Clue by Clue by Catherine Hapka

Author:Catherine Hapka
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HMH Books

Chapter 14

A Chartered Plane over the Caribbean Sea

“Okay, listen up,” Player said as soon as the small plane took off from Kingston. “This flight from Jamaica to Haiti won’t take long, since they’re only around three hundred miles apart.”

“Tell us what we need to know, Player.” Carmen settled into her seat. “We won’t have much time to get to know the place once we arrive. I have a hunch we’re getting close to Cal’s treasure. And we don’t want Tigress to beat us to it.”

“Tigress?” Ivy laughed. “Are you kidding? She’ll be lucky if the sharks don’t chew those claws of hers right off!”

“Never count out a VILE operative,” Carmen warned. Sure, the last time they’d seen Tigress she was floating in the open water with the rest of her crew. But Carmen knew that wouldn’t stop the VILE gang for long. “Go ahead, Player,” she added.

“So Haiti makes up the western part of a Caribbean island called Hispaniola,” Player said. “The eastern part is the nation of the Dominican Republic.”

“The Dominican Republic? Hey, that’s where Big Papi is from!” Zack exclaimed.

“Who?” Carmen glanced at him.

“David Ortiz—he played for the Sox,” Zack said. At Carmen’s blank look, he shook his head. “The Boston Red Sox? As in, the world’s greatest baseball team ever?”

“What, did you grow up on a deserted island or something, Carm?” Ivy exclaimed. Then she blinked. “Oh, wait . . .”

“Okay, back to Haiti,” Carmen said, rolling her eyes. “More specifically, Tortuga.”

“Right,” Player said. “Tortuga’s official name these days is the Île de la Tortue. It lies just off the northwest mainland of Haiti across the Canal de la Tortue. It was named by Christopher Columbus, who thought the island’s shape looked like a turtle’s shell—tortuga is Spanish for ‘turtle.’”

“Forget Christopher Columbus,” Zack said. “When do the pirates come in?”

“Around the 1630s,” Player replied. “By 1640, the pirates of Tortuga were calling themselves the Brethren of the Coast. Tortuga was considered a stronghold of the buccaneers just like Port Royal—pirates set out on all kinds of raids from there. It was also known as a good place to hide pirate booty, or to sell it.”

“Then it would make sense if Captain Goldtooth had hidden his treasure there,” Carmen said. “And I bet Cal Cutlass knew that and stole it from wherever he’d hidden it! If so, it could still be on Tortuga. She wouldn’t have wanted to try to transport it all over the place—that would only have given Goldtooth more time to try to find her and take it back.”

“That would also explain why the booty hasn’t been found yet,” Player said. “There aren’t a whole lot of people living on Tortuga even now—best estimate is around thirty thousand on the whole island. And there’s hardly any tourism, either, even though the beaches are supposed to be beautiful.”

“Weird,” Zack said. “Who doesn’t love a good beach?”

Ivy nodded. “Yeah. I mean, Carson Beach in Boston isn’t even that nice, and it’s crowded all the time!”

“And there are caves on the island?” Carmen asked Player.

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