Aladdin and Almanzor scampered quietly for home through the dusky streets.
“They took my gold. They took my gold,” Almanzor kept whispering to his brother.
“Be quiet. That may be the least of our problems.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s a whole lot of gold. How do you propose to tell Aunt Haneen where you got it?”
“What do you mean. … Oh, the genie!”
“Exactly.”
“ … I could show him to her.”
“Then what happens?”
“ … I don’t know.”
“Neither do I, except for one thing: You won’t be able to keep him. Some grownup will take him away. They’ll say he’s too important for you to have.”
“I can hide the gold—bring out only one coin at a time.”
“I’d do that,” said Aladdin, “and be prepared for some rough stuff. If even one of those kids shows off a coin soon and then blabs, people will come after you. In fact, I’d hide all those coins for now in many different places, so I could bring them out one at a time if someone forced me to show coins.”
“What about the lamp and the genie?” asked Almanzor.
“I have an idea for them. I’m going to take them to Induslan and have the genie help us win the war.”
“No! He’s mine!” Almanzor whispered as loudly as he could.
“Do you want to keep living here or do you want to go home? If the genie wins the war for us we can go home right away.”
Almanzor thought for a while. “Do you think he can do that?”
“He’s a genie and I have three wishes,” Aladdin replied confidently. “You have only two, or one, and you’re only eight.”
“I’m almost nine! … But you’re right. I don’t like wandering around all day in the heat. And if you’re a soldier you do that. I’ve seen them.”
Almanzor turned to face his brother head-on and said, “Take the lamp, Aladdin, and get us home again.”