I recovered faster than the others, however, and turned to examine their expressions, even as I issued the command to close the cave behind us. There was something entertaining about the matching expressions of slack-jawed shock and amazement.
“It’s…bigger than I expected,” Rek said after a moment.
“So you see the problem,” I agreed, and he gave me a sharp look.
“How could any thieves—even forty of them—need more than this?” he said slowly, and I nodded.
“There’s something going on here we don’t understand,” I said. “I’m sure of it.”
“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” Navid asked, finally coming out of his stupor. “To find out what’s going on?”
Reluctantly, I nodded.
“Surely there’s somewhere to hide in all of this.” Adara put her hands on her hips and examined the chests of gold, rolled carpets, bags of jewels, and piles of material with a tilted head and assessing eye. “We’d be better off in the far back, of course. The lantern light barely reaches there. But would we be able to hear anything?”
“We should spread out,” Samuel said. “If one of us is discovered, it doesn’t necessarily follow that they’ll search the whole cave. They may well expect a group of people to be hiding together.” He looked around at us with a worried eye. “If any of us is found, we must pretend to be here alone.”
“Adara, I want you right at the back of the cave,” Rek said immediately.
“Not alone, though!” She shivered dramatically.
Rek looked in my direction, so I spoke quickly.
“Navid can hide near you.”
If we were really going to do this, I wasn’t cowering in the back of the cave, out of earshot, while Rek faced the danger closer in. Navid looked like he was equally reluctant to hang back, but one glance at Adara was enough to silence whatever protest he’d been about to make.
I smiled to myself. His foolish infatuation was good for something at least.
Samuel issued crisp orders for us all to find a hiding place. “And don’t go leaving a foot or arm hanging out,” he added, which made Adara giggle. “As soon as everyone is concealed, we’ll extinguish these lamps and wait.”
“It might be a long wait,” Rek warned, his eyes on his sister. “So don’t get bored and leave your hiding place. You know if you do that it will be just the moment the thieves arrive.”
She rolled her eyes and set out for the back of the cave, Navid trailing behind her. The rest of us spread out as well, but I noticed even Samuel moved slowly, despite his brisk words. Our good sense might tell us there was a need to move quickly, but it was impossible not to get distracted by the extravagance of the wealth around us.
I tried several different spots about halfway back before settling on a spot against the left wall. A whole collection of rolled carpets had been placed there, leaning against the rough rock. They created a small, triangular gap behind them that was just big enough for me to squeeze into. Sitting with my back against the rock, I could see out between two of the carpets, but I was well out of the gleam of light from our lanterns and suspected I would be from those of the thieves as well.
As soon as I was properly settled, it hit me that this could be a very long and boring wait. And one made worse by my anxiety over all the many things that could go wrong. Maybe if I’d thought harder, I could have come up with an argument to convince Rek and Adara not to risk themselves so rashly.
But I only had to think back over ten years of close friendship to reject that thought. Adara had been raised alongside the twins—always striving to prove she could keep up with her brothers. And although Rek had seemed to turn serious and responsible as he neared eighteen, it was now obvious that the old captain of our mischievous adventures still lurked beneath his crown prince exterior. Only Sultan Khalil himself could have turned them back, and Rek had carefully arranged matters so no word of his plans reached his father’s ears.
I gave up thinking about futile, impossible courses of action and focused on breathing quietly instead. Once the cave was filled with forty other people, it seemed unlikely that the sound of our breathing would cause a problem, but in the silence and darkness that had now fallen, every breath seemed terrifyingly loud.
I was still working on the silent breathing when a distant grinding made me start enough to rock one of the carpets. I steadied it, my heart beating fast. We had thought ourselves in for a long, boring wait, but we must have been only just ahead of the thieves in the forest.
Had they heard us opening the cave? It had sounded loud from above ground, but perhaps the trees kept the sound from spreading too far.
I strained, trying to hear the clop of forty horses, trained to endure the cold, dark tunnel. But it took longer than I expected to hear any further noises, and when I did hear hoofbeats, they sounded off somehow, as if their strides were too short.
Despite my resolution to hang back, I leaned forward, pressing my eye against the tiny gap in front of me. Light had appeared around the turn in the tunnel, and the first thief should come into sight at any moment.
A loud, ragged gasp echoed across the cave as a lone person appeared around the bend. He stopped, only to be butted in the rear by a rectangular, gray head. The donkey brayed loudly, and the man moved to one side, letting the animal pass. The lantern attached to the donkey’s harness shone full on his face, and I barely suppressed my own gasp. Kasim.
CHAPTER11
Although Kasim was frozen, the lead donkey had continued moving forward, a string of nine more following behind. Each carried two baskets. I shook my head at the greed and temerity.
Navid had thought his rich uncle meant to force his poor father to split the gold he had brought home. But the selfish man had wanted more than that. Once he had Ali alone, he’d obviously forced him into telling the truth about where the wealth came from.