“Really? Right now? That’s super!” Amanda jumped off her chair and ran towards the door. Her aunt caught her just in time to put a hat on her head and shove a bottle of water in her hand.
Amanda was so excited she could hardly sit still as they drove along the narrow dusty road that led to the camel ranch. “Do they raise the camels on the ranch and sell them to the local people to ride?”
“Oh no,” replied her uncle as he slowed down for a deep pothole. “No one uses camels for transportation anymore. Everyone owns a vehicle now to get around and they transport things by truck or jeep. They no longer need camels to get to where they’re going.”
“So what are they used for then?”
“Well, they are now used mostly for racing. Camel racing is very popular in the Emirates. They are also used for the tourist industry. Lots of people, like you, want to ride a camel at least once in their lifetime.” Uncle Ben waved at a driver coming from the opposite direction. Amanda wasn’t sure if her uncle knew a lot of people or if they were just all so friendly they waved at everyone. “Camels have an easy life now, most just wander around and nibble on the trees.”
“Is that all they do? Then why have a camel ranch?”
“They do raise them for food as well.”
“Yuck, you mean they eat them?” She was horrified.
“In Canada cows are raised for food. How is that any different?”
“Yeah, I guess,” she mumbled. Somehow it didn’t seem quite the same to a city girl like Amanda. “Oh – oh – I think I see some now!” A long line of camels, following each other nose–to–tail, were seen in the distance.
“That’s called a camel train,” replied her uncle as he brought his vehicle to a stop in a cloud of dust. “And here we are at the ranch.”
Amanda waited in the Cherokee as her uncle spoke to a couple of men wearing bright red and white checkered headdresses. They looked over at the truck and smiled at her, nodding their heads and gesturing with their hands. Uncle Ben came over to the jeep and told her she was in luck, they had a camel she could ride.
The two men led them over to a pen where three camels lounged about. They caught a sandy–coloured one by the reins and led him out to the open yard. Up close, the camel was much bigger than she had ever imagined. He was odd looking, with his long legs, skinny body, big head and large, hairy hump. His head looked too big for his neck and his mouth was massive. Amanda thought he looked like a creature out of Star Wars.
“This is a good camel for you to ride, Miss,” said one of the men. “His name is Ali Baba. He is a good camel, but you must be careful, as he is strong and could hurt you.”
“Yes,” warned Uncle Ben, “you must always be careful around camels. One kick could knock you out or even kill you. Their teeth are sharp enough to bite off your arm. Do you want to just have a look or do you want to ride?”
Amanda wasn’t sure, but said, “I really would like a ride if it’s OK.”
The camel tender started to work with the camel to get it to sit down. He tugged downwards on the halter and made a sound in his throat that sounded like, “khhhhh”.
Ali Baba didn’t seem to want to sit down, but after the man gave a few sharp tugs on the halter and tapped the sand near his feet, the camel dropped to his front knees and then slowly lowered his back end. He then moved his front feet forward, easing his weight on to the large hairy pad on his chest. The process of sitting down looked awkward and Amanda wondered if it was uncomfortable for him.
The saddle looked like many multi–coloured blankets arranged around the hump. One of the men held Ali Baba tightly by the reins, pulling on his head so it faced away from the side Amanda was about to mount. The other man helped Amanda climb on behind the hump.
The instant Uncle Ben shouted, “Hang on to the hair on his hump.” Ali Baba gave a mournful cry and stood up. Amanda felt herself lurch to one side. She quickly grabbed a handful of coarse stringy hair and held on for dear life. She looked down and her breath stopped. She was a long way up. She felt scared and excited all at the same time. The camel tender began leading her around the yard. Ali Baba swayed in a slow, gentle gait and Amanda felt like she was on a boat, rocked by the waves. She soon forgot about being frightened and loosened her grip.
She leaned over and whispered in his ear, “You are a good camel, Ali Baba. You and I are going to be friends.” The big, old camel nodded his head slightly, blinked his eyes and leisurely chewed his cud as if he had a secret he wasn’t willing to share.
Chapter 5
Leah was waiting for Amanda when she got back to the apartment. “How did you like the camel ride?”
“It was the most awesome experience of my life,” replied Amanda. “I will never forget it, never!”
Leah followed Amanda down the long, L–shaped hallway. At the end of the hallway was the huge guest room, as large as the living room back home. Amanda felt like a princess every time she stepped into it.
“Weren’t you frightened?” asked Leah.
“Yes, at first, but I had a nice camel to ride,” she said as she thought of the gentle, swaying creature she had quickly come to trust. “His name was Ali Baba.”
“Ali Baba! You’ve got to be joking. That sounds like a fairy tale name.” Leah rolled her eyes as she sat down on the wide bed and flipped open an American fashion magazine Amanda had brought along.
“Maybe we are in a fairy tale and don’t know it,” joked Amanda as she lay down on the bed beside Leah. Deep in her heart she thought it might be true.
***
After lunch Leah rang the doorbell. When Amanda opened the door she breezed in as if they had known each other for years instead of a few days. “Hey! Would you like to explore a deserted village this afternoon? My mom can drop us off when she goes grocery shopping.”
Amanda couldn’t believe all the interesting things there were to do. In her head she calculated how many days she had left. She had thought maybe a month would be too long and that she’d get bored. Now she was beginning to think a month wasn’t going to be long enough and she was way too busy to even think about missing her mom and dad.
“Can I go, Aunt Ella?”
“Of course. Go and have fun,” said her aunt as she tossed a load of laundry into the washer. “Take a hat and some water. It will be hot.”
***
Leah’s mother seemed to know a lot about the area and pointed out interesting locations and buildings as they drove along. They drove past a beautiful, large, white house surrounded by a high wall. She explained that it was the winter palace of the local Sheik and his family.
“Have you ever been inside?” asked Amanda.
“Yes, I have a couple of times. I used to tutor the Sheik’s grandson to improve his English. When he was staying at the palace, I would tutor him there. It is very ornate and beautiful inside.”
They passed some camels in a field, nibbling on the lower leaves of a tree. Amanda waved at them and said, “Hi you guys.”
“You really have a thing for camels, don’t you,” commented Leah crinkling her nose.
“Yeah, I really like them.”
“But they are so ugly and smelly and sometimes mean,” said Leah.
“I guess so. But they are so ugly, they are cute,” laughed Amanda. “And Ali Baba isn’t smelly or mean at all.”
Leah sighed. Amanda wondered what her new friend thought of her. She really hoped Leah liked her and didn’t think she was a weirdo.
“What place is this?” asked Amanda as they turned into a village with streets thick with sand. There didn’t seem to be any people around, just a few scraggy goats that scurried past the jeep into some bushes.
“This is Jamal, a deserted village.” Leah’s mother stopped her car in front of a weathered mud–brick wall.
“Where are the people who used to live here?” Amanda stared around her.
“They have moved to another village a few miles away.”
“Why?”
“Th
e local people are Bedouins. For centuries, they were nomads living on the desert and in the mountains. They would move from place to place looking for food and water. They are used to looking for better places.” Leah’s mother checked to make sure they had their hats and water bottles as they left the air conditioned car and went into the hot afternoon sun. “Even now, an entire village will sometimes pick up and move to a new and better location.”
Amanda found it hard to believe but there in front of her was a row of empty mud–brick houses in perfect condition and streets of sand with no people on them. At least – none that she could see.
Chapter 6
“See you in about one hour,” said Leah’s mom as she rolled up her window and drove away.
Amanda wandered away from Leah when she noticed a pretty little window with decorative wrought iron grilles and wooden shutters faded by the hot sun on the side of a house. She went closer to study the window and jumped back when she saw someone inside. When she looked in once more, the figure was gone. ‘Perhaps my eyes are playing tricks on me,’ she thought. ‘There is obviously nobody here.’ She felt a chill in spite of the heat.
Amanda wandered around on her own and was drawn to a half–open, painted door. The colours of the door had begun to fade but she could see that the swirls in the geometric design had been painted turquoise, pink and purple. She had to push hard on the heavy door to open it all the way, as a lot of sand had blown into the house. Once inside she couldn’t help wondering who had lived there before and where they were now.
Suddenly, a young woman appeared in front of Amanda. She looked beautiful in her green, silk, gold–trimmed dress, her green veil revealing only her large oval, black–outlined eyes.
“Do you have the perfume flask?” she whispered.
Amanda’s mouth went dry. Her knees felt like noodles unable to hold her up.
“Please, do not be afraid.” The young woman drew closer and held out a small hand covered with brown swirly henna drawings. “I must have the perfume flask you are keeping for me.”
“I – I don’t have it with me,” Amanda stammered as she backed away. “Who are you?”
The young woman stood taller as she stated, “I am Princess Shamza, a daughter of the royal family of Ras Al Khaimah.”
“Do – do you live here?” Amanda forgot to be afraid as her curiosity got the better of her.
“For now.” The princess looked down at the floor, and then back at Amanda, “I no longer have a real home.”
Amanda had never seen such sad eyes before. “Why do you want the perfume flask?”
“It was my mother’s, and my grandmother’s before that. It has been with my family for many years. It is the only thing left of my family for me. You see, I can no longer be with my family.” The beautiful eyes filled with tears.
“Why?” Amanda asked.
“My father wanted me to marry an old man with much money. I did not want to marry him. My mother did not wish me to marry him either but she could do nothing. I ran away at night on my camel.” The princess looked past Amanda into the distance. “We rode far into the mountains and across the desert for many days. I ate all the food and drank all the water my mother gave me when I left.”
“You came here?” Amanda asked. She needed to know more - like where did the perfume flask figure in the story?
“I did not know what would happen to me.” The princess continued her tale. “A kind man, Yoseph, found me in a stone hut almost starved to death. He took me home to his wife and family. They fed me, gave me clothes and sold my camel and the perfume flask for me so I would have some money.”
Amanda listened to this story in amazement. Could this be true?
“But I bought the flask in a little shop in town. How did you know I had it?”
“Yoseph is the shop keeper. He promised me he would sell it only to someone who would look after it for me. He told me you had it and that we could trust you to look after it. It has my mother’s blessing with it. Without it I will perish. I just know it.”
“Where are you Amanda?” Leah called, breaking the spell.
“I must not be seen,” whispered the princess as she backed away. “It is too dangerous. Please do not tell anyone you saw me.”
Amanda moved to the door to keep Leah from entering. Before she stepped into the bright sunlight she glanced back. The room was empty. There wasn’t even a foot print on the sandy floor. Princess Shamza had disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.
Amanda wasn’t quite sure if what just happened was real or a day dream. “I’m in here.”
“I didn’t know where you had gone,” said Leah as she stuck her head in the doorway.
“Did you see anyone?” asked Amanda
“No, of course not, silly. I told you this place is deserted.” Leah gave Amanda a searching look. “Are you all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or a djinn.”
“What is a djinn?”
“Kind of like a genie, but more like a bad genie.” Leah led the way back to the place where her mother was to pick them up. “Maybe like a pixie or a leprechaun. Some bring good luck – some bring bad luck.”
Amanda didn’t know whether to tell her friend about seeing the Princess or not. She decided not to mention it. Leah might think she was making it up and she didn’t like it when people didn’t believe her. She felt a black cloud move over her, even though the sky was cloudless. She had an uncomfortable feeling that this djinn might bring her bad luck.
That night before she went to sleep, Amanda took out the perfume flask to look at it again. Without thinking, she rubbed it. Nothing happened. ‘Don’t be stupid,’ she told herself, ‘genies in a bottle are just in children’s stories.’ She felt a strange connection with the flask and decided to sleep with it under her pillow.
Chapter 7
That night she dreamt she was riding Ali Baba. She felt him sway easily under her as they bumped along a lonely dusty road. She rode towards a moonlit mosque, which didn’t seem to come any closer. Princess Shamza appeared in the doorway wearing her beautiful, green dress. She disappeared in a couple of seconds.
Amanda woke with a start. She was hot and her pajamas were sticking to her. The lightweight covers were soaked. Perhaps she had a fever. She kicked off the covers, turned up the air conditioner, and went back to sleep.
“I don’t think I feel very well, Aunt Ella,” she said at breakfast, the memory of her dream still vivid in her mind.
“You must drink more water during the day.” Her aunt reached across the breakfast table to feel Amanda’s forehead. “It’s much hotter here than in Canada. You had quite a busy day yesterday. Maybe you better stay at home today and rest.”
Amanda looked at the milky, blue sky beckoning to her through the window and thought that she sure didn’t want to waste an entire day of her holidays sitting in the apartment.
“At least you don’t have a fever,” decided her aunt. “Did you enjoy visiting the deserted village?”
“I sure did, but it seemed real strange that no one lived there anymore.” She reached for her orange juice and took a sip. It felt cool and refreshing as it went down her dry throat. “Is it true that in this part of the world parents can make you marry someone you don’t even like?”
“I suppose it does still happen sometimes.” Aunt Ella answered as she buttered some toast and placed it in front of Amanda. “But parents here love their children just like parents all over the world do and usually want them to be happy. From what I understand, many marriages are still arranged by the parents, but both the boy and the girl need to agree to it.”
Amanda took a small bite of her toast. “But what if one of them doesn’t want to marry the other person?”
“Then the parents will usually call it off and try to find other mates for them.”
“What if, say, the father wanted his daughter to marry a creepy, old man just because he had tons of money?”
“I guess that can happen,” sighed he
r aunt as she got up to get the toast that had just popped–up. “There are greedy people everywhere and not all fathers are kind and loving, unfortunately.”
Just then Uncle Ben sat down to breakfast. “Don’t worry; we won’t try to marry you off to a wealthy, old Sheik while you’re here.” He winked at Amanda.
“You better not,” she laughed and punched him on the arm. The toast and orange juice were starting to make her feel better.
She could still picture Princess Shamza with her veiled face and sad eyes. ‘Was she real? Will I ever see her again?’ she wondered.
At noon, when she heard the call to prayer, Amanda made a wish for Princess Shamza. She wished for her to be safe and not to have to marry a man she didn’t even like.
***
Amanda woke up early the next day, slung her camera strap around her neck, took a bottle of water out of the freezer and grabbed her hat. She wanted to be prepared. It was going to be a hot day, even hotter than the past few days. She was going to the camel races!
On the road to the racetrack, Amanda saw a sign that caught her attention. It was a typical triangular, white road sign trimmed in red like any you'd see back home. What made this sign so unique was that in the middle of it was the black silhouette of a camel.
“Does that mean watch for camels?”
“Yes, camels wander across the road and occasionally are hit by motorists. I’m afraid that’s not good for the vehicle – or the camel,” explained her uncle.
Amanda knew her friends back home would laugh when she told them about the sign. She asked her uncle to stop so she could take a picture.
There was the smell of dust and excitement in the air as they drove up to the race track. Camels and jeeps were scattered everywhere in what seemed like a chaotic mess. A string of camels in all sizes and colours were being lead to the track. Old, large, hairy camels were at the head of the line. Skinny, young, almost–bald camels were at the end. All other sizes and hairiness were in between. They came in as many different shades of beige as the various tones of sand in the Emirates. Some were almost white and some were almost black. They didn’t seem to have a care in the world as they sauntered along in a thin, dusty line.
Amanda in Arabia: The Perfume Flask Page 2