Rollie and Angie Ramirez Tyler gazed out the window as their plane landed in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.  Disembarking, they headed over to get their luggage and were delighted to find out that none of it had gone elsewhere.  Though Rollie’s PDA was an item of considerable interest, they managed to get through Customs without any great difficulty.  Just as they were finishing with Customs, a man with the general build and appearance of a tank came up to them and introduced himself as one of Sheik Alafa’s personal bodyguards.  He told them that the sheik was waiting for them outside.  The man then proceeded to pick up the four largest pieces of luggage as if they were full of nothing but goose down and told them to follow him.  Rollie and Angie quickly grabbed the remaining luggage and fell in behind him. As they left the building, a wave of dry, scorching heat hit them like an invisible fist.  Rollie, having known the heat of the Australian outback, welcomed the change from the New York climate.  Angie, on the other hand, was less than ecstatic.

“Whoa!  I knew it was hot here, but I feel like we just stepped into the largest quick-bake oven on Earth, and it isn’t even noon,” she commented.

“You’ll get used to it, Love.  Give it time.”

“Will that be before I melt into a puddle like the Wicked Witch of the West or after?”

“Hey, don’t you dare,” Rollie said.  “You’re only allowed to melt under one special circumstance.”

“And what would that be?” Angie asked, her eyes sparkling.

“When you’re being kissed by me,” Rollie replied, his voice low so that the walking tank wouldn’t hear.

Just then, they saw a black limo at the curb.  Out of it stepped Hashim Alafa, a smile on his face.  “Ah, Mister and Mrs. Tyler!  I am so pleased that you have graciously accepted my offer to visit my homeland.”  The young sheik shook Rollie’s hand.  “And may I congratulate you on your marriage.”

“Thank you, Sheik Alafa.  Your wedding gift was very beautiful,” Angie said.  The Arab had sent something that Rollie and Angie both recognized was a genuine Fabergé egg.  Charlotte, who knew a bit about them, said that it was probably worth in excess of ten thousand dollars.

“Yes, it was, thank you.  But you really shouldn’t have gone to such expense,” Rollie told him.

“I owe you my life, Mister Tyler.  No amount of money can repay that debt,” Alafa said, his voice quietly serious.

“Call me Rollie,” the Aussie said, his voice also quiet.

The sheik inclined his head.  “I would be honored.  And, please, call me Hashim.”  He motioned to the waiting car.  “Let us go someplace where we can get something cool to drink and some lunch, then we will go on to my home.  You must be tired after your long journey.”

“We got some sleep on the plane and on our layover, but it is true that all we can really think about right now is getting into bed.”  Rollie turned to Angie and waggled his eyebrows meaningfully.  She promptly blushed, then jabbed him in the ribs.  The gesture was not lost on Hashim, who covered a smile with his hand.

The three of them climbed into the welcoming coolness of the air-conditioned limo.  As they drove the twenty-two miles to the city, Rollie and Angie gazed at the fascinating sights outside the windows.

“Is it always this hot?” Angie asked.

“It is not unusual for it to be this temperature at this time of year, but the nights are still cool.  I believe that you will come to love the desert nights.  The sky is a canopy of stars, showing the greatness of Allah’s creation.”

“I remember the nights in the outback of Australia,” Rollie commented wistfully.  “That’s one of the things I miss the most about living in New York City, not being able to see the stars.”

“Ah, yes, that is right.  You, too, are a son of the desert.  I have never been to your native land, Rollie, but I hear that, in some ways, it is not so very different from my own.”

Rollie looked out the window again.  “Yes, they are alike in some ways,” he agreed.

Shortly after they entered the city, the limo pulled up to a small café.  There were tables outside, but Hashim led them inside, which, though not cool by American standards, was still far more comfortable than outside.  They all ordered lunch, then settled back to chat.  The conversation was mostly about Rollie and Angie’s work and Hashim’s U.S. interests.  As the meal progressed, however, the sheik brought up a surprising topic.

“Forgive me if it seems as if I am prying into your affairs, but I heard that you recently had some trouble with an international arms dealer and assassin.  His name was Victor Loubar, I believe.”

A shadow passed over Rollie’s face, but disappeared quickly.  “Yes.  He’s been an enemy of ours for a long time.  But it’s over now.”  He reached for Angie’s hand and gave it a squeeze.  “How did you know about Loubar?”

“I have been getting the New York Times for several weeks now.  It is good to keep abreast of what is happening in the countries you do business with.  I saw an article in the newspaper about you and this man.”

Rollie grimaced.  A reporter had somehow gotten wind of the story with Loubar and had splashed it all over the papers, making Rollie sound like some kind of crusading hero against crime.  They’d had several calls from producers wanting the rights to the story, but Rollie and Angie had adamantly refused.  Their ordeal with Victor Loubar was far too personal and painful to allow the movie industry to glamorize it on film.  Fortunately, neither the reporter nor anyone else had found out about the rape.

“The reason why I am asking is that I requested some information on the man who was hired to kill me and found out that he named Victor Loubar as one of his weapon suppliers, though it was quite some time ago.  I was curious as to whether or not there was a connection.”

Rollie and Angie looked at each other in surprise.  They had not heard about this.

“No, there wasn’t any connection that I know of,” Rollie said.  “We’d been butting heads with Loubar for a year and a half, ever since I screwed up one of his deals.  It all just finally came to a head.”

“I understand.  It seems that we both have dangerous enemies, Rollie.”

“You can say that again,” Angie murmured.

“Do you ever wonder if it is worth it?” Hashim asked softly.  Surprised at the question, Rollie said nothing for a moment.  The sheik took his silence to mean that he did not want to answer.  “Forgive me.  I am being too personal.”

“No, it’s all right.  I just never thought about it like that.  I didn’t purposefully set out to be a ‘crime fighter’, so to speak.  It just kind of evolved into that.  I had a friend in the NYPD, Leo McCarthy.  We got to know each other pretty well when I got dragged into something by a couple of feds who turned out to . . . well, that’s another story.  Anyway, afterwards, Leo began coming to me when he needed special help on a case, and that’s how it started.  Most of the time, I did it to help him as a friend, but it made me feel good to stick it to the bad guys and use my knowledge in special effects to do it.”

“Is your friend still a police officer?”

Rollie paused again.  “Leo was killed last year.  We’re still helping the police from time to time, though.  That didn’t change.”

“I am sorry.  I know what it is like to lose a good friend.”  Hashim turned to Angie.  “It must be unsettling for you to have your husband risk his life to stop criminals when it is not even his job.”

“Oh, yes.  I haven't kept it a secret how I feel about that.”

“You can say that again, Batwoman,” Rollie said with a faint smile.

Hashim looked at them in confusion.  “Batwoman?”

“Just a little private joke,” Rollie told him.

“Ah.  Well, shall we go?  By now, my jet will be fueled and your luggage should be aboard it.”

“Jet?” Angie asked.

“Yes.  It is a bit of a distance to my home.  My father never wanted an airplane.  He preferred to remain in contact with the earth.  I had an airstrip put in after his death.  It has been a great convenience.”

“I bet,” Rollie murmured, thinking that it would be nice to have the money to blow on private jets and airstrips.  But then, if he had that kind of money, he wouldn’t be spending it on airplanes.  Visions of the kind of F/X equipment he could buy danced through his head.

They returned to the airport where a sleek learjet awaited them.  Once they were in the air, the conversation turned to small talk.  They’d been talking for a while when Hashim excused himself briefly and spoke through an intercom to the pilot in Arabic.

“Come, look out the window,” the sheik said sometime after that.

Rollie and Angie turned to the window and gazed down at an endless expanse of sand dunes.  Some of the dunes appeared enormous, nearly a thousand feet high.

“That is Rub’ al Khali, what you Westerners have called the Great Sandy Desert or the Empty Quarter.  I thought that you would enjoy seeing it.”

“It’s magnificent,” Rollie said.  “How large is it?”

“It covers some six hundred fifty thousand square kilometers.”

“That’s, um . . . about two hundred fifty thousand square miles.  It’s almost as big as Texas,” Angie remarked in awe.  “Does anyone live there?”

“There are no permanent residents, only a few Bedouins who travel through it.”

The plane banked sharply, taking them northeast.  They soon passed over a mountain range, which Hashim told them was the Tumwayq Mountains.  Shortly after that, they descended toward a green spot in the desert.  Rollie and Angie saw date palms and clusters of vegetation as the plane landed.  Then they saw the house.  Actually, ‘house’ was not the right word.  Mansion was closer to the mark, or maybe even palace.

There were several servants waiting for the plane.  Rollie and Angie were led inside as the servants took care of their luggage.

“This place is beautiful,” Angie commented.

“Thank you.  I must give credit to my mother for the tasteful decorations.  She is a fine woman.  You will meet her soon.”

“You’re not married?” Angie asked.

“No, Allah has not wished it so yet, but, someday, I will find a woman who stirs my heart . . . as you do Rollie’s.”

Rollie and Angie’s gaze met, their longing to be alone together rising again.  Hashim led them up a flight of stairs and down a corridor.  He opened a door and motioned them to go in.

“These are your rooms.  I hope that they are satisfactory.”

The newlyweds looked around at the extravagant surroundings.  “This is incredible.  I feel like royalty,” Rollie said.

Hashim smiled brightly.  “I am pleased.  Just remember that anything you want is yours.  Servants have been assigned especially for you.  Please feel free to have them get you anything you desire.”  He looked from one to the other.  “I will leave you now.  Please rest as long as you like.  Dinner will be served at seven o’clock.”

Once they were alone, Angie walked onto the wide balcony.  “I can’t believe that we’re actually here,” she murmured, looking down at the oasis spread out before them.

Rollie came up behind her and wrapped his arms about her waist, pressing her back against him.  “Mmm.  The first real day of our honeymoon.  When I saw that golden-haired little girl all those years ago, how could I have dreamed that I would one day be here with her and thinking about making wild and passionate love?”

Angie turned around in his grasp and wrapped her arms around his neck.  “So, when are you going to stop thinking and start doing?” she asked with a sultry smile.

Her smiling lips were captured by Rollie’s in a deep kiss.  He pulled her backwards off the balcony, his mouth never leaving hers.  With the speed of much practice, Rollie unbuttoned her blouse and removed it.  His lips finally left hers to travel down her neck.

“I’m meltinggg, meltinggg,” Angie said in a high-pitched voice.

Rollie lifted his head, causing Angie to gasp at the burning look of naked desire in his eyes.  “Oh, not yet, my little witch, but you will be.”  With those words, he quickly pulled off her bra.  He got down on his knees as his lips traveled to her breasts, pulling a nipple into his mouth.  Angie moaned deep in her throat.  She grabbed hold of his head and held him in place, pressing her body against his.  Rollie unzipped her skirt and slid it and her underwear down her legs, following them downward with his lips.  He kissed each of her feet as he removed her shoes.  As his mouth slowly traveled back up her legs, they were accompanied by his hands.

Angie’s breath was coming in short, heavy gasps.  Once she could reach it, she pulled off Rollie’s shirt, not bothering with the buttons.  When his hands were free again, they slid all the way up to the place where her thighs began, bringing another moan to Angie’s throat.

“Get up,” she commanded, her eyes dark and smoky with passion.

Rollie smiled up at her mischievously.  “Say pretty please.”

“If you don’t get on your feet this instant, Roland Tyler, I’m going to have to hurt you.”

“Ooh, I love it when you threaten me.”  Rollie obligingly got to his feet.  Angie immediately gave him the same treatment that he had given her, moving all the way down his body with her hands and mouth as she divested him of the remainder of his clothing.  This time, it was Rollie who started to moan.

Rollie pulled Angie into the bedroom.  They fell onto the room-sized bed and made love.  As their bodies joined, so too did their minds and souls.  In shared rapture, they gave to each other all that they were, experiencing a depth of union far beyond the physical.  Waves of ecstasy flooded their bodies as they rocked together, lost in the timelessness of their lovemaking, until, hearts thundering, they at last culminated their passion in a white-hot burst of fire.

Rollie and Angie clung to each other in the warm afterglow, their heaving chests slowly quieting.  Still feeling their connection in his mind and body, Rollie nuzzled Angie’s neck beneath her chin as she ran her fingers through his hair, smoothing away the sweat-dampened locks that had fallen over his face.

“I love you, Angie, more and more every day.”  Rollie lifted his head and gazed into her eyes.  “Will you marry me?”

Angie smiled at him.  “I did marry you, silly, or have you already forgotten?”

He gave her a goofy grin.  “Yeah, that’s right, you did.”  He ran a finger over her lips.  “Will you marry me again?”

Angie’s smile widened.  “I’ll marry you every day for the rest of my life, but why don’t we wait until the honeymoon is over.”

Rollie lowered his head and resumed snuggling against her.  “It’s a deal,” he murmured.

“Rollie?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you too, more and more every second.”

Rollie looked at her again, his eyes twinkling.  “You just have to outdo me, don’t you.  Not fair.  How can I beat ‘every second’?”

“Try,” Angie replied, fighting to keep the smile off her face.

The Aussie seemed to consider this for an inordinately long time.  In an effort to hurry him up, Angie slid her hand down between them to a certain tender portion of his anatomy.  Rollie gasped and jumped.

“You’re taking too long,” she complained.

“Am I?  I guess I fell asleep--eyaa!”  Rollie jumped again as his wife’s hand grew more insistent.  “Okay, okay!  I love you more and more every nanosecond.  There.  Satisfied?”

“For now,” Angie replied and pulled Rollie’s mouth down toward hers.

“Lord help me,” Rollie murmured against her lips.

The newlyweds felt happy and refreshed as they went downstairs to dinner.  As they entered the dining room, Hashim saw them and came forward, smiling broadly.

“Ah, my friends.  Did you sleep well?”

“Wonderfully.  We hadn’t intended to sleep this late, though,” Rollie said.

“No apology necessary.  While you are my guests, you are free to do whatever pleases you.  I am happy, though, that you are joining us for dinner.  My mother is looking forward to meeting you.”

A few moments after they sat down, a woman came in.  Since she wore the traditional black cloak, scarf, and full face veil required when in the presence of a man who is not a close relative, they could not really see what she looked like, but she appeared to be in her mid-fifties.  Above the veil, her sharp, dark eyes fairly glowed in her face.  Hashim rose and went to her, taking her hand.

“Mother.  How are you feeling this evening?”

“I am well, Hashim,” the woman replied.

“Come.  I wish you to meet my friends from America.”  He led her over to Rollie and Angie, who had also stood.  “This is Rollie Tyler and his wife, Angela.  Rollie, Angela, my mother, Kamilah.”

Kamilah Alafa took Rollie’s hands in hers.  She looked deeply into his eyes, and the Aussie had a strange feeling for a moment, not unlike what he had felt the first time he met Mangela, as if she were peering into his soul.  He saw a look of surprise in her eyes.  Then it was replaced by affection and gratitude.

“You delivered my son from death, Mister Tyler.  You have a mother’s undying gratitude for that.  It brings me joy that I am able to thank you in person.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am.  I only did what I had to,” Rollie said, stuttering slightly.  The woman was having a strange effect on him.

“That is not so, but your humility is pleasing to Allah.”  Kamilah turned to Angie and took her hands as she had Rollie’s.  “To you I owe thanks as well.  My son told me of how you and your husband risked your lives for him.  Your courage brings you honor.”

“I . . . thank you,” Angie murmured.

The woman released Angie’s hands and smiled at both of them.  “Please, you must call me Kamilah.”

“Thank you, Kamilah.  That is a beautiful name,” Angie said.

“Thank you, Angela.  Yours, also, is quite lovely.”

They all sat down to enjoy the meal.  Dinner conversation was mostly about simple things.  Afterwards, they went to a small, comfortable room, where the conversation grew more personal.  Kamilah was an unusual woman for a Saudi.  Before they left on their trip, Rollie and Angie had learned all they could about the country.  It was very uncommon for a woman to speak to an unrelated man unless addressed first, and it was almost unheard of for her to initiate physical contact with one.  Yet, as they all sat and enjoyed the quiet evening, Kamilah talked often to Rollie, and there had been that first meeting when she took his hands.  Hashim did not seem to be bothered by his mother’s conduct in the least.  He acted as if there was nothing unusual about it.

Throughout the evening, Rollie had often felt Kamilah’s eyes upon him.  He could sense that there was something about him that intrigued the woman.  He was about to ask her about it when she excused herself and retired for the night.  A few minutes later, Rollie decided that he felt like going for a walk, so he and Angie said goodnight to Hashim and went outside.

The newlyweds walked in silence for several minutes, their arms about each other’s waist.  Rollie kept gazing up at the stars, feeling a sudden homesickness.  All at once, he was wishing that they were in Australia.  The longing for home was so potent that it brought a catch to his throat.  He had no idea why he would suddenly want to return to the land of his birth so badly, he only knew that he did.  Rollie took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Rollie, what’s wrong?” Angie asked.

He remained silent for a moment, then, “I want to go home, Ange,” he replied, his voice trembling slightly.

“Back to New York?”

“No.  I want to go home, to Australia.”

Angie remained silent for a long time, surprised by his words.  She stopped walking, forcing Rollie to stop as well.  She turned him to her and looked into his eyes.  “Rollie, what is it?  Something’s been bothering you all evening.”

Rollie shook his head helplessly.  “I don’t really know.  For several days now, I’ve had this restless feeling, like there was someplace I needed to be.  Thinking about it, it started when Mangela left for home.  It was just this vague feeling--until tonight, until I met Kamilah Alafa.  There’s something about her, Ange, something different.  She makes me think of Mangela, about the things he taught me.”  Rollie sighed deeply.  “Twenty-two years, Ange.  It’s been twenty-two years since I left the People.  I never wanted to go back.  I swore that I never would.”

“And now?”

“I feel as if I need to go back there to find something that I lost, a part of me that I left behind.”

Angie drew him closer and laid her head on his chest.  “What do you want to do?”

“I want us to have our honeymoon.  I want to make you happy.  I want to put everything behind me, once and for all.  I want. . . .”  Rollie’s voice trailed off.  He suddenly turned and looked up at one of the balconies.  Kamilah Alafa was there, watching them.  He stiffened, goose bumps popping up on his skin.  He could actually feel her eyes upon him.  “Angie, have you ever had the feeling that there was something you were supposed to do, something you had to do, but you didn’t know what it was?”

“Sometimes, but I don’t think in the way that you’re talking about.”

“Let’s go back inside, Ange.  I don’t want to be out here any longer.”

Kamilah watched husband and wife walk back toward the house.  She heard her son enter the room, but did not turn to greet him.  He came up behind her and laid a hand on her arm, squeezing gently.  Then he followed her gaze to the couple below.

“What is it, Mother?  I have sensed that all is not well with you.  Are you ill?”

“No, my son, I am well.”

“Is it the Americans?  Do they bother you?”

“No, they do not bother me.  Just the opposite,” she told him.

“What do you mean?”

With Rollie and Angie now out of sight, Kamilah removed her veil, but she continued to gaze out into the dark desert night.  “They intrigue me, especially him.  He is not like other men.”

“How so?”

“He has been touched by Allah,” Kamilah said softly.

“Rollie?” Hashim asked in surprise.

“Yes.  He has crossed over into death and returned.  That alone has marked him, but there is more than that.  He carries a secret inside him that even he cannot fully see.”

“Is he in danger?”

Kamilah looked closely at her son.  “You like him.”

“Yes.  He is a man of great honor and courage.  He reminds me of Father in that he gives so much of himself and asks nothing in return.”

Kamilah nodded.  “He is in danger, as are all those who choose to fight against evil, but only Allah knows what trials lay before him.  There is a journey that he must make.  He must go back to the beginning.  Only then can he truly be at peace with himself and accept the gifts that Allah has given him.”
 

CHAPTER TWO -- TOURISTS

The morning dawned bright and warm, promising another hot day.  Rollie and Angie allowed themselves the luxury of sleeping in.  They hadn’t gotten a great deal of sleep during the night, having been otherwise occupied.  By the time they went downstairs, Hashim had left for a business meeting.  The newlyweds were served a private breakfast in the dining room and told that one of the sheik’s other airplanes was standing by, ready to take them wherever they wished to go.

“When he said that we’d be treated like a king and queen, he wasn’t kidding, was he,” Angie murmured to Rollie when they were alone.

“I guess not,” her husband replied.  “So, where would you like to go today, Your Majesty?”

“Hmm.  Well, I’d like to see more of Riyadh.”

“Your wish is my command, my queen,” Rollie said as he kissed her hand with a flourish.

The airplane waiting for them was a twin-engine prop plane.  The pilot flying it was a short, pleasant-faced man who spoke perfect English.  Once they landed at the airport, he began to rattle off a list of dos and don’ts and a few friendly warnings to the couple.

“You should first go to a bank and exchange some of your currency so that the merchants do not have to do it.  Be careful of the men who target the foreign tourists.  They will try to cheat you.  If you wish to buy something or hire a guide, deal only with the ones who speak at least passable English.  You will find that many of them do.  Do not be afraid to bargain.  Chances are you will get a better price.”  The pilot pulled out a map and a tourist information handbook and handed them to Rollie.  “The map will help keep you from getting lost, which can easily happen.  There is a bank here.”  He pointed to a spot on the map not far from where they would be entering the city.  “The American Embassy is here.  It is very important that you know that.  Also, here is their telephone number.”  He gave Angie a slip of paper.  “If you get into any trouble with the authorities, insist on calling your embassy.  You should have no trouble, though, as long as you do not do any of the things I told you before.”

“Actually, I’ve already got a map, but thanks anyway,” Rollie said, pulling his PDA from his pocket.

“That is a map?”

Rollie pressed an icon, and a tiny map of Saudi Arabia came up.  He had it zoom in on the capital city.  He continued to tighten the zoom until it showed the airport where they were.  Rollie had downloaded all the information he could get on Saudi Arabia into the PDA, including an Arabic/English translation program.

“What a wonderful device,” the pilot commented with a smile.  He climbed out of the plane with the couple.  “Come.  I will help you get a taxi.”

A line of cabs sat waiting outside the airport.  The pilot went to one of them and began talking to the driver in rapid Arabic.  There was a lot of gesturing as the two seemed to be disagreeing about something.  Then the pilot smiled and nodded.  He turned to Rollie and Angie.

“We have agreed upon a fare for the trip to Riyadh.”  He told them the amount.  “It is not necessary to tip the driver, but it is up to you.”

“Thank you for all your help.  We really appreciate it,” Rollie said.

The man inclined his head.  “Sheik Alafa is a fine man.  We are all grateful that he returned alive.  Any way that I can help you is a small thing.  I will return for you in seven hours.  Will that be enough time?”

“That will be fine.  Thanks.” Rollie said.

The pilot looked at his watch.  “The banks close at noon, so be sure you get there before then.”

Rollie and Angie said goodbye and got into the taxi.  The driver took them into the city and dropped them off at the bank.  After converting some of their currency, the newlyweds began to wander through the city.  With a population of over two and a half million, it was a pretty big place.

All of the men they talked to spoke only to Rollie, virtually ignoring Angie’s presence, even when Rollie introduced her.  It was aggravating Angie’s temper, but she’d known before they came here that she could expect this.  Saudi Arabia was not really a good place for a woman who had Western ideas about how they should be treated.  This place was a different world, where a woman’s sole purpose was to be a wife, mother, and homemaker and where she was not even allowed to show her face to men who were not family.

The couple came upon a narrow street lined with outdoor stalls where merchants sold their wares as had been done in years past.  As expected, these merchants tried their best to get the newlyweds to buy what they were selling.  Rollie and Angie did no more than glance at the stuff until they arrived at a stall that was selling beautifully woven and embroidered scarves.  Both Rollie and Angie had applied liberal amounts of sunscreen before they left, but the skin of Angie’s neck was still feeling uncomfortably hot.  A scarf would help protect it.

“Do you see one you like, Ange?” Rollie asked.

His wife looked at the piles of cloth.  A pale blue one with an embroidered lotus blossom pattern caught her eye.

“Ah, one of my finest ones,” remarked the merchant, his English heavily accented.  He quoted a ridiculously high price for the scarf.  Rollie turned to Angie and sneaked her a smile.  She could see a light in his eyes, and Angie realized that Rollie was going to enjoy playing the bargaining game.

“I’m sure that you must be mistaken,” he said politely.  “Surely, this couldn’t be more than . . . thirty-eight riyal.”  The amount Rollie had quoted was slightly over ten dollars, way too low for the beautiful scarf, but no further away from its real value than the merchant’s price had been.  Angie figured that Rollie must already have the price he was willing to pay for the scarf firmly in mind.

“Thirty-eight!  For this fine piece of craftsmanship?  No, no.  No less than one hundred thirty-five.”  About thirty-six dollars.

Rollie pretended to examine the scarf more closely.  “I may have been mistaken on its value.  I’ll give you fifty-seven.” He had upped the bid to a little over fifteen dollars.

“An insult!  For one hundred twenty riyal you will steal it from me.”  The merchant had dropped down to thirty-two dollars.  Angie looked at him closely and realized that the man was enjoying himself, too.

Rollie shook his head.  “Seventy-five.  No more.”  He was up to twenty dollars.

“Would you steal the food from my children’s mouths?  One hundred ten.  That is my final price.”  The merchant was now down to a bit more than twenty-nine dollars.

Rollie shook his head and laid the scarf down.  “No, I’m sorry.  That’s just too much.”  He looked at Angie.  Somehow, she understood that he wanted her to play along.  She immediately adopted a disappointed expression.  Rollie winked at her, and turned back to the merchant.  “Ninety-four riyal.  That’s my final offer.”  Twenty-five dollars, a fair price for the scarf.

The merchant studied the look on Rollie’s face, then he sighed.  “You are robbing me, but ninety-four it is.”

Keeping the smile off his face, the Aussie merely nodded.  He paid the merchant and handed the scarf to Angie.  As they walked away from the stall, Angie looked at her husband with new eyes.

“You did that like you’d done it a thousand times.  I had no idea you had such a talent for bargaining.”

“Don’t forget whose son I am.  I had lots of practice wheeling and dealing when I was running around with Dad, though I never foresaw having the opportunity to use the skill here.”

Angie draped the scarf about her neck.  Then she pirouetted around.  “How does it look?”

“Beautiful.  You’re beautiful,” Rollie replied sincerely.  She did look especially beautiful today.  Following the clothing recommendations they’d found, she was wearing a flowing, calf-length skirt, the color of which matched her eyes, and a long-sleeved blouse.  She was also wearing a wide-brimmed hat to shade the sun.  It was not the kind of clothing that Angie usually wore, making it all the more attractive, especially when she pirouetted like she had, causing the skirt to flow outward, showing more of her shapely, well-toned legs.

“A very fine purchase, if I may say so,” commented a slightly accented voice behind them.

Rollie and Angie turned to see a tall, refined-looking Saudi man watching them.

“You seem to be quite experienced in the art of bargaining.  That is uncommon for foreign tourists,” the man commented.

“I’ve had some practice,” Rollie told him.  He studied the man.  There was something about him that made the Aussie uneasy, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Forgive me.  I am Ahmed Sallah.”  The man held his hand out to Rollie, who took it hesitantly.

“Rollie Tyler, and this is my wife, Angela.”

Sallah inclined his head toward Angie, his eyes lingering on her for a moment, then he returned his attention to Rollie.  “Your accent.  I am afraid that I do not recognize it.”

“I’m Australian.”

“Ah, so you are from Australia.”

“No, we’re from the United States,” Rollie corrected.

The man’s smile grew.  “America.  A most interesting place.  I spent some time there a few years ago.  So, you are here on vacation?”

“Our honeymoon.”

“How wonderful.  Saudi Arabia is not a place that foreign newlyweds usually choose for their honeymoon.  What made you decide to come to our beautiful country?”

“We were invited by someone we met in the U.S.”  Rollie wondered why this stranger wanted to know so much about them.

“I see.  Yes, you would have to have a Saudi sponsor in order to get into the country.  Visas are not granted freely.”  The man looked up at the sky.  “It is nearly time for the midday meal.  I would be pleased if you would join me.”

“I’m sorry, but we already have plans for lunch,” Rollie lied.  He looked at his watch.  “In fact, we really should be going.  It was very nice talking to you.”

The Saudi man inclined his head.  “Perhaps we shall meet again.”

Rollie took Angie’s arm and led her away down the street.  He glanced back once to see Ahmed Sallah still watching them.

“Why did you lie, Rollie?  We don’t have any plans for lunch.”  Angie looked at him closely.  Rollie was not someone who lied without good reason.

“There was just something about him that I didn’t trust, Ange.  I don’t know what.”  They turned a corner, and Rollie relaxed a bit.  They were now out of Sallah’s sight.  “How about if we go to the Diplomatic Quarter?  Besides the embassies, the place is supposed to have lots of gardens and malls.  I’m sure we could find a good place to eat there.”  Not to mention the fact that there would be lots of people there, many of which would be non-Saudis from the embassies.  For some reason, Rollie just couldn’t completely shake his feeling of unease.  He wanted them to be someplace full of people.

“Sounds great to me,” Angie agreed.

They found a taxi and, after negotiating a fare, had it take them to the Diplomatic Quarter.  As they ate lunch in one of the malls, the couple noticed quite a few Caucasians in the restaurant.  Some were dressed in military clothing.  Rollie recalled that there was a U.S. military training base not too far away.

Rollie and Angie enjoyed their meal, discussing what they were going to do next.  The heat outside was rising and would soon be too high for them to comfortably wander around.  They decided to walk through the nearby gardens for a while, then spend the rest of the day shopping the malls for gifts for everyone back home.

“Is that a fellow American I hear?”

The newlyweds turned to see a big man in military fatigues approaching the table.  He smiled down at them.

“Hi,” Angie said, happy to be able to openly greet someone without getting a sour look.  “Guilty as charged.”

“Fantastic!”  The man looked at the couple warmly.  “By the way you’re dressed, I’d say that you’re not from the embassy.  We don’t see an awful lot of American tourists.  Or are you working here?”

“No, we’re tourists, all right,” Rollie said, smiling.

The man held out his hand to the Aussie.  “Lieutenant Charles Green.  You can call me Chuck.”

Rollie grasped the man’s hand firmly.  “Rollie Tyler.  This is Angie, my wife.”

“Great to meet you, Rollie, Angie.”

“Please, sit down,” Angie said.

“Thanks.”  The man took a seat.  “I come from San Francisco.  Where do you call home?”

“New York,” Angie replied.

“I’ve been there a few times.  Great city.  So, what made you guys decide to come to Saudi Arabia in the middle of summer?”

“Well, we were invited here by a sheik, so we decided that it would be a great place to go on our honeymoon.”

“Honeymoon!  Well, congratulations.  A sheik you say?  That’s unusual.  Which one, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Hashim Alafa,” Rollie replied.

“Ah ha.  Well, that sort of explains it.  I hear that he’s very Western-minded.  Went to school at one of the Ivy League colleges.  But how in the world did you hook up with him?  He doesn’t travel to the U.S. much that I know of.  He probably will even less now considering what happened to him the last time he was there.  He was almost assassinated.”

Rollie and Angie exchanged a look, which was not lost on Chuck.  He looked at the two of them closely.

“I get the feeling that you already knew that,” he said.

“Um, yeah, we knew,” Angie admitted.

Chuck leaned back in his chair and studied them even more closely.  “The rumor we heard was that Alafa’s life was saved by a civilian working with the police in New York.”  He focused his gaze on Rollie, who was presently staring fixedly at the tablecloth.  The Aussie looked up in time to see a huge smile spread across the man’s face.  “Well, what do you know.  So, it was true.  Wait until I tell the guys back at the base that I actually met the man who saved Sheik Alafa.  They’re not going to believe this.”

Rollie shifted uncomfortably.  This kind of attention was not what he and Angie had wanted.

Chuck noticed the expression on Rollie’s face.  “Hey, don’t worry, man.  Nobody outside the base will find out about it from us.  I know how newlyweds value their privacy.”  He winked at Angie, who didn’t know whether to smile or blush.  She did a little bit of both.

“So, are you two staying at one of the hotels here?” the lieutenant asked.

“No, we’re staying at Sheik Alafa’s oasis estate,” Angie told him.

“Boy, you guys are in.  I bet he’s treating you like royalty, eh?”

“Pretty much,” Rollie admitted.

Chuck nodded.  Then he leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table.  “Tell me.  Is it true what they say about Alafa’s mother?” he asked in a low voice.

“What’s that?” Rollie asked.

“Well, that she can see things other people can’t, like some kind of psychic or something.”

Rollie sat up straighter.  He didn’t believe in psychics in the way that was portrayed in many movies, TV shows, and on the psychic services commercials, but he knew, far better than most people ever could, that some individuals had special abilities that were beyond what most people possessed.  He himself was living proof of it.

“Do you know anything else about this?” Rollie asked.

“Not really.  It was just a rumor I heard.”  The lieutenant studied the look on Rollie’s face.  “Why?  Is it true?”

“I couldn’t say.  I’ve never seen her do anything like that.”  Which was the truth.  Rollie had no real evidence that Kamilah Alafa was what Chuck had said.  All he had was that strange feeling he’d had when he was in the woman’s presence.

“Well, I believe in that stuff all the way, but some of my buddies think it’s just a bunch of sh--”  He stopped suddenly and glanced at Angie.  “Sorry, Angie.”

“Don’t sweat it.  You should hear the curses flying around a movie set when things go wrong.”  She was pleasantly surprised that the exuberant young man was polite enough to think about his language when in the company of a woman.  That was very rare these days.

“Movie set?  Are you an actress?”  Chuck’s eyes had taken on a new light.

“No, Angie and I are in special effects,” Rollie said, amused at the young man’s reaction to the idea that Angie was an actress.  What was it with people and how they glamorized actors?  Rollie had learned a long time ago that actors were just ordinary people--though many of them didn’t think so themselves.

“Special effects?  You mean like what they did in Star Wars?  Wow!  That is awesome!”  A look of realization spread across Chuck’s face.  “Wait a minute.  Tyler F/X!  Oh, man.  I saw some of your movies!  This is incredible!”

Rollie smiled brightly, surprised that Chuck had actually heard of them.  Not many people outside the industry were familiar with the small F/X companies.  They only knew about the big ones like Industrial Light and Magic.

“My buddies back at the base are going to be green when I tell them about this.”  Chuck looked at them, an idea clearly forming in his mind.  “Hey.  Me and some of my friends are having a party Friday night.  It would be great if you could come.  It’ll just be a bunch of guys and gals having fun and tossing down a few.  What do you say?”

Rollie and Angie looked at each other, asking the other’s opinion only with their eyes.  At the same time, they smiled, turned back to Chuck, and said, “Sounds like fun.”

Chuck’s eyes widened.  “Whoa!  That was wild.  Hey, are you sure that you’re not psychic?”

Rollie and Angie exchanged another long look.  When they turned back to the lieutenant, he was watching them with extreme curiosity.  Then his expression changed.  “Anyway, the party is on the base.  I’ll leave you a couple of passes at the guard post.  Do you know where the base is?”

“I’m sure we can find it,” Rollie replied.

“Great.  There’s going to be food, so come early, say around six-thirty or seven.”

“We’ll be there,” Angie said.

“Well, I’ve got to head back.  It was great meeting you.”

Rollie and Angie watched Chuck leave, then they finished their lunch and took a walk in the gardens.  After that, they started hitting the malls.  By the time they found gifts for everyone, it was time to get back to the airport.

On the plane ride back to Hashim’s, Rollie grew quiet.  Several times during the afternoon, he’d had the feeling that they were being watched, but every time he turned around, he didn’t see anyone suspicious. ‘Just my imagination,’ he’d tried to convince himself, but recent experience had taught him that his ‘feelings’ were usually dead on.  Something--call it instinct, a sixth sense, or something else--was giving him a warning.  The problem was that he didn’t know what the warning was about.  The Aussie sighed inwardly.  ‘It’s our honeymoon, for Pete’s sake!  Why can’t trouble just leave us alone for a while?’ Rollie silently asked in exasperation.

Angie watched Rollie’s face as he looked out the window.  He seemed troubled by something, a bit on edge.  She started thinking about the ways that he’d changed since he was shot.  He looked at some things differently now than he had before, not surprising since not only had he technically died, but he also remembered doing so.  That kind of experience would change anyone.  But there was more than that.  Rollie’s abilities, things that anyone would call paranormal, were enough to give Angie the willies sometimes.  When she’d been attacked by Loubar at the loft, then later kidnapped, Rollie had known, both times, that she was in danger, though he’d been miles away.  Though his ability to detect her emotions had grown only a little stronger, his ability to feel her presence and sense where she was at any given time had expanded significantly.  And he still had this disconcerting tendency to pick thoughts right out of her head every now and then.  Then there was their lovemaking.  Every time they made love, they virtually lost all sense of self and became like a single entity.  Rollie didn’t like talking about these abilities of his, so they usually didn’t, just silently accepting their existence.

They arrived back at the estate just in time for dinner.  As they ate, the couple recounted to Hashim and his mother what they’d done during the day, neither one of them mentioning Ahmed Sallah.  Kamilah did not focus her attention on Rollie in quite the same way that she had the night before, but she did appear to be troubled by something, and Rollie had a feeling it had something to do with him.  Hashim also was acting a bit differently toward Rollie.  The difference was subtle, so subtle that most people wouldn’t see it, but Rollie did, and he wondered what the cause of it was.  Even though Saudis were very status conscious and those who were titled tended to ‘look down their noses’ at foreigners who were not, the sheik had always treated Rollie with respect and friendliness.  But now, there was something more, something that the Aussie couldn’t quite put a finger on.

Kamilah retired shortly after dinner, leaving Rollie, Angie, and Hashim in the sitting room they’d been in last night.

“Have you thought about what you would like to do tomorrow?” the sheik asked.

“Well, we’d like to see Abha, among other things.  We heard that there’s actually a forest there and that there’s an art village where you can find paintings and sculptures by Saudi artists.”

“Ah, yes.  Abha is indeed an emerald within my homeland.  It is a place of mountains, valleys, and fertile plains.  I truly believe that you would love it there.  It has been years since I have had the time to visit it.  It will be good to go back.  It would be best if we started early.  Would seven o’clock be satisfactory?”

“That would be perfect.”  Rollie glanced at Angie.  “We wanted to thank you for your hospitality and generosity.  You are the perfect host.”

He immediately knew that he’d said the right thing by the smile that spread across Hashim’s face.

“Thank you, Rollie, and you, Angela,” the sheik said.  “I am happy that you are pleased.  I do not make it a habit to befriend Westerners.  Our cultures and beliefs are so different.  But when we first met, I felt as if you and I could reach beyond those differences.  I believe that Allah brought us together for a purpose that we have yet to see.”

A servant came in and murmured something to Hashim.

“My mother would very much like it if you would visit her in her quarters, Angela,” the sheik said.

“Really?  Um . . . yeah, sure,” Angie said, surprised.

“Hassan here will show you the way.”

Angie gave Rollie a brief kiss, then followed the servant out.  Rollie watched her leave, wondering what Kamilah wanted to talk to her about.

“Your wife is a beautiful woman, Rollie,” Hashim commented.  “I can see a fire in her like the desert sun.”

The Aussie grinned.  “If by fire you mean passion, you don’t know the half of it.  She’s . . . well, she takes my breath away sometimes.”

The sheik nodded as if understanding.  “She is what I believe you Westerners call your soul mate.  I see that when I look at you together.  You are a blessed man.  Have you known each other long?”

A tender smile touched Rollie’s lips.  “All my life, it seems.  I’ve loved her since she was eleven years old, but it took me years to realize that I’d stopped loving her as a sister a very long time ago.”

“Yes, love can make us both blind and have a vision beyond other men.  I pray that I will someday experience this firsthand.”
 

CHAPTER THREE -- A WARNING IN THE NIGHT

Angie tentatively opened the door to Kamilah’s quarters.  The first thing she noticed was the stunning decor of the room, the equal of any done by a professional interior decorator.  The second thing she noticed was Kamilah herself on a settee to the left.  Then came the third thing.  The woman was unveiled.  No scarf covered her hair, and the black outer garment was gone.  Angie stared at the woman.  She was as stunning as the decor.  Her lustrous black hair, streaked with gray, hung well below the waistline of the colorful clothing she wore.  There was a warm, gentle smile on her full lips.

“Angela.  Please, come in,” the woman said.

Angie shut the door and moved toward the woman.  “I’m sorry.  You just surprised me.  I didn’t think about. . . .”

“The fact that I would not be wearing the shayla and the abayah,” Kamilah finished.  “When there are male guests in the house, this is the only place where I will not be wearing them.”

“Does it ever bother you?  I mean, well, you know.”

“It has been this way all of my adult life.  I know of no other way to live.”  She studied Angie’s face.  “But I would be lying if I said that it never bothers me.  I have always been what in my country would be the equivalent of a. . . .  How do you say it?  A feminist.  I know that many of our laws concerning women are long overdue for a change.  Things are changing, slowly.  Some women have begun businesses, women’s banks and the like, and, as the younger generations become more exposed to the Western ways of thinking, they are what you would call pushing the envelope.  But it will take time.  Perhaps someday, Saudi women will be able to walk down the street with their faces bared to the sun.  Maybe someday, they will be able to do some of the things that you in America take for granted.  But I do not think that it will come in my lifetime, nor, perhaps, even yours.”  Kamilah smiled.  “But I did not send for you to discuss the life of women in my country.  Come and sit with me.”

Angie sat beside her.  “Why did you send for me?”

“To talk about you . . . and your husband.”

“Rollie?  What do you want to know about Rollie?”

“He is an extraordinary man.  But then, I am sure you already know that.  After Hashim returned from America, he used his contacts in the government to find out more about your husband.  Through your FBI, he learned about all the times that Rollie helped your authorities even though he did not need to.  Yet his deeds remain largely unknown and unheralded by the public.  Why is that?”

“Rollie doesn’t want that kind of publicity.  He’d prefer that nobody knew.  He doesn’t do it for glory.  He does it because he cares.  I once thought that he helped the police and the FBI mainly because he liked the risk, the thrill of a dangerous situation.  And he does enjoy that, but that’s only a small part of it.”

“He does it out of compassion and an inner need to give aid.  He knows that he can help, so he does, because not helping would hurt him more deeply than any physical injury that he could sustain,” Kamilah said softly.

Angie stared at the woman in amazement.  “Yes.  That’s it exactly.  It took me years to figure that out, and you only met him yesterday.”

“I have always been very good at understanding people,” Kamilah said, not a hint of pride in her voice.  She was simply stating a fact.  “Your husband grew up in Australia, did he not?”

“Pretty much.  He left there when he was fifteen.”

“What of his parents?”

“His mom died when he was eleven.  His father never had much of a part in his life.  There’s another man who became like a father to him, an Aborigine, the native people of Australia.  But Rollie hasn’t seen him much since he left Australia.”

“This man. . . .”  There was a question in Kamilah’s eyes.

“Mangela,” Angie supplied.

“This Mangela.  What is he like?”

Angie smiled warmly.  “Mangela is an enigma.  He rarely gives you a straight answer on anything.  He cloaks everything in mystery and riddles.  He’s very spiritual.  I think that all the Aborigines are.  There is a lot about him that I will never understand.  He can do things that are kind of unnerving.  He senses things that he shouldn’t be able to, knows things that he couldn’t possibly know.  Yet I can’t help but love him.  He’s got a way of worming his way into your heart.”

Kamilah nodded, as if understanding something that had puzzled her before.  “Mangela was Rollie’s teacher,” she murmured.

Angie blinked in surprise.  “Yes.  He taught Rollie the ways and beliefs of his people.  He also taught him . . . other things, but Rollie doesn’t like to talk about those things.”

“But something happened,” the Saudi woman said, apparently already knowing the answer.

Angie’s eyes widened.  She was getting a bit spooked by the woman.  Was what Chuck told them true?  “Uh . . . Rollie’s mom died, suddenly and unexpectedly.  She died alone in the desert and wasn’t found for three days.  It devastated Rollie.  But then something else happened a few months later that made things even worse.  A half-Aborigine boy who was jealous of Rollie lured him up onto a mountain, telling him that his mom was there to say goodbye.  Then the boy pushed him off.  It was three days before Rollie was found.  By that time, he was nearly dead.  I think that something inside Rollie did die that day.”

Kamilah closed her eyes, but not before Angie caught a glimpse of deep sorrow and empathy in them.  The woman rose and moved toward the balcony.  “That poor child,” Angie heard her whisper.  “No wonder his soul is so scarred.”

Angie did not speak for several moments, and the silence grew heavy to her.  Finally, she asked the question that was burning in her mind.  “Kamilah, why are you so interested in Rollie?”

The Saudi woman turned back to Angie.  “Because he is very special, in ways that you and he are only just beginning to realize and accept.  There is a journey before him, one that he must take if he is ever to truly know himself and become the person he is meant to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“I cannot tell you.  This is a journey that Rollie must make alone.  No one can help him, and no one can show him the way.  His path to enlightenment must be walked in darkness.”

‘Boy, and I thought that Mangela was enigmatic,’ Angie thought with a mental shake of her head.

“It is getting late, and you will be arising early tomorrow for your trip to Abha.  Go now.  Get some sleep.”

Angie rose, bidding Kamilah goodnight.  When she got back to their rooms, she found Rollie already there.

“So, what did you two chat about?”  Curiosity was heavy in Rollie’s voice.

“You.”

Rollie sat up in the bed.  “Me?”

Angie nodded and climbed up onto the bed beside him.  She hugged him around the waist.  “She’s spooky.  There is definitely something to those rumors about her.”  Angie then told him what Kamilah had asked about and said.

Rollie remained silent throughout Angie’s recount of the conversation.  After she’d finished, he still did not speak for a long time.  “I don’t know what to do, Ange.  I feel as if I’m heading toward something that I can’t avoid, something that is going to change my life, and it scares me.”

Angie rested her head on her husband’s shoulder.  “I don’t know what all this means, Rol, but, whatever this journey is that Kamilah is talking about, you will never be alone.  I will always be with you, no matter what.”

Rollie cupped her face in his hands.  He kissed her forehead, then rested his own against it, just as he had done so many times in the past.

“Make love to me, Angie,” he whispered.

Without a word, Angie pulled him to her.  In sweet silence they made love, kissing and caressing each other gently, even their sounds of pleasure muted.  With a joy that they had come to know each time they came together, they joined in a way that was beyond the mere physical.  Two minds, two hearts becoming one.  They did not question this, for they both knew that it was right for it to be that way, as if they were coming home, a home where no evil could ever touch them.

Rollie saw Angie in the distance.  He reached for her, but she was pulled away from him, crying his name.  “Angie!” he cried, trying to run after her.  The ground that he was on became soft, yielding, swallowing his feet so that each step was a struggle. A hot wind brushed its fingers against Rollie, gently at first, then with increasing strength.  It grabbed hold of him, refusing to let go no matter how hard he struggled.  He fought against the invisible grip, feeling his skin burning.  Then the scorching wind crawled down his throat, sucking away the moisture in his lungs.  He fought for air.  And still he could hear Angie calling out to him, begging for help.  “Angie?  No!  Angie, Angie!” he gasped, each breath a torment.

“Rollie?”

Angie’s voice again came to him, distant-sounding, as if from far away.

“Rollie, wake up.”  This time, the voice was louder, closer.  He felt himself being shaken.

The killing heat cooled.  The grip on his feet slipped away.  Rollie drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes.  He looked up into his wife’s concerned face.

“You were having a nightmare,” she told him.

Rollie sat up slowly.  “Yeah, no kidding.”  He ran his hands over his face, the lingering traces of the nightmare making them tremble.

Angie rubbed his back.  “Are you okay?”

“Not really, but I will be.”  Rollie hugged Angie close. ‘It was just a bad dream, that’s all.  You’ve had hundreds of them,’ he said silently, but he knew that he was lying to himself.  He had felt the difference in this dream, a difference that he could no longer blind himself to.  He’d just had a Dreaming, which meant that what he saw would come true unless he could act to prevent it.  The problem was that Rollie had no idea what the Dreaming meant.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“Um . . . almost five.”

“Well, there’s no point in trying to get back to sleep now.  We have to get up in another half-hour anyway.”  Rollie reached for his pants and slipped them on.  He then donned his shirt.  “I’m going to take a walk.  You should try to get some more rest.  I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Do you want some company?”  There was worry in Angie’s voice.

“No, I’ll be fine.  I just need to clear my head.”  Rollie gave her a kiss, then left the bedroom, carrying his shoes.  He put them on in the main room of their guest quarters.  As quietly as he could, Rollie slipped out the door and headed down the hallway, then the stairs.  He saw a few of the sheik’s guards, who nodded to him silently.  Outside, Rollie took several deep breaths of the cool, clean air.  In only a few hours, that air would be hot and dry.  Rollie’s dream came back to him, making him shudder.

He began to walk aimlessly, careful to stay within the light from the outdoor lamps so that he wouldn’t accidentally be shot by one of the guards thinking he was an intruder.  After several minutes, he stopped and just gazed up at the stars.  As a child, whenever he was upset or angry he would go outside and gaze up at the stars.  It was a habit he’d gotten from his mother.  She had loved the stars, telling him that they never failed to bring peace to her spirit.  He still remembered a passage from her diary that he’d read as it lay open on her dresser.
 

In my worse moments of quiet desperation, I find myself seeking solace amongst the stars.  In their silent, infinite light I find a healing peace, for what more perfect tranquility is there than the warm darkness of night?  Like a return to my mother’s nurturing womb, I am soothed with the knowledge that, for this timeless moment, no harm will befall me.

Rollie had not found his solace from the stars in a very long time.  Sighing deeply, he closed his eyes for a moment.  He opened them when he heard movement off to his right.  Figuring that it was just a guard, Rollie walked toward the sound.  Passing around a group of date palms, the Aussie came to an abrupt halt.  A slim figure dressed in pale gold was slowly walking ahead of him.  He saw a cascade of midnight dark hair partially covered by a white scarf.  Suddenly, the figure turned, and their eyes met.  Rollie gasped, seeing for the first time the face of Kamilah Alafa.

Their eyes remained locked, both of them surprised by the unexpected meeting.  Finally, Rollie stammered, “I-I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to. . . .  I know that I’m not supposed to see your face.”  He dropped his eyes to the ground.  He heard the woman approach him.

“No, Rollie Tyler.  I think that, this night, Allah meant for there to be no barriers between us,” came Kamilah’s soft voice.

Rollie lifted his eyes to find that she had not covered her face.  He openly gazed at her.  Angie had said that Kamilah was beautiful, but she had not told him about the gentle wisdom he saw now in her eyes and on her face.

“Do you often go for walks at this time of morning?” she asked.

Rollie cleared his throat.  “No, I, um, had a bad dream.”

Kamilah looked more deeply into his eyes.  “But it was not really just a dream, was it.”

A moment of sheer panic latched onto the Aussie, but the gentleness of the woman’s gaze made it fade away.  “No,” he heard himself saying.  “No, it wasn’t just a dream.”

“This has happened before.”  It was not a question, but a statement, as if Kamilah already knew the answer.

“Yes.  According to the beliefs of the Australian Aborigines, I was walking in the Dreamtime.”

Kamilah nodded.  “Angela told me about your teacher.”

“He’s a lot like you, though he can be a bit more, uh, energetic at times.  And I swear that he gets a twisted pleasure out of driving me crazy with his cryptic statements.”

Kamilah smiled.  “He sounds like someone I would very much like to meet.”

“He’d like you.  You would probably get along beautifully.”

The smile slowly left the Saudi woman’s lips.  “Tell me your dream, Rollie.”

The Aussie paused, then he did as she asked, telling her every detail of the nightmare.  As he finished, Kamilah walked a few steps away.

“You are right to be worried.  This dream bodes ill for you and Angela.”  She turned back to him.  “Why do you run from it, Rollie?”

“Run?  I don’t understand.”

“Why do you hide from what your teacher tried to show you?”

“I don’t know what you’re. . . .”  The denial died on Rollie’s lips.  His gaze dropped to the ground.  “Because I’m afraid.  Because I didn’t want to believe anymore, not after. . . .  Angie told you about what happened with Luther Cale?”

“Yes.  The boy who wounded your spirit.”  She studied Rollie closely.  “But there is more to it than that.  There is something else.”

Rollie stared at her, afraid of her apparent ability to ferret out his deepest secrets.

When he did not answer her, Kamilah looked at him with sad understanding.  “It is time for this wound in your soul to be healed, Rollie,” she said gently.  “You have suffered with it for far too long.”

Kamilah looked at the position of the moon.  “I must be going now.  Hashim will be up soon, and it would be best if he did not know of this meeting.”  She came up to him and laid her hand upon his cheek, looking straight into his eyes.  “I believe that, if you had been born in my time and in my land, Rollie Tyler, we would have become more than just friends.”

Speechless, Rollie watched the woman walk back toward the house, her face now covered by the veil.
 

CHAPTER FOUR -- THE ASIR

Rollie’s and Angie’s mouths were hanging open as they got off Hashim’s jet.  Looking around at the landscape before them, they were amazed that they were actually still in Saudi Arabia.  They were completely surrounded by dense forest.  Low, rocky mountains rose above them, green with trees.  The difference in temperature was amazing, at least twenty degrees cooler, though the humidity was much higher.  And there were clouds, actual, honest-to-goodness clouds.

“It’s beautiful,” Angie murmured.

The sheik nodded, his own eyes drinking in the scenery.  “Yes, the Asir is a land rich in beauty.  Its agriculture is vital to our country.  And Abha, being the capital of the Asir, is its crowning jewel.”

They went into the city, heading first to Al Miftaha art village.  The newlyweds were enthralled by the collection of paintings, sculptures, archaeological items, handicrafts, and hand-woven products.  There were also merchants selling honey from the local bee farms.  Rollie and Angie bought more gifts for their closest friends and a few things for themselves.  By the time they were done, it was time for lunch.  They all went to a garden restaurant where they ate a leisurely meal in the shade of a tree.

After lunch, they visited a part of the Asir National Park.  Actually, made up of a series of small, unconnected parks, it stretched for miles, from the Red Sea to the desert east of the mountains.  Amidst the majesty of the mountains and trees, they completely lost track of time.  Before they knew it, it was drawing close to dinnertime.  As they returned to the city, Rollie noticed dark clouds looming on the horizon.  As they stepped out of the car, a strong gust of wind buffeted them.

“There is a monsoon coming,” Hashim said.  “We had best find some shelter.”

In a frighteningly short period of time, the weather had changed from pleasant to deadly.  Wind rushed between the building, picking up the dust and swirling it about.  Then, suddenly, it began to rain.  The torrential downpour pounded the ground with a steady roar.  Taking shelter in a small shop, Rollie, Angie, and Hashim watched the weather rage.

Above the rain, Rollie thought he heard something.  Listening more closely, he heard it again: a small cry.

“Ange, did you hear that?”

“What?”

“Listen.”

There were a few seconds of just the sound of the rain, then the cry came again.  It was a cry of fear.

“There’s someone out there, Angie!” Rollie exclaimed.  Then, without stopping to consider the danger, he dashed outside.

“Rollie, stop!” Angie yelled, but her words fell on deaf ears.

A small river was flowing down the street.  Half-blind from the rain pounding down on him, Rollie splashed through it, trying to find out where the cry was coming from.

“Where are you?” he called at the top of his voice.

The crying grew louder, a terrified voice screaming one word over and over in Arabic.  Rollie followed the sound to its source.  The little girl clung to a post, the water rushing about her.  The Aussie knelt beside her and reached his arms out to her.  The child wailed and tightened her hold on the post.

“Shh.  It’s all right, sweetheart.  I won’t hurt you.  Come on, we have to get out of the rain.”  Rollie doubted that the little girl understood him, but he hoped that the soothing tone of his voice would calm her.

The child looked up at him with huge, frightened eyes.  He smiled down at her.  That’s all it took.  She threw herself into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck in a virtual stranglehold.  Rollie stood and fought his way back across the street through the rising water.  A movement to his left drew his attention in that direction, and Rollie was horrified to see the broken remains of a street stall coming straight at them.  He broke into a run, but there was just not enough time.  At the last instant, Rollie turned his back toward the wreckage, trying to shelter the child from the blow.  Broken pieces of wood slammed against him.  Stumbling, he fell to one knee, feeling the pain shoot up his leg.  The wrecked stall slid past him to continue floating down the street.  Struggling to his feet, Rollie felt a hand on his arm.  He looked up into the eyes of Hashim Alafa.  The sheik helped him up, and they made their way back to the shop.

“Rollie, are you all right?  You’re limping.”  Angie’s voice was full of anxiety, and her face was pale.

“I just banged my knee.  I’m okay.”

Rollie attempted to put the child down, but she refused to let go of him.  Soaked to the skin, he sat down on a chair, the little girl in his lap.  The shopkeeper brought out a blanket and some towels.  Rollie dried the little girl’s hair as Angie dried his, then he dried her clothing as best as he could.  Angie then wrapped the blanket about them both.  The child clung to Rollie, tremors of fear still shaking her tiny body.  She looked to be no more than five years old.  Both Hashim and the shopkeeper tried to get the little girl to allow them to take her, but every time they tried, she just tightened her grip on Rollie.  Finally, they gave up.

Rollie gazed into the dark, trusting eyes looking up at him.  He smiled and was rewarded with a small, answering smile.

“Ismi Rollie,” the Aussie said, using some of the Arabic that he had learned.  He had told her his name.  He introduced Angie, then asked the child what her name was.

“Ara,” the child said.

An amused smile curved Hashim’s lips.

“What is it?” Angie asked.

“Her name.  Ara means ‘rainmaker’.”

Rollie and Angie smiled at the funny coincidence.

“Sorirart biro'aitak, Ara,” Rollie said.  “Pleased to meet you, Ara.”  He asked her if she was hungry.

“Na'am,” the child replied, answering in the affirmative.

The shopkeeper brought them some fruit.

“Shook-rahn,” Ara said as Rollie handed her some dates, which meant thank you.

Hashim and the merchant went and sat on the other side of the room, leaving Rollie, Angie, and Ara relatively alone.

As they all munched on the fruit, Angie watched her husband with the little girl.  He seemed very content to sit there with Ara in his lap.  She could tell that he was going to make a wonderful father.  But then, she’d already seen that by watching him with Charlotte’s kids, as well as the Gattis’ girls.

“What is it with you and this mystical charm you have over women of all ages, Rollie?” Angie asked teasingly.

Rollie grinned at her.  “I don’t know.  You tell me.  You’re a woman.”

“Oh, I’m immune to it,” she said, trying her best to sound convincing.

“Really.  Then how come you married me?”

“I have no idea.”  She couldn’t keep the twinkle of mirth out of her eyes.

“Oh, you’re going to pay for that one tonight, Ange.”

“I’m trembling in anticipation.”

As quickly as it started, the monsoon stopped.  The sun came out, slowly sucking up the water on the ground.

“We will need to find out who this little one belongs to,” Hashim said.  “I doubt that she wandered very far from home.”

They walked down the street, Ara still in Rollie’s arms, hoping to see someone searching for the child.  They’d been out there for perhaps ten minutes when a frantic-looking woman came running down the street.  When she spied them, she cried out the child’s name and rushed toward them.  Ara saw her mother and was quickly out of Rollie’s arms and hurtling toward her.  The Saudi woman scooped her up and hugged her close.

Shyly, the woman then walked up to them.  Hashim told her that it was Rollie who found her daughter.  After thanking the Aussie repeatedly, she took Ara and walked away down the street.  Rollie, Angie, and Hashim turned and went in the opposite direction.  The sheik noticed that Rollie was still limping.

“We should have a doctor take a look at that knee,” he said.

“It’s okay.  Just bruised, that’s all.”

“Nevertheless, I would feel better if you went to a doctor.  Knee injuries can turn out to be more serious than you first realize.”

“Oh, all right.  I’ve been in hospitals and clinics in half a dozen different countries.  Why not add this one to the list?” Rollie said, twisting his mouth in a wry smile.

At the hospital, Rollie’s knee was treated quickly.  As he had said, it was just a bad bruise, though there was a bit of swelling.  As they left, Hashim decided that they would spend the night there rather than fly back to the estate.  They found a taxi, and the sheik instructed the driver to go to one of the five-star hotels in the area.

Rollie and Angie looked at each other in discomfort, knowing that they couldn’t really afford to stay in a place like that, not with how much this honeymoon was already costing them.

Noticing the look, the Saudi said, “Do not concern yourselves.  It was my decision to remain here tonight, so I will, of course, pay for your room.  Besides, you are still my guests.”

The newlyweds didn’t even bother arguing with the sheik.  They knew that it wouldn’t do any good.

They had to go to three hotels before finding one with vacancies.  Hashim managed to get two suites on the same floor.  In their suite, Rollie stripped off his still damp clothing and took a long, hot shower.  As he came out of the bathroom and went to the bedroom, there was a knock on the door.  Angie answered it.  A few seconds later, she came into the bedroom with an armful of clothing.

“Hashim had someone get these for us.  He figured that we’d want to change out of our clothes, especially you, considering the soaking you got.  The hotel will clean and press our clothes so that we’ll have them for tomorrow.”

Rollie examined the clothing that was for him.  They were traditional Arab garments.  Apparently, there had been nothing of a more Western style available.  Angie’s clothing was also Arab.  Rollie caught a glimpse of green material before she scooped the clothes up and carried them into the bathroom.  A short time later, he heard the shower turn on.

Rollie stared for a moment longer at the clothing that had been brought for him.  Then, with a sigh, he removed the towel and began to change.  First came the thawb, an ankle-length shirt of white cotton.  Next came the bisht, a flowing cloak that reached to the floor.  This one was made of camel hair.  It was black in color and trimmed in gold.  There was also a Saudi headdress, which consisted of a kufiyyah, a scull cap, and a ghutra, a large square of white cotton that was supposed to be folded into a triangle and worn over the kufiyyah.  To finish it off, there was the igaal, a black cord that was used to hold the ghutra in place.  Rollie left the headdress on the bed, not sure if he should wear it.  He sat on a chair and waited for Angie.

Rollie was just beginning to nod off when he became aware that Angie was in the room.  He turned to her.  A gasp escaped his lips, and his jaw did its level best to hit the floor.  He gazed raptly at the vision before him.

Angie was clothed from head to toe in layers of emerald green material.  Gold metallic threads were woven into the dress and sequins sparkled like diamonds here and there.  Her hair was covered by a shayla, the traditional gauzy black scarf worn by Saudi women.  The part of the shayla that is normally worn like a veil across the face was draped over her shoulder.  A circlet of gold held the shayla in place like a crown.

“You look . . . you look. . . .”  Words failed Rollie.  She was beyond beautiful.  With her fair skin and blue eyes, the Arab clothing made her look mysterious and unbelievably sensual.

Rollie felt his body responding to the sight of Angie dressed like that.  He had a sudden desire to make love to her right then and there.  Angie saw the fire leap into his eyes.  She smiled and slowly moved toward him, her hips swaying beneath the dress.

“So, you like it?” she purred huskily, electrifying Rollie’s body with desire.

He stood and took a step toward her, closing the space between them.  As he pulled her roughly into his arms, she laughed throatily.

“I guess you do,” she said before Rollie’s lips came down on hers.

Their tongues slid into each other’s mouths, searching hungrily.  Rollie pushed the scarf aside so that he could kiss the curve of her throat.  He was busy searching for the way to remove Angie’s dress when there was a knock on the door.

“No,” Rollie groaned.  “Not now.”  The knock came again.  With an exasperated sigh, Rollie went to the door.  He opened it to find the sheik on the other side.

“Hashim.  Um . . . come in.”  The Aussie stepped aside to let the Saudi man past.

“You look very handsome in the. . . .”  Hashim’s voice trailed off as he caught sight of Angie.  The man just stared at her for several seconds, bringing a flash of jealousy to Rollie.

“Angela, you are more beautiful than sunrise over the desert,” the sheik said.

Rollie’s jealousy factor instantly shot into orbit.  Here was this sheik spouting poetic words to his wife when he hadn’t been able to think of a bloody thing to say.

Angie smiled and blushed.  “Thank you.”

“You were born to wear the clothing of my people, Angela.  I have never seen a Saudi woman wear them with more grace and beauty.”

Deciding that he did not like this one little bit, Rollie loudly cleared his throat.  When the sheik did not immediately turn to him, the Aussie had an almost uncontrollable urge to slug the man right in the nose.  Before it came to violence, though, Hashim dragged his gaze away from Angie and looked at him.  The moment he saw the expression in Rollie’s eyes, a look of realization spread across his face.

“Forgive me!  I am so very sorry.  I did not mean to overstep my boundaries.  May Allah strike me down for my sin against you!”  The sheik’s voice was rough with self-recrimination.

Seeing how distressed Hashim was, Rollie’s jealousy and anger quickly drained away.

“I shall immediately remove myself from your company,” the sheik continued to babble.  “Please do not feel that you need to stay as my guests any longer.  I will see that you are well-received anywhere that you wish to spend the rest of your time in my country.”  He backed up toward the door, his gaze glued to the floor.

“No, please, Hashim.  It’s all right,” Rollie said quickly.  “Really.”

The sheik’s eyes rose to his.  “No, it is not all right.  I had no right to act as I did toward your wife.  It was unpardonable.”

“Hashim, please.  You didn’t do anything wrong.  All you did was give Angie a few compliments.  I’m sorry for the way I reacted.  I was just being stupid.”  Rollie took a step toward the sheik.  “Please don’t go off like this.  Angie and I want things to remain as they have been.”  He turned to Angie.  “Right?”

“Of course we do.  Hashim, please listen to Rollie.  We don’t want you to go away.”

The sheik looked at them, his eyes still full of guilt.  Finally, he let out a long sigh.  “Thank you for your forgiveness.  You are true friends.”  He stood up straighter, resuming the air of refined strength that he usually carried.  “I had come to see if you wished to go to the hotel’s restaurant for a late dinner, but I would understand if you preferred not to.”

“I’d love to go to dinner.  I’m starved,” Rollie said with a smile.

“Me too,” Angie agreed.

“Well then, shall we finish getting you dressed, Rollie?”

“Finish?  Oh, you mean the headdress.  I didn’t know if I should wear it.”

“Of course you should.  That is, if you want to.  It is not necessary, if you’d rather go without it.”

“No, I’ll wear it.  I’m curious to see what it looks like.”

The two men went into the bedroom.  A few minutes later, they came back out, and it was Angie’s turn to stare.  She was amazed at how breathtakingly handsome Rollie looked in the full Arab outfit.  Despite the sunscreen, he had still managed to acquire a light tan from their time in the sun.  The white of the headdress accentuated it even more and made his brown eyes look almost black.  With his “five o’clock shadow”, which he had not shaved off, he looked dark, mysterious, and just a little bit dangerous.  Angie felt a thrill course through her, and she wished for a moment that they weren’t going to dinner.

“Wow,” she said simply, rendered speechless, as Rollie had been earlier.

Her husband smiled wickedly.  “So, you like it?” he said, using the same words she had earlier.

Unfortunately, with Hashim in the room, she couldn’t respond as Rollie had, so she merely nodded.  Finally, she turned her attention to the sheik.  “Um, about the abayah,” she began, intending to ask if she had to wear the black outer cloak.  She hated the thought of covering up the beautiful dress, but if it was going to cause trouble if she didn’t, then she would.

“Do not worry about it,” Hashim said before Angie could ask her question.  “You, being a foreigner, are not required to wear it, even though you are dressed in Saudi clothing.  Of course, the veil is not necessary either.”

Angie smiled.  “Well, that’s good, because I’d have kind of a hard time eating while wearing it.”

Throughout dinner, both Angie and Rollie got their fair share of stares.  Most of the looks came from the non-Saudi diners, but there were a few Saudi men whom Rollie occasionally caught glancing at Angie.  As they were waiting for dessert, Rollie excused himself to use the restroom.  As he came back out, a woman bumped into him, dropping her purse.

“Excuse me,” the Aussie said, picking up the purse for her.

“Oh, so you are not an Arab,” the woman replied with a faint French accent.  “I saw you sitting at your table and was wondering if you were, though you do not look it.”

“No, I’m not an Arab.”  Rollie glanced over at Angie, who was watching them.

The woman gave him a smile that he couldn’t help but see was an invitation.  “I’m in room 306.  Perhaps you could slip away from your friends later and come join me.”

Surprised, Rollie just stared at the woman for a moment.  Then he looked at Angie again and smiled.  “You see that ravishing woman over there in the green dress?” he asked the woman, nodding in Angie’s direction.  “Well, that’s my wife and the love of my life.  Thanks for the offer, but I’m already taken.”

The woman frowned at Rollie.  “I see.  Well, my mistake.”  She turned and walked away.

Rollie returned to their table and sat down.

“So, what was that about?” Angie asked.

“Oh, nothing.  She just hit on me, that’s all,” Rollie replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

Hashim, who had been sipping on a glass of water, suddenly choked on the liquid.  After a moment of coughing, he stared at Rollie.  “You Westerners never cease to amaze me how you speak so lightly of such things.  A Saudi woman would never do such a thing as that.”  He turned to Angie.  “Did you ever ‘hit on’ a man before you became engaged to Rollie?”

“No, that’s not my style.  I prefer it if the man makes the first move.  The majority of women do, I think.”

The sheik glanced at the woman who had propositioned Rollie.  She had resumed her seat.  There was a man with her at the table.  Hashim figured that the poor man must not hold much of a place in the woman’s heart if she would so readily throw herself at another man.

“Does it bother you when another woman shows interest in Rollie?” he asked Angie.  He knew so little about women, never having been in a relationship himself.  These were also not questions that he could ask a Saudi woman, especially since the only Saudi woman he was on speaking terms with was his mother.   But, with Angie, he felt free to talk openly.  With Rollie, too.  They were so open and friendly toward him that he couldn’t help but feel the same way.

“Well, back when Rollie and I were just friends--or thought we were--I used to get jealous whenever Rollie got involved with someone or when some woman came onto him.”  Angie smiled.  “I think that a part of me even then had staked my claim to him and didn’t like the idea of trespassers.”

“Well, shucks, ma’am.  All you had to do was ask, and I’d have handed over the deed to you any ol’ time,” Rollie said in a southern drawl.

Hashim smiled at the exchange.  He’d watched enough old American westerns to understand their words.

Angie grinned, then grew serious.  “Anyway, after our relationship changed, I had enough confidence in Rollie’s feelings toward me that I knew I’d never have a reason to be jealous, at least not in that way,” Angie concluded.  She looked over at the woman.  “I’m still jealous about how she looks in that dress, though.”

“She can’t hold a candle to you, Ange,” Rollie said quietly and with complete sincerity.

Hashim saw the look that passed between the newlyweds.  He had never before seen such a look of absolute love and trust between two people, not even between his parents.  He felt a twinge of envy.  ‘Allah willing, perhaps I will find a love like that someday,’ he said to himself.

They finished their dessert and left the restaurant.  As they entered the elevator, Rollie thought he caught a glimpse of someone he recognized, but then the doors closed and he could no longer see the man.

On the way back to their rooms, the Aussie got to thinking about what Hashim had said concerning Saudi women.  Rollie had told Angie about his unexpected meeting with Kamilah that morning, but had not mentioned the woman’s last comment to him.  He was still feeling a bit shocked over it.  Rollie knew that Kamilah had not been making a pass at him.  He was very familiar with what it was like when an older woman came onto him, and that was not what it had been.  The woman had truly meant what she said.

Rollie tried to picture himself as a Saudi man in his mid-fifties. Would Kamilah be the type of woman whom he could fall in love with?  He wasn’t sure.  He just couldn’t imagine himself with anyone other than Angie.

What exactly did Kamilah Alafa feel toward him?  At first, he had thought that it was just gratitude and affection because he had saved her son’s life, but, now, he wasn’t so sure.  She seemed to be unusually interested in him and what made him ‘tick’.  Why?  Rollie sighed silently and shoved the question out of his mind.

Back at their suite, the newlyweds said goodnight to Hashim, making plans to meet for breakfast at seven o’clock the next morning.

“So, you never get jealous, huh?” Rollie said after he’d shut the door.

“Nope, never,” Angie replied, smiling innocently.

“I see.  So, if I had, oh, say, smiled back at her like this . . .” a particularly inviting smile curved his lips, “what would you have done?”

“Killed her,” Angie replied without hesitation.  “After I killed you, that is.”

Rollie chuckled.  “Ah ha!  The truth is revealed.”  He swept Angie up off her feet and carried her, laughing, into the bedroom.  “So, exactly how do you get this dress off?”
 

CHAPTER FIVE -- AN UNEXPECTED CALL

They headed back to the estate the next morning since Hashim had a meeting he needed to go to that afternoon.  The sheik had offered to let Rollie and Angie stay in Abha the rest of the day and send the plane back to pick them up later, but the couple declined.  Rollie’s knee was bothering him a bit, and they decided that it would be best if he stayed off of it as much as possible for a day or so.

They spent all of Monday on the estate, spending their time swimming in the sheik’s pool--a real luxury in the middle of a desert--sunning themselves and enjoying being waited on hand and foot.  When Angie had asked Hashim about wearing a bathing suit, the sheik assured her that there would be no problems as long as she and Rollie remained on the estate grounds.  He had also told her that as long as she and Rollie were at the pool, which was enclosed behind a high wall, no male Saudis would set foot in the area, including himself.  Though she thought it rather extreme for Hashim to set such a rule, she didn’t question it.  Sure enough, throughout the time that she and Rollie were at the pool, they saw no sign of a single man.  They were waited on exclusively by Hashim’s female servants.  Angie caught a few of the younger, unmarried servants sneaking an appreciative glance or two at Rollie.  Watching her husband, Angie couldn’t blame them.  He looked pretty darn good in his tight swimming trunks.

The evening was spent with Hashim and his mother, the four of them enjoying discussions about their respective countries, how they differed and how they were the same.

Getting an early start the next morning, Hashim took the newlyweds to the Riyadh Museum, where they strolled from display to display, which covered time periods from the Stone Age to early Islamic times.  After the museum, they went to Masmakh Fortress, a fort built of dried mud that was central to the history of modern Saudi Arabia.  In 1902, the fort had been captured by Abdul Aziz and his followers after they had spent a ten-year exile in Kuwait, thus returning the Al-Saud to a position of power in their homeland and beginning the history of present-day Saudi Arabia.

Their next stop was Murabba Palace.  The combination palace/fortress was built by King Abdul Aziz in 1946 as a home and seat of government.  By the time they left the palace, the temperature was growing too hot to walk around outside, so they went for a late lunch, spent some time wandering around the malls, then returned to the estate.

That night, as the newlyweds lay on some cushions on the balcony, staring up at the stars, Angie gave a contented sigh.

“This is nice,”she murmured.

“Yeah, it is,” Rollie agreed.

“It’s wonderful to be able to just spend time together, not worrying about deadlines or bad guys coming out of the woodwork.”

Rollie paused before answering.  He still hadn’t told Angie about the dream he’d had.  He hated the thought of ruining her enjoyment of their honeymoon with worry over the meaning of the ominous dream.  Deciding that he didn’t have the heart to disturb her happiness, the Aussie smiled down at his wife.

“Definitely an improvement over the way things usually are with us.”

“Boy, you can say that again,”

Rollie’s smile broadened.  “Definitely an impro--”  The repeat of his statement was interrupted by Angie’s mouth, which had covered his in a passionate kiss.  With a moan, Rollie rolled on top of her, his hands immediately finding the fastenings of her clothing.

“We shouldn’t be doing this here,” Angie breathed, moaning as her husband’s hands began to fondle her breasts, which had very quickly been bared.

“It’s night.  No one can see us up here.”  Rollie’s hand stroked Angie’s cheek as he gazed into her eyes.  “I want to make love to my wife under the stars,” he whispered huskily.

“Now, how’s a girl supposed to say no to that?” Angie responded, pulling Rollie’s lips back down to hers.

The next morning, Hashim left for some business meetings.  Since he would be gone all morning and the better part of the afternoon, the newlyweds took advantage of the time and stayed in their quarters, doing more of what they had done on the balcony the night before.  Exhausted and satiated, they finally fell asleep in a tangle of limbs on a Persian carpet by the bed.

After waking up, they took a long shower together, then called the kitchen, asking for someone to bring them lunch.  They were enjoying a feast of fruit and breads when a servant knocked on their door and told them that there was a call for Rollie.  The Aussie answered the call using the speakerphone in their quarters.

“Rollie?  Hello there!  It’s David.”

“Hi, David!” the Aussie greeted the FBI agent delightedly.  He hadn’t seen the agent since shortly after Loubar’s death, both of them being busy with work.

“So, how’s married life been treating you?”  Rollie could detect the smile in the man’s voice.

“Oh, I’m adapting,” the Aussie replied, receiving a dirty look from Angie across the room.  “Now, I know that you didn’t make an overseas call just to ask me that, especially not at . . .” Rollie quickly figured out what time it was in New York, “6:30 in the morning.  What’s up?”

There was a slight pause.  “I really hate to lay this on you, what with you being on your honeymoon and all, but I’m afraid that I’ve got some serious news.  We have reason to believe that there’s going to be another attempt on Sheik Alafa’s life.”

“What?!  I thought that was all done with.”  Rollie sat down.

“So did we.  But it turns out that there’s more to this than what we had originally thought.  I’m sorry but I can’t give you all the details because of security.”  There was another pause.  “I’m afraid that there’s more.  The people who are behind all of this didn’t take kindly to you and Angie interfering with their plans.  Word has it that they intend on getting rid of you, too.”

“Bloody hell.  We can’t even get through our honeymoon without something happening.  What do you have to do with all of this, David?  I didn’t think that something like this would fall under FBI jurisdiction.”

“It doesn’t.  Since I saw you last, I’ve been assigned to a special task force.  It’s multi-departmental, taking in the FBI, CIA, and the NSA.”

“Whoa.  CIA?  NSA?  What is all this about, David?”

“I wish I could tell you, Rollie.”  There was regret in the agent’s voice.  “If it was up to me, I would, but it really is need-to-know, and my superiors don’t think you need to know.  In fact, I had to talk them into allowing me to warn you at all.”

“So, they wanted to just let us remain in the dark about this?  I’m not sure I like your bosses.”

“You have to understand that there’s quite a bit at stake here, more than the lives of three people.  If the ones who are behind this found out that we are aware of their plans, they could alter them in such a way that we won’t be able to stop them.”

“Well, we’re not going to just sit here and wait for someone to try and kill us,” Rollie declared emphatically.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” David said, the smile back in his voice.  Then the tone changed to one of deep respect.  “Rollie, you and Angie are the most amazing people I’ve ever known.  You caught Syman after we and law enforcement agencies all over the world had failed to over the twenty-five years of his career.  You got Victor Loubar, something that many of us were beginning to think would never happen.  I really think that we could use you on this.  It may be the only thing that will tip the scales in our favor.”

Flattered by the man’s words of praise, Rollie said nothing for a moment, then,  “So, did your superiors authorize you to ask us for help?”

“Uh, no, not exactly,” David admitted.

“That’s what I thought.”  Rollie stood and began pacing the floor.  “Okay, give me some time to figure something out.  Can I call your cell phone when I have something?”

“Yes, that would be good.  Call me as soon as you have a plan, no matter what the time, okay?”

“Will do.”  Rollie hung up and looked at Angie.

“Do you have any idea what we’re going to do, Rol?” she asked.

Her husband shook his head.  “No, not yet.  But I’ll think of something.  I always do, don’t I?”  He gave her an encouraging smile.

“Yes, you always do, but some of your plans have almost gotten you killed.”  She came up and wrapped her arms around his waist.  “And you are not expendable, mister, regardless of what David’s bosses might think.”

Rollie returned her embrace.  “You just say the sweetest things, Ange.”  His half-smile disappeared.  “I’m not going to get killed, Angel.  You and I are going to grow old together and make lots of beautiful babies.”

Angie laid her head on her husband’s chest.  “How many?” she asked softly.

“Hmm?”

“How many babies?”

Even though she didn’t look up, she could still tell that Rollie now had a smile on his face.  “Oh, I don’t know.  Six or seven.  Oofh!”  The Aussie grunted as his wife jabbed him in the stomach.  “Oh, all right.  I guess three or four would be enough.”

Angie raised her head and grinned up at him.  “Well, that is very possible, Mister Tyler, very possible indeed.”

Rollie’s brow furrowed.  “What do you mean by that?”

“Didn’t I tell you?  Twins run in my family.”

Rollie’s eyes widened, the look in them making Angie laugh with delight.

“And exactly when were you going to let me in on this little piece of information, may I ask?”

“When they took the ultrasound,” Angie replied, her eyes twinkling.

“So much for not keeping secrets from your spouse,” Rollie muttered as he bent down to kiss Angie.

By the time Hashim returned from his meeting, Rollie had begun developing a plan.  The couple sat down with the sheik to tell him what was going on.  Kamilah was there too, remaining silent throughout the conversation.

“There are some things I’m going to be needing from my workshop, Hashim.  Do you have the connections to get them into the country quickly and quietly?” Rollie asked.

“Yes, that can be arranged.  I will start making the arrangements immediately,” the sheik replied.  “Do you truly think that this will work?”

“Well, since we don’t know what these people’s motives are, we’re kind of working in the dark, but I’m hoping to get a little more information to help us out.  I’ll be talking to our friend in the FBI in a little while.  We’ve got a chance, though.  More of a chance than if we do nothing.”

“It will be interesting to see you and Angela at work, Rollie.  That is something I have wanted to see for a while now.”  He looked at the couple.  “I am so sorry that your lives have been tangled up in this.  I would wish that you had been spared more danger.  But, Allah willing, we will prevail.”

As Rollie and Angie headed back to their quarters to call David, they heard Kamilah’s voice call to them.  They turned to see that the woman had followed them.

“What is it, Kamilah?” Angie asked.

She looked about.  “Let us go to your quarters where there is privacy.”

As Rollie shut the door to their rooms, he studied the Saudi woman.  “You know something.”

“No, but I feel that there is something more here.  You must be careful of the unseen enemy, the danger that still hides in the darkness.”

“What do you mean?” Rollie asked.

“I do not know.  Allah has not granted me that vision.  I only know that I fear for you, for both of you.”  She suddenly removed her veil, surprising the couple.  Then she walked up to Rollie and grabbed his forearm with both of her hands.  “Rollie, listen to me.  You must stop hiding.  You need to listen to the voice inside you.  It is the only thing that will save you in the end.”

Without another word, the woman donned her veil and left.

“Rollie, do you know what she means?” Angie asked, sounding a little frightened.

The Aussie did not answer right away.  He just stared at the door.  “Part of it, yes.  But I can’t. . . .”  He sighed and moved out onto the balcony.  Angie followed him out.

“Why do things like this keep happening, Ange?  It’s like I’m cursed or something.  No matter where I go, trouble finds me.”

“I don’t know, Rol.  A lot of the times, it’s because of your desire to help people.  You put bad guys in jail.  You stop their plans.  I guess it’s inevitable that, sometimes, there are going to be consequences.”

“Yeah, and, sometimes, trouble that has nothing to do with anything I’ve ever done just draws a big fat bull’s eye on me and takes aim.”  He gave a deep sigh.  “I can’t help but wonder if it would be fair to bring children into our lives considering that they would be put in danger right along with us when stuff like this happens.”

“Rollie, nobody on the planet is completely safe.  Every time somebody gets in their car, they’re risking their lives.  All any of us can hope is that we’ll survive the dangers long enough to die of old age.”

Rollie hugged her close.  “You’re right.  I just wish that Trouble could find somebody else to bother for a few weeks or so every now and then.”

“Well, we can always keep hoping,” Angie said.

In a long conversation with David that evening, Rollie outlined his partially constructed plan, making it clear that, without more information, there was a strong chance that it wouldn’t work.  The FBI agent promised Rollie that he would try to convince his superiors into allowing him to tell them more.  The Aussie then gave David detailed descriptions and locations of all the equipment and materials that Rollie and Angie would need and told him how to deactivate the alarm system in the loft and let Bluey know that he was allowed to be there.

“I’ll let you know when everything’s ready so that we can coordinate with the sheik’s people on that end,” David said before disconnecting.

“What are we going to do until the equipment arrives?” Angie asked.

“There’s not much that we can do, I’m afraid.  This is going to be the worse part, the waiting.”  He walked away a few paces.  “Ange, there’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and all of this has made me even more certain that it’s something I have to do.”  He turned back to her.  “When we get back to New York, I’m going to let Mira and Frank know that I’m not going to help on cases anymore.  I’ll give them advice and loan them equipment.  I’ll even train some of their people on how to operate the equipment.  But I’m not going to get actively involved in cases anymore.  I’m through.”

Angie stared at Rollie in shock.  This was something she had never expected to hear him say.  For so long, she’d hoped that, one day, Rollie would come to his senses and stop playing Batman, expecting her to play along as the faithful Robin.  There had been so many times when she had awakened in the middle of the night crying from a nightmare in which he had been killed, so many times when something had gone wrong on a case and the thought that she was going to lose him had come unbidden to her mind.  And now, he was finally giving her what she’d wanted for all these years.  Angie stared at the gift he’d given her--and realized that she no longer wanted it.  If she took it, she would be stealing something from him that had become as much a part of him as F/X.  She would be taking away his ability to give the help that he so desperately needed to give.

“No,” Angie said, her voice firm.

Rollie blinked in surprise.  “But . . . this is what you’ve always wanted, Ange.  No more Batman/Commissioner Gordon stuff.  No more putting work on hold to go off and play with the cops   No more worrying if we were both going to make it home in one piece.”

“Yes, I did want it, but that was before I knew what it meant to you, how important it was to you to help.”

“I can live without it, Angie.  Before I met Leo, I was doing just fine.”

“But even I saw how you were when you were helping the police.  I saw that light in your eyes, that joy when things went right and we got the bad guys.  I never saw that same light when we were working, not even when a gag we’d set up for weeks went off without a hitch.  I can’t take that away from you, Rollie, not now, not ever.”

In three long strides he was standing before her, crushing her to him.  “What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?” he asked, his trembling voice muffled by her hair.

A witty remark came to Angie’s mind, but she threw it away.  She pulled his head up and looked into his eyes.  “By being the most wonderful, compassionate, courageous man I’ve ever known.  By being you, Rollie.”

“I love you, Angela Tyler,” Rollie whispered.

“And I love you, Rollie Tyler.”

Their lips came together in a long, gentle kiss that left them feeling warm and utterly content.

The newlyweds had dinner in their quarters, sharing a quite, candlelit dinner out on the balcony.  Afterwards, they danced under the stars to the soft strains of music from the stereo.  That night, as they made love, they gave to each other all the joy and passion they could give, putting aside the cares that would come again when the sun rose.

Rollie and Angie remained on the estate grounds the following day as they waited for the call from David.  It was three o’clock when the agent called.  He let them know that he’d gotten their equipment and the other things that they needed.

“I managed to arrange for a cargo plane to bring your things over, Rollie.  If there are no delays, it will be arriving at Alafa’s estate at 5 p.m. tomorrow.”

“Good.  Have you talked to your superiors about letting us in on the big secret?” Rollie asked.

“Yes.  They said that they’d ‘take it under advisement’.”  The agent’s tone clearly reflected his disgust.  “I’ll work on them some more this afternoon.  I’m really sorry about this, Rollie.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.  You’re doing the best you can.”

“I wish I had my computer here,” Angie said after Rollie hung up with David.  “Then I could do some digging into their database and get the info for ourselves.  It might have taken a while to track the stuff down, but at least we would have it.”

“I haven’t yet given up hope that David will pull a rabbit out of his hat and convince his superiors to tell us what we need to know.”  He grinned.  “And if he doesn’t, you’ll have your computer at five o’clock tomorrow.”

Angie returned his grin.

“So, how would you like to have a night out on the town?” Rollie asked.

“I’d love it, but how could we risk it?  If these people are really after us, we’d be in danger out in public.”

“Well, we’ve spent a day in Riyadh, a day in Abha, and a third day back in Riyadh on a sightseeing tour, all without protection, and nothing happened.  I think that, whatever these people have planned, they’re not ready to move yet.  This is our honeymoon, Ange.  I’m not going to let these people drive us into hiding behind the walls of this estate.  But, if it will make you feel better, I can ask Hashim for the loan of one of his bodyguards.  Mister ‘Tank’ would be enough to scare anyone away.”

“Okay, you talked me into it, but I don’t want some musclebound Neanderthal type shadowing us around.  It’s going to be just us.”

As they had expected, Hashim wanted them to have a bodyguard along.  He was not at all happy when they refused, but graciously loaned them a plane and pilot all the same.  They left for Riyadh shortly before dinnertime.  After they landed, the pilot, who was the same man that had flown them to the city before, told them that he would await their return at the airport.

The couple had a pleasant dinner, then just wandered around the streets of the city, occasionally stopping at a shop.  As the shops closed for the night, they enjoyed the quiet that descended.  With no nightclubs or bars, there was relatively little activity in the city now.

“It sure isn’t like New York,” Rollie commented.

“No, this is a whole other world,” Angie agreed.  “Of course, if this was New York, we’d be taking our lives in our hands by walking the streets alone at night.”

“Hungry for some dessert?  I’m sure that there