38.
   Suddenly an ominous pounding rumbled in the distance. I held the dogs close, instinctively bracing for the worst. It was a rolling thunder that grew louder by the second. The sound exploded on us as I spun on my heels. A cloud of stinking dust blew in our faces.

   Two harpies swathed in blue linen with muskets waving over their heads charged toward us on nasty, red eyed camels. The camel’s heads flew at us, their mouths gaping and full of rotten teeth.         
   “Infidel!”, the hags screeched. “Heretic! Defiler of Moses! We have found you and you are undone!”   A miasma of self-righteousness choked us. The lunatic fire of fanaticism blinded us.
   “Holy shit!”, cried Pat. “What the hell is this?”
   “For God’s sake, Oliver, run!”, screamed Nanette.
    The dogs jumped from my arms. “Oh, Christ.”, I said as I looked up helplessly at my rushing, unstoppable fate.