by Rob Kidd
“Ah, yes, good,” Jack said, trying to act suave. “Excellent intimidating expressions. Very imposing. As you were, gents.” He took a step backward.
“You!” one of them cried. “You’re not supposed to be wandering around alone!”
“Ah, but technically I’m not alone,” Jack said. “I’m with you handsome devils, aren’t I? So you see, you’re not thinking logically.”
All three of them looked down at the floor and scratched their heads for a moment, pondering.
“Wait, but—” one of them started, raising his head.
Jack Sparrow was sprinting away down the corridor, his arms and knees pumping madly.
“Hey!” the pirates yelled, tripping over each other as they chased after him.
Jack fled through a quiet garden, leaping over the small walls that bordered each flowerbed. Hearing footsteps pounding ahead of him, he veered left and clattered down a flight of stairs. He dashed madly through the empty throne room, then paused and came trotting back in, backward, peering at the lion throne. He stopped for a moment to climb into the alcove and see if the throne came apart or could be lifted. The answer was a resounding no. He couldn’t even tug off one of the lion heads, although he strained a few muscles trying.
“There he is!” an Indian pirate shouted from the top of a wall.
Jack leaped off the throne and ran back into the corridor. Now he recognized where he was, and he remembered the way back to the main entrance. Flailing his arms wildly, he raced down the stairs, shot through the first courtyard, and hurled himself over the wall, bumping and sliding and crashing down into the hibiscus that crowded up against the base of the palace.
A shower of red and white blossoms cascaded over him as he hit the dirt with a thud.
“Urgh,” Jack mumbled. He lay there for a moment, catching his breath and listening. He was now in an enormous network of gardens that surrounded the main palace, which in turn was surrounded by a thick wall overlooking the hidden lake. Jack’s beloved Pearl was on the other side of that wall, just down the stone stairway, waiting patiently at the dock. He wondered briefly if he could sail it himself and whether it would be really all that bad to leave the rest of his crew behind. After all, they’d probably love India. Lots of mangoes. And monkeys. Didn’t everyone love monkeys?
A shadow hopped onto his shoulder and yanked on his hair. Jack jumped, swatting it aside. For a moment he thought it was a monkey, but then his heart sank as he realized it was a shadow coming to life! Which meant his shadow-sickness was returning.
He couldn’t flee on the Pearl, even if it seemed like a lovely plan. He needed Sri Sumbhajee’s vial of Shadow Gold. Tia Dalma had told him ingesting the liquid gold was the only thing that could cure the shadow-sickness. And from the looks of the shadows gathering to swarm around him, he needed it soon.
CHAPTER NINE
It was nearly midnight. The palace was dark and still. Diego quietly got up and stood beside his bed for a moment, listening to Catastrophe Shane’s breathing. It sounded like he was fast asleep. Cautiously, Diego tiptoed to the door.
“Better look out,” Catastrophe Shane mumbled.
Diego froze.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Shane muttered. “I’m…dread pirate Catastrophe Shane…so dangerous…all hide their weapons…mmph…better stay out of my way.”
Diego relaxed. Shane was dreaming. Diego had heard him mumbling in his sleep sometimes on the Pearl, when the crew was all resting in their hammocks. This frequently resulted in a few rum bottles (empty ones, of course; no one liked to waste rum) being tossed at Shane’s head by the less-agreeable pirates. But Diego didn’t mind, as long as Shane didn’t wake up.
He peeked into Jack’s room as he crept past. He couldn’t see the corner where Jack slept, which was hidden in shadows. But moonlight spilled through the window illuminating the shapes of Jean and Lakshmi, who had fallen asleep on top of the blankets, side by side.
Loud snoring came from Billy and Barbossa’s room, as it did from most of the pirates’ rooms. Pirates, for some reason, were not the quietest or most genteel sleepers. Shane wasn’t the only one who got rum bottles tossed at his head. In fact, it was hard to imagine anyone could sleep in the Pearl’s hammocks, given the ever-present danger of being whacked by a stray bottle.
Diego hurried soundlessly through the corridors, ducking into doorways whenever he heard a noise. At one point, he had to lunge behind a tapestry when two of Sri Sumbhajee’s pirates suddenly came out of a door at the other end of the hall.
He held his breath as their footsteps paused.
“Did you hear something?” one of them said.
“Nah,” said the other. “It’s nothing.”
“Could be that Jack Sparrow still lurking about,” the first one muttered.
“I still say we should have woken up Sri Sumbhajee,” said the second.
“Are you mad?” said the first pirate. “He would have run us through, turned over, and gone back to sleep. No one wakes Sri Sumbhajee!”
“True,” his friend muttered. “And with his powers, he probably knows about it already.”
“Right. Come on, let’s see if there’s any rum left.”
“Not with Jack Sparrow around,” the other pirate said darkly.
Diego heard them move away down the corridor. He waited a long time, until he was sure they were gone. Then he slipped out and ran softly through the last garden and down the stairs into the main courtyard, where he and Carolina had first been separated.
Carolina was waiting in the shadow of one of the elephant columns. She was still wearing the red sari she wore at dinner, but a new necklace rested lightly on the silk. It had a simple stone at the end which glowed faintly in the moonlight.
“Hey,” she whispered as they met in the center of the courtyard. She hugged Diego quickly and his heart sped up. “Let’s go down into the gardens. I think we’ll be less exposed there.” He didn’t protest as she took his hand and led him out into the jasmine-scented night. Here there were no lanterns; the only light came from the silver moon above.
“What kind of stone is that?” Diego asked, touching the jewel in her necklace lightly. It was cool and smooth under his finger, like a pearl, but more translucent.
“It’s a moonstone,” Carolina whispered. “Parvati gave it to me. She said it would protect me, but I don’t know from what. I think this food-poisoning business is really worrying her. She said if we do find the assassin and save Sri Sumbhajee, she’ll let me keep it.”
“So you don’t think she could be the assassin?” Diego said. “Does she have any reason to want Sri Sumbhajee dead?”
Carolina shook her head. “Not that I know of. I mean…I don’t get the impression that she loves him, exactly…but I think she would rather be the wife of the Pirate Lord than his widow, that’s for sure.”
She tugged him off the path and led him between a pair of tall hibiscus bushes. Hidden from view of the palace by a screen of foliage, they sat down on the grass, under a large tree with clusters of star-shaped white flowers. A nightingale was singing softly on a branch above them.
“You could be right that it’s Mannajee,” Diego said. “He does have a motive—but I kind of get the feeling he likes sleeping more than…you know, looting and pillaging.” He was having trouble concentrating on this conversation. With Carolina only inches away, and her soft hair brushing his arm, all he could really think about was her.
“What?” he said, realizing that she’d spoken and he’d missed it.
She gave him a funny look. “What if it’s Mannajee’s wife instead? Jhumpa is pregnant with their first child. Now would be a great time to get Sri Sumbhajee out of the way, so there’s no question Mannajee’s child will inherit the title of Pirate Lord.”
Diego nodded. “Does she seem like a poisoner?”
“Well,” Carolina said, “I don’t know. What’s a poisoner like? I only know about pirates and princes. And I much prefer the former, by the way.”
“You know about stable boys, too,” Diego said boldly.
He could clearly see her smile in the moonlight. “Well, I know about one of them, and he’s better than all the pirates and princes combined.” Diego’s heart leaped. What should he say? Was this the right moment to tell her how he felt? He opened his mouth, but she was already talking about the assassination attempts again.
“We need to figure out who has access to the kitchens,” Carolina mused. “I asked Parvati, and she said they are off limits to everyone but the cooks. It’s a small space—someone would definitely notice if, say, Jhumpa wandered through and dumped a vial of poison into the curry.”
“Curry?” Diego echoed.
“Parvati was telling me about what they normally eat. If we solve this mystery, we might actually get to have some before we leave,” Carolina said.
“Well,” Diego said reluctantly, “then there might be one more person to add to our list.”
“Oh, there are countless suspects,” Carolina said. “Like Askay and Pusasn—do they get tired of being mouthpieces but having no power? And—oh, I’m sorry. You go ahead.”
Diego looked down, turning her hand over in both of his. “You know the warrior who’s been assigned to keep an eye on Jack?”
Carolina nodded.
“It’s a girl named Lakshmi. You should talk to each other; she has this unusual weapon I can’t even begin to describe. Well, unless she’s the murderer…then maybe you shouldn’t talk to each other.”
“Why would you think she is the one we are looking for?” Carolina asked, surprised.
“I overheard her talking to Jean earlier,” he said. “I heard her say that her cousin is the head cook, so she can get into the kitchens whenever she wants.”
“Huh,” Carolina said. She tapped her chin with the fingers of her free hand, looking thoughtful. “But why?”
Diego shrugged. “Maybe to get free of Sri Sumbhajee,” he said. “Otherwise she said she could be forced to work for him for the next seven years.”
“Yeah, that would do it,” Carolina said wryly. “Can you imag—what was that?”
They both sat up, listening.
A twig snapped somewhere nearby. The nightingale fell silent.
Was there someone—or something—watching them from the shadows?
Diego pulled Carolina to her feet and they tiptoed over to the bushes. “We’d better get back to the palace,” he whispered.
“All right,” Carolina whispered back. They waited for a moment until clouds drifted across the face of the moon and the gardens were plunged into darkness. Then they slipped out onto the open grass and started padding quickly back to the stairs.
Suddenly, without warning, Carolina stood on tiptoe, took Diego’s face in her hands, and kissed him.
The inside of Diego’s chest felt like sails filling with wind, wild and bright and full of happiness. For a minute he was too stunned to react; then he reached to put his arms around Carolina and pull her closer—
BRRRRRREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A terrifying noise split the night. Diego and Carolina whirled around.
Some kind of monster was thundering across the grass toward them. In the dark, it was impossible to tell what it was…but it was big. Really, really big. From their perspective it looked as tall as a house, with four massive feet that shook the ground as it ran straight at the two teenagers.
“Run!” Carolina cried.
CHAPTER TEN
Diego tore after Carolina, running faster than he’d ever run before. He could hear snorting and heavy breathing and branches cracking behind him. Sri Sumbhajee had monsters! No wonder everyone feared him so much!
The palace was too far away to reach in time, not with the monster chasing them over open ground. Diego glanced around and noticed something to their right: a dark tower rising from behind a thicket of vines and branches. If nothing else, the shrubbery should slow the monster down.
“Carolina—over here!” he called, swerving toward the tower. Carolina followed him without hesitating. They plunged into the thick bushes, feeling vines and thorns tug at their clothes as they shoved their way forward.
Carolina spotted an opening at the base of the tower: the stone door was open, and a small, warm glow flickered from within. She grabbed Diego’s arm and they threw themselves inside.
Diego tumbled across the stone floor and nearly skidded into a trio of low, guttering candles arranged at the base of an altar. He flung his hands out to stop himself, accidentally scattering the marigold wreaths piled around the candles.
“Are you OK?” Carolina crouched beside him.
“Yeah.” Diego panted. “Where are we?”
They both looked up, and their mouths fell open in surprise. An enormous stone statue in the shape of a man loomed over them, nearly filling the tiny room and stretching up into the shadows at the top of the tower, where his head was hidden in darkness. Carolina and Diego could see a stone snake coiled around his neck and shoulders. He was seated, cross-legged, and, strangest of all, he had four arms.
In the flickering candlelight, it was an eerie, imposing sight.
“This must be a temple,” Carolina whispered, glancing down at the marigolds and other offerings arranged on the low stone altar before the statue. “I don’t know for which god.”
“Well, I hope that monster can’t get in here,” Diego said, climbing to his feet. “Whatever it is.”
Carolina started laughing. “You don’t know what it was? Silly Diego—that was an elephant.”
“An elephant!” Diego cried. “But it was enormous! Are you sure?”
“It looked like the drawings I’ve seen—from what I could tell,” Carolina said. “But I could be wrong.”
“So why did we run away if we knew what it was?” Diego asked.
She wrinkled her nose at him. “I still don’t want to get trampled by anything, even if I know its name!”
“Well,” Diego said. “I wish I’d known; I wouldn’t feel quite so ridiculous—”
A voice intruded on them, speaking somewhere outside the temple door.
“Hold on, let me get away from all these horrid mosquitoes. There’s a door up ahead.” It was a woman’s voice. It carried a British accent and the clipped, nasal tones of high society.
Carolina broke away from Diego. Her eyes were wide in the candlelight. Diego was still too dizzy to speak, but Carolina glanced around the room quickly. There was nowhere to hide. There was nothing else in the room except the altar and the statue.…
Carolina leaped over the altar and clambered onto the statue’s knees with Diego right behind her. There was only a small space between the statue and the back wall. Carolina rolled over the statue’s lap and pulled Diego after her. They crouched, pressed together in the tiny, dark space. Diego put his arms around her and they ducked as low as they could as a woman carrying a lantern came through the temple entrance. They could see her shadow stretching up behind her across the front wall of the temple.
The stranger set the lantern down on the altar. “That’s better,” she said. “Can you hear me now?”
“Yes,” said a second voice. Carolina and Diego glanced at each other. Who was she talking to? Only one shadow moved on the wall; she seemed to be alone.
“Good,” she said. “Now, have you been taking notes? You’ll remember all that about the fake rocks?”
“Yes, yes,” said the other voice. It sounded male and impatient. “You mentioned a curtain of moss covering the entrance on the outer wall. Can you get to it and lift it for us?”
The woman inhaled sharply. “But that would be dangerous! You wouldn’t want me to be in any danger, would you, Benny?”
Benny? Carolina mouthed to Diego.
“Everything you’re doing is dangerous,” Benny’s voice growled. “It would be helpful, that’s all.”
“I think I’ve been QUITE HELPFUL ENOUGH,” the woman snapped. “You know this is t
he closest the Company has ever come to catching Sri Sumbhajee. I can’t do everything for you, Benedict. Would you like me to storm the palace, too? Sail our ships into the harbor? Hold the Pirate Lords at gunpoint? Take them back to England with me? Tell you what, you don’t even need to show up at all. I’ll just defeat the Pirate Lord of the Indian Ocean by myself, shall I?”
Carolina’s fingers were digging into Diego’s arm. She was talking to Benedict Huntington! They’d thought the Pearl had escaped him in Hong Kong! How had he followed them here?
“Barbara, Barbara, I’m sorry,” Benedict said, trying to stem the tide of angry words. “You’ve been amazing.”
“I know,” she said snippily, “and I think I deserve a little appreciation, that’s all.”
“I do appreciate it,” he said. “The entire East India Trading Company will thank you for it. Why, you’ll probably get a medal.”
“I’d rather have some new perfume,” Barbara sniffed.
“I’ll buy you all the perfumes of the Far East,” Benedict promised. “Don’t worry about a thing. Keep yourself safe, and we’ll handle the rest of the plan from here.”
“Thank you, darling,” Barbara said. “Kisses!”
“Kisses to you, too,” Benedict said. “See you soon.”
There was a small snapping noise, and then the woman picked up the lantern and strode off into the night.
Diego and Carolina looked at each other in horror. Somehow that woman had infiltrated Sri Sumbhajee’s defenses and revealed his secrets. And now agents of the East India Trading Company were on their way to Suvarnadurg to capture them all!
“Well,” said a voice from above them. “That can’t be good.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Jack?” said Diego, peering up into the shadows. The voice sounded like their captain. But what was he doing here? Diego saw someone moving beside the statue’s head.
“’Allo down there,” Jack Sparrow said cheerfully. “Fine night for a walk, and then a chase, and then a fright and some eavesdropping, isn’t it?”
“What are you doing up there?” Carolina asked.