فصل 27

CHAPTER 27

A DESERT CONVERSATION

LEONARD ASTER WAS GETTING used to the camel. Unlike a horse, it had a swaying, side-to-side gait that was surprisingly comfortable. And he was learning to control it, thanks to Tink, who could speak a little Camel.

He says you’re pulling too hard on his nose, she told Leonard.

“Please tell him I’m sorry,” said Leonard, easing up on the reins, which were attached to a wooden peg inserted into the camel’s nostrils. The camel emitted a snorting sound.

He says thank you, said Tink. His name is Azerraf.

“Please tell Azerraf he is welcome,” said Leonard.

Bakari looked on in amusement.

“I’ve never heard anyone speak so politely to a camel,” he said.

“Well I certainly don’t want to irritate him,” said Leonard, smiling. “It’s a long way to the ground.”

The two riders had said nothing of importance as they made their way out of the streets of Ashmar. Now they were east of the city on the desert road to the Rundoon border; Tink had been released from the confinement of the box, and the men felt it was safe to talk. Just in case, Bakari twisted in his saddle and looked back: in the distance, perhaps a mile behind, he saw two men, also on camels. Other than that, they were alone. Still, Bakari lowered his voice.

“We have an informant in Zarboff’s palace,” he said. “A guard who detests Zarboff and will tell us what he sees in exchange for gold. He says the boy and his friends are being held in the palace dungeon.”

“Is Peter all right?” said Leonard.

“He was quite sick when he arrived, but he’s doing better. The palace doctor has been attending to him.”

“Does our informant know why they want Peter?”

“No. Only that they want to get him healthy soon. And that last night he was taken to visit a place in the desert near Maknar, a tomb called the Jackal.”

“A tomb?”

“Our man says it’s an evil place inhabited by living shadows.”

Leonard was staring at Bakari. “Living shadows,” he said.

“Yes,” said Bakari. “Like the one that attacked my group in Egypt, and you in England. Our man said one of these shadow creatures came to the palace to speak with Zarboff.”

“What did they talk about?”

“Our man couldn’t hear their conversation. But he did hear Zarboff address the shadow creature as Lord Ombra.”

Leonard looked stunned. “He’s the one who followed us to England,” he said. “I thought he’d been destroyed at Stonehenge.”

“Evidently not,” said Bakari. “According to our informant, it was this Ombra who brought the boy and the others from the island, on—this sounds odd, but our man insists it’s true—some kind of underwater ship.”

Leonard nodded. “I’m aware of that ship,” he said. “We reached the island not long after it left.”

“Do you have any idea why the Others and these shadow creatures have gone to so much trouble to get the boy?” said Bakari.

“I’m afraid I do,” said Leonard. “I think they’re going to use him to locate the next starstuff Fall.”

It was Bakari’s turn to look stunned. “How would he do that?”

“I believe Peter has an unusual ability,” said Leonard. “I don’t know how it works, and I suspect he doesn’t know, either. But I believe it’s the same ability that his parents, or at least his father, had.” He told Bakari what Molly and George had learned in Oxford about the mysterious Mr. Pan, who had used newspaper notices to alert the Starcatchers about falling starstuff, until he and his wife had disappeared, leaving a son named Peter.

“What do you think happened to them?” said Bakari.

“I believe the Others got them and brought them here to Rundoon,” Leonard said. “I believe the Others used them to locate starstuff Falls. That’s why we stopped getting the warnings. That’s how the Others got to the Scotland Fall ahead of us.”

“But you got that starstuff back,” said Bakari.

“Precisely,” said Leonard. “It was a huge amount, and the Others wanted it very badly. Now, I believe, they intend to use Peter to get more.”

“Why can’t they use his parents again?”

“Something must have happened to them. In fact, it probably happened not long after the Scotland Fall, because the Others arranged to have Peter put on the boat that was supposed to bring that batch of starstuff to Rundoon. But that boat never got here—thanks to Peter and Molly. And now the Others are after more starstuff. They have something in mind, something big, something to do with these shadow creatures. Whatever it is, it’s why they brought Peter here, I’m sure of it. And it’s why we must get him out of there before the next starstuff Fall.”

“It won’t be easy,” said Bakari. “The dungeon is deep inside the palace complex and heavily guarded.”

“What about your inside man?”

“He can get us through the main palace gate,” said Bakari. “But beyond that we’re on our own. It won’t be easy—Zarboff has guards everywhere.”

I can get past the guards.

“What did she say?” said Bakari.

“Tink says she can get past the guards. I have no doubt she can. The trick will be for us to get past them and somehow get Peter out. We must find a way to do that. We can’t let him stay in there.”

The two men rode on in silence, their thoughts on the difficult task facing them and their eyes on the desert road ahead.

Neither of them noticed that what had been two camel riders behind them was now only one. And that the one was drawing steadily closer.