Page 61 of Under the Arabian Sky

“I came to get you the hell out of here. Now come on.”

Sliding my arms around him, I hastily eased him up into Huda’s saddle.

I took a rope out of Huda’s saddle bag and tied it from her reins to Habibi’s. Then I climbed onto the saddle behind Tariq, holding him steady as I called, “Huda…yaqif!” just as Tariq had done when we first took the camels out to the desert.

Huda rose, tall and strong against the storm, carrying Tariq and I on her back.

“Find water,” I called to her. “Find the well at the Portugese fort!”

Of course, I had a pretty good idea that Huda had no idea what I was saying, but I hoped that her survival instincts were about to kick in.

Sure enough, Huda began walking through the storm, the rope to Habibi pulling tight as we towed the younger camel behind us.

As we rocked and swayed through the perilous winds, I could feel how weak and limp Tariq was as he lolled about in the saddle. I held him tight so he wouldn’t fall, and prayed that we would find the fort…

Before we too became another secret for the desert to keep.

CHAPTER21

“And who saidyou didn’t like adventure? Look at you now.” The voice seemed far away at first, but quickly became clearer.

I opened my eyes, and there, kneeling over me as though he’d never even died, was Andrew.

I sat bolt upright and looked around.

I was in the courtyard of the old fort.

Tariq was lying unconscious beside me, while Huda and Habibi were kneeling on the ground a short distance away.

Through the crumbling roof of the fort, I could see blue sky above. The storm was gone… unless I was just dreaming it was over… just as I was clearly dreaming that Andrew was kneeling before me.

“Andrew? What are you doing here? Am I dead?”

“Of course not, old chap. You’re just having an epiphany.” It wasn’t Andrew who answered, but someone behind him. I looked passed him to see—

“Cavendish? Bloody hell, I must be dead.”

“The good news is you’re not,” said Andrew. “In fact, you were rather heroic out there.”

“Well done, old chap,” remarked Cavendish in a jolly tone. “You know what they say… tame the desert, and she will forever be your home.”

“Is that what I did? Tame the desert? How?”

“You took her on in the most dangerous of situations,” Cavendish answered. “You risked your life to save Tariq. You wanted a future, but first you had to fight for it. I wish I had done the same.”

“Are you sure I’m not dead? This feels like…”

“Like what?” Andrew asked.

“I don’t know… like a stairway to heaven kind of moment.”

Andrew and Cavendish both laughed.

“Trust me, the stairway to heaven doesn’t smell anything like camels. You’re definitely alive. And so is he.” Andrew pointed to Tariq laying beside me. “In a moment he’ll wake up and we’ll be gone. We just wanted to let you know, we’re proud of you.”

“Indeed, we are, old chap. You showed real pluck today. You can face anything now. Anything at all.”

“Including a culture that may misunderstand you at times,” added Andrew. “That’s why you need Tariq. And why Tariq needs you. You belong together.”

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