"Do you ride with the caravan too?" asked Mandy.
"Sometimes," replied Berk.
"My father and I have traveled the entire empire."
"That must be fun!" said Vinnie.
"Most of the time, it is," Berk said, smiling.
They arrived at a coffee shop.
Men were outside sitting and drinking coffee.
The children went in.
Some men were smoking from a big pipe.
Berk gave his father's bag to Hasad, the shop owner.
Hasad gave Berk a bag in return.
Hasad spoke to Berk quietly.
Then a man stood up and raised his hands.
"Time for a story!" he shouted.
The crowd cheered.
"We are happy to have Duman the storyteller with us!" the man said.
Everyone clapped.
Then, a man wearing a colorful robe stood up in the middle of the shop.
It was Duman the storyteller, and he began to speak.
"Prince Babar wanted to see the world.
His father, the sultan, would not allow him to go.
The sultan wanted the prince to stay in the palace and marry.
'But Father,' said the prince, 'I must see our great empire before I marry.'"
Duman pulled out a bright handkerchief.
He waved it in front of his face.
Then his voice changed.
"'You can see the empire after you marry!'
At that moment, the prince's mother came in."
Duman waved the handkerchief again.
This time his voice was high, like a woman's.
"'Babar! I've found the perfect bride for you.
She looks exactly like me.'"
All the men in the coffee shop laughed loudly.
"He's doing all the characters himself!" giggled Mandy.
Berk stopped talking with Hasad and stood next to Vinnie.
"Isn't he funny?"
Vinnie pointed to the storyteller.
Berk smiled, but then suddenly froze.
In fact, everyone stopped laughing.
A group of men wearing uniforms walked in.
They had long swords in their belts.
"We want coffee," demanded one of them.
"You," he said to the storyteller, "Go on with your story."
Duman nervously continued.
"Who are they?" Vinnie asked Berk.
"The Janissary," explained Berk.
"They used to be slaves from outside the empire.
They're trained to be the best fighters.
The Janissary protect the sultan."
"You, children! Come over here!" one guard shouted.
The children walked over to him.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Our caravan just arrived in Istanbul and . . . " began Berk.
The guard grabbed Berk's bag and looked inside.
"This bag is full of silver!" he said.
"Young thieves were seen in the palace this morning."
"I wasn't with them, sir.
That silver is for my father," Berk explained.
"And what do you have in your pockets?" another soldier asked the children.
Berk and Vinnie had nothing in their pockets.
But Mandy did.
She pulled out her mother's glittering earrings.
Berk looked at her in shock.
So did the soldiers.
The soldier took the earrings from Mandy.
He held them in his palm and stared at them.
"This jewelry surely does not belong to a little girl!" the soldier said.