Page 59 of Under the Arabian Sky

“Out of the question,” said Tariq’s father, hobbling past me so determinedly that his walking stick slid out from under him.

I caught him before he fell to the ground and helped him back to his feet. “With all due respect, Mr. Hassan… please, let me find your son. Let me bring Tariq home.”

Zahra gripped her husband by the arm. “Saleem, you know you cannot do it. But Arthur can. Bury your foolish pride. Let this man’s love for our son bring them both home.”

Tariq’s father looked from his wife to me, and suddenly a tear raced down his face. “Do you love my son?”

I paused a moment, then said— “Yes, I love him. I would do anything for him, Mr. Hassan.”

The man took a deep breath and wiped away his tears. “I suppose you should call me Saleem. Come, Arthur, we need to saddle Habibi before the storm hits.”

I helped Saleem to the stable and together we strapped the saddle blankets and reins onto Habibi, who stepped restlessly back and forth, as though she instinctively knew that Tariq and her mother were in trouble.

As I climbed onto Habibi’s back and she raised herself up, ready for our rescue mission into the desert, Saleem took the ghutra and agal off his head and handed them to me.

“Wrap the ghutra as tightly as you can around your mouth and nose, otherwise you won’t be able to breathe in the storm.”

“Thank you,” I told him. “I won’t let you down.”

“Bring my son back safely, and I promise I will never let you down either.”

A moment later, Zahra came hurrying into the stable.

“Take this,” she said, putting something into the saddle bag on Habibi’s side.

“What is it?”

“It’s Tariq’s inhaler. He was not himself when he left this morning. He forgot to take it with him. In a storm like this, he needs it… or he’ll die.”

I tightened my grip on the reins. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back. If it’s the last thing I do… I’ll bring him home.”

With that, Habibi launched into a gallop…

Out of the stables…

And into the oncoming storm.

* * *

We moved at a clip, quickly making our way across the dunes.

Ahead of us, the wall of sand on the horizon grew closer and closer. Clouds of orange and red plumed upward, the roof of the storm ascending all the way to the heavens until nothing, but sand consumed the sky.

The wind also grew stronger and stronger, forcing me to wrap the flapping ends of Saleem’s ghutra tightly around my mouth and nose just as Saleem had told me.

Defiantly, Habibi and I raced toward the tower of sand, the mighty force of nature getting nearer and nearer, the roar of the storm getting louder and louder until—

Like a wave of wind and sand, the angry tempest slammed straight into us… and suddenly the entire world vanished.

Teetering and staggering left and right, a confused Habibi gave a frightened grumble. I held onto the reins tight, shutting my eyes as the swirling torrent of chaos scattered my senses. Flying grains of sand stung my hands and eyelids, as though a swarm of bees had been unleashed upon us.

“Habibi… find Huda!” I shouted over the freight-train rumble of the storm to Habibi, my voice muffled through the ghutra. “Find Huda and Tariq!”

I opened my eyes just enough to try to see, but all around was an orange blur of sand. The fast-moving air was thick, unbreathable, and disorientating. I held my hand up in front of my face and could barely make out my own fingers, as though the storm was trying to erase me before my very eyes.

I no longer knew which direction we had come from.

I no longer knew where we were supposed to be heading.

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