Even before he met the dark-eyed boy, the Thirsty Camel was an uncommon camel. He liked to lead, for one thing, and if you know camels, you know most of them are confirmed followers. The Thirsty Camel had been on almost every caravan trail from Marrakech to Isfahan and from Cairo to Juba, and he had seen his share of unusual things. Then he stumbled upon the boy, who appeared suddenly in the middle of the trail, disappeared just as abruptly a short time later, and left something behind that was more unusual than anything the Thirsty Camel had seen in all his travels. After that strange encounter, the Thirsty Camel could do things he had never been able to do before. He kept his newfound skills mostly to himself—something in his hump told him to, and as you probably know, the Camel Creed says, "Heed your hump." As he battles bloodthirsty emirs, foils ruthless bandits, outwits sorcerers and rescues princesses, the Thirsty Camel learns that humans rarely look beyond the surface of things, and tend to underestimate a scruffy-looking camel with unusual talents.