The Turning Tide by Rob Kidd Read Free Book Online

thought.
    Amazing smells wafted through the air as the pirates followed Lakshmi and Pusasn out to an open-air pavilion overlooking an enclosed garden of fruit trees, dark green leaves rustling in the wind. It was not quite evening yet; the sky had streaks of pink and gold in it. Jean inhaled deeply.
    “Will Carolina eat with us?” Diego asked Lakshmi. She nodded, her face hidden by the scarf again.
    Nobody asked about Marcella. Jean was too busy thinking about food and Lakshmi to remember. Jack remembered, but he was hoping if he didn’t bring her up, Jean might forget about her, too, and then they could sail away and leave her in India. That sounded like an absolutely brilliant plan to Jack, as did most of the plans that sprang from his mind.
    Sri Sumbhajee’s court was assembled around the pavilion, seated on cushions on the floor.
    Pusasn directed the pirates to the open cushions arranged near the Indian Pirate Lord, and they all sat down, with Jack on Sri Sumbhajee’s left.
    Diego craned his neck, searching the crowd for Carolina. A murmur of voices rose as a group of women approached through the garden. Diego’s eyes passed over them quickly; none of these brightly adorned women looked familiar.
    Suddenly his gaze popped back. One of them had winked at him.
    “Carolina?” he said, rising to his feet as she came closer. She was wearing a sari the color of Jack’s ruby, embroidered in delicate gold thread, with her midriff bare. Tiny gold teardrop-shaped ornaments sparkled in her ears and a deep red canna flower was tucked into her long, loose dark hair.
    “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” she said, covering her waist with her arms. “I’m embarrassed enough!”
    “You look beautiful,” Diego said, unable to contain his awe. She looked like she was born to dress this way. He had seen her in many elaborate gowns back in Spain; he’d held her hand while her long skirts swept past him, into the coach taking her to the latest royal ball. He knew she hated the corsets and petticoats and piles of lace and uncomfortable shoes. But here her feet were bare and she could sit down on the cushion beside him in an easy, graceful movement, arranging the end of the silk sari over her shoulder. Sitting down on the floor in a European dress would have required much more maneuvering and possibly a pulley system of some sort.
    “What about ME?” a voice demanded behind Diego. “Don’t I look beautiful?”
    Diego reluctantly tore his gaze from Carolina as Marcella elbowed Catastrophe Shane out of the way and threw herself down on the cushion on his other side. She glared over him at Carolina.
    “Um—you look…nice, too,” he said politely. Marcella’s sari looked like mustard and limes, a yellowish-green that unfortunately clashed with her skin tone. Her hair, ears, neck, wrists, and ankles were dripping with gaudy diamonds and rubies. Jack eyed them in fascination, but when he leaned toward her she snatched her arm away and edged closer to Diego.
    “Well, I’d look much better in PINK,” she said, shooting a scowl at Parvati. “Right, Jean? Don’t I look lovely in pink?”
    Across from her, Jean wasn’t paying any attention. His hands were clasped rapturously under his chin.
    “The food!” he cried. “The food is coming!”
    It was true. Large round platters were emerging from the kitchen, held aloft by a line of servants. A man dressed in a light blue tunic and trousers carried the first platter up to Sri Sumbhajee and knelt, placing it in front of the Pirate Lord’s knees. He lowered his forehead to the ground. Diego realized the man was trembling violently.
    The silver platter was divided into small compartments around a central hollow, like petals around the center of a flower. In the middle was a small tower of steaming white rice, and surrounding it were sauces of all colors.
    Jean was exceptionally talented at identifying food from a distance. He could tell that the bits of meat in the orangey-red