"People who know a h.e.l.l of a lot more about carpet s than we do. "

" Please, Sara , don't swear around it . I t might be a holy item."

"sorry. "

" What should we do next?" he asked .

"T he smart thing would be to photograph it, downloa d the pictures onto my computer, and send them out to expert s all over the world. We could contact a handful of universitie s and museums."

Amesh shook his head. "then everyone will know wha t we have. "

"T rue." I realized I was staring at it again . I t was hard no t to. "Do you feel its power?" I mumbled .

"What do you mean?" he asked . S lowly, I got to my feet, walked toward my father's room .

"I want to try an experiment," I said .

"What? "

" You'll see." i n the room I found a lighter . M y father liked a cigar afte r dinner, but was polite enough to smoke on the balcony . T h e lighter was low on fuel but was still able to produce a decentsize flame. When I returned to the living room and Amesh saw t he lighter, he jumped up .

"You're not going to burn it," he said .

"I 'll separate out a single thread from the bottom. "

"A nd do what? "

"B urn it. "

"N o! You might light the whole thing on fire!"

I picked up scissors we had used to cut through th e wrappings .

"I 'll cut it off before I burn it," I said .

Amesh was reluctant. "Be careful. Just use one thread." t o my surprise, I was unable to isolate a thread on the bottom . I struggled for several minutes, then moved the scissors t o one of the ta.s.sels and, before Amesh could react, I tried cuttin g off a piece of the gold material . T he scissors didn't touch it .

" Sara !" Amesh shouted . "S top! "

"I didn't hurt it." then for some reason I added, "i don' t think I can." I lifted up the lighter. Amesh started to panic .

"Put that lighter away!" he ordered . I ignored him . T here was a wild part of me that felt as i f the carpet had thrown out a challenge and that I had to respond .

An insane thought, I know, but I felt as if it were mocking me . I n a single swift move, I flipped open the lighter, lit it, an d pulled the carpet toward the flame. I'm not sure how close I brought it to the fire-a half a foot, maybe-before it reacted . T he carpet jerked out of my hands and flew across th e room . I t landed on the sofa, where it seemed to stretch ou t comfortably .

Like a human being .

Chapter Three.

FOr tHe First time in my life, I knew what i t meant to "go into shock." I underwent a total brain wipe . I wa s sitting in the room, Amesh was standing across from me, an d the carpet was lying on the couch . T hese three facts I knew- n othing else . T he carpet should not have been on the couch, which wa s fifteen feet from where I was sitting . I t had been in my hand s seconds ago .

"What just happened?" Amesh asked, looking prett y stunned for someone who was asking such an ordinary ques t ion . I didn't answer; I couldn't . I just stared. He tried again .

"What's wrong?" I shook my head, realized I was shaking, tried to stop, f ailed .

" Sara ? What did you do to the carpet?" he asked . I cleared my throat . "N othing," I said .

"B ut you threw it . . ." He searched for the right words .

"You acted like it bit you. "

"I t didn't bite me. "

"T hen why did you throw it on the couch? "

" Did you see me throw it on the couch?"

He hesitated. "Yeah . I mean, there it is. "

"T here it is," I agreed. "But I didn't throw it anywhere. "

" What are you saying? "

" You saw it with your own eyes . T he carpet flew over t o the couch."

Amesh grinned, and it was a stupid grin because it was s o obviously forced. "You're saying it's a flying carpet? "

"M aybe," I replied .

"T hose are just stories . M y Papi used to tell them to m e when I was a kid, when I had trouble falling asleep at night . M y Papi reads all the time-he knows all the old tales. He'd be th e first person to tell you there's no such thing as flying carpets. "

" Okay." I nodded toward the carpet. "How did it ge t over there?"

"M aybe you b.u.mped the flame and your arm jerked an d you let go of the carpet and- "

" Did you see any of that happen?" I interrupted .

He hesitated . "I t all happened so fast. "

" Yeah . I n the blink of an eye." I stood, lighter in my hand, a nd walked toward the carpet. Amesh stepped in front of me .

"You're not going to burn it again. "

"I didn't burn it the first time . I t didn't let me . I t jumped ou t of my arms." I struggled to get past him. "Get out of my way! "

"T his is silly, Sara . "

"T hen why are you so scared? "

"I 'm not scared. "

" You're sweating. "

"I t's a hot day." I shouted at him. "this room is air-conditioned! You'r e sweating because you're scared. "

"S cared of what? "

" Of this carpet! "

"I t's just a carpet!" he yelled .

"T hen get out of my way and let me prove if that' s true or not."

He finally stepped aside . I approached the carpet with a vengeance. Picking it up from the couch, sitting down, I flippe d open the lighter . T he orange flame burned like a tiny sun .

Outside, the sun must have gone behind a cloud . T he flame s cast flickering shadows in the gloom as I brought the lighte r n ear the carpet. Of course, they only shook because my han d was shaking . T he flame touched the tip of a gold ta.s.sel . T he carpet di d not react . I t did not "fly" away. But it did not burn, either, no t even when I placed the entire ta.s.sel right over the flame .

"A llah save us," Amesh whispered, his eyes huge .

"T hat's blasphemy," I said. Amesh shook his head an d pointed a shaky finger at the carpet .

"I t's cursed! it belongs to a demon, a witch! We have to ge t rid of it! "

" Why do you automatically a.s.sume it's evil?" I put out th e lighter and felt the ta.s.sel . I t was room temperature .

"T he carpet must be protected with a spell. We can't foo l with it . I t's too dangerous. "

"I thought you didn't believe in magic. "

"I didn't . I don't. "

"A mesh, you can't have it both ways . I t's either a magi c carpet or it's something else. "

" What else could it be?" he asked, a hopeful note i n his voice .

"Have you ever read any books by Arthur C. Clarke? "

"N o. "

" He was a science fiction writer. He's dead now, but he ha d this line where he said, 'Any sufficiently advanced technology i s indistinguishable from magic.' "

" What's that supposed to mean?" Amesh asked .

"it means this could be an advanced tool built by an advanced race. "

" Who? "

"I don't know. "

"A tool to do what?" I shrugged. "to fly on, maybe. "

"T here you go again, saying it's a magic carpet . I told you, t hey don't exist. "

"S ure . T hey don't exist . N ot like demons and witches an d curses. "

" Sara , stop." Amesh put his left hand to his head. "You'r e doing it again. You're giving me a head ache. "

" Would you like to lie on the carpet? maybe it wil l heal you."

He paled. " I don't even like you holding it. Leave it ther e on the couch. Come over and sit beside me." t his time I obeyed . I needed to get perspective on our situation, but I couldn't while holding the carpet. However, as I spread it out on the couch, it seemed to arrange itself so it wa s more comfortable. All the while, Amesh talked .

"I t's probably not old at all . S omeone must have made i t out of fireproof materials. "

"I t doesn't absorb heat," I muttered .

"Your Discovery Channel's popular in my country . I remember they did a special on insulators where they took a til e o ff a s.p.a.ce shuttle and burned it with a torch . T hen they pu t their hands on it right away, and it didn't even feel hot. "

"T hat's what I said. Advanced science can appear magical."

Amesh began to relax, the idea of demons and curses fleeing from the room. Or hopefully leaving his brain alone at leas t for a few minutes .

"I t might be a secret part of the hydroelectric plant tha t got accidentally lost and buried," he said, thoughtful .

"ridiculous . N o one would accidentally misplace something like this. "

"I guess you're right." I studied him. "Have they discovered something out i n that desert that I don't know about? "

"N o . I mean, if they have, they don't allow . . . T hey don' t tell grunts like us about it. "

" What don't they allow you to do?" I asked .

"I don't know what you're asking. "

" When I was out there, my father took me to this secre t cave . I t was like he wanted to show me something inside bu t then suddenly changed his mind. Or else he got ordered away. "

"B ut your father is one of the bosses. "

"I know . T hat's why I thought it was so strange."

Amesh was definitely uneasy. " I don't know anything abou t that cave. Anyway, we're talking about the carpet. What was th e last thing you said?"

He was hiding something. He knew a lot about that cave .