All the way, Arim angled to ride close to me. He regarded me with bright eyes as he spoke of exploits far too accomplished for any Bedu so young, and of the mighty sheikh Fahak bin Haggag, whom we were soon to meet.
I hoped this mighty sheikh would be more eager to take our money than our heads. Hearing Arim speak of their leader’s great might and wisdom, I traveled with some apprehension. But neither Saba nor Judah seemed particularly concerned.
For his part, Judah seemed more bothered by Arim’s advances on me. He frequently edged his own camel between the boy and myself, as if to keep me safe, though we both knew Arim himself was no threat. I found the boy’s interest endearing.
Judah told Arim that my name was Nada and that I was his sister, because my true name might be known among even these Thamud.
“Just there, over the rise,” Arim said, pointing ahead. He slapped his camel’s neck with his riding stick as we rode over a wide dune. “I will present my new brother to the mighty sheikh Fahak bin Haggag, the most feared of all Thamud. But do not worry… you are safe with me!”
I crested that dune and stared into the shallow valley with some trepidation.
The camp below consisted of seven black tents, all small save one that had three posts at its center. For all Arim’s talk, I had prepared myself for a valley filled with a hundred tents surrounded by many more camels. But here I counted only fifteen camels and no goats.
Arim took his beast to a run, and Masihna beamed her gratitude to be home.
“Hurry,” Arim cried, waving us on. “We will feast tonight!”
Saba had ridden in a guarded silence, but now he grunted and made his thoughts clear. “They present no threat.”
Judah was more expressive. “They too are the hand of my God to the weary.”
And yet Judah’s god had not informed this pitiable band of Thamud that they were weak. Indeed, their mighty sheikh, the honored Fahak bin Haggag of whom we had heard so much, was an old man desperately in need of more meat on his bones, though he held himself with pride when Arim presented us to him before his tent. Behind Fahak two wives peered over the tent cloth, whispering.
“They are Kalb from the east, and friend of Thamud,” Arim said proudly.
Bin Haggag regarded us with the cold eyes of a hawk, focusing on Judah and Saba. He gave me only a cursory glance. Five other men had gathered, two young and three older. All carried daggers, as did Judah and Saba, who’d left their swords with the camels.
“No Kalb is friend of the Thamud,” the old man said in a voice as thin and coarse as his beard.
Arim spoke without missing a step, dipping his head in respect.
“None but these two, whom I have captured and delivered. And now I have made them my friend and my brother.”
Arim’s feat did not impress the mighty Haggag, whose frown appeared fixed. I felt a pang of anxiety, and yet surely the sheikh knew that such powerful warriors as Saba, who carried twice the meat on his bones as any other man in the camp, and Judah, who stood unworried and unflinching, could slaughter every man in the valley with daggers alone. They were at our mercy, not we at theirs.
“There are whispers of war in the east,” the sheikh said, eyes fiery. “In our grace we may let you pass with your lives, but all Kalb are now enemy.”
“Then I too am your enemy,” Arim said. “For I am now bonded by the Light of Blood to my brother.”
“What madness do you speak of?” the sheikh demanded. “Have you exchanged your mind with that of the goat we sent you to fetch?”
“I offer you no offense, most honored sheikh of the mightiest among all Thamud,” Arim said, words flowing like honey. “In my taking of these men into my tent as guests to bring to you for your wisest consideration, my knife cut Judah’s arm, and we are now bonded by the Light of Blood as is most noble. Now he is under my protection.”
The sheikh appeared stumped.
“Your knife has a mind of its own?”
“No, honored sheikh. It is surely an extension of my own arm.”
The elder grunted.
“And who is this Judah?”
Arim stepped over to Judah and placed his hand on his arm. “Judah, the Jew who is Kalb. My brother.”
“A Jew, no less?”
“The most noble of all Jews, who are filled with nobility,” Arim said.
“Quiet down, boy.”
Arim dipped his head.
The gathered Thamud waited for a verdict, for a sheikh is measured by his wisdom and shrewdness in impossible situations.
The old man studied Judah with new interest.
“I have heard that the Jews believe that any who refuse to worship their god will be consumed in fire,” he said. “Is it true?”