Ch6-Sandblasted

CHAPTER SIX Sandblasted In the distance, a haze of sand was spreading over the desert. As the wind picked up, the sky turned red and the haze thickened into a brown cloud. The cloud began gliding toward Jack, Annie, and Mamoon like a moving wall.

"Get down! Lie on your bellies!" ordered Mamoon. "Quickly! Cover your faces with your head cloths!" Jack clucked his tongue. Beauty knelt to the ground. Jack, Annie, and Mamoon jumped off their camels and lay down on the sand beside them. Jack tried desperately to cover his face with his head cloth, but the raging wind kept whipping the cloth from his hands. The sky turned from red to black. The moaning sound turned into a loud rumbling.

Jack looked up and saw the wind rip the saddlebag off Mamoon's kneeling camel! The bag hit the ground and fell open. The box bounced out and tumbled away in the driving wind. "The treasure!" cried Jack, but his voice was drowned out by the wind. He jumped up and bolted after the box. Jack raced across the desert as the sand battered his body. The wind tried to push him

down. But Jack ran with all his might, until finally he caught up with the box and threw himself down on top of it. He grabbed the ends of his head scarf and covered his face. The sandstorm blasted over Jack, sounding like the hoofbeats of a hundred galloping camels. Jack's eyes burned. He felt as if he were suffocating. Slowly the thundering softened to a low rumbling. The rumbling faded to a moaning. The wind died down. The hot desert grew still and silent. Coughing, Jack rolled over and sat up. He had sand in his mouth, sand in his ears, and sand in his nose. He pulled off his glasses

and rubbed his stinging eyes. But rubbing only made them worse. Blinking, Jack clutched the box and looked around for the others. The air was thick with dust. He had completely lost his sense of direction. "Jack! Jack!" He heard Annie shouting. Jack clutched the small wooden box and stood up. His legs were so wobbly, he fell over. "Annie!" he croaked. "Jack!" she called through the dust. "Where are you?" "Here!" he said. "Where?"

"Here!" "There you are!" said Annie, stumbling out of the haze. "Are you okay?" "I'm okay," croaked Jack. "Are you?" "Yes! I ran after you," said Annie. Her voice was hoarse, too. "I had to save the box," said Jack. "Where's Mamoon?" "I don't know," said Annie. "I don't think he saw us chase after the box." "Mamoon!" they shouted together. "Mamoon!" There was no answer.