The Repentant Demon Trilogy Book 1: The Demon Calumnius (13 page)

“That is amazing,” said Abigail. “I'm so glad you told me.  He never would have.  And now I understand so much.  Thank you, Kasi, for telling me.”

Abigail and Kasi lay down to sleep and were finally able to do so.  Before she drifted off, Abigail wondered about the camel that died.  It was so weird, that he just fell over dead like that.  Abdul bin Jabbar had seemed perplexed because the animal had been healthy, thinking even that it seemed he had been poisoned.  She wondered also what the family would do without one of their camels, an expensive and necessary creature in this part of the country.  He provided transportation, his dung was fuel, and his mate provided milk during most of the year except for when she was nursing young.  She was pregnant now and could not be ridden.  It would be a hardship with only one camel and a worthless one that did not rein.

Calumnius was amazed that Abigail's mind continued in this reverie about this family and their idiot camel.  All her concern was for them, not giving thought to how she was going to get to the excavation site. 
This had been her purpose in coming here, was it not?  Now with one camel, one that she surely could not control or ride in public with a man who could, there was no way for her to get to the site.  If anyone did go, it would be Doug—without her, surely.  And that attractive older woman would be there with him.  Not that that should be of any concern—the woman must be twice his age.  Yet none of these things troubled her mind at all.

He began to wonder if there was any hope at all to entice two such virtuous people into sin of any kind.  It occurred to him suddenly that the older woman might prove to be of some use.  Envy did not need to be based on truth to torture the soul.  And it was one of the deadly sins—“There is a sin that leads to death,” said the apostle John.  He had all but given up on ever finding one of the deadly sins that would work, and here was one that just reared its ugly head for him.  He felt encouraged finally.  He could sense the evil about that woman, not that it took a demon to tell; all the people there wanted to avoid her.

After that little exertion directed toward the camel's rear end, Calumnius had been exhausted.  Breaking into the physical world takes strength. 
It was worth it to get them home safely
, he thought, then stopped himself, suddenly alarmed at the thought that crossed his mind.  He was not glad they were safe—he was glad they hadn't died in the desert and gone to heaven. 
Keep that straight,
he scolded himself.

In the morning Abdul bin Jabbar announced to the breakfast crowd that the camel Al Haml would not be ready for a trip to the expedition site at Nineveh. 

“I am sorry to say, that although he is responding well to Jamal's training since early this morning,” said Abdul, “I do not trust him well enough yet to carry anyone that distance.  I don't even have a way to track you since Al Fahl is gone.  You could be wandering in the desert and die.”

“Well, I have thought of a solution for all of us,” said Doug, “and don't argue until I am finished, okay?  Everyone agree to that?”

All eyes and ears were on Doug.  But not to interrupt was hardly something this family could reasonably promise.

“I go to Nineveh on Al Haml,” he said, with Abdul's mouth dropping open to speak, “with either Jamal or Abdul riding with me.  We go to Mosul, I buy a new camel and bring him back, so we will have two camels again.  The next day, Abigail and I can go back to our old routine.”

“But I cannot let you pay for a new camel,” argued Abdul. “That is out of the question.”

“Then I guess we might as well go back home, Abigail,” he said, waiting as the whole family rose up in protest against that idea.

“You just got here,” cried Jamal.

“No, please don't leave yet,” begged Noora.

“You haven't had a chance to do your work that you came to do,” Kasi reminded them.

Such arguments all came simultaneously from the whole family.

“Well then,” said Doug again, “I need to go and buy a camel.  If you want to think of it as my camel, and that you are keeping it for me here, then so be it.  You could consider this camel a loan.  Breed him, sell his offspring and pay me back then, if you want.  But I must buy a camel today, or there is no point in my staying.”

Abigail saw Noora covering her mouth to hide her grinning.  She had seldom seen anyone win an argument with her husband.  She peeked above her folded hands covering her nose and mouth to see that Abdul also grinned, relieving her own fear of discovery.  Even he realized that Doug had bested him—the only man in the world who could have done so and made him smile.

Now that it was settled, another round of discussions began over who was to accompany Doug to the market, which was just outside Nineveh.  It had sprung up to serve the tourists and the scholars who were coming there in droves.  Abdul thought he was better at negotiating on the purchase of the camel, yet even he admitted that Jamal was better at handling Al Haml.  Doug was concerned that Abdul might steer him toward buying a cheaper animal, and he didn't want that.  So he finally convinced the father to permit the son to go with him.

Abdul and the smallest boy, Jahmir, went to do morning chores, and the women were left to prepare foods for a feast they were having that evening in honor of Doug's arrival.  Secretly, and unofficially, the event was also meant to celebrate the fact that he had found a good woman.  The kitchen was filled on every table with vegetables and ingredients to make some of their favorite dishes.  Neighbors were coming from miles away.  Everyone wanted to meet the legendary Douglas MacArthur Anderson.

Although they had tasted samples, it was still difficult to leave the aromas in the kitchen of sweet, warm confections coming from Noora's oven.  She had risen early in the morning to bake cakes and breads before the heat of the day.  The soup, called pacha, made from a whole sheep’s head, was steeping in a large pot.  Kasi assembled the lamb kabobs to marinate.  Little Malik and Abigail sat at the table, making appetizers from goat cheese, apricots, dates, and figs. 

“Mama, we forgot the flowers,” said Kasi, looking through the pile of purchases.  And while her mother shushed her, little Malik smacked her on the head, jokingly.

“Okay, I'm not deaf and blind,” said Abigail. “What’s up with the flowers?”

“What's up? What does
what’s up
mean?” said Noora.

“It means, what are you hiding?” said Abigail.  “I want to know what is so secretive between you two.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise for you,” said Noora. “Since we forgot, it doesn't matter now.”

“That's a sweet, lovely thing you wanted to do,” said Abigail, “but this celebration is about Doug, not me.”

“Oh no, everyone wants to see you, too,” said Kasi. “They want to see the woman in Doug's life and see how pretty she is.”

“But that's not how it is,” protested Abigail. “We haven't known each other that long.  I'm not the woman in his life.”

“You will be,” stated little Malik, acting very wise and worldly for her eleven years.  “We see the way he looks at you when you don't see him.  He looks at you like this,” she said, wearing a panting puppy-dog face.  Kasi hit her with a kitchen towel, and they all laughed.

“Let me get this straight,” said Abigail. “At this event tonight, am I going to be formally announced in some way as being matched or betrothed or something like that?”

“No, no,” said Noora, “we know it does not work like that in your culture.  Everyone is just going to look at you.  That's all.”

“Look at me?” she asked, confused.

“Yes, look at you, and look at him looking at you,” she restated, not knowing what was so difficult to understand.  “And then they will know—like we know, by just looking at you.”

“I think maybe you think you know something that you do not know,” said Abigail, smiling.

All three women looked at her strangely, then understood that it was a joke, and they laughed.

J
amal and Doug had a much easier time dealing with Al Haml than they had anticipated.  The boy definitely had a way with camels.  His father named him Jamal because it means camel, and he hoped to have a son that would be able to help him with his business.  Not only was he an excellent handler and trainer at his tender age, but the boy knew how to judge them and what to look for in a good camel.

It is rumored that there are thousands of words for camels in Arabic, although the exact number is cause for much argument.  But it makes sense when one considers how many breeds of dogs there are in the Western world, with a different name for each of them.  The Eskimos have hundreds of words for snow.  Al Haml, whose name means “wandering in the desert without a master” fit him well, but as Jamal worked with him, that would soon change.  Al Fahl does not translate well into English, but his name made some reference to his procreative ability—and probably had something to do with his having extremely large testicles.  Too bad, thought Doug, that he would not have a chance to use them again.

Jamal had hopes to someday own a huge camel ranch on part of his father's land, which as the oldest son, he knew would be his.  At fourteen, he already planned for a wife, a family, and a business for himself.

He examined the herds of camels in the sale tent with great scrutiny, checking their hooves, their ears, and their teeth.  He even lifted their tails and examined their rectums for signs of disease.  He narrowed the choices to two, then his talents fell short when bartering over the price.  Doug took over there and managed to get the camel for half the price the man originally wanted.

“We should name him Al Shamlal,” said Jamal.  “He steps lightly.  See how he lifts his feet high off the ground as he walks?  Father will be pleased with this beautiful camel.”

No one could ride him until they found the carcass of Al Fahl and removed his saddle and bridle, and if they could not find his carcass, they would have to make new out-fittings, which would take months.  They planned to search for Al Fahl on the way back, but Doug wanted to make a brief stop at the excavation site just to let them know what had happened and that they would be back the following day.

The team expressed shock that Doug suspected the camel had been poisoned.

“It is not inconceivable,” said David McGuire, the leader of the group. “These Bedouins who care for the camels of our laborers do not try to hide their contempt for our presence.  They are here for the pay they receive, which isn't much, and I have my suspicions they have other motives for being here.”

“What kind of motives?” asked Doug.

“Well, besides stealing,” said David, lowering his voice and checking to see if any were nearby, “they could be spies for the government or even for Al Qaeda.  They watch us every minute.  Every time I look over there, they are looking at us.  It could be idle curiosity, but it makes me nervous.  Some of them feel we are disturbing graves of their ancestors; others worry that we are going to take away artifacts that belong to the government of Iraq.  All of them seem to hate us and hate us being here.”

“Has anything like this ever happened before?” Doug pressed. “Anything that you thought might have been sabotage.”

“No, not that I can think of,” he said thoughtfully. “Our food is kept in coolers over there under the same tent, and it's never been touched.  But I'm thinking this is very odd, considering that they chose
your
camel.  They know you.  I speak Arabic quite well, and I heard them saying your name more than once. I thought it strange since you hadn't been introduced in their presence.” 

“Well, we will be back to continue our work tomorrow,” said Doug, “and I'm hoping Jamal can come along with us to take care of our camels.  He is light enough to ride with me. Do you think he will be safe?  That will be a dead giveaway that we suspect them of poisoning the camel.”

“If he is cautious, I would surely think they wouldn't harm the boy—it would be so obvious, they would have to know they'd be caught.  And even before you return to your friend's house today, the news will already be everywhere about the poisoned camel.  Just tell him to be alert, and I don't imagine he'd be in any danger.”

“I feel bad enough that something happened to one of Abdul's camels,” said Doug. “I certainly don't want any harm to come to one of his sons.”

They saw that Joyce Michaels was approaching their direction from across the dig site, and David whispered a quick warning, “Watch out for that one,” he said. “She has tried to seduce every male of every team I've been on with her—even the gay ones.”

“I heard about your misfortune,” she said, smiling, “but I'm glad you will be back tomorrow.  I see you have a different companion today.  Is your girlfriend coming with you after your harrowing experience?  Or was that enough for her?”

“Oh, she's not easily scared off,” answered Doug, letting her assume they were a couple.  “Abigail is very disappointed that she couldn't come today.  However, she will be raring to go tomorrow, providing we don't indulge too heavily at the party tonight.  My friends are having a little celebration for us.”

“Oh, is it an engagement party?” she asked, dramatizing a disappointment that she didn't even try to hide.

“Well, that's not what it's called in this culture,” he said.  “My friends love her very much—as does anyone who knows her.”

As they took their camels and walked away, Jamal expressed his mistrust of the woman to whom Doug had just been speaking.  He felt a foreboding about her—the very word Malik used to describe her premonitions.  He used another word to describe her—evil.

I know her
, thought Calumnius, who had been curious enough about the poisoning of the camel to leave Abigail's side for the day. 
I missed it yesterday, but there is no doubt now that she has evil dwelling in her.  And I know to whom she belongs.  It is Coradyll.  I smell him on her, but he is not here now.  He hides deep inside her while she performs in routine daily life. Such is the way when the possessed cooperate with the demon instead of fighting him.  Many humans walk the earth possessed in such a way, undetected by others, doing the will of the devil within for rewards in this life.