The Turning Tide by Rob Kidd Page B

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?
    N ot 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.”
    “You’ve got to get out of here,” Marcella said. “It isn’t safe! I’m so sorry I brought you into this horrible den of pirates. But I’m sure the East India Trading Company will believe you if you tell them you’re an innocent bystander. They’ll know you’re no pirate!”
    “Yes,” Barbara said, “I have a feeling they will.”
    “You should run down there and ask them to save you,” Marcella suggested. “I just know they’ll take care of you!”
    “Most likely,” Barbara said, tugging on her white gloves.
    “I wish I could come with you,” Marcella said. Barbara raised one eyebrow. “But Jean—I can’t leave him alone with these nasty pirates. Who knows what might happen to him? Plus, things are going really well with Diego. If we survive all this, I’m pretty sure we’re going to get married.”
    “Mmmm,” Barbara said, deciding not to share her opinion on whether any pirates would “survive all this.”
    “I’d better get back before they miss me,” Marcella said, unaware that nobody ever missed her. “I wouldn’t want any pirates to follow me and find you!”
    “No, that would be dreadful,” Barbara agreed wholeheartedly. “Marcella—in case we don’t meet again—I wanted to give you a gift to thank you for all your help to me.”
    “A gift?” Marcella exclaimed in delight. “What is it?”
    Barbara drew a small silver mirror out of her coat pocket. She snapped it open, showing Marcella the clear smooth surface inside, and then closed it again. Marcella accepted it reverently.
    “It’s beautiful,” Marcella said. “People hardly ever give me gifts. Which is so unfair, because I deserve presents more than anybody.”
    Barbara smiled her sly, catlike smile. “Remember me when you look into it,” she said. “That way we’ll always be close. And if you’re ever upset, just imagine I’m right on the other side of that mirror and tell it exactly what you’re feeling…and where you are…and where the Pearl is going…all that sort of thing. After all, we are friends.”
    “Friends…” Marcella said dreamily, clasping the mirror to her chest. “Thank you, mon ami .”
    Barbara placed a hand on Marcella’s shoulder. “No, Marcella, thank you .”
    Outside, marines and Company agents were pressing the pirates back up the steps. Diego kept trying to get down to the front of the battle line, where he was sure Carolina was, but the crush of pirates in front of him was too thick. And they kept moving up the stairs as more and more of the enemy flooded onto the stone dock. Swords flashed and clanged as marine met pirate, and