Free Pirates of the Caribbean 07 City of Gold by Rob Kidd Page A

supposed to have been dead as a crab cake. Turns out not only is she alive, but she is a pirate, sailing with another fellow we all thought dead--Left-Foot Louis. All this, and we're not even finished yet. There's also this weird chap sailing aboard her ship--Silverback. And the ship itself, the Fleur de l a Morte, isn't all that normal it disappears when the sails are unfurled. How do you find it, you might ask? With a special compass that points to said invisible ship! (I have to get me one of those.) This man Silverback had another g em--a silver one, and when that was put in the amulet, what do you think happened? I know, that's what I thought, too, but you're wrong! Everything that had turned bronze before was now turned into silver." Jack tapped his silver tooth and stared at Tia Dalma. Tia Dalma started to speak again, but Jack cut her off, continuing, "As if all that weren't enough, mommy dearest, Captain Smith of the Fleur absconded with my first mate."* Once more, Tia Dalma opened her mouth to speak.
    "We think they're in New Orleans," Jack Sparrow said, cutting her off again.Tia Dalma sneered at Jack, and he shivered.
    "Okay, I'm done," he said nervously.
    "You have come to me because you want to learn the way of the tid e. Is that so, Jack Sparrow?”
    "Come again?" he asked.
    "This is what I hear from you," she waved a finger at him violently. "You want the final gold gem for the amulet. But you also want to be together with your lady, Arabella." She said this last piece with a little smile. Then she became stern. "You cannot have both, Jack Sparrow. Choose now."Jack's mind raced. Before he could decide Tia Dalma shook her head and clicked her tongue. "You delay, Jack Sparrow." She stepped past him and parted the vines, revealing Fitzwilliam. "Perhaps him know the answer?" she said in her deep island accent.Jack looked concerned. He should have known Tia Dalma would find Fitzwilliam. You don't get to be a powerful, mysterious practitioner of magic by missing the obvious.
    Fitzwilliam was staring up at Tia Dalma with an embarrassed smile."We're here to rescue Miss Arabella Smith," the nobleman managed to spit out."Getting the final stone for the amulet would be nice, too," Jack quickly put in.Tia Dalma sighed, looking at Jack sadly. "I can get you t' golden gem. But for the rest you are on your own. You will have to rescue your lady yourself."Jack grinned. "That's hardly a problem there, love! 'Rescue and recover' are my middle names!""You know I demand payment," the mystic said, rolling the words out luxuriously. “Yes , yes, of course." Jack began to dig around in his pockets. Surely he had something. Tia Dalmas tastes weren't always expensive--just weird."Uh," J ack added, patting his pockets more desperately. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not even a twig or a broken shell, things that would be right up Tia Dalma's alley.
     
    "YOU!" Tia said, suddenly turning to Fitzwilliam and pointing.The nobleman yelped and jumped back, causing the skiff he sat in to tip over and land him in the swamp."When you retrieve that which is lost to you," she continued, "that t'ing will be lost again. This time, to me."I beg your pardon?" Fitzwilliam asked, stuttering a little. "Could you be slightly more...specific?""Oh, shush," Jack said, waving his hands in Fitzwilliam's face. Then he turned to Tia Dalma. "Yes, yes, very well, we understand, we're clear to go and a ll. Will do...yes and, yes..."
    "Very well, then." She leaned over and tapped Fitzwilliam's neck delicately. When she took her finger away, a deep black tattoo of something that looked very much like a crab remained."You will be marked until I have payment," she pronounced.
    Jack stared at Fitzwilliam, eyes wide.
    "What is it?" Fitzwilliam demanded, trying to keep calm, but clearly unnerved by Tia Dalmas touch."Nothing," Jack answered, a little too quickly.The gloom seemed to gather around Tia Dalma. She wasn't moving exactly but was somehow still