Mariam looked more taken aback than cheered by these words, regarding the baskets as if she thought something inside might leap out and attack her.
“Whatever can you mean?” she asked. “Don’t play games with me, Ali, I beg of you. It has been a long enough day without such nonsense.”
“Has it, my dear?” He smiled at her. “Well I hope it will be the last such. Why you can hire as many servants as you like now!”
“What do you mean?” she asked sharply, the alarm on her face growing. “Tell me at once, Ali!”
Ali swept aside the branches on the closest basket with a low, triumphant cry.
Mariam cried out in horror, staggering back, her hands flying to her mouth. Ali deflated, looking at her with concern.
“There is no cause for alarm. Don’t you see that our fortunes have changed forever?”
“No cause for alarm!?” Mariam glared at him. “Never did I think I would live to see my husband become a thief.”
“A thief! No indeed!”
I cleared my throat, and he threw me a guilty look. “Well, not so that it counts. Stealing from thieves isn’t really stealing at all.”
“Stealing…from thieves?” Mariam regarded him with bulging eyes, her horror apparently too great for proper speech.
“I do not even consider it to be stealing from them,” Ali argued with another look at me. “I have discovered the second treasure cave of the younger brother from legend. The fact some thieves found it first means nothing. It does not make the gold theirs.”
“The lost treasure cave?” Mariam’s expression slowly transformed, an eager look coming into her eyes as she regarded the gleaming gold in the basket. “That is a different matter, indeed.”
I looked at the gold myself, frowning. Having seen the cave’s contents, plus the way the entrance operated, I couldn’t doubt we had discovered the legendary treasure cave. But I still couldn’t understand the actions of the thieves. If a gang of robbers discovered such a treasure trove, surely they would have long ago cleared it out? It was true it provided a secure location to store their stolen goods, but why go to the danger of continuing to rob travelers at all? It would take many lifetimes to spend the fortune sitting in that cave.
I cleared my throat, and Mariam turned to look at me. From the sudden concern on her face, she had just remembered her husband had a companion in his discovery.
“I suppose some of this is yours, then, Zaria?”
I shook my head. “I want nothing to do with it. Surely you’ve heard the tales of the other treasure cave? I fear there’s an enchantment on this gold. If Ali had listened to me, we wouldn’t have touched a single coin.”
“Enchantment?” Mariam looked sharply back at Ali. “We don’t want any enchantments here!”
“Relax, my dear.” He smiled. “Zaria is overly cautious. As you can see, we were able to bring baskets of gold out without any ill effect at all. There was not so much as a rumble, I promise you.”
“Baskets?” Mariam stared with round eyes at the other donkeys. “Are all the baskets full then?”
“Every one!” Ali exclaimed proudly.
“But…but…” Mariam staggered over to collapse on a bench that ran along the house by the front door. She took a moment to catch her breath. “We must count it all!”
“Count it?” Ali laughed. “There is too much to count. And plenty more where it came from.”
“More?” I gave him a disapproving look. “Surely you don’t mean to return to the cave! What if you encounter the thieves again?”
“I’m sure I shan’t need to return,” he said complacently. “We will not spend all this gold in a hurry.”
“No.” Mariam heaved herself back to her feet, having recovered from her initial shock. “We must be wise in how we approach this. We cannot have people asking where our sudden wealth has come from. If we spend a little, people will assume it to be the generosity of your brother. But if we spend too much at once, rumors may spread. Rumors that may reach the ears of this gang. Who knows how they would react to knowing their hideout has been discovered?”
I nodded approvingly, glad at least someone was showing some sense.
“We will bury it,” Ali said. “And dig it up a little at a time while I think of an explanation for an increase in our circumstances. And of course, once I happen upon one, we must be sure to pay back my brother for this house.”
Mariam stilled, her brow creasing, but after a moment she sighed and nodded.
“Of course, my dear. Our honor demands it, even if the original gift was given selfishly and begrudgingly. If Kasim and Nyla knew anything of honor, they would have us as part of their household, as do other families in their position. But we must not let their lack of honor sully our own.”