The Riddle of the Jade Collar: A Twelve Cousins Book

By Hans Alric Vakker

The twelve cousins are transported to a distant world called Al Kiam. Their abilities can bring war or peace to the land, but first they have to get along.

The twelve cousins fight about the old stone teapot Grandpapa brought back from the war in Iraq. Grandpapa says it may be magic; some of the cousins disagree while others believe his claim with all their hearts. While they go through the old ritual explained by Grandpapa, a swirl of light fills the room, followed by a wave of blackness.

As the darkness changed to light, the twelve cousins realize they are in a different world: the world of Al Kiam. Whats more, each cousin has acquired a strange, unique power, the purpose of which is unknown to them. They soon learn they are surrounded by an ancient battle that threatens to tear the world of Al Kiam apartunless they do something about it.

No matter how much these cousins may love each other, they dont always agree. Deciding what they must dofight the good fight or quickly find a way homecould tear them apart. With the fate of a world in their hands, however, the twelve cousins must learn to use their powers as one and solve the riddles of Al Kiam. By harnessing their newfound powers, they may become heroes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781475975239

Hans Alric Vakker

Hans Alric Vakker grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He served twenty-seven years in the US Air Force as an engineer. He and his wife have six children and twelve grandchildren.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

A TEA PARTY WITH GRANDPAPA

T hey had come for Thanksgiving Day Dinner. They did almost every year. Some came over the river and through the woods to get to Grandmama’s house. They now were gathered in an upstairs room of the old house—all twelve. They were cousins; some were brothers and sisters. They were all were granddaughters or grandsons of Grandpapa and Grandmama.

The families got together often for the holidays. There had been six children in Grandpapa’s and Grandmama’s family. They’d all grown up in the old house. They’d all gotten married in the area, and now the children were raising their children in the area. This made getting together on the holidays easy. The cousins all enjoyed these holiday times to see each other. They’d play outside or go upstairs and swap stories on what had happened since the last time they’d been together.

It was a big old house in the country not far outside of Kansas City, Missouri, but located on the Kansas side of the state line. The house was in the forest and you could see deer and fox at night when you walked along the country road that led to the house. Squirrels—Grandpapa didn’t like the little buggers—would chatter at you from the trees or from the roof of the house. Birds sang from the forest trees all the time. Grandmama’s favorites were the red cardinals. She kept bird feeders out in the yard and birds would come down to feast throughout the year at the feeders. She was always shooing away the squirrels because they would eat all of the bird food and knock over the feeders.

Grandpapa always had a garden out back and now at Thanksgiving the only things left growing were the parsley and some other hardy herbs. The parsley always grew until the cold really came down from the north and froze it; usually when the first snow fell. There hadn’t been any snow yet this year, and, in fact, this Thanksgiving Day was bright and sunny. It was a beautiful autumn day. The kids had been playing outside earlier, running through the yard that was like a park. There were swings in the trees out back, fences to walk, and stone paths that wandered through flower gardens. The pool was all shut in for the winter, but the kids could always find a lot to do in the big yard, and at this time of year, all the bugs of the summer were gone. No ticks and chiggers to bite you and cause that awful itching.

They had all come in from outside to rest and were now upstairs having a major discussion. They were having an argument actually. Aliegha was arguing with Maddy. Maddy was the oldest of the cousins. She’d just turned sixteen earlier in the month. She always thought she knew the most. And Aliegha; well Aliegha wouldn’t back down from anyone even though she was only nine, a very precocious nine; so it wasn’t surprising that Maddy and Aliegha were having an argument.

The rest of the twelve cousins stood and listened to the argument. Both of Maddy’s brothers were there; Bradley who was thirteen and Declan who was eleven. Aliegha’s little sister, Eridani who was seven, sat at the craft table working on a drawing but she was listening to the argument. Eridani was a really good artist even at her young age of seven. Alric, Aliegha’s little brother, sat beside Eridani listening to the argument with wide eyes. He had just turned six years old and he was the youngest of the cousins. The four cousins who had traveled the farthest to get to Grandmama’s house were standing to one side and listening. They didn’t have an opinion one way or the other, but they listened to Maddy and Aliegha argue. There was Monroe, who was just behind Maddy in age. She was fifteen. Then there was Cassandra who had just turned thirteen the week before; and Amaya who was ten. Finally, there was Hans Nicolas who was seven. He was the only boy of the four. They lived on the north side of Kansas City across the Missouri River. Also listening to the argument were Tyler and Shadley who both were kind of siding with Aliegha in the argument. They hadn’t traveled any distance to get to the old house since they lived with Grandmama and Grandpapa at the old house. They were twelve and ten, respectively. In all, there were eight girls and four boys, and now they all were in the upstairs playroom listening to Maddy and Aliegha argue.

Maddy was saying, There is no such thing as magic.

But Aliegha responded with a stamp of her foot, her hands set on her hips. But Grandpapa told me it was a magic tea set!

He was just teasing you, Maddy snapped back. There is no such thing as magic!

But Grandpapa said he got the tea set over in Iraq during the war from an old desert trader, and he said it was a special magic tea set! Aliegha stood straight with her chin jutting out and she was looking right at Maddy. Grandpapa wouldn’t tell lies.

I know he got it in Iraq when he was over there for the war. I was born then; you weren’t, Maddy said in a know-it-all voice. "I saw it when he brought it back from Iraq and he never said anything about it being magic to me." Maddy had emphasized the ‘me’ as she ended her comment, as if to say, Grandpapa wouldn’t tell you something and not tell me.

Aliegha jabbed right back, "Well, he did tell me that it was magic." Aliegha emphasized her ‘me’ even more as if to say that Grandpapa would tell her things that he hadn’t told Maddy.

Well, Maddy said in a loud voice so all of the cousins could hear, We can ask Grandpa—Maddy thought she was too big to use Grandpapa like most of the littler cousins did—and see what he says. She thought that Aliegha would back down at this point and she’d win the argument, however it was not to be.

Aliegha’s face broke into a great big smile and she shot an answer right back, "Let’s ask him right now and you’ll see. He’ll tell you all that it is a magic tea set! She emphasized the ‘all’ as she answered to show she knew what Maddy had tried to do and she was prepared to back up her argument to all of the cousins. She ran from the room and down the stairs to the library and leaned out over the railing to look down into the family room. That’s where the adults usually gathered, at least the men to watch football. All the women would be out in the kitchen talking. Thanksgiving always resulted in a very full house with all six of the kids and all twelve of the grand kids—the twelve cousins—there. Aliegha looked around quickly. Grandpapa wasn’t in the family room. She ran down the next set of stairs to the bedroom area and quickly checked each to see if he was in any of them—nope; he wasn’t there either. She ran down the last set of stairs to the main floor. Was he in the front room? A quick look—not there—and into the kitchen area she flew. He wasn’t there either. Grandmama, where is Grandpapa? I can’t find him anywhere," she blurted out, interrupting the women in their talk.

Her mom, Caitlin, shushed her. Aliegha, it’s not nice to interrupt other people when they are talking.

Sorry, mom, she said, but I need to find Grandpapa. She turned again to face Grandmama."

I think Grandpapa and Albert are out in the garden looking at the parsley and the other things still growing Aliegha, Grandmama answered her and smiled. Grandmama turned back to the women and said, Aliegha has really grown in the last month…

There was other talk but Aliegha didn’t hear it as she flew out the back door and across the deck. She could see Grandpapa and Albert walking out in the garden. She ran down the steps of the deck and across the back lawn to the garden gate. Grandpapa, Grandpapa, she called as she ran. Some of the other little cousins had trailed along, and now a group followed her into the garden. Grandpapa was just picking a handful of parsley and he already had some sage and rosemary picked and on a plate.

He looked up as she came running up to him, Whoa. Careful; you don’t want to fall down. What is the problem? What is it that you need? Grandpapa smiled as he stood up.

Aliegha looked up at him; the others—five had followed her out—crowded around her. Grandpapa, Maddy says the tea set isn’t magic, and you told me it was. You need to tell her it is magic. There was a general nodding of heads by the others who had followed her out to the garden.

Grandpapa looked confused for a moment; then he smiled, Oh, the tea set from Iraq.

Aliegha nodded, Yes, yes; that’s the one, she responded. Maddy says you were just teasing me, when you said it was magic. You weren’t just teasing were you? She cocked her head to one side and looked straight at Grandpapa.

Albert smiled and said, I’ll take the parsley, sage, and rosemary into mom. I think you’ve got some business to take care of here. He took the plate from Grandpapa and walked back toward the house.

Grandpapa’s face got very serious as he asked, Are all of the cousins upstairs right now except for you kids?

Yes, we were all up in the playroom, Aliegha answered.

Good, Grandpapa replied. I think it would be a good time for me to have a talk with all of you. Come on; let’s go up to the playroom. He took Aliegha’s hand and started back to the house. Shadley grabbed his other hand—she had always guarded Grandpapa’s and Grandmama’s affection—trying to insure she got her portion when any of the others got attention paid to them. It was especially so with Aliegha who had been the new baby when Shadley was just growing out of being a baby.

They went into the house and Grandpapa went to the big old antique cabinet where they kept the various dishes and souvenirs that weren’t often used. I guess we will need the tea set if we are going to talk about it; right? he asked the six who trailed along.

Aliegha, nodded her head, Yes, and you can tell Maddy that it is a magic tea set. You can show her!

Yeah, show her, one of the other cousins said.

Well, if we are going to show anyone about the tea set, then we’ll need some tea. I have some desert lime herbal tea in the pantry. That would be good to use with a tea set from the deserts in Iraq; don’t you think? he asked. There were general nods of agreement. Shadley, do you think you can find the desert lime herbal tea in the pantry and have Grandmama heat some water up for us?

Shadley skipped and hopped into the kitchen. She was always skipping and hopping and bouncing everywhere she went. Some of the family said it was because she’d been born on Easter Sunday and was related to the Easter Bunny. Grandpapa could hear her asking Grandmama about the desert lime herbal tea. He’d have to confirm that they really wanted some herbal tea made or Grandmama would say no. He moved some items around in the old cabinet. Let’s see; where is that tea set at? He said under his breath. Ah, there it is. He pulled a box out of the way and reached in and pulled the old wooden box out of the back of the cabinet. He turned to Aliegha, "We’ve found it. Now let’s go tell Grandmama that we do need some tea made up so we can use the tea set." They went to the kitchen and verified that what Shadley had asked for was in fact Grandpapa’s idea and that it was okay. They were going to have some herbal tea using the old tea set from Iraq.

Oh, Grandmama said, I don’t think you should let those kids play with that tea set, it will get broken.

It’s okay, Grandpapa said, I will be with them and they want to hear a story about it. He winked at Aliegha as he said that and she winked back. We need enough herbal tea to fill the teapot from this set, and the sugar bowl. Desert tea has sugar in it, you know.

Grandmama frowned, Those kids don’t need all that sugar, especially when they are going to have all the desserts later today.

Well, I can’t teach them about other people’s customs if I don’t do it correctly; now can I? Grandpapa responded.

Grandmama still frowned, but said, Well, I guess so; but they really don’t need all that sugar.

Grandpapa had already turned away and was carrying the tea set in the old box to the stairs. The kids all followed along. They made their way up the three flights of stairs to the playroom. It had been an attic when Grandpapa and Grandmama had first moved into the old house all those years ago, but Grandpapa had changed the roof around and built stairs up to it and had finished it into a playroom that stretched across the whole upper level. Dormer windows looked out on the side yard to the west and back over the house at the garden on the east side. The six cousins that had remained in the playroom were waiting for them since they’d heard the discussions below and some had watched out the windows as Aliegha had run out to the garden to get Grandpapa. Now they all were gathered in the playroom around Grandpapa and the tea set.

Grandpapa set the old wooden box on the craft table that was set up in the middle of the playroom. Everyone had gathered around and was quiet, except for Maddy. She spoke up right away. Maddy had never been shy, Grandpa, Aliegha said that you said that this old tea set was magic. It’s not magic is it? There’s no such thing as magic.

Grandpapa smiled, and pulled a chair up to the table and sat down. "Let’s all sit down around the table. Grandmama is bringing some desert lime tea up so we can have some tea using this old tea set, and I will tell you the story about it. Then you can decide whether or not you think there may be some magic in the tea set. How does that sound?"

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There was a chorus of ‘yeahs’ from the twelve cousins as they all found chairs and pushed them up around the table. Grandpapa opened the old wooden case. It was old, but it was made of fine hard woods. On it desert images were carved—palm trees and camels—and the old Persian winged bull was carved into the front of the case. The palm trees and camels were carved around the winged-bull image. There were also Arabic-looking letters carved into the front of the case under the winged bull. The wood was well waxed and polished so the case shown with a satin luster. Inside the wooden case it was lined with a fine silk lining that again had palm trees and camels printed on it. The tea set sat inside with each piece snugly fit into indentations that had been made to hold the pieces of the tea set. Grandpapa started taking out each piece of the tea set and placed each one on the table. There was the teapot, and beside it he sat the sugar bowl and the creamer bowl. Then he took out each of the little tea glasses. There were twelve of them, and he sat them beside the teapot. They were more glasses than cups. Each one was only about three inches tall and maybe an inch-and-one-half in diameter. They didn’t have any handles on them. Last, he took out the small round platter and set the teapot in the center of it and then he put the little tea glasses all around the teapot on the platter.

The tea set was made in the desert style of the Middle East and not like a western style tea set. The tea set was carved from stone. It was called Pakistani Marble. It was a chocolate-brown stone with swirls of tan color running through the darker stone. Some of the swirls were fossils of ancient sea creatures. The teapot, the sugar bowl and creamer bowl, and the tea glasses were all carved from the same stone and the walls of the pieces were about a quarter-inch thick. Each piece was heavy for its size because of the heavy stone it had been carved from.

Grandpapa started to talk, Now this tea set is not an American or English style tea set, he said. It is a Middle Eastern tea set. They call it a chai set. See the words carved into the front of the wooden case? He pointed to the carved words. That word there says ‘chai’ in Persian. It is written in Persian and not Arabic because this tea set was made in an area east of Iraq. It was made in the Hindu Kush area of Pakistan and that is in an area that was once part of ancient Persia. See this, Grandpapa pointed to some other Arabic-like writing on the bottom of the wooden case. It says that this was made in the Hindu Kush area of Pakistan. That is where they mine this type of stone that the tea set is made from. They have been mining this type of carving stone for thousands of years from that area of the Middle East. It’s high in the mountains of Pakistan, and they have to haul the stone out on the backs of donkeys or men carry it out in back packs. Grandpapa stopped for a moment. All the cousins were sitting quietly around the table hanging on every word that Grandpapa spoke. I want you to understand, he continued, that to make this tea set someone had to go to a lot of work. Making it wasn’t easy or fast. Once the stone had been mined and carried out of the mountains, it had to go to a craftsman’s shop—a carver of stone. There each piece had to be cut out of the stone. Each piece would have been turned on a lathe like the one I have down in the garage; except over there the lathe probably was turned by a foot peddle and not by electricity like we have here. Grandpapa stopped again. So you see this tea set is special. There is only one like it. It wasn’t made in a factory with thousands of other ones made just like it. Each set is carved by a carver and the box is made to fit that set. Each set probably takes a carver many days to carve it and finish it.

Declan was bouncing in his chair across from Grandpapa—he always was bouncing around because he had ADHD and had a real hard time sitting still for long. How can you carve stone? he asked. Stone is too hard to carve.

That is a good question. Grandpapa replied. Some stone has a very fine grain that allows it to be carved and then polished to a smooth finish like this stone. Some stone has larger grains that can be carved but it is hard to polish it—like sandstone. That is why they have mines to mine this type of stone because it is such a nice carving stone. Then you need good steel tools to carve the stone. The blades would wear out pretty quick I’d guess when you carve stone; so the carver would have to know how to fix his tools and he probably makes his own tools.

Well enough about that, Grandpapa said. Let’s talk about how I got this tea set and the story I need to tell about it. The cousins all agreed with nods. They wanted to hear the story of the tea set.

It was then that Grandmama came up the stairs and into the playroom. She had a big pot with steam rising from it. Here is the desert lime herbal tea, she said. She also had brought a bowl of sugar, And here is the sugar, but you really don’t need all this sugar. She frowned at Grandpapa for suggesting the whole idea.

Good, good, Grandpapa said. Now we can have our herbal tea and I will show you how they serve tea in Iraq and the Middle East.

Grandmama frowned even more, but she left the sugar on the table as she went back down the stairs. She did mutter however as she left, They really don’t need all of that sugar.

Grandpapa poured the tea from the normal tea pot Grandmama had brought up to the room into the teapot of the old chai set. He said as he did so, the thick stone of the teapot will keep the tea warm while we talk. It would cool off if we left it in the glass container Grandmama used to heat the water in. He finished pouring all of the tea into the Persian teapot and then put the little top on the teapot to keep it warm.

Now, I think you all know I was in the Air Force, and when the Iraqi war was going on I volunteered to go over there and help. Grandpapa looked very serious as he said this.

Cassandra spoke up, "I remember going to the airport when you came back and we all went and had ice cream after we picked you up, and you gave each of us an Iraqi coin, and we made a sign that we held up in the airport that said Welcome Home Grandpa;" she gasped after saying such a long, run-on sentence.

I remember that too, Bradley said. We played in the water fountain after we had the ice cream.

I still have the post-card you sent me from Iraq, Monroe said.

Me too, Tyler said.

Eridani looked downcast, I don’t have a coin from Iraq or a post-card, she said. She was very good at downcast looks being somewhat timid in her personality.

You weren’t born yet, Maddy chided. Of course you don’t have any of the things that Grandpa brought back or sent from Iraq.

I also remember you coming to the airport to greet me when I came home from Iraq, Grandpapa replied, looking at Cassandra. I still have the sign you made for me down in my office. And I still have a copy of the newspaper article with a picture of the sign and all you kids at the airport.

Grandpapa then turned to Eridani, Part of the story I want to tell you today has something to do with you, and Alric, and Hans Nicolas, and Aliegha not being born yet when I was in Iraq. Do you want to hear about that?

And, he turned to Maddy, that part of the story has to do with if this tea set has magic or not in it.

Tell the story, tell the story! Alric cried.

Grandpapa sat back in his chair and started to tell the twelve cousins the story of the tea set.

CHAPTER 2

A SHOP IN HEWLÊR

W hen I was in Iraq, I served as an engineer for the Air Force, Grandpapa started his story. I was in charge of building Iraqi Army bases and Iraqi police stations so I had to travel all over Iraq and visit the different sites. By the way, we did a very good job of what we were doing even though the press in America did not report much about what we did. They only told about what was done when mistakes were made, which wasn’t often. Grandpapa frowned as he mentioned the press. All the grandkids and his family knew that Grandpapa was very upset about the way the American press had treated the war in Iraq.

Grandpapa continued his story. Once we visited some of the work sites in northern Iraq, up in the mountains of Iraq. It’s not all desert, you know. There is actually snow in the winter in northern Iraq. We visited the City of Arbil, or Irbil, as some call it. In the center of Arbil there is a raised area. It’s probably the original mountain top that the city was built on. This raised area has a wall around it. It is an old fortress from long ago. This is the old City of Arbil, or as the Kurdish people call it; Hewlêr. This part of Iraq is called Kurdistan because a people known as Kurds live in this area of the world. They are an ancient people who have lived in this area for thousands of years.

Now after we had finished our review of the projects in the area, Grandpapa continued his story about the tea set, we visited Hewlêr. In northern Iraq, at that time, it was pretty safe and we could go into the cities and visit the markets to buy things, of course we still all wore our body armor and helmets and traveled in the humvees, and of course we all had our weapons with us in case we ran into any of the bad guys. But that day we had no troubles.

There were a group of us who walked up into Hewlêr to take pictures of the old city and to look at the things in the old shops along the narrow streets and alleys. Of course when we walked anywhere in Iraq our bodyguards accompanied us and were always watching the crowds and the streets while we looked at the things in the shops. Grandpapa looked at the boys as he said this since they were always asking about being a soldier.

Declan was bouncing in his chair again, Did you buy the tea set in one of those shops Grandpapa?

It was in one of the shops in Hewlêr that I got the tea set, he answered. That is what I am about to tell you. How I got the tea set. It is a pretty strange story, he looked over at Maddy as he said this.

We turned down a little side street. Of course in Hewlêr all of the streets were little and all of them were side streets. It was very easy to get lost in such a place, but our bodyguards had GPS units with them and kept track of where we were at all times. They would spread out in all directions as we stopped at the shops and they would keep a close watch on everyone that was around us. But as I said, in the Kurdish area of Iraq things were pretty quiet and pretty safe most of the time. Grandpapa stopped for a moment, Where was I; oh, yes; we turned down this little side street and there was this shop on one side street with flowers tied out front and streamers and ribbons tied on the front. It was something you didn’t see often in Iraq; all that show of display; drawing attention to yourself. So I stopped at the front of the shop to talk with the shopkeeper.

As I stopped to talk with him he bowed and touched his hand to his breast. That is a sign of respect that you would see often in Iraq. They are a very polite and courteous people and they really liked the Americans. At least all of them that I met and talked to did. He did like this, Grandpapa stood and showed the twelve cousins how the man had bowed and put his hand to his breast.

Good day sir, the man said to me in English as he bowed. My name is Kûzan. Is there something I can help you find in my shop? Grandpapa sat back down as he continued the story. It was good to hear him speak in English because I only knew a few Iraqi words.

‘Mar-Haba,’ I replied to him. That means ‘hello’ in Arabic, Grandpapa said. Then I said; ‘Ismee’ John. Can any of you guess what ‘ismee’ means? Grandpapa stopped for a minute and waited to give the cousins a chance to think about it.

Monroe spoke up. You said your name after it, so I would guess it means ‘my name is…’ or something like that. Monroe was usually the quickest to answer questions. She was very smart and did really well in school—especially in her music studies.

You’re right, Monroe. Grandpapa smiled at her. What I had said to him was ‘My name is John’ just like Monroe figured out, Grandpapa said to all of the cousins.

And then I said; ‘Shokran for your kind offer to help me look in your shop.’ Grandpapa said, Shokran means ‘thank you’ in Arabic.

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Let me tell you a little about these shops before we go on with the story, Grandpapa said. They are not like stores here in America unless you go down to the farmer’s market or to a flea-market-type store. They had no front door on them, but just opened out onto the street, and at the front the shopkeepers would put out displays with things for sale. At night they would move all of these displays back into the shop and then close the front with a pull-down door in some cases or with large doors they could close across the front—kind of like garage doors. Over the front, many would pull out a tent-like awning to keep the sun off the shoppers and then they would have some chairs set out front to sit on when they wanted to rest or wanted to sit and talk with the neighboring shopkeepers or with visitors. Some of the shops sold food items and some sold souvenirs and trinkets, while others sold tools or cloth and clothes. Each shop usually had two or three shopkeepers working at it. They were usually a man and his brothers, or a father and his sons. Shops belonged to individual families and the family members worked in the shops as their jobs. Very seldom would you find a women working in the shops because by Islamic customs, a man and a woman cannot talk together in public unless they are related or married. It made the bargaining over price very hard, so women usually only worked in shops were women came in to buy things.

Now let me go on with the story, and I will tell the story like we were all there it so you can learn how I got this tea set. Grandpapa started to tell the story like all the cousins had been there in Hewlêr and like they had heard the words that had been spoken.

• •

Ah, sir, you speak some Arabic, Kûzan said.

I’m afraid that is about all I know without my dictionary, I replied.

Well, shokran for your efforts. Now sir, may I help you, Kûzan asked.

I see all these flowers, ribbons, and bows on your shop and I wonder why it is so. None of the other shops have such a display, I stated.

Well, sir, there is a reason, Kûzan replied and then he pointed at an old man sitting on a chair against the far wall of the shop. That is my jaddee—ah, grandfather. Tekan is his name and today is his birthday. He has lived eighty years this day. He does not come often to the shop any more. The last time he came was when he turned seventy years old, but today he said ‘I will come to the shop and wait for my fate.’ He is a little strange, my grandfather. He is always talking about his fate and his waiting for someone to return to get something that was left with him long ago. He came to the shop when he was seventy and now he comes again as he is turning eighty. He says the man promised to come again on a tenth birthday when he was old. Strange, very strange; but we put up the ribbons to celebrate his special day. He probably won’t see many more years, although we Kurdish people do live long lives.

The old man pushed himself to his feet using a thick cane. He was dressed in traditional desert dress. He wore the long white robe—a thobe. On his head he had the headdress—the keffiyeh. Wound around the white head scarf was the black braided rope that held the scarf in place—an iqal or agal. He spoke in his language to his grandson.

Kûzan replied and then turned to me, The old one wonders who is here. He does not see well anymore. I told him we are honored to have an American soldier in our shop.

The old man shuffled forward through the shop slowly, bent over his cane, and made his way to where I was looking at things on the stands in front of the open shop. He spoke to his grandson in Kurdish.

Kûzan turned to me and spoke. My grandfather asks if he may greet you formally to his shop. He speaks no English I am afraid.

I replied, "I would be honored to have your grandfather greet me,