Aladdin, the Sorcerer and the King of Thieves
Chapter Twelve: Across the Desert
Aladdin and his friends left early the next morning before Agrabah awoke. The trail of the forty thieves was clear to follow, but they did not know how far the bandits had come. Iago remembered some tracking techniques his former master had used to pursue his obsession through the desert and guessed, by the amount of new sand in the footprints, that they had left Agrabah the night before, almost immediately after they made the raid on the palace. It still didn't help gague the distance to their hideout, Aladdin pointed out, but Iago angrily replied:
"Hey! I don't see anyone else with their noses to the ground!" No one pestered him after that.
Aladdin sat down on a bleached boulder protruding from the sand. "We've been all over this desert," he reasoned, "so either their hideout is further away than we've gone or it's very well concealed."
"I see your point," Genie spoke up, motioning at the expansive, sandy wasteland that stretched for miles. "It isn't exactly easy to hide in this desert until you get to the canyon, or the cliffs."
"And the canyon is almost a day's journey from Agrabah," Jasmine added. Abu contributed a nod and climbed onto Aladdin's shoulder.
Aladdin had anticipated as much. When he told the sultan they were off after the forty thieves and then Mozenrath, he gave the impression that it wouldn't be a day-or-two journey. The concerned sultan had made a few feeble attempts at convincing them to stay. "They have my father and my brother still lives also. I can't go on living in Agrabah knowing that they're alive and needing my help," Aladdin had said. That had silenced the sultan. "Fine," the short, old man had conceded, "protect my daughter, Aladdin. When you return, all of Agrabah will welcome you and your family to the wedding. I hope to have most of the repairs at least underway by then. When did you say you plan to be back?" Aladdin said half a week should be enough time. Now, if everything went as planned – and how often had that happened? – his guess would be just about right.
Aladdin squinted against the rising sun and watched the tracks disappear in the heat waves beginning to snake up to the sky. "The trail's easy to follow," he remarked as he stood. "Well, we'd better get a move on. We don't know how far their hideout is, and we don't want to wait for a sand storm to blow their tracks away."
Carpet rose into the air and flattened out, ready for his flightless friends to board. Jasmine, Abu and Aladdin climbed on and sat cross legged – except for Abu, that is – holding onto the edges of the rug as it soared across the desert against the rising sun. Genie and Iago followed close behind.
Aladdin leaned forward, eyes determined and jaw firm; he was not in the mood for pleasant discussion. All he could think of was being reunited with the family he had thought died a long time ago, and his anger at their captors. The forty thieves might have abducted Cassim as a hostage, to ensure Razoul and the other guards didn't lay waste to their lair, but what would Mozenrath want with Ali? Perhaps Ali had grown up to be a wealthy tradesman and he was being held from his wife and children for ransom. Or, maybe the sorcerer was holding him in hopes of luring Aladdin into a trap – even though he had apparently forgotten to alert Aladdin of such a prisoner. Still, Aladdin was ready to go through fire, snow, starvation and even torture to get his father and brother back; they were all that was left of his old family, and they deserved to be part of his new one.
