Free Ollie's Cloud by Gary Lindberg

softly enters her son’s sleeping chamber and approaches him. Her mind is spinning. How will I explain to him why we must go away? But as she is thinking, she sees Ali looking at her. He is awake! His piercing eyes cut through her.
    “What is it, mother?”
    She can’t speak. All this planning, and now she has lost her voice!
    “Does father know you’re in the birun? He’ll be angry.”
    “My darling son, there’s something I have to tell you.”
    Ali’s eyes begin to glisten with tears. “You’re going away with Gordon, aren’t you?”
    Dear Allah, he thinks I’m abandoning him! Anisa reaches out and takes Ali in her arms, hugs him tightly. “I’m not leaving you, Ali. You and I are going away together.”
    “But I can’t. I’m leaving for the madrisih next week.”
    “Please—I can’t explain right now. But I promise that one day you will go to the finest school in the world. Listen to me now. I know this is frightening and hard to understand, but we must leave right now. There is very little time.”
    Ali narrows his eyes. “Are we in danger?” he asks.
    Anisa hesitates for moment, then says, “Yes, we are in danger. Will you come?”
    Ali looks up, studying her face. He can see fear in it. And doubt. And a mother’s love. Ali looks around the room and sees two of the kelauntar’s other wives staring at him.
    “No, I want to stay here,” Ali pleads. “I want to go to the madrisih. This isn’t fair!”
    “Ali—I am going to tell you the truth now. I hope you will believe me.” Anisa grabs hold of Ali’s arms as if to emphasize the importance of her next words. “Your father is going to divorce me and make me the vizier’s wife tomorrow. I will be taken away without you. Do you understand? You will never see me again unless you come with me tonight.”
    The words stun the boy. But then he stiffens. “This is not true. You are my mother. Father would not separate us!”
    “The vizier has given your father no choice. The bargain is already struck. Our only chance is to flee.”
    Ali’s mind races. Leaving with his mother means he will never go to Mashhad. He will never see his father again. Or Jalal. It is too much to comprehend.
    “If we flee, they will track us down. They will kill you!” Ali says.
    “No. Gordon is helping us. He has a plan. Please, Ali… we must go now! We must place as much distance between us and the kelauntar as we can before dawn. It’s our only chance.”
    Ali looks around the room. The others are nodding. What should he do? Is this incredible story true? Who does he choose to trust?
    And then it occurs to him… yes, his father’s sudden promise to send him to Mashhad. It came out of the blue. Out of guilt, perhaps. A payoff. Recompense for a future loss. It becomes clearer now. And as it does, Ali slumps onto his bed mat feeling the heavy weight of disappointment, the stabbing pain of betrayal. But sorrow quickly gives rise to anger. Only one course of action makes sense now.
    Ali quickly stands up. “All right, I’ll come with you.”
    He snatches up his Qu’ran then hurriedly begins to search for some personal things.
    Anisa stops him. “No, just the Qu’ran. We have everything else you need.”
    This is another blow, another loss. Leaving everything behind. Everything! Can he really do this? Can he totally abandon his life?
    “Ali!”
    Yes, he can.
    The kelauntar’s second wife hands him a peasant chador. He eyes it suspiciously.
    “You must wear it, Ali,” she says. “They must think you are a girl if our plan is to work.”
    The boy’s face flushes with embarrassment. The three women gather around him. Their warmth is comforting.
    Giving him no to time to think, they slip the chador over his sleeping garments and push soft sandals toward him. Anisa also covers herself in a coarse chador.
    “You must go now!” the second wife says, shoving them from the room and steering them into the garden. Struggling with the bags, the group slowly makes