3
The carpet, lurching unsteadily with every gust of wind, and repeatedly threatening (in Fasee’s view) to throw them all off again, swooped and climbed its way across unknown landscapes (unknown to Fasee, who stubbornly refused to open her eyes, or to peep over the carpet’s edge). When at last it came to a stop, Fasee, urged on by Yasmine’s gentle tug upon her lead-rope, got to her feet. Her legs were as stout as noodles by that time, and her stomach flip-flopped in queasy somersaults.
‘Are we stopped?’ she demanded of Yasmine.
‘We are.’
‘For good?’
‘For now.’
Fasee eyed both Yasmine and the carpet suspiciously, but since the one favoured her with a reassuring smile, and the carpet had the decency to make no further movements (and since her elder sisters had preceded her off the thi
