Chapter Thirteen
Traveling News Arrives from the Desert
Amir and I were looking forward to news of our travelers who left three days before. As I said. “News travels quickly in the desert.” But not quickly enough! A young man named Hadji had accompanied our travelers as a groom because so many horses needed to be cared for as they traveled through the desert. The older gentleman in the crew brought this groom along because of his skill and loyalty, to help care of the horses. He was well liked by everyone. He had been with Al Ahmann for two seasons. He came from the northern tribes of the Bedu. I found him helpful as he was passionate about his Arabian horses at home as well as his charges at the Stud. To our surprise, Hadji showed up in person, returning to the Stud. He seemed agitated. The message he brought with him told of the well-being of the travelers, but he had an interesting way about him. After questioning him, we were unable to ascertain why he was acting so uneasy. He told us that he had grown very fond of Bint Shahwan. He found her special. Different from any other Arabian he had ever encountered. He told us he asked to travel back to Cairo to bring the news from the travelers. I took Hadji aside and questioned him about his uneasiness. He confessed that he had been communicating with the young members of a certain tribe, the Bdul in the Bedu Petra of the Wadi Rum, the Bedu region where the Bdul ranged their horses., about the new arrival of Bint and how special she was. The thing that surprised me, he said that youngsters were planning to kidnap Bint and keep her for their own breeding program.
