" I said aloud. I needed to wait an hour. If I got sick, I'd have no one to take care of me.
I washed down the berries with water before grabbing several handfuls and stuffing them in my pack. Storing them was probably unnecessary. As far as I could see, my path was littered with the bushes. But I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. The fruit gave off a delightful aroma; it seemed to give me energy. I felt stronger than when I had left the basin.
Psychologically, the discovery gave me a boost. I wasn't going to be able to live on the fruit forever, but at least now it would take time to starve to death—if I didn't get sick. Hopefully Amesh would be back soon...
"I wouldn't count on it, Sister," I told myself.
My late start proved a handicap. I was not far from the basin when my watch read two o'clock—normally the hottest part of the day. To lighten my load, I was purposely drinking lots of water. Two bottles were already gone. Yet now I worried that I was making a mistake. With all the hiking I had done so far, over both days, I had not seen so much as a trickle of liquid outside the mysterious basin.
I wondered if the strange temples and pools took water from the rest of the island. A perfect question to ask my carpet.
My vow to wait on the berries did not last. Taking another break, I ate about a pound and enjoyed every mouthful. A part of me didn't care. If the berries were poisonous, at least now I would die quickly.
While I was sitting and digesting my lunch, a big sheep walked over and casually licked my berry-stained hands. The creature showed no fear, which told me it was familiar with humans. Plus its wool was not that thick. It had been sheared in the last month.
Talk about a morale boost. I felt like dancing!
"Where did you come from? Can you take me to your master?" I asked the sheep as I petted it. The animal stared at me with soulful eyes and licked my face. I laughed; I took that as a yes. When I stood, the sheep began to walk in a southwestern direction. Naturally, I followed.
Unfortunately, my companion was in no hurry to go home. It stopped every few minutes to eat. It liked the berries as much as I did, and enjoyed the leaves that surrounded the fruit as well.
Near sunset I came upon a herd of sheep. The herd was a fair size—I counted at least fifty beasts. A dozen goats mingled with the crowd. On the whole they were not as friendly as the sheep, except for one.
This girl—there was no mistaking her gender—came over and nuzzled me. Lowering my gaze, I saw why. Its huge teats were swollen with milk. A pity I was a city girl—I didn't know a thing about milking animals. But the goat refused to accept that. It made a loud baying noise and tried to bite me.
"Hey!" I shouted, shoving it away. "I'm not dinner."
The sun went behind the hills; the light grew dim. Still, I had yet to meet any people. Luckily, the herd finally took note of the time. With the goats leading, it set off due west at a brisk pace. I kept to the side of the animals and tried to avoid their droppings.
It was dark when I finally saw three torches burning up ahead. They were attached to a well, which stood between two buildings. Left of the well was a large wooden barn with a triangular roof. It looked like it had been painted brown. Its doors were wide open, and the animals jostled happily toward them.
The design of the house was different from the barn. The exterior was made of stone. It was hard to be certain in the dark, but it seemed to weave across the side of a hill. The hill itself was rocky, too. Perhaps because I was exhausted, but it was easy to pretend that the house had grown out of the hill. While the barn looked like a recent addition, there was an old feeling to the house.
No one appeared to greet me. I walked toward the front door. Light flickered through glass. I assumed there must be someone inside. My heart pounded but I felt more tired than scared. Besides, I had no choice but to knock and wait.
A large man answered. His expression was kind, yet it had power, strength that only came from having lived a hard life. I saw it in his eyes; they shone a bright blue. His skin was ruddy. He had only a few wrinkles but his skin seemed as coarse as the material he w
ore.
His clothes were from another time and place. I wanted to call his garment a robe, but it was probably closer to a kilt. It reached to his knees and was beige, held up by a woolen rope.
He had an impressive belly, and a white mustache and beard, which he kept neatly trimmed. His age was a mystery—he was sixty, maybe older. Everything about him was oversize. I imagined I looked like a mouse to him.
He did not act surprised to see me.
"Ha talpa sang," he said in a sweet voice.
I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I know only English."
"Engleesh?"
"English." I paused and pointed to myself. "American."
"Amaren." He gestured for me to enter.
He thought my name was Amaren. I tried to point to myself again, to correct the misunderstanding, when a second person appeared. She looked nothing like the man. Her hair was long and curly, a delightful cross between blond and white. The white was not from age, I realized. It was her natural hair color. She was at most thirty-five.
She wore a beautiful maroon robe made of sheep's wool. Like the man, her eyes were blue, but darker, her gaze more intense. It was as if when she looked at me, she saw nothing else.
I felt out of place in my blue jeans and T-shirt.
I pointed to myself. "Sara. My name is Sara."
The man gestured to the woman. "Aleena," he said. He ran a finger across his lips and then pressed his palms over his ears. I took a moment to understand. He was saying that she could not speak or hear.
I nodded to her. "Aleena."
She nodded back, probably reading my lips. She smiled.
The man patted his hard chest. "Hara," he said.
I offered my hand in greeting. "Hara."
We shook, my fingers vanishing in his massive palm.
Their language was a mystery, but to my surprise, it didn't matter, at least not that first night. Aleena and Hara were both warm and kind and so comfortable to be around that talking was unnecessary. Only later did this strike me as odd.
I suppose it helped that they fed me dinner.
We ate as a family, and although the food was simple, it was like being treated to a feast. There was lamb, naturally, marinated in a spicy sauce that had me drinking glasses of juice. What was this secret beverage? It tasted like wine, apple cider, the berries I had discovered on the trail—a delicious combination.