The Screaming Eagles (36 page)

His back was to me and his gun was within easy reach. Even though I was only fourteen I had been on many sorties and ambushes with our fighting men from the village and I knew how to use a gun. My hand was inches away. I could easily have killed Sadegh that day, but the previous night my father had said to me many times, that I was never to kill Sadegh when I finally caught him, until I had learned all his secrets. To have Sadegh, as a dead man would be of no value, for his secrets would die with him; but to have Sadegh’s secrets would be of great value and only after I learned all his secrets could I kill him. He made me promise that even if one day I had to risk my life to get Sadegh’s secrets, it would be my duty to do so no matter what the consequences.

In his cell he made me promise as I hugged him and cried, for I was only a little boy and I clung to his legs not wanting to let him go. He made me repeat my promise to him over and over again. Through my tears he made me swear on my life that one day, I would find Sadegh and learn all his secrets before I killed him. I promised but continued to cry and hold on as tight as I could until the hangman pulled me kicking and screaming away from my father so that they could prepare him for his execution.

As I grew older, I always regretted not having killed Sadegh even though his bodyguards would have killed me instantly. Eventually I despaired that I would ever find him. Killing him today was the right time, not that day so many years ago when his gun was inches away from my hand. My destiny, Michael, was for my father and you to finally give me closure and let my wounds heal.

When I turned and saw the rats in the stockyards eating Sadegh I closed my eyes and spoke to my father in the same way that I have spoken to him ever since he died. His body is not here for me to speak to, but our souls and hearts have always been as one and we have never stopped speaking to each other. I thanked him for the final lesson he taught me in his jail cell, for not letting me shoot Sadegh. I felt my father’s presence and it was as if he had his arm around my shoulders. I cried in the same way I had when I was a little boy, for at last I had my father standing next to me, and together we watched the rats eat his murderer.”

They had shaken hands and Jalal had looked Michael in the eyes and said, “In the Bible of many great religions, it says that a man who has one true friend is a truly rich man.” Still holding Michael’s hand in both of his, he had said, “Michael, you are truly my friend. You have given me friendship and a piece of your heart, and your soul will forever be a part of my soul.”

Grasping each other’s shoulders, they’d hugged fiercely. When they stepped back, both had tears falling down their cheeks. Saying goodbye was, and they both sensed it, not an ending, but a beginning. They both knew that they would meet once again.

*

Jalal, was close to his village, he was nearly home. He continued climbing. Another hour and he’d be there. He stopped to rest, sat under a tree and looked up into the clear sky. In the distance he saw an eagle flying to its nest. The lord of the sky was also going home.

High above the town of Dahuk in the Zagros Mountains of the Fertile Crescent, the eagle’s nest was surrounded by snow that never melted. The rabbit’s body was still warm. Steely talons gripped it tightly as it swayed gently in the cold air. Blood had started coagulating where the claws punctured the rabbit’s soft skin. Powerful wings nearly six feet from end to end flapped an effortless, slow rhythm as the eagle flew higher and higher, cutting through wind currents, using others. Its neck was bent slightly forward, sharp eyes focused on the nest which was now only a hundred yards away.

The massive bird was nearly home.

The eagle arrived at its home knowing its chicks were hungry. Positioning itself, hovering, it dropped the rabbit into its nest. The eagle screamed. ==========================================

THE END

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael L. Kahn was born in South Africa and volunteered for the Yom Kippur war in Israel in 1973. After the war he established and ran a business in Iran until Khomeni’s supporters put him onto a death list. He escaped out of Iran two weeks before the Shah abdicated in 1979. Khomeni then took control of Iran and Kahn’s business partner was tortured and executed. Kahn has been living in Chicago since 1984 and is the President of a business that strategically develops and sells into overseas markets for American companies. He was appointed by Illinois Governor Jim Edgar to sit on the Export Advisory Committee and frequently travels overseas. He is currently working on his second novel.