The Egyptian Cat Mystery Part 4

The car was a small foreign sedan of a make neither boy had ever heard of. Apparently Ha.s.san also used it as a taxi, because the front pa.s.senger seat was taken up mostly by a taxi meter.

Rick showed Ha.s.san the address in his notebook. The guide shook his head. "Please, you read."

Rick looked at him with astonishment. A guide who couldn't read? But apparently it was so. "It is the store of Ali Moustafa," he explained.

Ha.s.san shrugged. "I do not know it. But it can be found. _Enshallah._"

Although the boys did not recognize it then, the word was a common expression meaning "If G.o.d wills it."

They would learn it, though, and with it other Arabic words, including _zanb_, _da.s.sissa_, and _khatar_--or, in English, crime, intrigue, and danger!

CHAPTER IV

El Mouski

Ha.s.san drove out of the hotel alley into a chaos of horns, pedestrians who flirted with sudden death, wildly maneuvering cars, and donkey carts that always seemed on the verge of being hit by an accelerating truck.

It was a normal day in Cairo traffic.

The boys watched with mixed fear and amazement--fear that Ha.s.san would hit someone and amazement that he didn't. Time after time he bore down on a slow-moving Egyptian and Rick's heart leaped into his throat until collision was averted by some miracle or other, usually a wild, record-breaking leap by the pedestrian.

The trip from the airport had been along streets that formed a kind of throughway, but in the city itself, the traffic was the kind that would send an American traffic cop screaming for the riot squad. Here, no one seemed to think anything of it.

The boys relaxed a little as it became clear that Ha.s.san knew what he was doing. His driving was perhaps a shade more careful than that of most drivers. Once, as he sped down a crowded, narrow street at forty miles an hour, horns blasted behind them.

Rick turned, but could see nothing wrong. He asked, "Why all the honking, Ha.s.san?"

"They want we go faster," the dragoman said.

Scotty laughed. "Might as well relax. This is the slow, sleepy pace of the Middle East we used to read about."

Rick laughed with him. He had seen hectic traffic before, but nothing to compare with Cairo. This wasn't traffic. It was some kind of wild contest with no rules and only survival as the winner's prize. "Any number can play," he muttered.

He tried to pay attention to signs, but they were in Arabic script. He saw that modern Cairo was giving way to the older city. The buildings were smaller, more closely s.p.a.ced. Most were of wood, but a few were obviously of ancient stone. In this part of the city, merchants displayed their wares on the sidewalks in front of cubicle-sized stores.

Then, with a suddenness that threw them forward, Ha.s.san pulled into a parking place, jammed on the brakes, and killed the motor. "We walk now," he told them. "Street too small for car."

Rick could see only narrow alleys. If they were the streets Ha.s.san meant, walking was the only possible means of transportation.

In the square where Ha.s.san had halted were dozens of merchants, some with their wares in carts, others carrying them on their backs. A rug merchant approached and Ha.s.san waved him off. "Come. El Mouski over there." He pointed to a narrow alleyway.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The boys followed, eyes taking in the sights, smells, and noises.

Merchants hawked their wares with raucous cries, charcoal braziers smoked under a.s.sorted foodstuffs, and the air was redolent with the odors of food, people, and the acc.u.mulated living of many centuries.

In the alley were shops, closely packed, some little more than a doorway wide and others of quite respectable size. A few even had gla.s.s windows with displays. There were textiles, foodstuffs, tinned copper, bra.s.s, leather goods, inlaid work, rugs, shoes of strange designs, clothing, and a variety of antiques.

Ha.s.san stopped before a cubicle crowded with interesting bra.s.sware and spoke in Arabic to a dark man with tiny spectacles. Rick thought he heard the name of Ali Moustafa. He waited while the merchant replied at length, with much waving of the hands as he outlined the path to the establishment.

"I know now," Ha.s.san informed them. "We go."

Rick and Scotty fell in step with the guide. In many places the alleys were under roofs or wooden awnings. In other places the buildings were so close together that the three walked in single file. Rick could see that daylight seldom reached the bottom of El Mouski. He moved aside to make room for a donkey which carried huge jars.

Merchants beckoned to the boys, promising low prices and goods of superb quality, but Ha.s.san waved them off. Occasionally a beggar approached, but the boys were surprised by the small number of mendicants.

The path pa.s.sed from alley to alley, past dozens of shops. Rick saw a few tourists, but the tourist season was still weeks ahead and most of the people were Egyptian.

A little Egyptian boy with a dirty face called, "Yonkees! 'Ello!" The boys returned his cheerful grin.

"This is a good-natured crowd," Rick commented. Many of the dark, Semitic faces greeted them with cordial smiles and a half-salute of welcome.

"Friendly people," Scotty agreed. "How far, Ha.s.san?"

"Two streets. Soon."

The dragoman turned a corner, led them straight ahead for a few hundred steps, then turned a second corner. He pointed. Diagonally across the alley was a large store with display windows. A sign over the door carried the name ALI MOUSTAFA surrounded by Arabic script.

"We'll get rid of the cat, then do some shopping," Rick said. "I'm anxious for a closer look at some of these shops. How about you?"

"Ali Moustafa's seems pretty good to me," Scotty replied. "Look at that stuff." He pointed to leather goods displayed in one window. "It's beautiful. Go on in and deliver kitty while I see what some of these things are."

"I tell you," Ha.s.san offered. "Then I help bargain so prices be low. No bargain, prices too high."

Rick walked in through the open door, his eyes taking in the amazing collection of stuff sold by Ali Moustafa. The store was a big one, especially compared with most in the bazaar, and there were several clerks. The walls were lined with shelves that held copperware, bra.s.sware, silver, and inlaid boxes. He saw rolls of tapestries, collections of bra.s.s camels and donkeys, and gla.s.sed-in cases of jewelry. Crowding the floor s.p.a.ce were huge vases of bra.s.s or pottery, camel saddles, metal trays on low stands, and huge leather ha.s.socks.

The clerks eyed him with interest, then all eyes focused on the package under his arm. For a moment Rick felt a current of tension run through the store, but he dismissed it as imagination. He walked toward the rear counter, trying to identify Ali Moustafa, but none of the clerks fitted the description Bartouki had given.

He addressed his question to the clerk behind the rearmost counter. "Is Mr. Moustafa here?"

The clerk's dark eyes flickered, and his face became expressionless.

"Please to be seated. I will get him."

The clerk vanished through a curtained door at the rear of the store, and Rick turned. He was sensitive to impressions, and he was again conscious of the tension. As he turned he saw that all the clerks were watching him, their faces impa.s.sive. His eyes went to the front of the store. Scotty was with Ha.s.san in the doorway, discussing some object in the display window.

A voice spoke from behind him. "You wish to see me?"

Rick turned. The newcomer was a tall, well-built Egyptian with glossy black hair and a military mustache. Unblinking black eyes met his gaze, and there was no hint of welcome in them.

"Are you Ali Moustafa?" Rick asked.

The man bowed a quarter of an inch. "At your service," he said.

Rick didn't know what to say. Bartouki had described a huge, jolly fat man, like Santa Claus without a beard. This man was big, but not huge, not fat, and definitely not jolly.