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The lush landscape at the start of their journey had given way to scrub grass and gnarled trees. That afternoon, they reached Ironwood, the last outpost. They traded in their horses for camels and hired a guide for the four-day journey across the desert to the Sun River, where a boat would take them to the Golden City. Aira’s enthusiasm about riding a camel made Braylen smile.
Rakim, their guide, was big and burly and had a mustache that curved up. His bald head perpetually glistened with sweat. Braylen introduced him to Arabella. Since there was no way to avoid talking without arousing Graham’s suspicion, Braylen and Aira had decided that she must speak to Rakim.
“Hello,” Arabella said.
Braylen waited for the guide’s reaction.
A light sparked in Rakim’s eyes. “Pleasure to meet you, miss.” He lifted Arabella’s hand and kissed it. He couldn’t seem to look away from her.
“Charmed,” Arabella replied in a flat tone. She gave Rakim a smile Braylen knew was fake and pulled her hand back. She cast Braylen an irritated look. He shrugged helplessly.
Braylen noticed Graham’s expression had darkened. He was staring at Rakim. Not again, Braylen thought. The last thing they needed was for Graham and Rakim to get in a fight. Braylen hastened to intervene, clearing his throat loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Why don’t we get ready to leave?” he suggested enthusiastically. “We’ve got a long journey ahead of us.”
“Fine,” Graham said curtly. He stalked back to his camel. Rakim kept staring at Arabella, oblivious.
Braylen sighed. Crisis averted, for now.
***
A short while later, Braylen and the others rode out of Ironwood. After a few hours, the scrub grass was replaced by dunes. Rakim’s camel plodded along beside Arabella’s. Rakim kept asking Arabella questions, trying to draw her into conversation. Her brusque responses seemed to have no effect on him. Meanwhile, Graham rode on Arabella’s other side, vying determinedly for her attention. Braylen was bringing up the rear. The whole situation was stressing him out. It’s going to be a long four days, he thought.
***
That night, the temperature dropped sharply, and Arabella leaned close to the fire for warmth. She couldn’t believe how cold it got in the desert after the sun went down. Rakim had insisted on sitting beside her. Every time she tried to casually move a little bit away from him, he scooted closer. She sighed. The siren spell was really wearing thin. To cope, she imagined it was just her and Graham by the fire, looking up at the dozens of stars that glittered overhead.
***
Arabella and Rakim were cuddled together in front of the fire. Graham eyed them irritably. Does she like his moustache? he wondered jealously.
***
Day 9
Ebstene had warned Braylen that eventually the spell would repel men instead of attracting them. It had been nine days since they left Everwood. Braylen didn’t know when Aira’s voice might start to inspire irritation in Graham and Rakim instead of affection. He watched them closely, but as far as he could tell, they were both still infatuated with Arabella.
***
Day 10
Graham didn’t understand it. Arabella was still as beautiful as the first time he’d seen her jumping her horse. The past two and a half days of traveling in the desert hadn’t dimmed that at all. Her behavior hadn’t changed. But his feelings toward her had. The warm glow he’d gotten just from being in her presence had faded. The things he’d found charming about her were now like a thorn in his side. Every word that came out of her mouth grated on his nerves.
“Can we take a break?” Arabella’s voice quavered slightly. “I feel lightheaded.”
All these breaks! He needed to get to the Golden City as soon as possible to get the potion for his grandmother. He didn’t know how long she’d be able to hold on. Graham sighed. “It can’t be a long break. We have to keep moving.” He stared meaningfully at Arabella.
***
Arabella didn’t know why Graham was suddenly so grumpy. Rakim also seemed moody. What was going on with everyone? Arabella longed to feel the cool breeze that swept through the woods near her home. The grueling trip through the desert had sapped all her energy.
Arabella slid off her camel and took a swig from her canteen. No matter how much she drank, her mouth felt like cotton. Her head throbbed from being out in the blazing sun for two days. Braylen joined her.
“What’s with Graham? He seems cross. And Rakim seems irritable, too.”
Braylen sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you this, but Ebstene told me that the spell would progress, and that eventually your voice would start irritating men instead of attracting them.”
Arabella frowned. “So Graham’s going to start hating me?”
Braylen gave her a wry look. “I doubt that’s possible.”
Once she was back on her camel, Arabella rode up beside Graham and touched his arm gently. Their eyes met. “I know you’re anxious about time because of your grandmother, but you’re not alone. You’ve told us so many stories about Gigi, we feel as if we know her, too.”
Braylen nodded in agreement.
“I have faith that she’ll get better, Graham. You should, too.” With that, Arabella took her hand off his arm, and urged her camel ahead.
***
She was infuriating, that’s what she was. Here Graham was, mad at Arabella for perfectly legitimate reasons, and she had to go and say something thoughtful like that. He watched as she followed the guide, her long dark hair in a braid, her camel prancing through the sand. How did she make it look graceful?
***
Rakim watched Arabella riding her camel. The way she sat in the saddle irritated him. He knew she’d never ridden a camel before, but her form was embarrassing. He’d been instantly attracted to her when they first met in Ironwood. When he’d kissed her hand, it was velvety soft. He’d longed to kiss her as they sat by the fire that first night. Her eyes had sparkled in the firelight. Her hair had shone.
But today for some reason, she was driving him crazy. The breaks she wanted to take. The stupid questions she asked about the desert. He could tell she was getting on Graham’s nerves, too. He’d caught Graham rolling his eyes at her several times.
“Rakim, how many miles are we from the dock?” Arabella asked suddenly.
“Ahhh! I can’t take it anymore!” Rakim fumed. “You are a nuisance!” He swung his camel around and galloped hard in the direction they had come from.
***
Arabella’s mouth dropped open. Bray had warned her that her voice would be irritating, but so irritating that she deserved to be abandoned in the desert? For a split second, tears filled her eyes. Then she swallowed hard. It wasn’t personal. It was just the spell, she told herself fiercely.
***
Looking into Arabella’s huge brown eyes as they filled with tears, something tugged at Graham’s heart. She is annoying, he told himself. He sighed. But I guess she can’t help it. “Don’t worry about him, Arabella. We don’t need him.”
***
Braylen watched their guide disappear into the distance. A feeling of dread settled in his stomach. They weren’t scheduled to reach the boat until tomorrow night. And they didn’t know exactly how to get there. If they got lost out here, they could run out of water.
Graham pulled a map out of his bag and studied it. “We need to go north for fifteen miles, then east for twenty-five miles tomorrow.”
Arabella pulled out a compass. “This way is north,” she said, pointing.
***
They set out in silence. The tension was palpable. The long ride and the sudden turn of events weighed heavily on them. Arabella tried to speak as little as possible. She didn’t know how much her voice was irritating Graham and she didn’t want to scare him off, like Rakim. It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be. Her mouth was so dry it would be uncomfortable to speak, anyway. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.
They made a small campfire that night. Arabella burrowed beneath her blankets. She missed Murray and her warm, safe bed at home. At least they’d reach the Golden City soon.
***
Day 11
The next day, the wind began to pick up, spraying Arabella with grains of sand. She’d be glad to get out of the desert. She missed the cool sea breeze in Everwood, and the lush shade of the Whimsical Woods. Here it was hot and barren. Her lips were cracked and her face was sunburned.
It had been nerve-racking being in such an unforgiving place without a guide, but they’d gotten through it. Tonight, they’d be on the boat to the Golden City. Arabella had hardly spoken since Rakim left. She didn’t want Graham to leave. She knew it was safer if they stayed together. She missed talking to him. She missed the way he had looked at her, so affectionately, even though she told herself if wasn’t real.
Arabella was pulled out of her thoughts when Braylen cleared his throat. She looked over at him. He was looking behind them, a worried look on his face. She turned halfway around on her camel. Her mouth went even drier than it already was, which she wouldn’t have thought was possible.
Behind them, an ominous cloud of brown dust was rising high into the sky. It stretched as far across the horizon as she could see. Was that a sandstorm? “Bray, tell me that’s not a sandstorm,” she said in a shaky voice.
“Well, they’re really called dust storms.”
Arabella glared at him.
“But yeah, they’re the same thing,” Braylen added quickly. “Bad news.”
Graham spun around to look. A look of awe crossed his face. “Well, there’s something I never thought I’d see.”
“I wonder how far away it is?” Arabella asked. “Are we going to be able to make it to the boat before it gets here? Is there anywhere we can wait it out?” Even as she asked, she knew what the answer was going to be. They hadn’t seen anything except sand dunes for days.
Graham pulled out his map. “We’re ten miles from the boat. There isn’t shelter between here and the dock.”
“We need to try to get to high ground then,” Braylen said.
Arabella recalled what Rakim had told them before he’d abandoned them. He had warned them that torrential rainstorms often followed sandstorms. They didn’t want to be swept away in a flash flood.
Graham studied the map. “Not much higher ground here,” he said ruefully. He pointed to his left. “It’s slightly higher that way.” They all nudged their camels in that direction.
They rode in silence, all of them hoping to outrun the storm. The wind increased in intensity, ripping at Arabella’s clothes. When she peeked behind her awhile later, a chill crawled down her spine. The storm was rolling rapidly across the desert. Dune after dune disappeared into the brownish-gray cloud. This close, Arabella could see the edges were a lighter yellow color. Her heart pounded. “We’re not going to be able to outrun it,” she said in horror.
At her words, Graham and Braylen turned and looked behind them. “Everyone, off your camels,” Graham said decisively. “We’re going to have to use them for shelter.”
Arabella slid down. She rummaged in her knapsack for some handkerchiefs. She handed one to Graham and Braylen. “You should dampen them with water,” she advised. That’s what Rakim had recommended they do in a dust storm. She dampened hers and then tied it over her nose and mouth. Braylen and Graham did the same.
Arabella made her camel lay down. She grabbed her blanket and wrapped it tightly around herself. She lowered herself to the ground beside her camel. Even lying down, the camel was tall. Graham and Braylen followed her example.
Since Rakim left, Arabella had been worried about running out of water or getting lost. She hadn’t even thought about dust storms, even though Rakim had discussed emergency preparations with them in the slim event that one occurred. Why would she worry about dust storms? It was lush and green where she lived.
***
Graham huddled against his camel. This trip had been nothing but trouble. Maybe if Arabella hadn’t made them take so many breaks, they wouldn’t be caught in this dust storm now. I can’t wait to be free of her once we reach the Golden City, he thought.
***
Arabella reached for Bray’s hand. “I’m glad you’re here with me,” she whispered. Or she tried to. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out.