Disclaimer: As before, the characters of Alex and Jonathon aren't mine, but Caitlin is.
Caitlin hurried through the streets of Cairo, her bundle of belongings slung over her shoulder. Why were there Med-jai in the city? She wondered if they were looking for her, or whether they were there for some other reason. She half ran into the train station, to see a train just beginning to pull away. She hesitated, then as she heard a raised voice behind her speaking in her people's language she came to a decision. Leaping forward she threw her belongings through the opening to a carriage, then leapt in behind it, grabbing hold of the door-frame to balance herself.
Jonathon and Alex jumped to their feet as something came sailing through the carriage doorway. Before they could respond in any other way, a dark clad figure followed. Recognising her as the fighting girl from the street earlier, Alex began to hurry forward to offer her a hand in regaining her balance, but before he could reach her she had smoothly moved away from the opening. She quickly glanced over her shoulder out of the carriage, then bent and picked up the bundle of the floor. Without a word, she nodded to the two astonished men, and left the carriage. Jonathon and Alex exchanged glances, then Alex grinned. "It must be fate" he declared cheerfully.
"I wonder who she was running from" Jonathon mentioned. Alex frowned. "Why do you think she was running from someone?"
"Because when you're late for a train, you don't look over your shoulder after you've got on it. She was worried that someone had seen her." Alex looked at his uncle with a little more respect.
The train was a rickety old thing, nothing like the one Jonathon and Alex remembered from years ago, causing Jonathon to comment that "you had to be undead to get decent facilities around here", an observation which had drawn several confused looks.
If you wanted to sleep, you did so on the seats. Half the carriage doors, including the one from the carriage they spent most of the time in, had been ripped off. They'd been travelling for hours now. While Jonathon had found the inevitable poker game to occupy his time, Alex had spent most of his time prowling the train, looking for the "mystery desert girl". They'd finally retired back to their original carriage, to try and get some sleep.
Jonathon lounged in his seat, and thought about his nephew. The boy was smitten, no doubt about that. From the way Alex was squirming in his seat, Jonathon guessed that he too was awake and uncomfortable. He decided against teasing the boy.
In the gloom, through half closed eyes, he could see a shadowy figure slip through the door, but thought nothing of it. Probably just someone looking for a place to sleep. He vaguely thought that he saw another figure in the doorway, but couldn't be certain. Mentally shrugging, he turned his attention to thoughts of what Jentar would be like.
Then, suddenly, the first figure was standing right in front of Alex. Jonathon began to leap up from his seat, then stopped dead as he saw the glint of metal at Alex's throat. This close, he could see that the figure was one of the men he'd been playing poker with earlier. He was swaying and obviously drunk. "I want the map" the figure snarled.
"Map, what map?" Jonathon tried to play for time, wondering if he could try for a heroic leap. Something told him that pulling a gun would not be a good idea.
"You were talking about treasure hunting earlier in the game, and I heard you two saying something about a map. Give it to me or I'll kill him."
For a second, Jonathon considered claiming that he still didn't know what the man was talking about, but Alex threw him an accusing stare, and he decided that the prospect of treasure probably wasn't worth his nephew's life. He reached slowly into his pocket, trying to figure out as he did just what he was going to do after he'd handed it over.
Abruptly, a hand closed around the wrist holding the knife, and the man was yanked powerfully backwards and away from Alex, then thrown sideways. He fell out of the open doorway with a startled yell. The two stared in shock at the figure in front of them – the young girl. She nodded at them, then spun and slipped off back out of the carriage. They just sat there in disbelief. Before they could shake off their surprise, she reappeared.
"Where did you go?"
"I went and told the conductor that a man tried to attack me, we fought, and he fell off the train" she answered.
"Are they going to stop and look for him?" Jonathon tried to imagine how angry the man would be, if he'd survived. In the dim light, they could just make out the faint smile playing on the girl's lips. "No. There are different kinds of laws and rules out here. Nothing more will come from this."
Caitlin looked at the two men thoughtfully. Neither had moved from the position they'd been in when the attack started. She shrugged, then leaning forward she plucked the folded piece of paper out of the man's hand. "May I?"
"Hey" protested Jonathon. "That's mine". "Thank you" the girl said wryly. She unfolded the map and began to read it. Shortly after, she began to laugh softly. "What's so funny?" demanded Jonathon. "Whoever sold you this map cheated you" the girl answered his indignant query. "This place doesn't exist."
"Are you sure?" Jonathon asked anxiously, not willing to give up on his dreams of treasure "because they said that about other places, like Hamun…" he broke off with a cough as Alex nudged him in the ribs.
Caitlin began to confirm that she was, then stopped, and examined the map again. All the details, the various cities, though all of them were now in ruins, and the different oasis locations, all were correct. It was just that "I've never heard it mentioned before, and I'm sure the people I talk to would know if it was real" she said weakly, wondering how she could phrase it convincingly. She looked down at the map again. Unlike Hamunaptra, Arestos and the oasis at Am-shere, to name a few, she hadn't even heard of Jentar.
Jonathon eyed the girl curiously, wondering who it was that she "talked to". He wondered as well if she was some kind of Med-jai, trying to put him off finding the place, but she didn't have the "burn the map/kill everyone" approach he'd come to know. "Well, as my motto goes, if you don't try, you'll never know" he announced, smiling winningly at the girl. Well, she may be many years younger than him, but she was very attractive.
"I thought your motto was 'a day without alcohol is a day sleeping off a hangover' " hissed Alex, obviously feeling jealous of his uncle's approach. Then he smiled at the girl. "Why don't you come with us" he invited. "That way you can see for yourself if it's real or not." Jonathon ignored the unfounded accusation, and considered the invitation Alex had made to the girl. She was very beautiful, Alex obviously wanted her along, and far from being a handicap, she would most likely be better at defending them than they would be should it come to fighting. Still, what effect would it have on his reputation to be defended by a "slip of a girl"?
He thought about this for only a second longer. "Love to have you with us" he announced. What more damage could be done to his reputation?
Caitlin looked at them, thinking over the offer. She was rather surprised at how quickly the younger man had suggested it. Why do they want me along? She wondered. Still, there was something about the younger one that was… interesting, and she knew that she would have no trouble defending herself against them if need be. Besides, they were honourable people – like her father, she was good at judging character. If there was something at this place which needed to be defended against by the Med-jai, I would have heard, she thought. No-one's even ever mentioned it, so it can't be dangerous.
She hesitated a moment longer, then her curiosity finally got the better of her, and she announced. "I will be your guide for the journey".
Jonathon felt relieved at the prospect of someone familiar with the land joining them. As he took the map back off her, and carefully stored it away in his pocket again, Alex introduced them. "I'm Alex, and this is my uncle, Jonathon". Jonathon winced at the designation. While it was true, it made him seem so old. The girl smiled. "I am Caitlin".