The Charmingly Clever Cousin Read Online Free PDF Page B

hoping he hadn’t seen them. If he had, she hoped he’d mistaken them for some strange,large bat. After a while, when he didn’t stop or turn back, the girls continued to follow.
    They’d been traveling for nearly two hours when they came to a desolate place with scrubby trees and a few crumbling buildings. “Looks like an abandoned village,” whispered Elena.
    â€œWhoa!” said Yusuf, reining in his horse. He dismounted, pulled the bundle from his saddlebag, and strode over to what looked, from above, like a round circle of stones.

    â€œI brought you some food, Ahmed!” he yelled, tossing the bundle down. “But if you don’t do as I ask, it’s the last you’ll get.”
    Fatima gasped. “It’s a well,” she hissed to the others. “Yusuf is keeping Ahmed in a well!” She lowered the carpet behind one of the crumbling buildings where they could watch without being seen.
    Now Ahmed’s voice echoed from the bottom of the well. “You slimy worm!” he cried. “You son of a dung beetle! God knows, Idon’t want to be king yet, but I’ll never give up the throne to you!”
    â€œThen you’ve made your choice!” yelled Yusuf.
    Mounting his horse, he sped away as Ahmed continued to hurl curses. “You mealy-mouthed maggot! You pimple on the face of the earth!”
    Fatima couldn’t help smiling. She never would’ve guessed that her own brother-in-law, who scolded her for cursing, was an expert at it!
    After waiting a few minutes to make sure Yusuf wasn’t going to return, the princesses approached the well and peered over the edge.
    â€œAhmed!” Fatima called into the dark hole.
    â€œIt’s me, Fatima!
    My friends and I have come to rescue you!”

9
The Rescue
    â€œI T’S ABOUT TIME !” A HMED YELLED FROM THE bottom of the well. “What took you so long?”
    Fatima sighed. She supposed it was asking too much to expect a little gratitude. For a second she thought about leaving him there!
    Since there was no ladder nearby and since the well opening was small, Fatima rolled up her flying carpet and dropped it down to Ahmed. It hit him on the head.
    â€œOuch!” he yelled.
    â€œSorry!” Fatima called.
    Ahmed didn’t own a flying carpet, and he’d never been very good at flying one. “Oof! “Ow!” he exclaimed all the way up as he bumped against the sides of the well.
    After Ahmed was out, Elena doctored his scrapes and bruises, dabbing them with a creamy white lotion from a small blue bottle. The lotion was magical, and Ahmed’s wounds healed instantly. He took no notice, however.
    â€œYusuf tricked me,” Ahmed explained to the girls. “On our way to my father’s palace, he suggested we take a shortcut. When we reached this abandoned village, he pretended to be lost. Then he suggested we check the well for water since our supply was getting low.”
    Ahmed rubbed his forehead. “I should’ve been suspicious, but I wasn’t. He lowered me over the side of the well with a rope. I told himthe well was dry. But he just laughed, then yanked up the rope so I couldn’t get out.”
    â€œOf all the low-down, dirty rotten tricks,” muttered Tansy.
    â€œThat’s for sure,” said Lysandra.
    Fatima nodded. “And then he demanded you give up your right to be king!”
    â€œThat’s right. He wanted me to sign a paper renouncing my claim—and Hassim’s future claim—and naming him king.” Ahmed frowned. “Can you imagine Yusuf in charge of the kingdom?”
    Fatima shuddered, thinking of the many servants he’d already fired and the changes he was planning to make to the palace. “Elena figured out the message you sent,” she said.
    Ahmed sniffed. “Well, I’m glad someone did!”
    Bats and bullfrogs! It was impossible to please him. And he hadn’t even thanked