LITMIR.BIZ

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Yousif and Isaac said together.

      “Let’s go then,” Amin said, starting to run across the field to his left.

      Yousif and Isaac ran behind him, leaping over small stone walls and ducking under tree branches. A bush tore a small hole in Isaac’s trousers and a pebble caused Yousif’s ankle to twist under him as they tried to catch up with Amin, who had struck out ahead of them and was now racing down the hill like a gazelle chased by two foxes. Five minutes later, they reached the Roman arch, confident that they had beaten the strangers. They hid behind the thick columns and waited, wiping sweat from their faces and around their necks.

      Yousif could soon hear thudding footsteps. He had to take a chance and look. He raised himself up and checked the road. He saw a farmer walking behind a burdened mule and heading toward town, singing.

      They have erected mountains between you and me.

      But what could stop the souls from reaching out across the mountains.

      The three friends had to suppress a giggle. Did the sight of the handsome couples put the farmer in such a romantic mood? Then Yousif was distracted. He focused on the “lovers.” One of the men raised the binoculars to his eyes and inspected the mountain. Another took out a map which he and the striking blonde at his side hunched over.

      “I tell you they’re up to no good,” Yousif said, turning toward Amin and Isaac.

      Suddenly, Yousif’s eyes fell on a shiny round object lying on the ground. The sun hit it at the right angle and made the silver gleam. He was sure it was a watch. He picked it up and rolled it in his hand, disappointed. “It’s a compass,” he said.

      “A compass!” Isaac exclaimed. “Let me see it.”

      Yousif handed it to Isaac, knowing that it had fallen from the strangers they were following. His earlier suspicions deepened; he was now convinced that they were surveying the hills. He turned around to tell Amin. To his surprise Amin was standing on the edge of a large rock. In his white shirt, Yousif thought, Amin might as well have waved a flag.

      “Get off that rock,” Yousif told him, his voice hushed.

      In answer, Amin stepped closer to the edge and craned his neck to see where the couples went.

      “Get down,” Isaac warned, his hands cupping his mouth.

      Amin did not seem to pay attention, but stood looking for a better spot. He stepped down on an adjacent wall, and it gave under him. The stones toppled, creating a roaring sound that could have been heard from a distance. Yousif and Isaac leaped to catch Amin, but it was too late. He rolled down the hill with large and small boulders crashing around him. His friends gasped and then ran after him. When the avalanche stopped, Amin lay sprawled at the bottom of a field, one huge rock on top of his left arm.

      “Jesus!” Yousif said, frightened.

      Yousif looked at Amin, then at the strangers. His loyalty was divided. He didn’t want to see Amin hurt but he also didn’t want to lose the strangers. Had they been regular tourists, he thought, they would have come back to help. Surely they must have heard the sound of the stone wall collapsing. He watched in frustration as they hurried around a bend in the valley and disappeared.

3

      Amin opened his eyes, grimacing. His two friends were towering over him. “I broke my arm,” he informed them. “I actually heard it snap.”

      “Good God!” Yousif said, kneeling.

      “What rotten luck!” Isaac agonized, joining them on the ground.

      Amin bit his lip and did not answer. Very carefully, Yousif and Isaac pushed back the huge rock and freed Amin’s arm. A sharp-edged bone, broken like a dry piece of wood, was sticking out just above the elbow. Yousif flinched. The side of Amin’s white shirt was smeared with blood. Isaac shut his eyes. Yousif felt sick but kept staring at Amin, wondering what to do to help him.

      “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you,” Yousif said. “I bet it hurts like hell.”

      Amin shook his head. “Not yet. Right now my arm is just hot.”

      The bone was sticking out in such a way that Yousif wasn’t sure that Amin could see it.

      “Would you let me,” Yousif asked, “straighten your arm a bit? There’s a bone sticking out that I don’t like.”

      “Actually it wouldn’t be smart to leave it exposed,” Isaac added.

      Amin craned his neck to see around his elbow. “Go ahead. So far I feel no pain.”

      As Yousif reached for Amin’s arm, Isaac interrupted. “Why don’t we stand him up first?” he asked. “That way the bones might settle in place by themselves. Don’t you think?”

      “A good idea,” Yousif agreed. “Come on, let’s get him on his feet.”

      They lifted him up, and Amin’s left arm hung limply at his side. Isaac rolled Amin’s short sleeve all the way to the shoulder to give Yousif a better view. Most of the bone seemed to disappear.

      “Only the tip is showing,” Yousif told Amin. “I think if I pull it a bit I’d get it all in. Let me know if it hurts too much.”

      “Go ahead,” Amin said.

      Holding the injured arm by the elbow and forearm, Yousif pulled gently, keeping his eyes on the broken bone. It began to slide under. Amin gritted his teeth.

      “Don’t you faint on us,” Yousif said.

      “Just do it, please,” Amin said, turning his head away.

      With a bit more luck, Yousif thought, he might get it in all the way. He tugged at it somewhat forcefully, until the wound swallowed the bone.

      “Wonderful!” Isaac said. “And it didn’t hurt, did it?”

      “Like hell it didn’t,” Amin answered. “But I can bear it.”

      “Now we need to bandage it,” Yousif said. “The broken skin shouldn’t be left uncovered.”

      “I have a clean handkerchief,” Amin told him. “It’s in my hip pocket.”

      Yousif reached for it, then looked around for a comfortable place for Amin to rest. There was a smooth rock not too far to the left. Slowly the two friends sat Amin on it. Isaac held the injured arm, and Yousif tied the handkerchief around it. The arm seemed broken in more than one place.

      “Tell me if it’s too tight,” Yousif said to Amin. “We just need to stop the bleeding.”

      “It’s okay,” Amin said, taking a deep breath. “The sooner we get home the better.”

      Both friends put their arms around Amin. He in turn put his right arm around Yousif’s neck. Blood, which smelled like rust, was spreading on Amin’s torn shirt. Isaac’s shirt was stained from contact. The hill was steep and the road above it was several fields away. Not for a second, though, did Yousif stop thinking of the strangers they had left behind. What they were doing there preyed on his mind. He wished Amin had not fallen; he wished he had a chance to track them.

      “Your timing is lousy,” Yousif said to Amin, walking beside him. “Next time you decide to break an arm, make sure we’re not following spies.”

      “I’ll remember,” he said, wincing.

      By the time they reached the main road, the three were out of breath. Amin looked wan. There was no sense in wishing for a car, Yousif thought, for rarely did vehicles travel that deep in the countryside. But he did wish for a mule or a camel. None was in sight. Things were always plentiful until they were needed, Yousif reflected. But he dismissed the possibility too soon; a rider on a horse was coming their way. It was obvious from the rising column of

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