The Age of Bronze - Jack Sparrow 05 by Rob Kidd

Author:Rob Kidd [Kidd, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Everyone stared at Jean."Well," said Jack, recovering first, "awfully ugly for a woman. Especially the stubble, the broad shoulders, the Adam's apple, and the fact that she looked, oh, nothing like a woman at all. I've seen female dockworkers who looked better. Come to think of it, IVe seen some old male dockworkers who were prettier. . . ."

"Madame can manifest herself in two different ways," Jean said, cutting Jack off.

74

His eyes narrowed, looking at the spot where she had been. Only a few whisps of foul-smelling smoke remained. "One is a haglike man--that is what you saw here," Jean continued. "The other I have never seen

"How can you be sure it was her?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"The serpents gave her away. They are her sign. Her trademark." Jean made his hand writhe like snakes.

"Oooooo, spooooky," Jack said sarcastically.

"Now," Jack said, clapping his hands together, "did any of you lot happen to get a close look at the amulet? Or notice anything funny about it?"

The four other crew members were silent. Jack sighed impatiently.

"Tumen here said the amulet had a sun surrounded by three empty settings for

75

gems. Well, mates--don't be shocked when I tell you this and go running off in a frightened tizzy, but ..." Jack lowered his voice to a whisper. . . . one of the settings was filled

Arabella, Jean, and Tumen stared at Jack.

"So?" Jean asked.

"There was a piece of bronze in one," Jack said, holding up his thumb and forefinger to indicate its size. "About the size and shape of a pearl. Shiny. Bronze. Oh, and did I mention it was bronze?"

He casually tapped his tooth. One of the ones that was also shiny and bronze now.

Arabella got it first.

"Oh!" she said.

"Yeah, 'Oh,'" Jack mimicked, rolling his eyes.

"The ship! With all those people . . . and your tooth . . ." Arabella continued.

"And your sword," Fitzwilliam added,

76

picking it up off the ground. He looked at it closely. "Pure bronze."

"The amulet must be powered by the gem," Tumen said, nodding. "A bronze gem is in it, so it turns everything bronze."

"But why bronze?" Jack muttered, giving his old sword a disgusted look. It might have been a rusty an old sword before, but now it was completely useless--who ever heard of a bronze sword? "I mean, what good is bronze?"

"Jack," Arabella said with a smile, "the entire world used to use bronze. Before iron and steel. Swords, helmets, shields, armor, lances, cooking pots ... in some parts of the world, they still use bronze today."

"You're not fooling?" Jack asked, surprised. He grabbed his sword back from Fitzwilliam, giving him a suspicious look.

"I wonder what would happen if we put in un diamant? A diamond?" Jean asked

77

thoughtfully. "Would everything it touched turn to diamond?"

Tumen shook his head, not liking where this line of thinking was going. "My people know the amulet to be very dangerous, Jean. I do not think we should play with it. Or have you already forgotten what happened with the Sword of Cortes?"

Jean nodded, looking chastised.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.