Annie stuck her head out the tree house window. “Hey!” she called.

“Shhhh!” said Jack, pulling her back in. “Don’t let them see us up here! It’s too hard to explain the tree house. Let’s go down.”

“Good point,” said Annie. She handed Merlin’s letter to Jack and started down the rope ladder. Jack grabbed his shoulder bag. He put the letter inside, then added their research book and rhyme book. He slung the leather bag across his chest and climbed down.

When he stepped onto the ground, Jack twisted the rope ladder behind the tree trunk so it wouldn’t be noticed. “Okay,” he said to Annie.

“Hey!” Annie called again, waving. She and Jack stepped out into the open.

The camel riders headed toward the palm trees. The man in the lead made his camel kneel. As he climbed off, Jack and Annie ran over to him. The man wore a long white robe. He had a black beard and stern, dark eyes. “Who are you?” he asked, unsmiling. “From where do you come?”

“I am Annie, and this is my brother, Jack,” said Annie. “Our home is far away in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania.”

“I have not heard of such a place,” the man said. “How do you come to be here in the desert alone?”

“Uh …” Jack didn’t know what to say.

“We were riding with our family,” Annie said. “We stopped to rest here. My brother and I took a nap behind these trees. When we woke up, everyone was gone. They left us by mistake. See, we have a really big family. There are many brothers and sisters—”

“Annie,” said Jack. She was saying too much, he thought.

The man looked concerned. “Why have they not come back for you?” he said, gazing out at the desert. “I hope they have not been attacked by bandits.”

“Are there bandits around here?” asked Annie.

“There are many bandits prowling the desert,” said the man.

Jack looked anxiously around at the vast sandy plain.

“That is why one must always travel with others,” said the man. “But I hope your family is safe and will return for you soon.”

“Excuse me,” Annie said politely. “But who are you? How did you happen to come here?”

“I am a merchant,” the man said. “My caravan was traveling from the west, when we were surprised by a sudden sandstorm. It seemed to come from nowhere. But luckily it brought us to this oasis. We will rest and water our animals until the sun goes down. In the cool of the night, we will travel on to Baghdad.”

The caravan leader walked over to his men and spoke to them. They dismounted and started taking saddlebags off the camels.

Annie turned to Jack. “See, our rhyme worked!” she whispered. “The sandstorm was magic! It brought them here on their way to Baghdad!”

“But how can we get them to help us?” said Jack.

“Well, Merlin said we should be humble, so let’s offer to help them,” said Annie. She walked over to the caravan leader. He was filling a canvas bucket with water from a small spring.

“Excuse me,” said Annie, “we wondered if we could help you.”

The man gave her a quick smile. “Thank you, yes,” he said. “If you could gather dates, it would be most appreciated. My men are very hungry.” He handed Annie two large baskets.

“No problem,” said Annie. “We’ll gather dates.”

Annie carried the baskets to Jack. “Do you know what a date is?” she whispered. “We’re supposed to gather some.”

“I’ll look it up,” said Jack. With his back to the camel riders, he pulled their research book out of his bag and looked up dates. He read:

Dates are known as the fruit of the desert. They hang in bunches from date palms. People gather dates by shaking the trunk of the tree. Not only are dates an important food, but the wood and leaves of the date palm are used to make—

“Okay, got it,” interrupted Annie, putting the baskets down. “Let’s start shaking the trees!”

Jack put the book away and looked around. For the first time, he noticed bunches of brown fruit hanging from the trees. He grabbed hold of the nearest tree trunk. Annie grabbed the trunk from the other side. Together they shook the tree until dates began falling to the ground.

In the desert heat, Jack and Annie went from tree to tree, shaking each one and gathering the dates that fell to the ground. By the time they had filled their baskets, the trees were casting long shadows over the oasis.

Tired and sweaty, Jack and Annie carried their heavy baskets back to the caravan leader. He was boiling water over a fire of twigs. “Ah, very good,” he said. “Thank you, Jack and Annie.”

“You’re welcome,” said Annie. “What else can we do for you?”

“You should rest from the heat now,” said the man. “Would you like to sit and have tea with us?”

“Sure,” said Annie. “By the way, what’s your name?”

“My name is very long,” the man said with a smile. “You may call me Mamoon.”

While their camels grazed, Mamoon and his men sat on a woolen rug spread over the grass. They shared dates and tea with Jack and Annie. The dark, plump fruit was sweet and chewy. The tea was strong but good.

In the fiery red glow of the setting sun, Jack watched the grazing camels. He thought the humped animals looked really funny. They had knobby knees, big clumsy feet, and little ears that twitched. Some camels smacked their droopy lips as they drank water. Others gobbled down whole branches of thornbushes without chewing.

“Don’t the thorns hurt the camels’ throats?” Jack asked Mamoon.

“No,” said the caravan leader. “Their mouths are very tough. They can eat anything: sticks, bones—”

“Even our tents and saddlebags if we let them!” said a young camel rider.

Annie and Jack laughed. “What’s in your saddlebags?” Annie asked.

“Our bags are filled with goods from Greece, Turkey, and Syria,” said Mamoon. “We have many things: jewels, beads, and precious spices, such as cinnamon, pepper, and vanilla. We are taking everything to Baghdad to sell.”

“We have to get to Baghdad, too,” said Annie.

“We have to meet with the caliph.”

The camel riders chuckled as if they thought Annie was making a joke.

Only Mamoon did not laugh. “Your family is to meet with the caliph?” he said.

“No,” said Annie. “Just Jack and me. We have to help him spread wisdom to the world.”

“Annie,” warned Jack.

The camel riders laughed loudly.

“What’s so funny?” Annie asked.

“The caliph does not meet with children,” said a young man. “He is the most powerful and important person in the world.”

“Oh,” said Annie, frowning.

The news worried Jack, too.

Mamoon looked at Annie and Jack with a curious expression. “Night will soon be upon us. Since your family has not yet returned, would you like to travel with us to Baghdad?” he said. “You have journeyed by camel this far. I trust you can ride camels the rest of the way.”

“Sure we can!” said Annie. “We love camels!”

We do? thought Jack.

“Good. We love our ships of the desert, too,” said Mamoon. “We will set sail on them soon.”

“So that’s what ‘ships of the desert’ are!” Annie whispered to Jack.

Camels, thought Jack. Oh, brother.