Theft

So, Bo got a real family. The little camels were named: the boy - Roni, the girl - Ju. For a couple of days after birth, they could not stand on their thin legs and, lying down, instinctively reached for their mother, feeling for the source of nutritious camel milk with their lips. Cora turned out to be a very caring mother. At first, she did not leave her children at all, only for a couple of minutes to have a snack, and then back.

Bo walked around Cora and their two babies, stretching his neck, trying to get a better look at his offspring. But when his muzzle was too close to the children, Cora bared her teeth threateningly and let out a displeased growl. Bo was a little surprised by his friend's unexpected rudeness, but his instinct told him that this was natural maternal care for children and he had nothing to be offended by. Therefore, he often went to the feeding trough of their pen, chose the most pleasant treats there, and brought them in his teeth to his friend. She quickly destroyed them, realizing that the babies needed as much milk as possible now, and for this she had to eat very well, and the constant feeling of hunger told her so.

Just a few days later, the babies began to stand up. At first, their legs trembled and buckled, and the camels fell awkwardly to the ground. However, nature and high-quality mother's milk did their job, and less than a week after birth, the babies began to walk around the pen...

All this time, Dzhikoni carefully watched the development of two new lives. Every day after school, he and Bo stopped at the market to buy fruits and vegetables for Cora. The boy chose the freshest products: carrots, cabbage, apples, lots of different greens. Bo, in turn, looked along the way to see if there was an ownerless ficus or some other tasty thing growing somewhere, picked them, but did not eat them himself, but passed them to Dzhikoni in a basket...

On weekends, the farmer visited the camel family. He was very happy about the addition of offspring to our camels. The farmer talked with Dzhikoni's parents about how when the camels grow up, they could be sold profitably and the proceeds divided. The parents did not object, especially since this was the original plan...

More time passed. The camels had grown quite strong. They spent the whole day chasing each other around the paddock, often playfully attacking their parents. Cora patiently endured the children's "attacks", while Bo sometimes disciplined the camels who had really gotten going...

One day a dust storm approached Hurgada. A strong wind blew from the desert, carrying sand that got into all the cracks of the houses, the mouths of onlookers on the streets. In Dzhikoni's apartment, the parents tightly closed all the windows, had dinner and went to bed. All night long there was a knocking, clapping and whistling in the street...

In the morning, as usual, just opening his eyes, Dzhikoni went to the window to look at his favorites in the pen. To his surprise, he did not see Bo among the family of camels. In confusion, he rubbed his eyes, looked around all the corners of the pen, but the picture did not change - Bo was not in the pen...

Dzhikoni rushed to his parents, shouting:

-Bo is gone!

The whole family ran outside and to the paddock. Cora and the children were there, but Bo was missing. The gates to the paddock were closed, and the tire tracks of a car were clearly visible in the sand nearby.

-Maybe the farmer took it for some reason? - Mom assumed.

-It's unlikely that he would have done this without telling us, - said the father. -But I'll call him now.

When Kamara called, the farmer answered negatively:

-Of course, I wouldn't do this without your knowledge.

-Kamara, call the police! - Mom insisted...

Soon a police car arrived. Four police officers and one dog got out. Two police officers went into the house to talk to Dzhikoni's parents, and the other two and the dog began to examine the enclosure. Cora led her babies away from the strangers and the shepherd dog further under the canopy. One police officer with the dog began to walk around the enclosure, looking for any traces or objects left by the intruders. The other police officer, armed with a camera, photographed the car's tread marks. When the other two police officers came out of the house, they all gathered around the car, conferred for a while, and said that if there was news, they would let us know. Then they got into the car and drove away...

Day after day dragged on, but there was no news from the police. The parents couldn't help either. So Dzhikoni decided to act on his own. He started asking all his friends and acquaintances at school and in clubs if anyone knew where the camel could have disappeared to. Everyone shrugged their shoulders and threw up their hands...

But one day a boy from the boxing section said that not far from the neighboring town where he was visiting his grandfather, he had seen a two-humped camel similar to the one Dzhikoni was looking for. Dzhikoni's eyes lit up with excitement, and he began to ask the boy for details on this matter. It turned out that in that town there was a small farm, the owner of which was not a very honest man. He had been in prison several times for theft. He also had three sons - all "birds of a feather" with their father, always drinking, smoking, quarrelling and causing trouble...

That same day, Dzhikoni headed there to investigate. He got on his bike and, pedaling quickly, reached his destination in less than an hour. He had previously specified where the farm of the suspected criminals was located. Leaving his bike nearby, he carefully approached the large fence of the farm. The gate was closed, but through the cracks between the boards one could see what was happening inside. And here is what was happening there. Near the house, four men were sitting at a table. "The farmer and his sons," Dzhikoni decided. The company was clearly not sober, which was evident from their red faces, incoherent conversation and a mountain of bottles around. The yard was littered with chickens, goats, several donkeys and horses running around. On the ground in the middle of the yard lay a large shaggy dog. In the corner of the yard, he saw Bo. Dzhikoni's pet was standing dejectedly tied to a post of a cattle trough. The trough was empty...

Dzhikoni decided that he needed to act now, since the owners would soon stop thinking from drinking alcohol. And since it was already getting dark, he needed to hurry. One problem: what to do with the dog? The head worked quickly in an extreme situation, and our boy decided to put the dog to sleep. He jumped on his bike and rode to the center of the village. Here he bought a piece of inexpensive meat in the store, and a bottle of liquid sleeping pills in the nearby pharmacy. With this prey, he returned back to the farm. Here the meat was soaked in sleeping pills, and Dzhikoni, having pushed the treat under the gate, whistled to call the dog. At first the dog rushed with an angry growl to the gate, but, seeing the meat, preferred to gobble it up rather than be distracted by protecting the territory entrusted to her...

It was already quite dark when the dog fell asleep. Through a crack in the fence, Dzhikoni saw that the owners seemed to be asleep too. The boy carefully opened the entrance gate, went up and opened the gate. Then he moved towards Bo. The camel saw his friend and, in his joy, almost pulled out the log to which he was tied with the reins. Dzhikoni calmed Bo by pressing his finger to his lips. They already understood each other by gestures. Having untied the reins, Dzhikoni led Bo to the gate. At this time, the farmer tore his head from the table and called out to what he thought was his son:

-Is that you, Ibrahim?

-Yes, yes, sleep, - Dzhikoni whispered in a lulling tone.

The farmer dropped his head onto the table with a thud and began to snore.

Dzhikoni carefully led Bo out into the street, closed the gate, loaded his bike onto Bo's back, climbed in himself, and our friends, pleased with the long-awaited meeting, headed back to Hurghada.

On the way home, Bo developed the same speed as at the race in Cairo. After all, now he was not only returning home, but also to his family. When our friends approached the paddock in Hurghada, Bo was joyfully greeted by three smiling camel faces - Cora, Roni and Ju. Bo entered his domain, and Cora affectionately laid her head on his back, and around them the children joyfully jumped on their strengthened legs...

Dzhikoni's parents called the police and reported the criminals...

The next morning, before the unfortunate farmer and his sons had even recovered from the previous night's drinking, a police squad burst into their yard. The thieves were handcuffed, placed in a car with barred windows and taken to the police station. During interrogation, the criminals admitted that they had learned about Bo from television programs and had agreed with a Saudi millionaire who was a fan of camel racing to sell him Bo. As it turned out, there is a black market and betting around these races, where rich people are willing to shell out "pretty big" sums for pedigree camels...

The criminals were sentenced to five years in prison each.

Camel show

Dzhikoni watched with great interest as the camels grew up. He learned a lot about the habits and lifestyle of camels from books and the Internet. He tested all this theoretical knowledge on his pets. As soon as he had a free minute, he ran to the camel pen, sat on the fence and watched his favorites. Although Bo was his great friend and showed his affection and attention to the kids...