The Moon of Masarrah Read online

“After,” Zahra replied. “He never spoke about his dreams before they happened.”

  “Very convenient I must say,” Adam said skeptically. “Did she say anything else?”

  Layla related, “She said that if he had known that the rebels were planning to seize the Captain that night, he would have stayed with him. When he returned home, he suddenly had a premonition that the Captain was in danger. Although he was tired from the journey and afraid to leave the house, he set off for Bayan House. When he got there, he found that his dream had come true. The Captain lay dead and little Yusuf was crying his eyes out.”

  Zaid said, “Or it could have happened this way – after killing the Captain, he started searching for the Moon. When little Yusuf arrived, he hid and then pretended to be the first one to arrive.”

  “Why don’t you guys tackle Luqman and Abbas and see what their fathers had to say?” Layla suggested. “Then we’ll have to figure out which of the five of them could have been the murderer.”

  “All right,” Adam nodded. “We’ll do that after we have afternoon tea. Let’s meet in Moss Haven after that.”

  As they gathered in Moss Haven that afternoon, Layla asked, “Well, what did you boys find out from Luqman and Abbas?”

  Zaid said, “I spoke to Luqman while he was washing his car in the courtyard. He told me that his father, Salman Alameen, was a huge, muscular man who acted as the Captain’s bodyguard. If he was keeping an eye on the Captain, Salman could have seen when the Captain bought the Moon from the fence’s cousin, and decided to steal it. I learned also that he went straight home from the wharf on the Night of Catastrophe and only heard of the Captain’s death the next morning. I learned nothing else of interest.”

  “What did you learn from Abbas?” Layla turned to her brother.

  “I spoke to him in the vegetable garden,” Adam replied. “Thankfully, he was alone, and Mir wasn’t lurking around. He told me that his father, Sajjid Abdullah, was the ship’s purser. That meant he was responsible for keeping all the important papers and valuables on the ship. It could be that the Captain gave Sajjid the Moon for safekeeping, that’s how he might have known about it and decided to steal it. After the Yuhanza docked, he also went straight home.”

  Layla said, “The question is, of the five suspects, who was the most likely one that murdered the Captain?”

  There was a long silence as they all pondered upon what they had learned so far.

  Finally, Adam said, “I think it was Qasim Ahmed, Basim’s great-grandfather. Coming home blood-spattered was very suspicious.”

  Zaid said, “I think it was Noor Al-Razzaq, Maymun’s father. Claiming that he had a dream that the Captain was going to die and being the first one to arrive on the scene, seems too convenient.”

  “And I,” Layla declared, “think it was Nuh Tabibi. When he lost his senses, he spoke about betraying the Captain’s trust.”

  Last of all, Zahra said, “I think it was Abbas’s father. Since he was the purser, the Captain must have given him the diamond to keep and that’s when he decided to steal it.”

  Having reached an impasse in their deductions, the teenagers were at a loss for words.

  “This,” Adam pronounced at last, “is harder than I thought it would be. I guess they all seemed equally likely to have murdered the Captain. Unless we learn something new, we’re stuck.”

  “We’ve had no luck finding the Moon either,” Layla said gloomily. “It would be great if we could come up with the Moon and the murderer.” Turning to Zaid, she asked, “Nothing yet on that clue the Captain left?”

  Zaid replied disconsolately, “No, none so far.”

  “Can you read it again?” Adam requested. “Maybe something will pop out at us.”

  “I left it in the drawer upstairs,” Zaid said. “But I can read it from memory. It says, Take a careful look at important events in the past, for the simple answer why one who always trifles with destiny, is the main seeker of honor and glory of any tale.”

  They spent several minutes taking apart the words but the answer to the riddle still remained elusive. Next, the boys discussed what to take on their underground foray while the girls studied the directions to the Bayan Bay Wharf, which Mr. Horani had handed to them during afternoon tea.

  “It looks like a long ride,” Zahra said. “But it’s all for a good cause.”

  “That’s the spirit, sister,” Layla grinned, her dimples making deep chinks in her cheeks. “Those pirates have met their match.”

  Adam and Zaid bided their time that night, waiting to make certain that Mr. Horani was asleep before embarking on their adventure. In Zaid’s backpack were the items they had gathered earlier. There were two fat balls of string, extra batteries for the flashlights, pencil and paper, a pair of small scissors, and a hammer with a few nails. Quietly, they stole over to the twins’ room and found Layla and Zahra waiting to see them off. Hassan and Hakeem were lying in their beds, wide awake and back to their old selves after their time-out.

  “Do you want us to go with you?” Hassan asked. “We could show you the way.”

  Smothering a chuckle, Adam said smoothly, “Not tonight, sport. Grandpa might look in on you if he gets up and then we’d all be in big trouble.”

  “He already came to see us,” Hakeem reported.

  “Yes, he did,” Hassan piped up. “He hugged us and said he hoped we would behave better in the futer.”

  “Hear, hear,” Layla murmured. “And it’s future, not futer.”

  “Okay, we’re ready,” Adam said, opening the closet and turning on his flashlight.

  “Be careful,” Zahra said.

  “We will,” Zaid promised as he finished putting on his sneakers and slung the backpack over his shoulders. “I guess we’ll see you all in the morning.”

  Zaid’s heart began a rapid tempo as he crawled through the trapdoor and followed Adam down the hidden stairwell. He kept his flashlight trained on the brown stone stairs, which were narrow but had enough room for a single person to move comfortably down without getting stuck. An earthy, musty smell came to his nose and the flashlights penetrated the gloom to reveal a network of spider webs hanging suspended over the stairway.

  “We’ve reached the bottom,” Adam whispered, his voice sounding thick and muffled. A moment later, with a slight bump, Zaid’s sneakers crunched against gravel. They had entered the big room that the twins and Layla had described. It was really a large chamber, made of the same brown stone that the house was made of, but crumbling in some places. The floor was also of the same material, but was severely cracked and uneven. Adam swept his flashlight in wide arcs at the back and they saw the tunnels that Layla had told them about. There were four of them, branching away in different directions.

  “Which one should we try first?” Zaid asked.

  “Let’s start with the one on the left.”

  “Okay, I’ll get the string out.”

  The boys quickly worked to hammer a nail into the wall before securing the beginning of the string to it. Zaid took hold of the ball, which unraveled slowly as they moved forward and entered the tunnel. The tunnel was a little wider than the stairway and was constructed with the same material as the chamber. It was lumpy and uneven under their feet, and they had to proceed cautiously. Soon after, it came to an end.

  “Strange that it doesn’t lead anywhere,” Adam said.

  Zaid’s keen eyes spotted what looked like a rusty handle on the wall. “There’s a door,” he aimed the flashlight at the handle. “It must lead somewhere.”

  The door was made of solid rock, so the boys were prepared to do a little tugging. To their surprise, it opened easily inward to reveal several horizontal bars of wood placed evenly apart. Peering through the bars, they saw a large room, which looked and smelled familiar.

  “It’s the cellar,” Adam exclaimed, as he saw the store of dry goods and b
ottled preserves. “This door is cleverly hidden by the shelves built across it. Wow, this is cool.”

  “Let’s see where the other tunnels lead to,” Zaid said eagerly.

  Closing the door, the boys retraced their steps. This time, they chose the rightmost tunnel and with Adam holding the ball of string, they set off. This tunnel looked the same as the first one but after a few minutes had elapsed, they realized that it was longer. The air smelled danker and there was a creeping chilliness that made goosebumps break out on their skin. Presently, they encountered a solid wall. Again, there was a rusty handle, which told them that a door was attached to it. Yanking on the handle, they opened the door and stepped out onto a rock ledge. They were confronted at once with cool air and moonlight.

  “It’s Bayan Cove,” Adam exclaimed.

  Sure enough, they were staring directly into the cove, with the cliffs rising like deformed giants on either side. The door had been carved out from the face of the bluffs, and like the one in the cellar, was ingeniously hidden.

  “It’s amazing,” Zaid said. “This tunnel leads straight out to the cove. No climbing down the rocky bluffs.”

  “This would have been the perfect opportunity to look for that hidden passage in the cliffs,” Adam said. “But it’s too dark and those pirates could arrive at any moment and catch us.”

  “The tide’s in too,” Zaid pointed his flashlight at the roiling waters at the base of the ledge. “The current does look very strong. We’ll have to search when the tide’s out.”

  “I think we can do it early one morning,” Adam said as he closed the hidden door. “And if we must go into deeper water, we can walk with some rope and hitch ourselves to a rock, so we don’t get swept out.”

  “Do you realize,” Zaid said excitedly, “that if I hear that boat coming into the cove, we can use the tunnel to get down here quickly?”

  Chapter Nineteen:

  At the Wharf

  Zaid and Adam were the last ones down to breakfast the next morning. As they sat eating in the dining room, Layla walked in with the cordless kitchen phone in her hand.

  “Basim’s on the line for you, Adam,” she said, her eyes alight with curiosity. “Put it on speaker so I can listen,” she whispered in his ear.

  Taking the phone from her, Adam turned on the speaker. After he and Basim exchanged greetings, Basim said, “Adam, I hope I’m not calling too early, but I just had to tell you what happened yesterday.”

  “What happened?” Adam obligingly asked.

  “We ran into Nuh Tabibi outside the supermarket.”

  Layla rolled her eyes while Zaid wondered why Basim thought that running into Nuh was anything out of the ordinary.

  “Was that all?” Adam looked longingly at his half-eaten omelet and toast.

  “Oh no, it’s what he did that I’m calling you about.”

  It was Adam’s turn to roll his eyes. “Duh. We already know he could be a little loony sometimes. Did he wallop someone with his walking stick?”

  As Layla hastily covered a giggle, Basim chuckled and said, “No, no, nothing like that.”

  “Well, what was it then?”

  Basim said hurriedly, “Well, Nassif drove me and my Mom to the supermarket. When we arrived there, he got out of the car to open the door for us. Nuh and his nurse happened to be passing by at the same time.”

  “And?” Adam prompted.

  “Well, Nuh stood in front of Nassif, staring at him. Then he said the strangest thing.”

  “What did he say?” Adam asked, his as well as his fellow listeners’ interest piqued now.

  “He said, ‘Iyad, where have you been? Tahir was looking everywhere for you.’”

  “Woah, he really said that?”

  “Oh, yes. Nassif was embarrassed by the attention. You know how stiff and proper he is. He politely told Nuh that he wasn’t Iyad and got back into the car. I had to tell you since we were talking about this Iyad person the other day.”

  “Was there anything else?”

  “No, that’s all.”

  “Okay, thanks for telling us.”

  After hanging up the phone, Adam turned to Zaid and Layla. “Well, what do you think of that?”

  “I would have paid money to see Nassif ’s face,” Layla giggled. “Maybe he resembles Iyad.”

  “Or Nuh’s just confused,” Zaid said. “Remember, he took us for pirates.”

  Later, in Moss Haven, the youths told the girls of their discoveries last night and predictably, they were amazed. Layla then told them that she had finished reading Aunt Hanifa’s journal last night. “It ended on a very mysterious note. Let me read it to you. It says:

  Dear Journal, I have an exciting secret to share with you but it will have to wait another time. I have not told Hafza and Yusuf as yet because I am afraid that they would blurt it out at the first opportunity. I want to keep the knowledge to myself a bit longer for it is so very thrilling. I will tell you more when I visit you next but right now I am very tired, so goodbye until I open your pages again.

  “As you can see,” Layla continued, “there are still a lot of blank pages left in the journal. It’s strange that she never wrote in it again.”

  “Maybe she started a new one,” Zaid said.

  “Then we should have found it in the turret,” Layla pointed out.

  “She probably got too busy and couldn’t find the time,” Adam said.

  “I wonder what her exciting secret was,” Zahra said.

  “Me too,” Layla said. “I hate unsolved mysteries. Maybe I’ll ask Aunt Hafza about it before we leave.”

  Zaid then produced the riddle from the library and Adam took it from him and read it slowly. “Take a careful look at important events in the past, for the simple answer why one who always trifles with destiny is the main seeker of honor and glory of any tale.”

  They spent some time diligently examining the words and coming up with different meanings. But it was to no avail and the riddle remained as baffling to them as before. As they left Moss Haven, Zaid still had that niggling feeling that he was missing something obvious.

  Later, as they prepared to leave for the Bayan Bay Wharf, Mr. Horani came to their rescue when Hassan and Hakeem, after learning that they were not included in the trip, began to make a fuss.

  “We want to come with you,” Hassan whined. “It’s boring here by ourselves.”

  “We’ll be good, we promise,” Hakeem said cajolingly.

  Mr. Horani intervened then and told the twins firmly, “It is too far away for you to ride in the carrier seats. You will find it hot and would not enjoy it at all. Go up to your room now and have your nap.”

  Sulkily, the twins went upstairs as the teenagers donned hats and headed out the door with their water bottles. Under cloudless blue skies and a blazing yellow sun, they rode out of the gate and onto the roadway, which wound downwards like a twisting gray ribbon amid the trees. Despite the heat, it was a beautiful day for a ride, and judging from the triumphant cries of the gulls skimming over the bay, it was a good day for fishing too. Zaid could just picture them, wings outstretched, gliding in the wind before swooping swiftly down to spear their scaly prey. I wonder if there are enough fish in the bay to feed all those ravenous birds, he thought to himself.

  Adam took charge of the directions as they rode across high and low tracts of land, green and blooming with color in some places, and stark and austere in others. Finally, they spotted the wharf in the distance. Unlike Bayan Cove, which was clasped in the bosom of the rugged bluffs, the wharf was located on a softer, greener coastline. As they drew nearer, they saw boats of all shapes and sizes clustered together, bobbing gently at their moorings as if in a slow dance. Around them sailors, fishermen, and longshoremen milled about, clad in head coverings and hats to shade them from the sun. A slight breeze wafted in from the bay, flavoring the air with a
pungent odor of fish, oil, and paint.

  “Let’s dismount and walk from here,” Adam called out.

  Hitching their bikes alongside a railing, they climbed the steps onto the wooden wharf which jutted out far into the bay. Moored on both sides were a multitude of boats. Zaid recognized the design of the shu’ai and the boum - dhows that were traditional to the region. Among them were a few wooden badans, still popular around the Gulf. Most of the boats however, were modern in design with gleaming chrome and sleek, streamlined shapes.

  Zahra pointed to a gorgeous white motor yacht anchored next to a drab-looking dhow.

  “Isn’t that yacht beautiful,” she said admiringly. “It looks like a graceful swan. I’d love to go for a ride in one someday, insha’Allah.”

  “That one looks like the Yuhanza,” Layla pointed to a stately dhow with distinctive triangular sails. “Oh, it must have been a terrible sight to see the Yuhanza going up in flames that night. The crewmen must have been so upset that both the Captain and his ship were gone.”

  “Except for the murderer,” Zaid remarked.

  “Well, let’s look for that emblem,” Adam urged. “You still remember what it looks like?” he asked Zaid.

  “Yes, it’s right in here,” Zaid tapped his forehead.

  “Can you do a sketch of it?” Layla suggested as she wiped sweat from her brow. “We can help you to look.”

  “That’s a good idea but I don’t have anything to sketch with,” Zaid replied regretfully.

  “Not to worry,” Layla said as she whipped out the small purple notepad and pen, handing them to Zaid. “You can use these.”

  With a few quick strokes, Zaid sketched the outboard motor boat and the interlocking chains engraving he had glimpsed on the side of it. He then held it out to the others.

  “That’s pretty good,” Adam said admiringly.

  “He’s very talented,” Zahra said proudly. “He has a lot of drawings at home.”

  “Oh, I just dabble a bit,” Zaid said modestly. “Well, let’s get started before we get fried in the sun.”