by Rob Kidd
She tucked herself into a corner, watching quietly from inside her cloak.
With luck, she was going to catch the poisoner in action.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Meanwhile, out in the pavilion where the pirates were assembling for breakfast, things were not going quite so well for Jack and Diego.
“Nobody can get into the fortress of Sri Sumbhajee!” Askay insisted. “We are too well hidden! Our defenses have never been successfully assailed since pirates first came to this island!” Seated between his aides, the Pirate Lord nodded firmly, flapping his beard up and down.
“Yes, but they know your secrets,” Diego said anxiously. “They know about the illusion of the rocks and where the hidden harbor is. I’m telling you, they’re on their way to attack you right now.” He glanced around, wondering where Carolina was. Nearly everyone in the palace was there, seating themselves on the cushions and murmuring to each other in the cool chill of the early morning.
“If this were true,” Pusasn said, “Sri Sumbhajee would know about it!”
“You mean his beard would know about it,” Jack pointed out politely. Sri Sumbhajee glared at him.
“Why should we believe you?” Askay demanded. “Tell us again—you were where exactly when you heard this alleged infiltrator?”
“Uh,” Jack said guiltily. “In the—uh, gardens.”
“I see,” Pusasn said, casting him a suspicious look. “In the middle of the night. When you were supposed to be in your room, under watch.”
“I got up to go to the toilet,” Jack tried, “and got lost. You might want to consider having a smaller palace if you don’t want people wandering around accidentally, savvy?”
“This could be a trap,” Pusasn said. “Jack Sparrow is notorious for his wild stories, and somehow they all end up benefiting him in some way.”
“Hello,” Jack said, pointing to himself. “Pirate!”
“In any case,” Askay said firmly, “we have more pressing concerns.”
“Really,” Jack said. “More pressing than the imminent destruction of your stronghold? Do tell.”
“We must find the black-hearted cur who is trying to poison Sri Sumbhajee!” Pusasn cried.
“A murderous snake is slithering through our very home! He is here among us! And he must be stopped!”
“Oh, the assassin?” Jack said. “I know who that is.”
Silence fell across the pavilion. Slowly everyone turned to stare at Jack, including Diego.
Mannajee and Jhumpa looked as placid and uninterested as ever—but perhaps that very lack of reaction signaled a keen ability to mask their true feelings. Kneeling next to Sri Sumbhajee, Parvati looked astonished, but not guilty. It was impossible to tell what Lakshmi’s expression was behind the scarf wrapped around her face, but he saw her hand reach for Jean’s. Was that a clue? Was she worried?
“Sorry,” Jack said, giving everyone a wide-eyed, surprised look. “I assumed you knew,” he said to Sri Sumbhajee. “I mean, what with your mighty supernatural powers and all.”
Sri Sumbhajee’s face was turning red.
“Sri Sumbhajee demands that you explain yourself,” Pusasn growled.
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Jack said, waving one hand in the air. “All you have to do is figure out who the stupidest person in your court is.”
A shocked murmur ran around the room. Askay’s mouth opened and closed like a fish a few times. Sri Sumbhajee kicked Pusasn in the shins and made a sharp gesture.
“What are you saying?” Pusasn sputtered. “You mean—” He tried to recover. “You mean that only a truly idiotic person would even try to assassinate our great Pirate Lord?”
“Oh, no,” Jack said. “I can see lots of logical reasons for wanting to assassinate your Pirate Lord. But you’ve got to be smart about it. I mean, why even try if you’re just going to do it in the stupidest way possible?”
Diego gazed around again at all the shocked faces and wondered what in the world Jack was up to.
Meanwhile, in her corner of the kitchen, Carolina glanced up at the sky worriedly. The cooks were starting to gather the trays to carry out to the pavilions. Soon she would have to go back and return the cloak to Sara. And she hadn’t seen anyone do anything suspicious to the food. Had the assassin given up? Had Carolina missed it?
Back outside, Jack was still pleading his point…whatever point it was he was trying to make.
“Think about it,” Jack said. “Which is obviously more than this assassin can do. Our culprit keeps poisoning your food—over and over again—even though you clearly use a food taster, and it’s obviously never going to work. All that’s accomplished is a lot of dead food tasters.
What kind of blithering numbskull wants that? I’m telling you, no imagination, and barely a modicum of sense.”
“I suppose you can think of a better way to assassinate my lordship,” Parvati said icily.
“Yes, lots,” Jack said. “Lots of much smarter, cleverer ways. Which is why it’s very clear. The assassin can’t be very smart, right? In fact—ipso facto, cogito ergo sum, quid pro quorum domino mulberry—it must be the stupidest person in your court. And I’m sure you all know who that is.” He began to turn around slowly, raised an eyebrow and gazed at the suspect.
In the kitchen, the trays were lifted high in the air. The man holding the first tray was shaking with fear. He wiped the sweat from his brow with a small handkerchief and took several deep breaths, steadying himself. Carolina’s eyes were fixed on the tray. She hadn’t seen anyone but him touch it. And he wouldn’t have poisoned it himself.
All at once she heard a familiar sound…a smug, gleeful chittering. She looked up at the top of the wall, above the door.
Toolajee’s monkey was perched there, holding a vial out over the tray of food as it passed below him.
“I’m not stupid!”
The entire court gasped. Jack smiled.
Toolajee leaped to his feet, his fists clenched. His body quivered with rage and he stamped his foot. “I’m not! I’m not stupid! It would have worked eventually! I know it would have!”
“Toolajee!” Parvati’s eyes rolled up in her head and she fainted.
“I knew it!” Marcella yelled. “Horrible, little, diamond-stealing brat! It figures!”
“What?” Diego cried. “But he’s—but you’re—you’re only seven!”
“That doesn’t make me stupid!” Toolajee snapped. He marched over to Jack and glared up at him. “I had to be so clever! I spent months training my monkey! I planned this forever! All by myself ! I was going to kill him and then Mannajee, and then I would be the Pirate Lord, and I could sail on ships all the time if I wanted to, and nobody could stop me—nobody!”
Running footsteps were heard from the nearest corridor. Carolina burst into the garden, red silk trailing behind her. She had dropped the cloak off with Sara and run as fast as she could.
“It’s Toolajee!” she shouted. “Toolajee is the assassin!”
“Yes, love,” Jack said. “Everyone knows that.”
“We—oh,” Carolina said, stopping in her tracks. “We do?” She glanced around at the tableau of shocked spectators and fierce little Toolajee. “Um—good. OK then.”
Sri Sumbhajee whispered in Askay’s ear. Askay nodded and straightened up.
“Toolajee,” the aide said gravely. Diego had a horrible sinking feeling. Surely they weren’t about to feed a little boy to the crocodiles? But how could they punish him? Sri Sumbhajee must be furious!
Then he saw the look on Sri Sumbhajee’s face. It was almost…proud.
“Toolajee, Pirate Lord Sri Sumbhajee has seen your heart. He knows now that you are a true pirate,” Askay intoned.
“He is most impressed at your skill and your conniving, deceitful nature,” Pusasn added.
“What?” Carolina and Diego cried simultaneously.
“Sri Sumbhajee declares that Mannajee is no longer his heir,” Askay announced. “Instead it shall be Toolajee who inherits
his Piece of Eight, granting him the title and power of the Pirate Lord of the Indian Ocean!”
“Oh, thank the gods,” Mannajee said. Jhumpa kissed his cheek fondly. Parvati blinked, awakening.
Toolajee’s eyes were shining. “Does that mean I can come on your pirate expeditions?”
“Of course,” Pusasn said as Sri Sumbhajee nodded. “Your training must begin at once. Although your natural talent is great, there is still much for you to learn.”
“I can’t believe this,” Carolina said.
“I can,” Jack offered.
“On one condition,” Askay said. “You must stop trying to kill Sri Sumbhajee.”
“Until you are at least eighteen,” Pusasn added.
“I promise,” Toolajee said eagerly. “I want to learn everything about being a pirate! Will I get to throw someone overboard?”
“We’ll work on that,” Askay said. Sri Sumbhajee gave his young half-brother an indulgent smile.
“Right. Glad that’s sorted out,” said Jack.
“What I want to know,” Jean interjected, “is whether or not we get to eat this time.”
“As long as no one touches that first platter,” Carolina said. “That’s the only one the monkey poisoned.”
Jean breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Thank goodness,” he said. “If I had to miss one more meal—”
“My lord!” a voice cried from the top of the wall. They all looked up and saw a guard waving his spear frantically at them. “Sri Sumbhajee! My lord!”
“Who dares interrupt Sri Sumbhajee’s breakfast?” Pusasn demanded.
“I’m sorry, my lord,” the guard called down. “But something terrible is happening!”
Diego, Carolina, and Jack looked at each other. They knew exactly what it was. The panic in the guard’s voice made it very clear.
“My lord, the outer defenses have been breached! We’re being attacked!”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Everyone in the courtyard leaped to their feet. Instantly the pavilion bristled with swords and sabers and pistols. Carolina saw Parvati and Jhumpa draw long, sharp knives out of their saris. All the women in the courtyard looked as ready to fight as the men.
“Treachery!” Pusasn cried, pointing at Jack. “Blackguards! Betrayal!”
“I beg your pardon,” Jack protested. “Would we have TOLD you they were coming if we wanted to betray you?”
“Oh, right,” Pusasn said. “Good point.”
“A signal has come from the outer wall!” the guard on the wall shouted. “East India Trading Company ships have broken through our outer defenses! They are sailing into our harbor now!”
Sri Sumbhajee drew his sword and waved it in the air.
“To the harbor!” Askay yelled. “Defend the island! Suvarnadurg must not fall! Sri Sumbhajee will lead us to victory!”
“HUZZAH!” shouted all the pirates. There was a pell-mell rush toward the stairs.
“But what about breakfast?” Jean moaned woefully as the trays were spirited quickly away. Lakshmi was on her feet, holding the handle of her hidden belt-weapon. She grabbed Jean’s hand and pulled him up as well.
“Fight alongside me?” she said.
“Any day,” Jean agreed. Her eyes crinkled, and he could tell she was smiling behind the mask.
Diego fought through the crowd, looking for Carolina.
“Diego!” He turned with a hopeful expression, but the girl latching herself to his elbow was Marcella. The diamonds in her hair were askew and she kept tripping over her heavy ankle bracelets. “Diego, save me! Protect me!”
“What about Jean?” Diego said desperately. “Can’t he help you?”
“He doesn’t care about me anymore!” Marcella cried, her eyes flashing. “All he cares about is that girl! It’s not fair! Nobody loves me, and I’m going to be killed by pirates, and I never even got to see Paris, and I don’t want to die wearing this horrible color—” Her voice was rising to a wail.
“All right, all right,” Diego said. “We’ll find you a safe place to hide until the battle is over.”
“Oh, thank you, Diego!” Marcella said, flinging her arms around his neck. He dislodged them as gently as someone could in the middle of all the chaos around him.
“Come on, this way,” he said, trying to lead her against the flow of the crowd.
“I can’t walk!” she whined. “My jewels are too heavy! This stupid outfit is tangling me up! I’ll never escape the terrible, awful pirates!”
“The pirates aren’t the problem!” Diego pointed out. “It’s the Company agents you need to hide from!” But he could see they wouldn’t get far with her flailing and tripping around. Reluctantly, he scooped her up in his arms. She let out a cry of delight and hugged his neck tightly.
Gasping for air, Diego struggled to a door at the end of the courtyard. If he could dump Marcella somewhere in the women’s quarters, he could go back, find Carolina, and join the fight.
Suddenly he spotted Carolina through the mass of pirates. She was tying back her hair with a length of vine and wrapping her sari in such a way that she could fight unimpeded.
“Carolina!” he called.
She started to turn toward him, her face lighting up in a smile. But suddenly Diego felt his face seized by two hands with sharp nails. Then Marcella pressed her mouth to his.
Startled, Diego nearly dropped her. He tried to pull away, but her hands were strong and his were full. Finally she let go.
“What did you do that for?” he sputtered.
“Oh, Diego,” she sighed happily, nestling into his chest. “You are so brave and wonderful.”
Diego looked around for Carolina. Had she seen what had just happened? What did she think?
He caught a glimpse of her dark eyes, just long enough to notice sadness and hurt reflected in them. Then she turned and vanished into the crowd of pirates.
“Carolina, wait!” he called.
“Oooh, just over there under that mango tree,” Marcella said, pointing. “That would be perfect. And maybe you could pick me some mangoes before you go running off to defend my honor.”
Furious, Diego dumped Marcella on the grass in the women’s courtyard.
“Hey!” Marcella objected. “Careful! You’ll crush my sari!”
“Stay here,” he said.
“But what about my mangoes?” he heard her wail as he ran back to the crowd of pirates. He couldn’t worry about Marcella now. He had to find Carolina and explain—not to mention fight off the East India Trading Company armada at the same time.
He nearly barreled into Billy Turner as he charged down the stairs to the outer gardens. Billy was fumbling with his pistol, making sure it was loaded.
“I knew this would happen,” Billy remarked. “Jack never goes anywhere without causing trouble. Why do I ever listen to him? I ask you. I’m never getting home at this rate. I’ll never again see my son—little William—”
“Come on, let’s catch up,” Diego said, drawing his sword. They ran across the gardens to the stone stairway that led down to the hidden harbor. There they stopped at the top of the stairs, frozen in horror.
The harbor was teeming with East India Trading Company ships. Pennants with their triple-cross symbol flew from every mast. Marines of the Royal Navy were already swarming up the stone dock and boats were being lowered from the other ships to bring more of them to shore.
Benedict Huntington was leading the charge onto land, slashing the air in front of him with his rapier. Sri Sumbhajee and his pirates rushed down to meet him, shouting curses. They met with a furious clang of steel.
“Where’s Jack?” Diego shouted in Billy’s ear.
Billy scanned the crowd. “I don’t see him.” He sighed heavily. “Which is either a good sign…or a really, really bad one.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The guards who were normally stationed outside the kitchens had run off to join the fighting. Inside the high-walled courtyard, the cooks were hurrying to clear up so
they too could leap into battle.
A head poked through the doors—a head in a very striking hat.
“Excuse me,” said Jack Sparrow. “Could I have some curry?”
The cooks paused, trading bewildered glances.
“Your spiciest vegetable curry,” Jack said. “And lots of it.” He glanced furtively over his shoulder, peering up and down the hall. “You do make curry in this kitchen, don’t you?”
“We have vindaloo,” one of the cooks said nervously. “Or the phaal is even spicier.”
“That,” Jack said. “The falalalalal. All of it.”
A cook lifted a small cauldron off the embers of a dying fire and passed the handle to Jack. Jack reached one finger toward the stew inside of it.
“You—might not want to do that, sir,” said the cook. “It really is very spicy. Foreigners rarely handle it well.”
“I imagine you’re right,” Jack said, wagging his finger at the cook instead. “Take your word for it, shall I?”
The cook looked worried. “But sir—how can that—”
“No time for questions!” Jack said and popped out the door again.
There was no one about as he trotted through the corridors and out into the gardens, where the night before he had been startled by an elephant much the way Diego and Carolina had. He stopped, holding the cauldron aloft, and squinted around the vast complex.
Now, where had those elephants come from?
Not far away from Jack, although he didn’t know it, a bedraggled girl in a yellow-green sari was pushing her way through a thicket of vines. She stumbled into the quiet stone temple, rubbing her eyes.
“Barbara!” she called softly. “Barbara, are you in here?”
Barbara Huntington rose regally from the altar where she had been sitting. She’d kicked aside the marigold offerings and candles to clear the way for her long green skirt.
“Marcella,” she said. “Did you bring me more food?”
“I’m sorry,” Marcella panted. “I couldn’t. The palace has been attacked!”
A small smile played across Barbara’s face. “Oh, really? I had no idea what all the shouting and gunshots were about.”
