Ali crossed his arms and glared at the man.
“Okay, then.” The man shrugged. “We tried it the nice way. Now let’s do it my way.”
Abbas raised his lamp and dangled it over the carpet. The fire flickered over the glass enclosing, dangerously close.
“What are you doing?” Jasmine cried out. She watched as the rug struggled once again to break free of the man’s tight grip. The lantern was so hot that its proximity alone was making the magic carpet begin to smolder.
“If it won’t work for me as you say,” Abbas said loudly, “then it won’t work for anyone, including the two of you. But I suggest that if you don’t want to watch your little friend transform into a heap of smoke and ash, you come up with a way to help it change its mind. Otherwise, we’re all going to have a sad little ending tonight, won’t we?”
Jasmine’s eyes widened as she saw the smoke increase.
This man was not bluffing. He was going to destroy the carpet.
They had to do something. Before it was too late.
“GET THAT LANTERN away from the carpet!” Aladdin shouted at Abbas. He took a step toward the rug, but the man only smiled and lowered his lamp closer. Dark plumes now flowed from the carpet’s center and Aladdin’s eyes widened when he saw what looked to be an orange flicker catch upon the fabric.
“Careful there,” Abbas warned. His hands were full. The carpet was tucked under one arm, the lantern hanging from the other and pressing against the rug. “It’s best not to provoke a man like me who has nothing at all to lose. Take another step forward and I’ll just take the glass clear off this lantern; won’t be any question of what happens next to this pile of thread and cloth. The sea is too far below for you to even have any hope of putting it out.”
“It won’t listen to you,” Aladdin said through clenched teeth. “I am its master. That’s just how it’s built.”
“Then tell it to listen to me!” Abbas shouted. “It’s a stupid rug; just order it to listen.”
“It’s not stupid,” Jasmine interceded angrily. “And it will know anything he tells it to do will be because you’re making him.”
“I’m sure your friend here could be persuasive if he really wanted to be,” Abbas said. “Seems he doesn’t want to.”
Aladdin took a step toward the man.
“Not another move,” Abbas warned. “I may not know how this thing works, but I do know how fire operates.” The carpet bucked and squirmed harder and harder. Its tassels shook wildly.
“Please!” Jasmine cried out. More smoke floated from the carpet’s body, and then Abbas leaned down and blew out the flame.
“That was just a preview,” the man told them. “Let me know when you’re ready to stop torturing this innocent thing because you’d rather keep it to yourself than save its life.”
Aladdin glanced over at Jasmine. She looked as shaken as he felt. Abbas was right. The carpet was innocent. It hadn’t done a thing to anyone, and now Abbas had burned it with his lamp.
Suddenly Aladdin’s eyes widened. He knew what he had to do.
“Fine.” Aladdin held up his hands up in a show of surrender. “You win. I’ll help you get the carpet to follow your orders.” He felt Jasmine’s eyes settling on him, the question lingering on her lips.
“That’s a sudden shift.” The man raised an eyebrow. He lowered the lamp away from the carpet. “Go on, then. What do I need to do?”
“Flying a magic carpet is trickier than you think. Especially when it doesn’t want to go with you in the first place. And now that you’ve burned it, it’s going to make the task even more complicated. But the first step is to stop hurting it. You have to unhook it.”
“Nice try.” The man laughed. “You want me to unhook it, and then it’ll just fly away.”
“Do you want his help or not?” Jasmine interrupted. “As long as it is tethered, it can’t get airborne. It’s simple as that.”
“And you’re telling me this thing won’t buck and run away?”
“Not if I tell it not to,” said Aladdin. He took a tentative step forward toward Abbas, trying not to let his fury show at the burn straight down carpet’s center. “Hey, buddy,” he called out to the carpet. It was steps away from him now. “Listen, I know you’re scared, but don’t worry. Everything will be just fine, I promise. He’s going to take that metal thing out of you, but once he does you have to not make a break for it. Do you trust me?”
At Aladdin’s words, the magic carpet stopped fighting and went limp. Aladdin’s heart broke a bit. Even in the Cave of Wonders where they had met one another not so long ago, when he’d seen it trapped, as it had been for so many hundreds of years—even then, Aladdin had not seen it look this defeated.
The man yanked the hook out of the carpet’s body.
“Much better.” Abbas nodded as he looked at the carpet’s defeated form. “Thought my arm was going to fall off with all that kicking and bucking. It’s stronger than it looks.”
Aladdin looked at Jasmine’s stricken expression and glanced back down at the carpet’s gaping wound; it probably couldn’t have flown now even if it had wanted to.
“Let’s get on with it.” The man tapped his foot. “What’s next?”
“Now you say the magic words.”
“Aha.” The man smirked. “I knew there had to be some magic words.”
“You got me,” Aladdin said. “But you must say them in the right order. It’s the only way. It’s sort of like hypnotizing it. Once you have it under your spell, it’s yours.”
“Well, go on, then. What do I need to say?” Abbas glanced down at the rug and then back at Aladdin.
“It’s a long sequence,” Aladdin told him. “That’s why I keep it written down.” He turned to Jasmine and pointed to the map rolled up in her hands.
“That is quite the scroll.” The man frowned. “Just how many words are there?”
“It’s a magic carpet you’re trying to operate. It’s not going to be as simple as saying ‘abracadabra.’ If it were that easy, anyone could enchant and take it.” He turned to Jasmine. “Go ahead and give him the scroll.”
