Hours passed. Many more seemed to pass. As a matter of fact, it was as if ages passed over that little oasis before Tonks' eyes. There wasn't much to do. Teddy had fallen asleep to the lazy afternoon breeze. Tonks placed him on a small bed of soft grass to snooze while she stripped down and swam around in the small pond nearby. The water was surprisingly cool. Nothing swam in it. The water wasn't much deeper than Tonks' chest, so she just floated on the surface and stared up through the palm leaves and into the crystal blue sky. The afternoon was tranquil, and it managed to calm Tonks' nerves. Aktas meant they she was more than halfway done with her journey. All she needed to do wait for was Andromeda Apparating back to retrieve her.
Once Tonks' fingers began to get wrinkled, she got out from the pond and redressed. It suddenly occurred to her that she had her wand.
"I'm starving," she muttered to Teddy, still dozing drowsily in the wad of tall grass. She took out her wand and pointed at the tree the bore the strange green fruit. "Accio!"
A single fruit then fell from the tree right into her hand. Tonks observed it and opened the shell, skin, or whatever the hell was covering it. Just as she had originally thought, it wasn't ripe. It was hard and sour. Tonks spit it out and threw it aside.
"Damn!" she whispered. Oh well. The oasis was getting darker as the shadows got longer. The sun was beginning to set. Tonks estimated it was coming on eight at night at their destination in Aktas. Andromeda, Charlie, and Mashka would be ready for touchdown at any moment.
But another two hours passed. The sky was a much deeper purple now. Tonks needed some light. Where was her mother?!
"Flagrate!" Tonks whispered. She began drawing shapes and words for Teddy to gaze at out of the fire spurting from her wand. She doodled for a moment before she heard a shrill noise that made her jump to her feet.
It sounded like a war cry. Panicking, Tonks immediately tried to reach for Teddy. But it was dark, where was he? Why couldn't she find him? Tonks prayed for Teddy to start crying at the sudden sounds, but Teddy remained silent as stone.
The noise grew louder. Tonks began sweating as she could see, silhouettes against the dim light, at least two dozen figures, and several other unidentifiable objects bolting at them at full-speed. Tonks gritted her teeth. If only she could find Teddy, she could Apparate back to Istanbul, or send a Patronus.
No, there was no time now for a Patronus! Heck, there wasn't even time for her to look for her shoes! Tonks shot red distress sparks high up into the air. The tribe of people closing in on her were genuinely startled by this. They had to be a Muggle tribe. Tonks got to her knees and kept feeling around for her son, trying desperately to grab hold of him.
But within the next five seconds, so much happened. Tonks felt herself being shoved to her feet as a rather muscular man grabbed her wrists and grabbed the wand from her hand. Managing to grab it back reflexively and shove it out of sight, the somewhat bewildered man wrenched her arm tighter, and Tonks felt her shoulder snap. She heard a baby's cry. Teddy!
The tribe wasn't just men, but women carrying their own children, and the other shapes had been carts and animals they herded with them. But Tonks didn't give a damn as of now. She just wanted this to be a dream.
Tonks screamed as the tribe of nomads surrounded any way out of the oasis. She'd been taken captive. Oh, for her mother to Apparate in this very moment!
But she did not. Instead, the most decorated tribal man (was he their chief…king…leader?) stepped forward and looked at Tonks. His face was half-curious, half-malicious. Tonks stared back with horror. He then turned to Teddy, writhing in the arms of another man, his hair gone from blue to red, he looked like he was fighting as much as crying.
Tonks' heart was racing as the chief spoke. She didn't understand the language, but his voice was fierce and strong.
Tonks really wished she knew what he was saying, but she didn't understand. This was probably some version of Arabic.
Interrupting, Tonks desperately shrieked. "TEDDY! MY SON! GIVE HIM TOO ME!"
But two of the men thrust what looked like old, rusty guns at her, and Tonks remained still as the leader of the tribe spoke again. Teddy cried in turn for his mother. Another armed man pointed a gun at teddy. Tonks couldn't help but gasp. Threatening a baby was terrible!
The man's speech seemed to go on for a long time, but after a second or two more, he snapped his fingers and motioned. Tonks was dragged on with the tribe, out fo the Oasis and out into the dark desert.
Her first thought was that she could easily Apparate back to the oasis, or even to the safety of that small hotel in Istanbul. But she could never leave Teddy behind. She would rather die herself for her son than leave him behind with these malicious nomads.
So Tonks stopped dragging her feet and moving forward out of her own free will while her brain desperately scrambled to think of a plan…
"You know, I should have thought before that no one in Aktas would be speaking English," Andromeda scoffed as she and Charlie struggled to communicate with the woman sitting at the desk in the small boardinghouse in Aktas. It was almost ten at night, and they needed a room.
"Not to mention that sandstorm we passed through was terrible. Knocked up two full hours off schedule. I hope Tonks is holding out back at the Oasis," Charlie murmured. "Why don't you go get her now, Mrs. Tonks?"
Andromeda nodded. "Another minute. We need to make sure we have a room first. Charlie, do you speak Arabic?"
Charlie shook his head. "I can barely speak articulate Slavic, ma'am, and I've lived in Romania for seven years."
Andromeda nodded, frustrated. She quickly pointed at the nearest sign and gestured at the woman to understand.
The woman nodded and pointed, just as frustrated, at the toilet off to the left of the small desk. Andromeda smacked her forehead. Charlie leaned in close and whispered in Andromeda's ear.
"Mrs. Tonks, I think that mean bathroom—"
"—for Merlin's sake, I KNOW!!" yelled Andromeda.
Charlie patted her back. "Why don't you go collect Tonks and Teddy, and I'll see what I can do for us, okay?"
Andromeda groaned and squinted her eyes shut, picturing very clearly the oasis where Tonks was staying, and quickly Disapparated with a very loud crack!
Charlie turned back to the woman at the desk and began making weird gestures with his body, trying to sign "Room, here, please." He wasn't having luck.
He only turned around when he heard a small giggle from behind him. A little girl, no more than eleven or twelve years old, was standing behind him, smiling up at his odd body movements.
"Sir, are you trying to dance like they do in America?" she asked, her English, while heavily accented, was still articulate.
Charlie quickly stopped moving and coolly brushed his hair back. "Actually, I'm British."
"Do you need help getting a room? My mother knows not English very well," said the girl.
Charlie looked utterly relieved. "Yes, thank you. I'm Charlie."
"My name is Nabihah," said the girl. "Is it just you that needs a room?"
Charlie shook his head. "Three others. Two grown women and a baby boy."
Nabihah nodded and turned to her mother. They carried a conversation back and forth for a few moments before Nabihah turned back to Charlie. "Are all four of you magical?"
"Yes," Charlie said. Nabihah then spoke with her mother for a few more minutes. Soon, the woman behind the desk searched for a key and handed it to Charlie and spoke a little more. Nabihah translated.
"Would you prefer our House Elf delivers your meals, or will you come to the dining room?"
"We're only going to be here a night," Charlie said. "We can come down to the dining room for breakfast, thank you."
After a few more seconds of talk, Nabihah smiled and nodded at Charlie. "My mother says that you are most welcome and she is sorry for the confusion. Her name is Samah and if you need anything, you may call for her or I to come and assist you when your guests arrive. Although I HIGHLY recommend you call on me—"
Nabihah was interrupted when a loud crack!rang out throughout the small lobby of the boardinghouse. Andromeda reappeared after a second. But neither Tonks nor Teddy was with her. Her face was red, and she was clearly in a panic. Charlie's face altered when he saw Andromeda worried and alone.
Andromeda ran up to Tonks and shook her shoulders, nearly knocking little Nabihah off her feet. "Charlie! Charlie! She wasn't there! Her or Teddy! I sent up sparks like mad, but there was no reply! Then I saw her shoes!"
"Shoes?" Charlie asked.
"Nymphadora's boots were there, but she wasn't! Charlie, I think they've been kidnapped! I think they're in trouble!"
"Send a Patronus after her! They find their targets no matter where they are, and ask her to send one back!" Charlie suggested. Andromeda nodded, trying to breathe deeply. She took out her wand and went to open the door so the Patronus would have a clear shot at Tonks.
"Nymphadora! Are you and Teddy safe? Please reply back via Patronus so I can come find you…" Andromeda waved, and a large white cow jumped out of her wand, hovered for a moment, then flew out the window into the night.
It was undoubtedly close to midnight. Tonks' nerves were getting the best of her. Were they cannibals? Or were they going to kill her and Teddy? The Muggle tribe had forced her to walk for three hours straight before they stopped for the night and set up a few tents as a camp. Tonks was bound at the hands and feet by rope and tied to a post outside the chief's tent. Tonks couldn't take her eyes off her son, who was passed to one of the women of the tribe and taken into a nearby tent. Tonks knew that once the tribe went to bed, she could reach her wand and break the ropes, quickly steal back Teddy, and Apparate elsewhere. But they didn't go to sleep like Tonks had hoped. After camp was set up, they all built three fires and made circles around them and just…talked in Arabic. Tonks knew as long as they remained awake, she couldn't do anything.
Andromeda must have been to the oasis, panicked, had a heart attack, and died by now. Sighing, Tonks kept her eye on the tent where the woman had taken Teddy. What seemed like a few more hours passed slowly by, and Tonks was beginning to lose hope that these people never slept. Or worse, they slept in shifts so that the camp was never fully sleeping.
Tonks found herself beginning to dose off herself. But before she managed to close her eyelids, a bright white thing pranced into the camp, nearly blinding Tonks and scaring the wit out of the tribe. Tonks couldn't make out the form right away, but whatever it was, it spoke directly at her…
"Nymphadora! Are you and Teddy safe? Please reply back via Patronus so I can come find you…"
Tonks almost laughed. Making a Patronus right now would be damn near impossible…
Who's Patrnous, which it obvious was, was it? Tonks squinted, and thought for a moment it looked like her own she-wolf for a moment…but suddenly, Tonks realize it was her mother's voice, which meant that white blob was her mother's cow! The tribe was in a panic. Women tried throwing water on the Patronus, but it would not fade. Tonks knew it wouldn't last very long, so she decided to work quickly while the tribe was still confused and frightened witless.
Wiggling her hands until she reached her wand, Tonks quickly uncut herself from the ropes. She shot up and quickly found the tent where Teddy was kept. He was in a sandy hole in the ground that functioned as a bed or crib of sorts. He was all bundled up in brightly-colored sheets, but he didn't look the least bit tired, and fussed even as Tonks made her way over to him.
Tonks grabbed him, but just as she exited the tent with her son clutched tightly in her arm, she was caught by the chief of the tribe, ready to re-capture. Tonks quickly got an image in her head…she tried for the oasis, but the very first place that came into her head was more desert. But she didn't have time for a second thought. Concentrating very hard, Tonks Disapparated herself and Teddy from the camp before the chief could touch her…
…not a second later, she fell to the sand with a THUD. Luckily, she fell on her back so Teddy wasn't harmed. She quickly stood up and got her wand out. Looking around her, there was no camp, there was no oasis. There was nothing.
Tonks had a fearful thought. She had just seen desert, but not a specific kind of desert. For all she knew she could have been in Africa, or Mexico, or the Australia Outback, or any other desert on earth BUT the one she needed to be in!
Tonks felt faint with the thought. Maybe she could try a Patronus…
Raising her wand, Tonks tried desperately to think of a happy thought, and she managed to mutter weakly, "ExpectoPatronum…"but only a small wisp of white came out of her wand before everything fell black around her again.
Tonks could Apparate back to Istanbul or Grimmauld Place, but her mind was too clouded, too full, too afraid, too exhausted to exhort that kind of energy again. She was too weak to move. All she could do was shoot two brief rounds of red distress sparks high into the air before she collapsed to the sand, Teddy still tucked in her arm.