ALADDIN AND JASMINE rushed up the stony cliff steps, through the meadow, and down the walkway toward the palace. They didn’t stop until they were at last back in the living room with the gray sofas and the portraits of his parents.
“It was here.” Aladdin panted and pointed to the ground. “I told it to rest right there before we left.” And yet Omar was right. The space where the magic carpet had lain down earlier was now empty; marble tiles gleamed where it should have been.
“Carpet?” Aladdin called out. “If you’re joking, now is a good time to come on out!”
He glanced around the palace, but nothing happened. The magic carpet did not appear. And while it was true that the carpet had a mischievous streak a mile wide, it had never played hide-and-seek in this way before.
Aladdin searched behind the sofas; he peeked behind the bookshelves. Jasmine hurried to check under the dining table and walked through the kitchen calling out for it.
“I didn’t see it,” Jasmine said once she returned to Aladdin.
“Me either.” Aladdin felt dizzy. “I don’t understand.”
“Perhaps it went exploring in the bedrooms? It’s easy to get lost in a place as large as this.”
“There’s also the palace grounds.” Aladdin nodded.
“And the carpet loves animals, right? It’s possible it just went over to the menagerie for some company.”
“Maybe,” Aladdin said hopefully.
“I’ll ask the stable hand to explore the menagerie at once.” Omar hurried out of the living room.
“It makes no sense,” Aladdin said. “I know the carpet loves exploring, but it’s never disobeyed me like this before.” Just then, he noticed the tailor standing off to the side. She seemed to be a serious sort of woman to begin with, but right now her face looked positively ashen.
Their eyes met.
“I’m so sorry, Prince Ali,” she said, her lower lip trembling. “I’m afraid that the carpet is not off in the menagerie or upstairs in any of the rooms.”
“You saw what happened?” Aladdin rushed toward her. “Who was it? Did someone come and take it?”
“I didn’t see anyone take it, per se, but a little while ago someone arrived at the palace. You remember him, Your Majesty? The one who came to the advisory meeting who you had asked me to measure and stitch new clothing for?”
Aladdin’s stomach sank.
“He came earlier than I’d expected, so the servants escorted him here to wait for me. I had told him I would be right back after I retrieved the clothing for him to try on. Just to see if they fit all right. When I brought back the outfit, the man was gone. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but when we discovered that the magic carpet had gone missing…”
“It must have been him,” Jasmine said. “I remember how he stared at the carpet when he came to speak to us. He couldn’t take his eyes off it.”
“I didn’t see him take it,” the tailor said carefully. “It’s possible the carpet did indeed slip out or get up to something, but I must admit that man made me uncomfortable. I am so sorry, Prince Ali. I shouldn’t have left him alone. It’s just that theft in the palace has never been an issue before.”
“This isn’t your fault,” Aladdin assured her. His thoughts drifted back to the council meeting. That man had appeared a bit strange. The way he’d fixated on the gold-framed paintings and examined everything with an exacting stare. Aladdin had waved it all away at the time because the man’s life didn’t seem like it had been an easy one. And people who grew up struggling could understandably be a bit rough around the edges. But it was more than that, Aladdin now realized. Unlike the others who had come to the open forum and requested the prince’s assistance with things, this man hadn’t even asked for the new clothes the tailor fitted him for. That had been all Aladdin’s idea. The man wasn’t there to ask for help or advice. He was there to case the place. And when he’d seen the magic carpet flutter awake for that brief moment, the man must have realized exactly what he wanted.
Aladdin kicked himself. How could he have let down his guard? He had grown careless, and now the carpet was gone. He wondered what that man was doing to the magic carpet right now. Where could he have taken it? What could an imaginary man possibly want with a magic carpet?
Wondering did no good, though. Right now, finding the carpet was critical.
Suddenly, Aladdin realized what he needed to do.
“I’ll be right back,” he told Jasmine. “I have to do something upstairs—look through a few things that might help us figure out where the carpet could have gone.”
“While you do that, I’ll talk to the servants to see if we can’t piece together exactly what happened. And there’s still the chance it slipped out through an open door. It’s best not to rule anything out.”
“Thank you, Jasmine. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Don’t worry,” she reassured him. “Wherever it went off to, we’ll find it.”
Aladdin raced up one of the golden staircases to the second story. He rushed past golden vases lit by special lights to showcase their fine artistic details and floor-to-ceiling paintings of flowers and trees. Ordinarily he would have paused to take this all in. But there was no time to linger tonight.
Aladdin yanked open the first door he came across and locked it firmly behind him. Looking around, he realized it was the palace library with walls covered in shelves that held more books than he’d seen in a lifetime. Stuffed ottomans lined the back windows. Jasmine would have loved it.
Aladdin paced the plush oversized rug in the center of the room and pulled the lamp out of his satchel in case it would help Genie hear him better from all the way in this imaginary kingdom. Guilt coursed through him. If only he’d been as concerned about keeping the carpet safe as he had been about the lamp. He cleared his throat.
“Genie,” Aladdin said in a low voice. “I’m in a bit of trouble. I hope you can hear me, because I really need you right now.”
“At your service.” Just like that, Genie was there.
“Wow. That was fast!” Aladdin said.
“When the boss beckons, I appear. You know all you gotta do is ask!”
Aladdin breathed a sigh of relief. Just the sight of his blue friend made him feel better. Genie had created this kingdom, so Genie would have to address the technical difficulties that cropped up. Fixing glitches had to be part of the deal.
“You really do have a knack for the worst timing, though.” Genie frowned at Aladdin. “I mean, I know the whole point of me distracting Princess Jasmine’s handmaiden was to be your wingman, but boy, is she charming and funny and beautiful. Do you have any idea the linguistic gymnastics I had to play to get away gracefully? Do you know what I told her?” He smacked his head with his hand. “I said I thought the camel float was having some issues. The camel float. I’m a magical genie, but clearly even my powers have their limits on smooth talking! Anyhow, how’s it going here?” He glanced around the empty library quarters. “Can’t be going too great if you’ve locked yourself up in this library—which is very nicely decorated, if I don’t say so myself.”
“Not going good at all. I ran into a bit of trouble—” Aladdin began, but Genie interrupted.
“I must admit I’m a little disappointed.” He shook his head. “You had a whole ‘Genie day’ to wow her. I’m afraid it may be a little late for any advice, sorry to say.”
