“Ali! No!” Jasmine played along and clutched the rolled-up map close to herself.
“Please, Jasmine. Come on.” Aladdin reached his hand out. “We don’t want this man to hurt the magic carpet any more. We’ll figure out another way home.”
Reluctantly, Jasmine handed Aladdin the rolled-up map.
“Well, say the words slowly and no funny business, understand?” the man said.
Aladdin held out the scroll to the man.
“I said you’re a comedian, didn’t I? What are you handing me that thing for? You know I can’t hold that while I’ve got this carpet and lantern in my arms,” the man snarled. “Read the words to me and I’ll repeat after you.”
“You have to read the words yourself. If I say them, the magic carpet will hear me first, and then it will listen to me.”
“That’s ridiculous.” The man eyed the scroll suspiciously.
“I didn’t make the rules.” Aladdin shrugged. “Do you want control of the magic carpet, or don’t you?” He held the paper out toward the man.
The man stared at it in the darkness, then looked down at the carpet under one arm and the lantern in the other. Grudgingly, he lowered the lantern safely to the ground beside him.
“Well, go on, then. What’re you waiting for? Hand it over,” he growled and took a step forward. He thrust out his hand.
It was now or never. Abbas took another step toward Aladdin. And then, Aladdin dove, rushing Abbas as hard as he could. He charged at him with his entire body. Abbas’s eyes widened. He yelped as he lost his balance on the slippery terrain. Before he could recover, Aladdin yanked the carpet out from under his arm. The man stumbled as he tried to get up and fell again onto the ground with a thump.
Aladdin tucked the carpet under his arm, but before he could run, the man lunged. He tackled Aladdin’s leg. Aladdin fell to the ground with the carpet still wrapped tightly in his arms. Just then Aladdin saw the glint of metal. Abbas pulled out his knife. Aladdin rolled away, and the knife narrowly missed his torso. He ducked as the knife swung over his head.
“You think it’s that easy to get one over me?” Abbas yelled, marching toward him. Aladdin’s eyes widened. Behind him were the jagged cliffs, and in front of him was the man with the raised knife heading straight for him. But suddenly, Abbas’s eyes widened. He fell to the ground, then visibly winced and cried out.
Aladdin straightened to see Jasmine smiling at him, her foot stuck out.
“Whoops.” She raised an eyebrow.
The man writhed on the ground and howled in pain. Aladdin could see blood dripping from his knee. The knife was on the ground next to him, bloody. He’d cut himself.
Aladdin looked at Jasmine. “Run!” he shouted.
With the carpet under his arm, they raced through the boulders and down the gravel road, toward the kingdom. The golden minarets loomed in the distance.
“How far away is he, you think?” Jasmine asked. “He was injured, but I don’t think that wound is going to stop him from coming after us.”
Before Aladdin could reply, they heard a bellowing shout.
“Where is he?” Aladdin wondered as they picked up their pace.
“Hard to say.” Jasmine glanced about. There were caves all about them.
“At least he can’t run too fast now.” But with the carpet in his arms, Aladdin knew that their own pace was slower than it could have been. The injured magic carpet was heavier than he’d imagined. “We just have to make it back to the city. Once we’re there, we’re safe again.”
“But can we really outrun him? He’ll know all the shortcuts out here, at least better than us.”
Aladdin’s pace faltered. She was right. They couldn’t risk getting caught. Not when the carpet was in no position to fly. And they had no weapons. Their best chance for safety was to evade him. Footsteps echoed in the distance now.
Aladdin spotted a large cave ahead. “There!” He pointed. It was dark and big enough to fit all three of them. “Let’s wait him out.”
Jasmine followed his gaze. “Are you sure? What if he peeks inside and finds us?”
Just then they heard the crunch of gravel nearby.
They ducked into the cave and were instantly enveloped in complete darkness.
“I know you’re hiding here somewhere.” Abbas’s voice floated close to them now. “Don’t hear your footsteps anymore, but you can’t be on the main road yet.”
In the darkness, Aladdin reached out and took Jasmine’s hand in his. She squeezed it and moved closer to him. He doubted the wisdom of slipping into a cave now. Perhaps they should have just kept heading toward the kingdom and hoped to simply outrun him. It was only a matter of time before Abbas peeked in and found them.
“Could we fly it back to Agrabah from this cave?” Jasmine whispered. “I know the carpet is injured, but even if it can just manage to take us to a nearby island, we will be safer than we are here.”
He looked down at the carpet, and though the darkness concealed its exact appearance, Aladdin could feel it writhe in his arms.
“The damage from the burn was bad,” Aladdin said. “I could see right through its center straight to the ground. And the hook didn’t help matters, either. It can’t take us anywhere with the way it is now.”
The sound of crunching gravel grew closer.
“I was only going to take the carpet and be on my way,” the man shouted. “But now I’m going to have to make you both pay personally for this. Stabbed myself in the knee and gashed an elbow on a rock when I fell. Someone’s got to be accountable for that. I know these caves like the back of my hand. Don’t worry. I will find wherever you’re hidden. I’ve got all night.”
Aladdin’s stomach sank. What was he going to do when the man inevitably found them? They were boxed in now.
“Hey,” Jasmine whispered all of a sudden. “It’s the spider.”
Aladdin was about to ask her what spider she was referring to, but there it was—in the dark of night, the glittering black creature perched at the edge of the cave’s opening. It was Genie! Or rather, it was Genie the spider. In all that had transpired, Aladdin had nearly forgotten about the lagoon they had visited and the form he had taken when he met Jasmine. It almost felt like a lifetime ago.
