The Genie Rings

by Jack Henseleit

  ‘What do you wish of me, master?’ he said softly. He did not look up.

  ‘We will require the boat,’ said Sassan, his hand still resting on the silver ring. ‘Go and see that it is ready for launch.’

  Caspar nodded. He ran off into the darkness without even glancing at Anna or Max, his bare feet kicking up dust as he disappeared. Anna wished he had given them some sort of signal. Was he still on their side?

  ‘We will follow,’ said Sassan. ‘The children say they know the way to the lake. They can lead us there.’

  He stood close beside the Professor, his gaze fixed on Anna, daring her to disagree. Once again she had no choice but to walk with Sassan behind her, unable to say a single secret word to her father. She decided to hurry forward instead, pulling Max along beside her.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ muttered Max. ‘How do we stop him?’

  ‘We don’t have to stop him,’ whispered Anna. ‘We’ll be there when they open the tomb, and then one of us has to get to the ring first – me, you, or the Professor. I’ll pull the knife on him if it looks like he’s getting close. Okay?’

  But her heart was beating fast in her chest. It wasn’t a good plan. She had hoped that she and Max would reach the tomb before anyone else; hoped to find the ring and dispose of it before anyone could come to harm. Now the Professor and Sassan would be there too – and even if Sassan was about to find the ring, Anna really didn’t think she could stab another human with her blade. The white knife was a wonderful weapon for fighting monsters, but right now Anna wished she possessed something a bit less deadly.

  ‘Goodness, is this salt?’ said the Professor. ‘How marvellous!’

  Anna looked around as her feet sank into the beach, her hopes sinking with her toes. Was there a stick? A rock? Anything?

  ‘Come over here, Max,’ she said loudly. ‘Let’s check on that sandcastle we made.’

  She pulled him by the hand before he could reply, darting off into the shadows. She could see the boat waiting at the jetty, its motor already humming; could see the moonlit silhouette of Caspar standing on the prow. She scanned the beach, determined to find a new weapon to smuggle aboard.

  ‘What are you doing?’ gasped Max. ‘Caspar’s sandcastle was nowhere near here! They’re going to leave without us!’

  The beach was empty. Anna dropped to her knees in desperation, plunging her hands beneath the surface.

  ‘Fill your pockets with salt,’ she whispered quickly. ‘We’ll throw it in Sassan’s eyes if we have to. It’ll buy us another minute if anything goes wrong.’

  She grabbed a handful of beach and shoved it into her pocket. Max looked at her doubtfully, but after a moment he scooped up some salt as well. Then they were running as fast as they could, arriving at the jetty just as the Professor and Sassan were boarding. Sassan did not look pleased to see them.

  ‘Be pish, Caspar,’ he said. ‘Be tarafe jazayer markazi.’

  The boat began to move before Anna or Max had found a seat. They wobbled as they crossed the deck, sitting down between the Professor and the small, cramped wheelhouse. Anna could see Caspar through the open door, guiding the little boat over waves of saltwater and shadow, his skin glowing dimly. She was sure he was refusing to look at them.

  ‘Oh, how thrilling this is,’ said the Professor, flourishing his map. ‘Nobody expected Zareen to be buried this far from the citadel. Dr Sassan tells me that he’s been interested in the lake for some time now, but Ali’s been focussed on combing through the main dig. He’ll be so pleased if we find the entrance to the tomb!’

  The boat whooshed past the first pair of islands, each one lit up by the masthead lights. Great pillars of white stone rose up from the water, rugged and weatherworn, looming over the boat like the towers of a decaying castle. The rocks grew bigger and wider as they approached the centre of the lake, eventually forming islands topped with grass and shrubs. Anna’s sense of panic was growing with them.

  ‘It shouldn’t be too much further,’ said the Professor excitedly. ‘One of these islands here, I think. Sassan, shall we stop and investigate?’

  Sassan nodded curtly. ‘Ghayegh ra motevaghef kon, Caspar,’ he said.

  The boat puttered to a halt. The evening was warm, but Anna still felt chills as she gazed up at the island before them. The rock was the size of a house, its roof bleached white, its walls covered with craters and scars and hidden holes. It was too high to tell what might be on top.

  ‘I say,’ said the Professor. ‘Look at that!’

  He pointed to the bottom of the rock. In the side of the wall there was a great crack – a fissure so tall and so wide that a person might just be able to squeeze inside. Anna cringed, wishing the Professor hadn’t said anything, but Sassan had already leapt up to look as well, a hungry expression etched across his face. He grinned menacingly as he beckoned Caspar out of the wheelhouse.

  ‘A good find, dooste man,’ he said, pulling a pair of flashlights from his robes. ‘It appears the way to the tomb is open to us.’ He frowned. ‘I seem to have left my third light behind the steering wheel. Would you mind retrieving it for me?’

  ‘Oh, of course,’ said the Professor, smiling. ‘Just in here, is it?’

  He stood up and ducked his head under the doorway, stooping low to fit inside the tiny cabin. He looked behind the wheel, a little confused.

  Sassan rushed forward. His arm shot out before Anna could even move, slamming the door closed and locking it tight. Max cried out as the doctor rounded on them, his eyes blazing with unbridled fury. Anna jumped away, the boat rocking dangerously beneath her, her hand reaching for the white knife as the Professor banged on the door.

  ‘Sassan?’ he called out. ‘What’s going on? Is everything okay?’

  ‘Alas, it is not!’ said Sassan. ‘The wind has blown the door shut, and Caspar here has lost the key. We cannot get it open!’

  ‘It didn’t blow shut,’ said Anna through clenched teeth. ‘Open the door, now.’

  Sassan held up the key, tilting his head as if to examine it. Then he threw the key overboard. Max squealed, running to look over the side of the boat, but already the key had splashed into the water, sinking like a stone.

  The doctor advanced towards the children, his black robes flapping in the breeze. Anna grabbed Max and pulled him beside her, backing away as far as she could.

  ‘I underestimated the two of you,’ said Sassan quietly. ‘Only children, and yet you escaped my ghul.’ He stared at the burn marks on Anna’s arm. ‘You even made it bleed. How?’

  Max winced as the Professor banged on the door again. Anna gripped the hilt of the white knife.

  ‘Take us back to the camp,’ she said. ‘You should be afraid of us. If we can beat a ghul, we can beat you too.’

  ‘Sassan?’ called the Professor. ‘What’s happening out there? What are we going to do?’

  Sassan raised his hand. Anna tensed her arm, ready to strike; but then Sassan whirled around, pointing his finger at Caspar. The silver ring glimmered in the moonlight.

  ‘Watch these children closely,’ he said calmly. ‘If they make any move to harm me, go immediately to their father. Make sure he pays the price for their insolence.’

  The colour drained from Anna’s face as Caspar finally raised his head. He stared at the siblings blankly, with none of the warmth or cheekiness he had shown them in the desert. His skin flickered like a dying flame.

  ‘I will watch them, master,’ he said. ‘I will do as you command.’

  Anna’s chest convulsed in a silent sob. Max stood stiffly beside her, too worried to move, too scared to speak. The children had put themselves in danger many times since learning about fairies, chasing horrible monsters deep into their lairs, but now the Professor’s safety was also in their hands. Anna’s fingers twitched, longing to unsheathe the white knife, longing to attack the man who was threatening her father: but with the greatest of efforts, she forced her hand away from the hilt. Sassan gave her an evil smile.r />
  ‘Are you still there?’ cried the Professor. ‘Please, let me out!’

  ‘We are here!’ said Sassan, feigning concern. ‘We are searching, but the key is gone. We will have to go ashore and find a rock, so that the lock can be broken.’

  ‘Oh,’ said the Professor, his voice muffled. ‘All right then. Please hurry.’

  ‘The children will come too, to help me look,’ said Sassan. ‘But do not fear for them. We will quickly search together, and return at once.’

  Max shook his head, but Anna squeezed his arm. She didn’t want to leave the Professor behind – but she also knew they couldn’t let Sassan explore the island alone.

  ‘Anna?’ said the Professor. ‘Max? Are you sure?’

  Anna tried to swallow the lump in her throat.

  ‘Yes, we’re sure,’ she said. ‘We’ll go and help find the rock. It’ll only take a minute.’

  Sassan smiled. He raised his hands to his face, running his fingers through his long, tangled beard.

  ‘A good decision,’ he said softly. ‘You are wise, little girl. Curious, too. You remind me of myself. Always looking for answers. Always unpicking a mystery.’

  A moonbeam fell across the doctor’s wild beard. It lit up his features like an X-ray, illuminating his lips, his nose, his cheekbones. Suddenly Anna was staring directly at her foe – her real foe – and in that moment, without knowing how, she knew exactly what was going to happen next.

  If your foe was not a doctor, your battle would be more difficult. It can be hard to tell which is which.

  Which is which.

  Which is which.

  ‘Come now, Caspar,’ commanded Sassan. ‘It’s time to end this little adventure. And if the moment has come for me to raise the djinni of the great ring, let it look upon my true face.’

  And with that, the wicked doctor raised his hands to his head, digging his fingernails into the skin beneath his ears. Max drew back in shock as a mess of dirty hair fell onto the deck before them, followed immediately by the long robe that kept the doctor’s other clothes hidden from sight. In an instant, the villain they knew had completely disappeared.

  A woman in a black dress stood in his place, tossing her dark hair in the twilight. Her eyes were sour, and her smile was cruel, and the wand she drew from her sleeve was long and sharp.

  ‘My name is Cassandra,’ she said venomously. ‘It’s very nice to meet you.’

  13

  THE TOMB OF ZAREEN

  MAX SCREAMED, HIS LEGS COLLAPSING beneath him. The boat pitched as he scrambled away on his back, his eyes darting frantically between the mysterious woman and her fallen disguise.

  ‘Y–you’re a – a,’ he stammered. ‘Y–you’re a w–w–wi …’

  The woman pressed a finger to her lips. Anna tried to look brave, but terror had flooded from her brain into her stomach, making her feel utterly sick. There was only one thing that could make Max feel so scared: only one fear he had held onto all his life, ever since the Professor had read them their first fairy tales at night. Only one monster had ever made Max pull the bedcovers over his head, begging the Professor to stop, to put the book down, to read a different story instead.

  This time, there was no escape. This time, the story would continue whether Max liked it or not.

  This time, there was a witch.

  Anna reached back to help Max to his feet, never taking her eyes off the woman with the wand. The woman was skinnier without her robe, but as tall as ever, towering over the children as her wild hair danced around her face. Her thin lips and pointed chin were new, but her eyes were all Sassan’s: dark, cold, and full of malice.

  ‘Poor boy,’ said Cassandra, staring at Max’s dead hand. ‘You’ve seen some things too, haven’t you? A dead thing, with teeth?’ She grinned. ‘Do you ever worry that another one might come along and finish the job?’

  Max was breathing like a madman, his eyes crazed. Anna stepped instinctively in front of him, hoping the fear in her stomach wouldn’t make her throw up. The witch grinned, brandishing her wand like a sword. The wand was so long that she could have jabbed Anna in the chest with just one step.

  ‘Caspar!’ barked the witch suddenly. Her silver ring sparkled. ‘You will escort these children onto the island. They will lead the way across the stones, to ensure the path is safe and clear. If you spy the tomb, or the ring, the children are to stop at once.’ She glanced down at the deck. ‘And burn that beard. I never want to see the filthy thing again.’

  The witch’s true voice was different from the one she had used as Sassan, but it still rang out with wickedness and power. Caspar hurried forward, scooping the tangled disguise into his glowing hands. Anna watched in astonishment as the jann’s fingers flashed with light – and then suddenly the beard was on fire, filling the night with the foul stench of burning hair. Anna coughed, covering her mouth and nose. The beard may have been fake, but it smelt as if Cassandra might have cut it off a real man. Maybe she had.

  ‘Over the side!’ demanded Cassandra. ‘I won’t ask again.’

  Anna grabbed Max and pulled him to the edge of the boat. The lake was dark beneath them, lapping at a tiny shelf of white stone that ran around the island. The great fissure the Professor had spotted loomed ominously, sucking shadows into its gaping maw. Max was trembling like a leaf.

  ‘I can’t do this without you,’ whispered Anna. ‘We have to go together.’

  She thought Max might be paralysed, but he managed to give her the tiniest of nods. One by one the children climbed over the side, stretching their legs over the water and clambering onto the edge of the great rock. The stone was so weathered that it was easy to find handholds. Anna quickly began shuffling towards the fissure, eager to escape the gaze of the witch.

  ‘The girl is fleeing, master,’ said Caspar loudly from the boat. ‘Shall I enter the cabin?’

  ‘No!’ squealed Max.

  Anna froze.

  ‘I wasn’t fleeing,’ she said hastily. ‘I was just making room on the ledge for everyone.’

  She glanced back at Cassandra, trying not to flinch as the witch met her eye. The woman seemed amused.

  ‘Don’t hurt him yet, Caspar,’ she said, slipping her wand back into her sleeve. ‘But keep a close watch. If they should make a move to seize the ring …’ The witch smiled. ‘Burn his fingers off.’

  Anna gripped the rock tighter to stop herself from shaking. She watched numbly as Caspar took a torch from Cassandra and jumped over the side of the boat, landing lightly on the rock shelf between the two siblings. Anna stared warily at his hands as he passed her the torch. Caspar could set things on fire with his touch, and was clearly under the witch’s command. Having him by their side was no longer reassuring at all.

  A breath of wind sighed out from the crevice, tousling Anna’s hair. She switched on the flashlight and shone it into the deep, dark crack. It wasn’t as roomy as some of the tunnels she’d explored in the past, but the crevice was wide enough that a child (or a jann) could easily slip through. She couldn’t see where it went. With a deep breath, she swung her body inside the island.

  At once the darkness was chilling. Anna landed awkwardly on a heap of stones and pebbles; she gasped as a sharp edge cut into her arm, scratching deep. She swung the torch around as Caspar dropped nimbly into the tunnel behind her, followed closely by Max. The witch was out of sight. For one glorious second, Anna could pretend that the three of them were alone.

  ‘S–sorry,’ said Max quietly. ‘I’ll t–try to be braver.’

  His hands were still shaking. Anna grabbed his arm and squeezed it tight. ‘You’re already brave enough for me,’ she whispered. ‘I know you’ll never let me down.’

  But she wasn’t really sure if Max had heard her or not.

  Caspar raised his hand above his head. Anna blinked as a warm glow radiated from his palm, lighting up the inside of the fissure like a flickering candle. The tunnel was far steeper than she had expected. It rose up through the island rock l
ike a crooked chimney, quickly creating a path that was a climb, not a walk. And there was something else, too.

  ‘Damn,’ she said, scowling. ‘We must be in the right place.’

  A trail of carved symbols ran across the ceiling, just like the markings in the campsite ruin. They trickled down the walls in arcs and spirals, jumping from stone to stone like an army of wriggling spiders on the march. Anna chose her handholds carefully, afraid to let her fingers stray too close to the arcane marks.

  ‘It is the language of my people,’ said Caspar quietly. ‘A story written to honour the sorceress.’

  Anna looked around, startled. It was the first time Caspar had spoken to them since their meeting in the desert. The jann gave her a tiny smile.

  ‘Start climbing,’ he whispered. ‘Be swift. I can not talk to you when she is around.’

  A boot scraped loudly on the stone shelf outside the crevice. Anna quickly scrambled onto the nearest boulder, a small bud of hope blooming in her chest. Caspar was still on their side!

  ‘We need help,’ she said in a low voice, stopping to let Max climb past her. ‘Any help at all. You knew Zareen, didn’t you? So you must know something about the great ring. Where it’s hidden, maybe, or what it looks like. If you gave us a clue, we might be able to find it first.’

  Her heart sank as Caspar shook his head.

  ‘Zareen forged many treasures,’ he said softly. ‘Gold and silver, copper and brass, each set with the most precious jewels in all the world. Powerful djinn swarmed in from the desert to claim her trinkets as their own, and she ensnared them all. By the time she planned to craft her great ring, she no longer had room on her fingers for a jann. She cast my ring away while I was wrapped inside it, and there I lay imprisoned for a thousand years.’ He shuddered. ‘Imagine my delight when someone found my ring once again. Imagine my horror when I met her.’

  He glanced spitefully back down the tunnel. Max let out a tiny groan.

  ‘But you’ve been sneaking around ever since you got out,’ said Anna. ‘You must have talked to other genies – djinn, I mean. Someone has to know what happened here.’