“You sure?”
“Yeah,” Aladdin said reluctantly. “I’m sure.”
“I can understand that.” Genie nodded. “You know how to find me if you need me. Stay safe, little friend. And good luck.”
Aladdin watched Genie disappear. He stared at the empty space where his friend had stood just seconds earlier. A chill ran through him as he thought about the man who’d stolen the carpet. It was one thing to have thought the thief was someone from Genie’s imagination. But it was an entirely different feeling to realize that this was a real person.
And though this man had fooled Aladdin once, he would not fool him again.
Aladdin vowed to find the magic carpet if it was the last thing he ever did.
JASMINE’S HANDS were propped on her hips when Ali joined her in the living room.
“Any luck?” he asked her.
“I wish. Didn’t find it anywhere. What about you? Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Nothing that could help us, unfortunately.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re back.” She gestured to the team of worried-looking servants and guards who stood in a group. “I didn’t want to waste time while you were upstairs, so I went ahead and assembled the servants and guards to figure out how we can best look for the carpet. The more people searching, the better.”
“Princess Jasmine thought perhaps I and the other kitchen staff could head into town to inform the people of what happened,” the chef said.
“The guards and I can go door-to-door to see if the man lives in any of the homes in town,” said the head guard.
“We’ll go to the meadows and check the shores by the cliffside,” a gardener said.
“I think between all of us dividing and searching certain areas, we’ll be the most effective,” Jasmine said. “What do you think?” She hesitated as she took in Ali’s worried expression. She hoped he didn’t think she was presumptuous for taking charge of his palace in this way.
“This is brilliant,” Ali said. “Thank you, Jasmine.”
Everyone hurried off to search for the carpet. The palace walls echoed with worried conversation.
“I’m glad everyone is helping,” Ali said. “But I can’t stay here just waiting. I have to do something.”
“Who said anything about waiting?” Jasmine raised an eyebrow. “Seeing you personally searching will underscore the gravity of what is going on. Besides, people may open up to you in ways they won’t to anyone else.”
“You’ve thought of everything,” Ali said.
“I know you love that carpet.” Jasmine squeezed Ali’s arm. “I have grown pretty fond of it myself. We’ll find it. We will make sure we do.”
Together they hurried down the front steps, out the palace gates, and toward the village square. Rounding the corner, they ran into a man—the same one who had confronted the young boy, Jamaal, earlier at the town square. His eyes widened when he saw them.
“Just saw the palace guards rush past me on my way home for the night,” he said. “Is there trouble?”
“Someone stole something valuable from the palace,” Ali told him. “Have you seen him, by any chance? He had gray eyes and silvery hair. He’d have had a rolled-up carpet with him. It is very valuable to us and we must find it as soon as possible.”
The man frowned and then shook his head emphatically. “No, Prince Ali. I can’t remember seeing anyone who fits that description…and I’d certainly have noticed someone running about with a rolled-up carpet tucked under their arm. Of that I am sure. But I’ll be on the lookout for him now.” The man’s jaw tightened. “Stealing from the prince of Ababwa? The sheer nerve! That is downright treason. Don’t you worry, Prince Ali, we will find him and bring him to justice as soon as possible. I will begin searching at once.”
Jasmine and Ali thanked the man and continued on their way. By the time they’d reached the town square, news of the theft had spread throughout the kingdom. People rushed to and fro, speaking in hushed tones. Torchlights and lanterns lit the path as people scoured the area for any sign of the man who had stolen the magic carpet.
“Do you think he flew away with it?” Jasmine asked Ali.
“I can’t imagine the carpet would let him do that,” Ali said. “At least I don’t think so.”
“Such a sweet rug. It must be so terrified right now. I hope wherever it is, it’s not being hurt.”
“Me too.”
Jasmine looked about at the worried expressions of the townspeople they passed along the way. Beyond the square, she saw the hilly peaks and the docks in the distance. Boats rocked gently in the breeze from where they were anchored at the port.
“Everything appears to be in order. Same number of vessels as when we flew in,” Ali said as he followed her gaze and squinted at the boats. “But I’ll have a guard make sure nothing is amiss there.”
If the carpet was injured or in any way unable to take them back to Agrabah by air, Jasmine wondered how long it would take to get back home on one of those ships. What state of mind would her father be in when he discovered her missing from her palace suite? Ali had explained to her that time moved differently when traveling by a magical carpet, but surely they were pushing it now. Sooner or later someone would figure out she was missing.
But there was no sense in worrying about any of that right now. They simply needed to find the magic carpet. Whether they left by carpet or by boat, the only way she would ever go back was together with their friend, the carpet.
HOW COULD Ihave been so careless? Aladdin fumed as they hurried down the streets of Ababwa. The streets were lit by the moon above and the glow of lanterns held by townspeople hurrying past, searching for the magic carpet. He knew it did no good to blame himself, but he’d messed up the one thing he had to do—the most important thing—taking care of the magic carpet. It was their only way into the kingdom and their only way out. He could have asked a guard to keep an eye on it. How hard would that have been? How could he not have done such a simple thing?
He thought back to the crook. Aladdin had projected himself onto the man, hadn’t he? He knew what it was to be poor, what it was to not have proper clothing and to feel frustrated and hungry. But he had compared and sympathized so much he’d failed to see the man for the individual he was, with his own motivations and ambitions. Aladdin had completely and utterly missed what was happening. Now that he looked back on their first meeting, the man had stared at the carpet a beat too long. It should have been obvious then and there that something was amiss. With a new title, fresh surroundings, and adoring subjects, Aladdin had grown soft, and thanks to him the magic carpet had been stolen. What had that rug done to anyone to deserve this? It was just a sweet, lovable being that had never harmed anyone and had brought them all this way. He cringed at his last memories with the magic carpet. It had wanted so badly to accompany them and explore the streets of Ababwa together. They’d told it to stay back. They had said no.
Aladdin hoped the magic carpet could hang on long enough for them to find it.
“A rug shop!” Jasmine pointed to a store they were walking past. They paused and took in the glass window with a display of multicolored rugs.
