Flight of the Phoenix by R. L. Lafevers

girls came into the tent and began rifling through all their things. After an eternity, they seemed to grow tired of their game. With a last flurry of giggles, they left the tent.
    Nate went weak with relief. He waited a few more moments to be sure they'd gone, then crawled over to the tent flap. He peered out in time to see one lone girl returning to the oasis. She climbed off her camel, then went to retrieve the water skin she'd left behind.
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    As she walked past the tree with the phoenix nest, she hesitated. Had she seen the windbreak? Noticed something unusual about the tree? Slowly, she set the water skin down and walked toward the tree. When she was close enough, she raised her hands and gripped the trunk. She was going to climb it! She would disturb the nest!
    Without pausing to think, Nate was out of the tent in a heartbeat. "Wait! Don't!"
    Shocked, the girl froze with her hands on the tree.
    Too late, Nate realized he'd just given himself away.
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    ***
    Chapter Thirteen
    S lowly, the girl stepped back from the tree and turned to face him. They stared at each other warily.
    "Who are you?" the girl asked in halting English.
    "Nathaniel Fludd. Who are you?"
    "Fadia, daughter of Khalid Jabbaar." She lifted her chin. "This is our oasis. You shouldn't be here."
    "I-I have been sent to watch over the phoenix," Nate said.
    The girl narrowed her eyes. "The phoenix!" She studied
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    him a moment, then looked over her shoulder at the tree. "They say that is but a myth."
    Nate shook his head. "No. It's real."
    Fadia took a step closer. "You have seen it?"
    "Yes. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he said simply.
    "If there was a phoenix, it belongs to us."
    "I don't think something like a phoenix really belongs to anybody," Nate said.
    "Perhaps that is true," she said. "But you do not belong here. This oasis is ours."
    "I just need to stay for another day or two. I promise not to harm anything."
    Fadia shook her head. "It is not my place to say yes or no. I have a duty to report you to my tribe. They will decide."
    "No! Please don't tell them." Nate couldn't risk getting captured like Aunt Phil. Who'd be left to tend the nest?
    "I must. It is my duty to my tribe."
    Before Nate could think of something that would persuade her, Greasle crawled up to his shoulder, and glared at the girl. "He's not going to hurt anything, you big dolt."
    Fadia recoiled. "A jinni! You command a jinni?"
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    [I mage: Fadia, Nate and Greasle.]
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    "No. It's a gremlin. Not a ... whatever you said."
    Some of the fear left Fadia and she grew haughty again. "What is this gremlin?"
    Nate looked from Fadia to Greasle, then back again. He whispered out of the side of his mouth to Greasle, "Just go along with what I say." Then, louder: "Actually, it's our name for jinni."
    "How do you have the power over a jinni? You are no older than I?"
    Nate tried to look powerful. "It's what my family does. Have power over jinni."
    Worry creased Fadia's face. "Please do not set it upon my people."
    "Will you keep my presence here a secret?"
    She stared at Greasle. "I will do as you ask. I will not tell that you are here."
    "Will the rest of them return for water tomorrow?" Nate asked.
    Fadia nodded. "Yes, it is our daily chore."
    "We will hide again, but try to get them to collect their water and leave right away. No exploring like you did today. If you do exactly as I say, I will not let the jinni harm you."
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    "Oh, brother," Greasle muttered in his ear. "As if I could hurt a big lug like her." Nate reached up and rubbed away the tickle.
    "I promise," Fadia said. With one last nervous glance at Greasle, she scurried over to her camel. She mounted the animal, then left the oasis.
    With Greasle still on his shoulder, Nate went over to the palm tree. "That was close," he said. It seemed they'd been saying that a lot lately.
    Greasle tugged on his ear. "So what's a jinni, then?"
    "I'm not sure," Nate said. "I think I read about them in a book once.