فصل 36

CHAPTER 36

PURSUIT

THE RIDERS WERE GAINING.

Tink heard them first, long before Molly or George would have. This was hours after they had fled Ashmar. They were crossing the desert under the billion-star night sky, the camel moving at a leisurely swaying walk, when suddenly Tink leapt up from her spot on the camel’s head and took off flying in the direction from which they’d come. She zoomed back a few minutes later and chimed something urgent-sounding into the camel’s ear. Immediately, the camel lurched forward into a gallop, nearly sending Molly and George spilling out of the saddle.

“What is it?” George shouted, clinging to the saddle. “What’s happening?”

“Tink must have seen something back there,” said Molly, trying to look behind her without falling off the jouncing camel. It took her several tries, but finally she caught sight of them coming over a rise, four tall silhouettes against the star-lit sky.

“Oh dear,” she said. “There are men on camels galloping after us.”

George looked back. “They’re probably the men whose camel we borrowed.”

Molly nodded. The two of them hung on as the camel raced forward into the night, urged on by Tink. From time to time, Molly glanced behind her. Each time she did, the pursuers appeared to be closer.