Chapter 4: Out of Afghanistan

The rest of that day and the next passed in a similar fashion. Holly completed all of her finals just minutes before Cas or the twins did, to the astonishment of all. Mark, being a brother as good as his word, for he, too, dearly wanted to go to London for the summer holidays, spent every second of his spare time with his father and stepmother, trying to manipulate them into allowing him and his little sister to go to London. Eventually, Mr. and Mrs. Coomes gave into their son's persistent badgering and hint-dropping, and reached an agreement.

"They say we can go to London with Cas and the Gaunts if: A) you actually did ace your exams, which the scores ought to come tomorrow, B) if you have aced your exams, we have to promise to go to Mosque every Friday, C) we have to send an e-mail once every week, as well as when we arrive, and D), I have to keep a close eye on you, kiddo." Mark told Holly a week after school had finished. Holly grinned at her brother.

"You sure do have a talent for striking a bargain, bro!" she told him happily. "Don't worry, I really do have a good feeling about those exams. It's really weird, but it seems to me like your wish that I'd be smarter was granted!"

"Careful now," Mark dropped his voice to a whisper. "If dad hears you talking about wishes, he'll begin ranting about Afghanistan again."

Holly and Mark's father had been a citizen of Afghanistan until 1997, the year that Holly had been born.

"I would never have gotten out of the reach of the Taliban if not for you, Holly." he was fond of saying, whenever the subject of wishes came up. "You see, my child, I was visited by a djinn in 1997. A very beautiful Englishwoman, who wanted a good caretaker for you. She told me that she had found you in an abandoned house just outside of Kabul, and that such a young and innocent child should not be left to die. When I asked this djinn why she did not take you in herself, she replied that a human child could not possibly be taken care of by a djinn of her high standing. She offered me three wishes in exchange for your safekeeping. I accepted this offer of hers, and made my first wish, a wish to live in New York as an American citizen. Then I wished to have a different name. I never did like my old surname. My third wish was for the ability to be fluent in English. She granted this, and I have never seen her since." Holly liked the story, but Mark, it seemed, had heard it a few too many times. Holly especially liked, with a sort of morbid curiosity, the story of how horrid the Taliban were to the poor Afghans who crossed them. She thought that her family had received a very lucky escape indeed.

"Anyway," Mark continued, butting into Holly's thoughts, "this all hinges on your scores, so you better have done as well as you think."

"Don't worry. I did, promise. I think I'll text Cas and see how he's doing with his parents." Holly rolled her eyes at her brother and took her cell phone out. Before she could text her friend, however, Holly suddenly shivered. "Is it just me, or is it really cold in here?" she asked Mark. Mark paused for a moment, then shook his head.

"It's just you. But if you're so cold, go outside. It's plenty hot enough out there." Holly nodded and went out through the back door into the humid New York summer.

As it turned out, Cas only had to explain to his parents that the Gaunts were being kind enough to provide for all expenses, and Dr. and Mrs. Malone agreed immediately. They weren't greedy people, the Malones, but Cas being their only son, and a straight-A student at that, they would give him almost anything that was within their power (and budget) that he asked for. This is not to say that Cas was spoiled, in truth, he rarely exploited his parents' weakness for him, preferring to do things "on his own." But when Cas put his mind to it, there was almost nothing he couldn't extract from his parents, including permission to go to England with his friends.

"Holly!" Holly's father called from the back doorstep, waving a very white piece of paper in the air above his head. "Come here, young lady, I'd like to talk to you inside!" Holly groaned, but made her way back inside. Had she failed one of her exams? That seemed the likeliest scenario.

Holly's father sat down at the dining room table, and gestured for Holly to sit also. Her growing feeling of trepidation was almost too much to bear. Surely now she and Mark wouldn't be allowed to go to London!

"Holly, as you may have guessed, these are your final exam grades. I'd like you to look at them." Mr. Coomes pushed the piece of paper across the table for Holly's perusal. Bracing herself for the worst, Holly looked down and nearly fell off her chair in surprise.

"100% in ALL of my classes?!" she almost yelled. Holly's dad nodded.

"Last semester you got all D grades, my child. How can you explain this sudden change of fortune? Have you met a djinn?"

Holly shook her head. Although Mr. Coomes' talk of the djinn was fascinating, Holly didn't actually believe in their existence. Besides, she thought that if she had met a djinn, she would have known. "No, I haven't met a djinn, dad. I studied really really hard, all last quarter for these exams. Can't you just believe that I earned those grades honestly?" She told him, trying to sound hurt. As a matter of fact, she hadn't been studying for weeks. There was something odd about her sudden brilliance. However, she didn't want her dad to have second thoughts of sending her and Mark to London.

"Well, I suppose, in light of these wonderful grades, I can give you and Mark my permission to go to London with your friends. But be sure to go to the Mosque every Friday. And we'll have to get some of your medication from Dr. Murphy." Mr. Coomes said kindly, nodding his head. Holly's whole face lit up. She jumped up and hugged her father around the neck in gratitude.

"Thanks, dad!" she said, and ran upstairs to pack.

Across town, Layla Gaunt was on the telephone with her younger brother Nimrod.

"You say that Alexandra called you yesterday?" She frowned. "And what did she tell you?" John, being rather bored from playing video games and watching the television all day, happened to walk past the room where his mother was talking on the phone. On hearing his Aunt's first name, John paused in order to eavesdrop. "Nimrod, calm down." Mrs. Gaunt said, and listened some more. "Oh, dear. This is an interesting development. What else, now? No- I thought that brat had been done away with long ago!" Layla was shaking her head, looking worried. "Nimrod, is that all you can think of? Why she didn't tell you before? Well, I have a shrewd idea. If you can't figure it out, I'm not going to tell you. In any case, have John and Philippa told you that they found two more young djinn? Yes, but I happened to meet their parents. All four are purely human, Nimrod. Yes, I agree it is a mystery. Well, goodbye, Nimrod." Layla hung up the telephone and turned to see her son, waiting for some explanation.

"Was that Uncle Nimrod?" John asked his mother.

"Yes, John, it was," Mrs. Gaunt replied.

"What did he say? You sounded worried," John said.

"That's because I am worried," Mrs. Gaunt sighed. "Where is your sister? She ought to hear this, too."

Half an hour later, Layla Gaunt had explained all of the information from Nimrod's urgent phone call to her children.

"So, let me see if I understand what you're saying," Philippa said, squinting her eyes thoughtfully. "Yesterday, Uncle Nimrod received a phone call from Aunt Alexandra, who lives in Afghanistan, and she told him about a very dangerous Ifrit's recent escape from a bottle. What was this person's name again?"

"Azazel, wasn't it?" John asked his mother.

"Shh, John. His name is not one to be spoken aloud lightly." Layla scolded him.

"Yes, him, well, according to you and Uncle Nimrod, he's even worse than Iblis was! Iblis, who Nimrod told us was the most evil djinn of the lot!" Philippa's eyes were wide with fear. John scuffed the floor with the toe of his shoe.

"I wish there was something we could do," He moaned. Philippa frowned at him.

"You know as well as I do that we don't have any djinn power anymore, not since Italy." John shot an irritated look at his sister.

"You said that Holly and Cas are djinn, didn't you? Perhaps they can help. We have no idea what tribe they're from, of course, but I'm fairly certain that the Baghdad Rules don't say anything about djinn from an unknown tribe." Mrs. Gaunt mused.

"So how about we adopt them into the Marid?" Philippa asked her mother. "After all, you are the official leader of our tribe."

"I still need to get Nimrod to deal with the paperwork about that. But yes, I think that might do. They're both good kids, aren't they? I'll call Nimrod back tonight. When are you going, again?" Layla nodded.

"Next week," John answered.

"Well, you had better begin your packing. And have you found out if either of them can't come?"

"Holly texted me this afternoon, and Cas called John yesterday. They can both come. They're really excited." Philippa said.

"Oh, did you ask Uncle Nimrod if it was okay for Holly's older brother to come?" John asked his mother.

"Yes, I did. And Nimrod said he'd be delighted, even if Mark isn't a djinn." Mrs. Gaunt said. "But be careful, children. Nimrod isn't quite what he used to be, but I daresay he'll find new strength in training your young djinn friends. But this could still hold quite an element of real danger."

Both John and Philippa nodded.

"We'll be careful, mother." Philippa promised.

"Good. I couldn't bear it if something horrid happened to you two or Nimrod." Layla smiled. The twins smiled back at her, but only half-heartedly. They were both thinking very hard about the other part of what their mother had told them about Nimrod. The fact that John and Philippa seemed to have a previously unknown cousin.