Secrets of Tamarind

by Nadia Aguiar

  “I haven’t been able to find Milagros,” said Isabella. “Finally I issued an order for people to catch her birds and bring them to the capital, in hopes that the birds would lead me to her. But this is the only one that was captured, and she’s refused to budge. I knew she looked familiar, but it wasn’t until I saw you sailing here that I remembered where I had seen her before. Anyway, that’s not important. What’s important is now that you’re here, you can help me.” She took a step closer to Helix but withdrew when Seagrape squawked warningly. “I need to find Milagros,” she said. “Where is she? How can I reach her?”

  “Helix, what’s she talking about?” Maya whispered.

  Helix looked blankly at Isabella. “I have no idea who Milagros is,” he said. “I’ve never heard of her, so how could I know where she is?” He turned to Simon and Maya and shrugged. Simon knew he was telling the truth.

  “Don’t you see?” asked Isabella impatiently. “There isn’t time to waste! Milagros is the only one who can help save Tamarind from the Red Coral—she can tell us what we need to do to stop the destruction! It’s critical that I find her. She wouldn’t have given that bird to just anyone. You must know her!”

  “I already told you I don’t,” said Helix.

  “Then how did you get this bird?” Isabella demanded.

  “I don’t know,” said Helix. “I’ve had her as long as I can remember.”

  “Who are you?” Isabella asked.

  “I was raised by the Coboranti tribe, in the jungle,” said Helix, glowering.

  “You aren’t Coboranti,” said Isabella.

  “I didn’t say I was,” said Helix sourly. “The Coboranti found me. I was lost in the jungle when I was a child. They raised me and I lived with them until I was old enough to leave to hunt on my own.”

  “But who were you before that?” Isabella pressed. “Before the Coboranti found you?” She held her breath.

  Helix scowled but was quiet. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “I wish I did.”

  Isabella stared at him intensely, then her shoulders drooped. “You really don’t know who you are,” she murmured. “Then you can’t help.”

  Simon wished he knew what was going on. He could see that Isabella was desperate. Why did she care so much who Helix was? He’d already told her he didn’t know where Milagros was. And why did she think that Milagros—whoever she was—could help Tamarind?

  “Who is Milagros?” he asked.

  But before Isabella could answer, Seagrape suddenly flapped her wings and squawked. Bits of downy green feathers flew out in the air. Isabella sneezed and shot the bird a dirty look. Halfway through lifting her handkerchief to her nose, she paused as if she had just thought of something. Then she turned to the children.

  “I’m afraid we have to take your boat into custody,” she said.

  “You can’t do that!” replied Maya at once.

  “I’m going to have to insist,” said Isabella in a falsely rueful tone. “You’ll stay here until we know more.”

  “But we aren’t Red Coral,” said Simon urgently. “We hate the Red Coral—they’ve been hurting our family, too!”

  Isabella cut him off. “Outsiders are Outsiders,” she said, unmoved. “I don’t know anything for certain. And I can’t take the chance. I’m very sorry, but I have to think about what’s best for Tamarind.”

  Simon could hardly believe it—they had barely arrived and already they were prisoners and their boat was being seized! He hated the thought of anyone else sailing the Pamela Jane. Everything was happening too fast and he didn’t know what to do.

  “One of you can go back to your boat to retrieve any belongings you need,” said Isabella. “You,” she said, nodding to Helix. “The others stay here.”

  Before the children could protest, two guards escorted Helix from the room. He was stone-faced. He stole a last look over his shoulder at Simon and Maya, but if he was trying to tell them something they had no idea what it was. In dismay they watched him go, Seagrape on his shoulder. Behind him the door was shut firmly and a bolt slid across it, echoing in the stone chamber.

  Maya turned furiously to Isabella. “We were planning to find you when we got here,” she fumed. “We were going to help stop the Red Coral!”

  Ignoring her, Isabella went calmly to the window at the far end of the room and looked out at the harbor below.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” said Maya through gritted teeth. “I could kick myself—what was I thinking of, trusting her! She betrayed us last time, too!”

  “Let’s not panic,” whispered Simon. He was distressed, too, but he knew they should stay calm and think logically. “We just need some time to win her over. We’ll wait until Helix is back and we’re alone, then we’ll figure out what to do.”

  Maya growled something inaudible under her breath. “Come on,” she said at last. “Maybe we’ll be able to see him.” Simon gave her the binoculars and he and Penny followed her to the window farthest away from Isabella.

  As Maya waited until she could see Helix, Simon took a deep breath and looked slowly over Maracairol. The wind changed direction and the late-morning air was once again sweet and warm. A breeze billowed through, running over the coral walls of the ramparts and teasing the hanging vines. Laundry fluttered like sails from the windows of red-roofed houses. Silhouettes of boxy fishing boats hovered in the diamond-bright twinkle of the sea. From here the day seemed slow and peaceful, and trouble far away. Simon took a deep breath. Maybe things weren’t so bad. Isabella had a right to be mistrustful—they just needed time to win her over. He sneaked a quick look at her. Her body was inclined forward, tensed and catlike, as if she were watching and waiting—but for what?

  “Hey,” said Maya suddenly. “They’re taking the Pamela Jane!”

  Simon took the binoculars and scanned the harbor, but their boat was no longer at the mooring. His eye ran over an empty sweep of blue water until, to his great surprise, he saw her already five hundred yards out to sea, surging through the water, ropes coiled neatly on her sun-bleached deck, full sails catching the brisk breeze! A solitary figure stood at her helm. Simon focused the lenses.

  “It’s Helix!” he whispered.

  He saw Seagrape flying back and forth, a bolt of green across the pure white sail.

  “Where’s he going?” Maya whispered, taking the binoculars from Simon.

  “What’s happening?” clamored Penny.

  “He’s alone on the boat,” said Simon. “He’s escaping!”

  At first a thrill went through Simon, but in the next moment he realized that Helix was leaving them behind. Maya glanced triumphantly at Isabella, but then her excitement gave way to confusion, too. Penny jumped and craned her neck, trying to see.

  Only Isabella didn’t seem perturbed. She watched calmly as the Pamela Jane moved farther away. None of the other ships in port left to give chase and the rowboat was heading slowly back to shore. A sick feeling began to grow in the pit of Simon’s stomach. Helix was getting away and Isabella wasn’t doing anything about it.

  The door opened and a guard entered. “Your orders have been followed, Madam President,” he said, bowing.

  “Good,” said Isabella. “Wait until he’s past Holloua’s Rock and then follow him at two leagues, unless the weather closes in. Don’t let him know he’s being followed. Mobilize the watches along the coast and alert the fleet at Balla.”

  Isabella turned to the children. “I knew he would take it if he had the chance,” she said. “I simply gave him that chance. I suspect he knows more than he shared with me. Maybe more than he shared with you, too. And even if he doesn’t, that’s a bird of Milagros—it’s going to lead me exactly where I want to go.”

  Simon felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Without Helix, he suddenly felt like a stranger in Tamarind. He watched as the Pamela Jane rounded the head and disappeared and the sea was again a blank blue slate.

  Isabella headed for the door. “The guards wi
ll bring you down to the jeeps,” she said. “We’re leaving right away.”

  Simon and Maya stood there, stunned. It was all happening so fast.

  “Where are we going?” Simon managed to ask.

  Isabella disappeared in a swirl of crimson down the stairs, but she shouted back up to them.

  “To the City of Children!”

  Chapter Six

  A Figure from the Past • Back in the Jungle • Simon and Maya Disagree • Wasteland

  Two guards shuttled the children back down the winding steps.

  “Stay close,” Simon whispered to Penny, squeezing her hand. His mind was racing. He had no idea where they were going, but if the opportunity to escape presented itself he wanted to be ready to take it.

  Outside the fortress, two ramshackle trucks with cobbled parts and ancient engines awaited them. Moonshine fuel, smelling of palm oil, dripped onto the ground beneath them. Isabella was there already, winding a sheer veil around her face to disguise herself.

  “You may know things about your friend that will help the director locate his file,” she said. “That’s why you’re coming. We’ll ride separately. The Red Coral are all around the city, so hang on—we’ll be going quickly.”

  With that she turned and headed for the first truck. Three guards accompanied her. The children were left with their driver, a brawny figure who pushed them into the backseat and knotted a rope around Simon’s and Maya’s ankles, tying them together and to a bolt in the floor of the vehicle. Penny was allowed to remain free. He shut the door and locked the outside with a bamboo stick. The children would have to climb through the windows if they wanted to escape. Not that there was much hope of that at the moment, thought Simon as the engine rattled to life and the truck began to pick up speed down the hill away from the fortress.

  “Are we going to meet Helix?” Penny asked.

  Simon was grateful that she seemed more curious than afraid and he was eager to keep it that way. “Well, yeah,” he said. “But first we’re going into the jungle. If you look out of the window, pretty soon I bet you’ll see monkeys and parrots and other animals!”

  “Monkeys!” breathed Penny, then she scrambled over Maya and kneeled at the window to look out eagerly.

  “How are we going to get out of this?” Maya whispered. She bent down and tried to unknot the rope around her ankle, but only succeeded in making it tighter.

  “We’ll keep our eyes and ears open and as soon as there’s an opportunity we’ll act fast,” said Simon. He looked at Penny. Acting fast with a five-year-old wasn’t going to be easy.

  “I can’t believe he just left us like that,” whispered Maya.

  “Here, look, use my pocketknife,” said Simon, sliding it out of his backpack and surreptitiously passing it to Maya. “I’m sure he saw a chance to escape and he took it,” he whispered, trying to sound more confident than he felt. “What would be the point of coming back and getting locked up in the tower? That wouldn’t help anything. He probably thought we’d be safe here until he found out more about the Red Coral and could figure out a way to free us.”

  “I guess,” said Maya. “Anyway, at least Isabella doesn’t have our boat.”

  Though Simon believed what he had told Maya—that it made sense for Helix to have taken his chance to escape—it was hard not to feel abandoned.

  As they drove through Maracairol, the powdery burning odor of the explosions lingered faintly, but was overpowered by the strong smell of cooking fish. The market was open, the late-morning light falling blue through the tarpaulins onto heaps of apricots and dates and guavas. Massive green pumpkins sat on the earth beneath the tables. Strings of cowry shells rattled in doorways. Dusty children waited in line at a well and women sat outside their tents, scraping shellfish to cook on the stones of smoky fires. Their eyes met Simon’s dully as the truck bumped past. Even though he wasn’t one of the Outsiders who had caused them to lose their homes, Simon felt strangely guilty and frustrated. The Red Coral were ruining everything.

  Soon they left the city and headed up into the hills of the jungle. The car picked up speed, the driver keeping a wary eye on the trees around them and the road behind them. Met with stony silence, the children finally gave up trying to get him to answer their questions. The canopy closed over the road and suddenly, to Penny’s delight, a dozen squabbling monkeys appeared, leaping from branch to branch to keep up with the truck. One jumped down and rode along on the roof for a while. Its tail hung tantalizingly in the window, but Maya wouldn’t let her touch it.

  Simon took over with the pocketknife, which unfortunately was too dull to cut the thick rope quickly. A fine dust of fibers trickled down, making his ankle itch. He struggled to put himself in Helix’s position. If he were Helix, where would he have gone? If they could just get out of this mess and find him, they could start over and do what they had come to Tamarind to do.

  They had traveled quite far from Maracairol, the deep green jungle passing in a blur, when it came to Simon. He sat up and turned to Maya, his eyes shining.

  “Faustina’s Gate,” he whispered. “That’s where he’ll go.”

  Maya frowned. “But we don’t even know it’s a place,” she whispered. “We don’t know what it is.”

  “We’ll find out,” said Simon. Checking to make sure the driver wasn’t paying attention, he resumed sawing through the rope with renewed vigor when he heard an ominous whine coming from somewhere in the jungle, a sound so high-pitched he could almost feel it in his teeth. Penny looked all around. Both drivers had heard it, too, and they slowed for a moment to shout back and forth to each other.

  “They think it’s the Red Coral!” said Maya in alarm.

  An instant later the driver accelerated and the children were flung against the backseat. They slid from one side to the other as they bounced wildly over potholes and the jungle flashed past the windows. Clouds of red dust spun up from the tires, thickening the air and coating big banana leaves on the roadside. The drone of the Red Coral was growing louder. Then without warning Isabella’s truck braked. The children’s driver slammed on his brakes and their truck fishtailed to a stop behind it. The driver leaped out. Simon leaned out of the window to see what had happened.

  He sat back in a hurry, his heart pounding. “There’s a big tree that’s fallen across the road,” he said. “There isn’t room to pass it—they’re going to push it out of the way before we can keep going. Now’s our chance!”

  The Red Coral hadn’t appeared yet but they were getting closer. Their wheels made a snapping and crackling sound over the undergrowth—it sounded as if a fire were eating its way towards the children.

  Maya hesitated, but the Red Coral was only getting louder. “All right,” she said, seizing Penny’s hand. “Let’s go!”

  Simon snatched his backpack off the floor and, with a final swipe of the pocketknife, the last fibers snapped and the rope slid loosely down his and Maya’s ankles. Up ahead they heard the great tree being dragged out of the way.

  “We’re going to run into the jungle and hide,” he told Penny. “You have to go as fast as you can!”

  He climbed out of the window and reached in to haul Penny out. An instant later Maya was free, too. Her feet had barely hit the ground before the driver saw them and began shouting.

  “Run!” hissed Simon. “Don’t look back!”

  The children ran as fast as they could off the road into the jungle. The foliage was almost impenetrable. Simon kept a firm grip of Penny’s hand and held her close so branches wouldn’t fly back and swat her. Roots tripped them. Vines got tangled around their arms. Their crashing feet sent lizards streaking up tree trunks and spiders bouncing across trampoline webs. Behind them they could hear Isabella shouting. Penny fell and Simon covered her and grabbed Maya. They dropped into a huddle and lay there trembling, trying to slow their ragged breathing. They had not come very far at all and could still see the road.

  The driver and another guard had dashed into the jungle afte
r them, but had quickly lost them in the opaque undergrowth, and were now running back to the road. Another guard rushed Isabella back to safety in the first truck. The drone of the approaching vehicles rose to an almost intolerable pitch. Penny covered her ears. The men finished dragging the tree out of the way so the trucks could pass. Then they pulled it back into the road before they hopped into the trucks and peeled off down a side road that headed back in the direction of Maracairol.

  Seconds later the Red Coral jeeps burst onto the road, but the tree brought them to a screeching stop. A haze of dust from the road hung heavy in the air.

  Hiding beneath billowy leaves, the children watched as men got out of the jeeps and pulled the tree out of the way once again. The jeeps were shiny and new and looked like they had come from the Outside. The men had shaved heads dyed with bloody-looking jungle pigments and they appeared to be incredibly strong. Simon thought they must be the Maroong people that Isabella had told them about. Penny wriggled close to Maya. There was one Outsider among them, a man in faded gray trousers and a tan shirt, who was clearly the one in charge. When he turned, Simon saw his face. His heart quickened.

  Simon hadn’t seen him in four years and the man he was looking at had changed. He was thin and his face was half hidden beneath a broad hat. But when he took it off and wiped his forehead with it, Simon saw his bright red hair, and he was certain.

  It was Dr. Fitzsimmons.

  Simon’s first impulse was to run out of the jungle to their old friend. Perhaps he could help! Once he saw who they were he wouldn’t hurt them. He could sit them down and offer some rational explanation for everything that had happened. But as he started to get up, Maya squeezed his arm, hard enough that it hurt.

  “We can’t trust him, Simon,” she whispered. “He’s the Red Man.”

  The Red Man? Dr. Fitzsimmons? Simon frowned, confused, but sank back down into the leaves. There had to be some mistake—their old friend couldn’t be the man who had broken an agreement with Isabella, the person responsible for the upheaval in Tamarind. Simon wanted to argue with Maya, but some instinct made him stay silent and watch.