The Sheik's Love Child (12 page)

Sure enough, the truck bounced over the security area of the outer gate moments later. Dani could barely suppress her excitement as the palace quickly faded into the night sky. The lights were still bright but she could see that they were driving away and that was the important thing.

Unfortunately, they were driving in the wrong direction. Dani had known that she couldn’t ride away in a truck and now she had to figure out how to get out of the truck. The city lights were also fading away as the truck drove in the opposite direction she needed to go, just as she’d suspected. But there was no way she would give up now that she’d gotten this far.

Dani couldn’t believe her luck when the truck slowed down to what she guessed was some sort of stop sign. Quickly climbing over the back gate of the truck, her feet hit the sandy pavement just as the truck started moving again. Dani watched with excitement as the truck moved out of range, leaving her encased in the darkness of the desert.

Dani looked around, feeling slightly disoriented. Where was the palace? There was only a moment of panic when she turned full circle and realized that the palace lights were no longer visible. How on earth could an entire palace disappear so quickly?

She assumed they had just driven over a sand dune and she simply had to walk back in the direction the truck had come from. It would only be moments before she saw the palace lights with the city right behind it.

Dani started off, following the slight tracks in the sand the truck had left. But after fifteen minutes of walking, she still hadn’t found the lights. Where was she? What had happened? Had she become so disoriented when she’d walked away from the truck?

Turning back the way she’d come, she walked another fifteen minutes in the opposite direction. But still no lights. And the ground underneath her was becoming softer. Had she left the street somehow?

Dani turned back, looking for some sort of landmark in the moonlight. There were several rocks sticking up out of the sand like earthly statues guarding the moon’s domain. But each of them looked similar, none having a specific shape that would allow her to gauge her position.

Taking a deep breath and reminding herself that panic wouldn’t help her situation, she continued walking, constantly searching the horizon for something that would indicate that she was heading in the right direction. Or even the pavement under her feet that would let her know she was back on the street.

Glancing at her watch, she realized that over an hour had passed since she’d left the truck. Dani looked around but there wasn’t anything new to see. All her eyes took in was the moonlight hitting the sand or the various rock formations. Nothing that would indicate she was near any form of civilization.

This was crazy, she told herself. She couldn’t be more than a mile or two from the palace or the city. The truck had only been driving for a few minutes when she got out and she’d seen the palace only a moment before she’d pulled herself out of the truck.

The pack containing the water and food was biting into her shoulder so she shifted it around so it was less of a burden on her shoulders. Perhaps it was the sound of the water that caught her attention or maybe it was the complete lack of any other sound for so long, but Dani suddenly heard a whisper. It frightened her more than anything else had so far.

The sound came from her left and she stared out into the darkness, trying to see through the shadows cast by the moon. Was it an animal? Were animals this close to the palace and the city? But how close was she?

The sound almost became drown out by the sound of her beating heart as the fear raced along her nerves. What on earth could be making that sort of crying sound? It was almost as if there was a child out there crying.

When that thought struck her, she became nervous but for a whole other reason. A child stuck out here would be terrified.

“Hello?” Dani called out in the general direction she’d heard the sound. But as soon as she spoke the sound stopped.

“Is someone out there?” she called out. Then realized she was speaking in English. Thinking back to the phrases Alea had taught her over the past two days, Dani called out in Arabic, “Hello?” again. “I don’t speak Arabic very well,” she said, hoping the words were correct and her point would come across even through her awful accent.

Dani was relieved to hear a small laugh coming from the shadows of a large rock formation. She moved closer and was startled when a little boy around seven or eight years old rushed out to the moonlight, a look on his face that showed his relief and desperation. He started talking quickly in Arabic, taking Dani’s hand in hers and pulling her closer to the rock.

Dani had no idea what the little boy was saying but she allowed herself to be led over to the rock. There, crouched down low and shivering was a little girl of about five years old staring up at Dani from the shadows. Her terrified eyes stared up and she reached out to her brother’s hand, pulling him down to her as if he were her only lifeline.

“Hello!” Dani said again and smiled broadly, showing the little girl that she wasn’t a threat. “Are you thirsty?” she said in English simply because she didn’t know the words in Arabic. Dani pulled out one of her bottles of water and offered it to the little girl. She looked up to her brother who nodded quickly. As soon as she had permission, the girl reached for the water and drank thirstily. Dani realized that the two children might have been out in the dessert for a while. Reaching into her bag, she brought out the other bottle of water and the crackers, offering the water to the boy and the crackers to the girl.

Both children were quiet for a long time as they drank and ate in sequence, both seeming desperate to get the water and food inside their bellies as fast as possible. When they were finally somewhat satisfied, her supplies were down by half.

Dani ignored the sense of panic she felt at the realization that she didn’t know where she was, sunrise was only a few hours away and she might not have enough water or food for the next day but also had two more people to help out.

“Are you cold?” Dani asked, taking out the blanket she’d been trying to carry back to England for Carrie. “Here you go,” she said and tucked the blanket around both children. She then sat down next to them. Immediately, the girl climbed up onto Dani’s lap and the boy curled up next to her, one hand on his sister’s back as if he had to reassure himself that she was still okay. Within moments, the two small children were fast asleep, sure in the knowledge that everything would be okay now that an adult was here to take care of them.

Dani wasn’t so sure. She stared up at the sky, noting how the moon had fallen towards the horizon but the stars were still bright in the sky. It was almost dawn. What would she do then? What would happen to them?

Maybe when the sun came up, she would be able to see farther. Surely the city wasn’t so far away. It was possible that the rocks had obscured her view.

Chapter 11

Dani woke up suddenly, startled by the sound. She had no idea what it was but knew that it didn’t sound friendly.

She sat still, her arms wrapping around the two small bodies still curled up on her lap. Somehow, the boy had climbed onto her lap as well and both brother and sister were curled up, their arms wrapped around each other and Dani while their bodies were covered by the baby blanket.

It was dirty now and she noted that the children were also covered in a layer of dust. There were tears that had dried on their cheeks, leaving obvious marks after the tears accumulated more dust than their cheeks and Dani’s heart broke thinking about how scared they must have been, lost in the desert without food or water for who knew how long.

The sound grew louder and it sounded like a jeep coming up but the voices were angry, yelling at each other as they moved across the desert.

The children must have understood that something was changing because they woke up and looked around. Dani knew the exact moment that they sensed her fear because they both looked up at her, their brown eyes wide and worried as they looked to her for reassurance.

Dani smiled down at them and put a hand on their heads, fluffing their curly hair. “Wait here,” she said and gently slid both children to the side, making sure they were well hidden from view by the rocks. She stood up and peered around the jagged rocks, but as soon as her head rose above the rocks, she was spotted.

Dani gasped, her breath catching in her throat as about a dozen men started shouting, their machine guns pointed in the air and they all rushed over to where she was standing. Dani crouched down, covering the two small children with her body in an effort to protect them.

The two children climbed into her arms, clinging to her as they cried, fear making them slightly hysterical.

One man was calling on a radio and Dani didn’t know what was happening. None were speaking in English and all were talking too fast for her to understand anything they said. “Please,” she said, hoping one of them would understand “Don’t hurt them,” she called out. “They are scared!” she yelled as one of the men gestured towards them and said something quickly into the phone.

A few minutes later, three black SUVs pulled up. Dani had no idea what was happening now but somehow these were more sinister than the jeeps or men with machine guns. The children were sobbing now and Dani turned her back on the SUVs, bending down to comfort the children and show them her smiling face. She knew it was a little brittle because she was terrified herself. But the fact that she appeared to not be scared calmed down the children again.

But then one of them pointed over Dani’s shoulders and quieted down immediately. Dani glanced back, wondering what she could have seen that would scare her to silence. And then she saw him herself. Kalil was getting out of the back of the SUV, sunglasses covering his eyes but she could see the anger in every part of his body. He walked over to her and looked down into her face, a muscle twitching on the side of his cheek. “Have a nice evening?” he asked.

Dani was still holding the children’s hand, trying to comfort them as much as possible but one of the guards picked up the little girl abruptly. The girl screamed and Dani grabbed her back, instantly soothing her and glaring at the guard who had dared to try and take her. Dani shielded the little girl from the man but then had to pull the boy back when he tried to attack the guard. “No!” she cried out, pulling him behind her and shaking her head.

“If you will bring your charges with me, we can reunite them with their parents,” Kalil said, the voice of calm amidst the chaos.

“Really?” Dani asked, her voice cracking with emotion as she tried to hold both children at the same time. The boy was valiantly trying to hold back tears as he protected his sister, but still afraid of the guards.

“Of course. We are not so uncivilized here to hold children from their parents. As it is, their parents are worried sick about the fate of their children and there are several other search parties out there trying to find them. If you’ll follow me to the truck, we can quickly travel to the city and hand them over to be taken care of.”

“Oh! Thank you!” she said and bent down so she was at eye level with the children. “It is okay,” she said as calmly as possible. The children both stopped crying and looked at her, smearing their faces with the dust and tears. They looked fearfully back at Kalil and then back to Dani who nodded. “Okay?” she said and took their small hands in hers. “Let’s go,” she said and led them over to the nearest SUV.

A guard immediately opened the door for them and they climbed into the dark vehicle. The children were instantly awed by the interior but neither would move even an inch away from Dani who continued to keep her arms around each of them. Kalil got into the front seat and the driver immediately drove off. Dani was shocked at how long it took to reach the city. She realized how lucky they were to have been rescued because it was at least a fifteen minute drive before she even saw the city on the horizon. How could she have walked so far? And where had these two small children come from?

As soon as they pulled up outside a suburban looking house, a woman rushed out of the front door, her arms outstretched and tears streaming down her face. The children’s smiles grew broader as they wriggled out of the car and straight into their mother’s arms. The three of them held each other for a long time, the father standing in the back ground trying to be strong and assertive in Kalil’s presence but finally he too broke down and wrapped his arms around his family, the emotions causing his body to shake violently as he came to the understanding that his family was safe.

A long time later, the man stood up and wiped his face. He wanted to keep one hand on his children, but he forced himself to come over to Dani. He took her hands in his and kissed them, bowing to her low and saying something in Arabic quickly.

“What is he saying?” Dani asked Kalil, trying to ignore the body guards that were completely surrounding the perimeter of the house and yard in their effort to protect Kalil.

Kalil walked over and translated. “He is saying thank you for finding and saving his children, guaranteeing that he will be more careful in the future to protect his family. He is also wishing that you find the same kind of happiness.”

“That’s nice,” Dani said, and smiled gratefully to the man. He then turned to Kalil and bowed low, just as he had to Dani but with much more reverence. The words seemed to pour out of his mouth and he kissed Kalil’s hand.