Hunt for the Panther 3 (9781101610923) (4 page)

Scarlet took a hasty step back, wiping her sweaty palms on her trousers. She hated snakes, especially the small ones that looked harmless but could kill you with one bite. “Um. Hello.”

Voodoo Miranda squinted at her for a moment. Then her mouth spread into a wide purple smile. “Come in.”

She stepped aside, and Scarlet darted past into a room full of dusty furniture that probably hadn’t been used for years. There were black candles everywhere, and the loose floorboards creaked underfoot. Scarlet couldn’t help but wonder if Voodoo Miranda hid something
underneath them. Or someone…

Stop!
she told herself. “Um, where am I meeting him?”

“In the kitchen,” said Miranda. “This way.” She led Scarlet down a pitch-dark hallway into another room—this one lit by a single lantern. The kitchen was cluttered with bottles and jars of every size and color, and it smelled like long-dead flowers that needed to be tossed out. A small cloudy window looked out onto a dark yard.

“Don’t mind my work,” Voodoo Miranda said, gesturing at some mounds of wax on the table.

“Work?” Scarlet stepped closer. One of the mounds had a distinct human shape.
A voodoo doll,
she realized, just as Miranda snatched it up and tucked it into her pocket. Scarelt had heard sailors whisper that if you ever needed to get revenge, Voodoo Miranda could help. She’d whip up a little wax doll that looked just like your enemy in the time it took you to say “scalawag.” Then she’d stick little pins in the doll’s back and ears, and the unfortunate person would be keeling over in no time. Scarlet shivered, feeling invisible pinpricks up and down her spine.

“Sit.” Miranda pointed to a chair, and Scarlet obeyed, finding herself staring into the eyes of a frog, floating wide-eyed in a jar of yellow liquid. When Miranda wasn’t looking, she quickly turned the jar so the creature was facing away from her.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Miranda said.

“Thanks,” Scarlet said weakly.

“Ah. That’d be your father,” said Miranda.

“Really? I didn’t hear anything,” Scarlet replied, but Miranda had already slipped back down the hallway.

“Huh,” Scarlet muttered, peering into another nearby jar on the counter, which appeared to hold several hundred small green beetles. “What does she
do
with all this stuff, anyway?”

Fortunately, before she could find the answer, the door swung open again, and Admiral McCray walked into the room.

“Scarlet!” He stopped and took off his blue cap, a smile spreading across his face. She stood up and let him pull her into a warm hug. For the tiniest moment, she even let herself relax, enjoying the feeling of having someone take care of her. But then she felt Miranda’s eyes on her back, and she wiggled out of her father’s arms. The voodoo queen was watching them intently, stroking her python’s head.

“Thank you, Miranda,” said the admiral. “We won’t be long.” He pulled out a chair and sat down at the table, dropping his hat between himself and the frog.

Scarlet frowned. How could her father be so comfortable in a place that was so … strange?

Miranda nodded. “There are cookies on the counter if you get hungry.” She narrowed her eyes at Scarlet. “Looks like you could use a good meal.”

“I just ate,” Scarlet said quickly, although it had been several hours since she’d snacked on the nuts Jem had packed. If the jars around the kitchen were any indication of the ingredients Miranda baked with, she’d rather pass.

Miranda shrugged and slipped away again, leaving Scarlet and her father alone.

Even now, it still surprised her to see him. Not that he’d changed much in their time apart; she’d known him the moment she saw him on Island X, about a month before. He’d arrived with his men, scouting the island for trees and spices to harvest, and she’d quickly realized that he’d completely forgotten everything about the island—he didn’t even recognize it as the place he’d called home for years.

“Please, sit down.” He gestured to her chair, and she sat again. He picked up his cap, then set it back down on the table. “So.”

“So,” she said.

“Are the tree houses finished now?”

“Almost,” she replied. “They look jolly—Fitz did a great job.”

“And the garden?”

“Done. Gil took a real shine to weeding and planting. Sina thinks we’ll have squash in a month or so.”

The admiral nodded and fiddled with his cap. “And no sign of that pirate captain… what’s his name again?”

Scarlet shook her head. The Dread Pirate Captain Wallace Hammerstein-Jones led the
Dark Ranger
, the ship Lucas Lawrence defected to. He was just as treasure hungry as Lucas himself, which meant more trouble for the Lost Souls, since Lucas had Uncle Finn’s treasure map. Scarlet tapped her feet on the floor, wondering if either pirate was in port that night and what her crewmates might do if they ran into them. She peered out the cloudy
window, hoping her father wouldn’t keep her long.

“Speaking of captains,” her father continued, “do you have a plan to stop this new one from getting the treasure?”

Scarlet’s head snapped back. “What new one?”

The admiral looked down at the frog in the jar and noticed it for the first time. He grimaced and turned it so that it faced the wall.

“The new pirate captain,” he repeated. “Surely you’ve heard of him.”

Scarlet shook her head, suddenly grateful for her father’s presence in port. This sounded serious.

The admiral frowned. “Everyone’s talking about him, though I have yet to meet anyone who has actually met him. Apparently a new pirate is rising to power, and he’s gathering a crew of the filthiest and fiercest pirates around. Rumor has it he aims to be the most powerful pirate in all the tropics. They call him the Rebel.”

“What?” Scarlet cried, then lowered her voice. “What does that mean?”

“Well, it’s someone who defies authority and—”

“I know what
rebel
means,” Scarlet snapped. Then she bit her lip. “Sorry. I meant, what does this mean for
us
?”

The admiral frowned. “Well, he wants the most powerful crew, the fastest and biggest ship, and control of all the treasure around.”

“Shivers!” Scarlet tried to imagine it. Then she started as another thought came to mind. “What if Lucas decides to join this… this Rebel? He’s got the map!”

“My thoughts exactly,” said her father. “He’s just the type to—”

Voodoo Miranda poked her head into the kitchen. “Hungry yet?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at Scarlet.

“Oh no!” Scarlet said. “I’m full.” She patted her stomach, which proceeded to growl.

“Thought so,” Miranda said, sweeping through the door. The striped viper was still nestled in her hair, but the snake on her wrist was nowhere to be seen. Scarlet glanced around nervously and lifted her boots off the floor. “I baked them just last week.” Miranda grabbed a plate piled with small gray lumps off the counter and thrust them at Scarlet.

“Oh, I couldn’t—”

“Try them!” Miranda pushed the plate toward her.

Scarlet snatched up a gray lump and took a nibble. It tasted salty and a bit like the hardtack the Lost Souls used to eat on board the
Hop
. But there was something else… some flavor she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “Um… what kind of cookie is it?”

Miranda licked her purple lips. “I call it ‘rodent surprise.’ The snakes love them.”

Scarlet’s mouth fell open, and she looked down at her half-eaten cookie. Sure enough, the tip of a tiny hairless tail was sticking out. She gagged and sputtered. Miranda was watching her closely, as was the viper in her hair. It took all her will to swallow.

“It’s good,” Scarlet told them weakly.

Miranda straightened and gave her another wide purple smile. “I know,” she said, and slipped back out the door.

Scarlet swallowed hard again and turned back to her father. “Look, as fun as this is, I can’t stay much longer. I’ve got to get back to my crew. We’ll need another plan to protect the island from this… this Rebel.” She stood and pushed back her chair. “Keep notes on everything you hear about him, will you? Then you can fill me in next time I’m in port.”

The admiral nodded and checked his pocket watch. “Wait,” he said. “There’s one more thing.”

“About the Rebel?”

“Well, no. This is… something different.”

Scarlet sat back down and watched him fiddle with his cap again. Could he have even
worse
news? Maybe one of the King’s Men had spotted them after their last meeting and guessed her identity. Or maybe they’d guessed what the admiral was up to. Then—

“Your uncle Daniel is coming for a visit. From the Old World.”

Scarlet cocked her head to the side. “My what?”

“Your uncle Daniel,” he repeated. “My older brother. You’ve never met him.”

“Oh.” Scarlet relaxed, relieved that her identity and her father’s new mission to protect the Lost Souls and Island X were still secret.

“He won’t be staying long. Three weeks at most, and he’ll be bringing his daughter, who’s about your age. Her name is Josephine.”

“I see,” Scarlet said, although she didn’t see what this news had to do with her.

“Daniel is a very high-ranking King’s Man. In fact,
he’s a deputy advisor to King Aberhard himself.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“When we moved away from the island after the fever, he used his influence to get me a position with the King’s Men again. They would have never taken me back otherwise.”

“Because, God forbid, you’d gone off and married an Islander,” Scarlet finished sarcastically.

The admiral paused. “Daniel means well,” he said carefully. “He doesn’t understand the tropics. He’s only ever advised from afar. But he’s my brother, and he’s always taken care of me. He was going to take care of you, too, when I wanted to send you back to the Old World. So when you disappeared, I… I didn’t tell him. I knew he’d be on the first ship over to search for you. It would have turned my family upside down.”

This only went to prove Scarlet’s theory that grown-ups made no sense. If you couldn’t call them for help because they’d only make more trouble, what good were they? But she stayed quiet, a pit beginning to grow in her stomach.

“But now he’s coming on business for the king. I’m not sure what it’s about, but the point is, he’s family.”

“And?” Scarlet prodded, not entirely sure she wanted to hear the answer.

“And I need you to come stay with me in port.”

Scarlet’s mouth fell open. “You
what
?”

The admiral nodded, hardening his jaw as if he were giving orders to another King’s Man. “It’ll be about three weeks, according to Daniel.”

“Three weeks?”
Scarlet couldn’t believe her ears. “Father, this is absurd! I can’t leave the island for three
days,
let alone
weeks
!”

Her father frowned. “Believe me, Scarlet, we have no choice here. I cannot have my brother finding out that you live by yourself on another island with a group of children. He wouldn’t understand.”

“But—”

“And what’s more, it could be dangerous. Daniel’s loyalty lies first and foremost with the king, and if he were to find out about Island X and its treasure—the very treasure King Aberhard is looking for—I’d hate to think what he’d have to do.”

“But… but can’t you tell him I’m at boarding school?” she pleaded.

Her father shook his head. “He’d insist we go visit you. He wants to meet you, Scarlet. When you didn’t come to the Old World like we’d planned, he was disappointed. He was hoping you could be like a sister to Josephine.” The admiral placed his hands, palms down, on the table. “Trust me, Scarlet, I’ve thought this through. There is no way out of it.”

Scarlet fought the rising panic in her throat by swallowing hard. “When are they coming?”

“Their ship docks tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”
she cried. “You’ve got to be joking! My crew—”

“Will survive without you for three weeks,” he interrupted, his voice firm. “They’re smart and strong, and nothing will go wrong in your absence.”

“But—”

“Scarlet.” This time his voice was heavy, and she knew there was no use arguing anymore. “Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want. That’s what having a family is all about.”

And that just absolutely scuttled.

“Three
weeks
?” Jem repeated, certain he couldn’t have heard her correctly.

Scarlet looked as if she wasn’t sure whether to smack someone or burst into tears. “Three weeks,” she said hopelessly.

It was now after midnight, and the Lost Souls stood on the dock near their rowboat. Nothing but a slender crescent moon illuminated the crew’s faces, but Jem could see the shock on each one.

“But… but what’ll we do without you?” Edwin asked, wide-eyed. “Anything can happen in three weeks! Think of how much has happened since we got to the island!”

“The
Dark Ranger
pirates invaded twice,” Emmett pointed out.

“Then the King’s Men came,” Edwin added.

“And killed that smelly wild pig. Then—”

“So you’ll be hosting Old World relatives?” Jem cut the twins off before Scarlet threw herself right into the ocean.

Scarlet wrung her hands. “Can you believe it? I’m going to have to spend three weeks showing my stuffy Uncle Daniel around skuzzy old Port Aberhard. And his niece, too.
Josephine
.” She said the name as if it tasted like slimy oysters.