Pirates of the Caribbean 05 The Age of Bronze Read Free

Besides, had there been an amulet, I would have had to have known there had been an amulet in order to have taken an amulet what was there to be taken. Savvy?"
    "I am forced to agree with Jack this one time," Fitzwill iam said frostily, bracing his legs in the white sand. "How could you mistrust your own crew, your own friends, after all we have been through together?"
    "Besides, Jack couldn't have taken it," Arabella said, shooting a sneer at Jack. "He was right here all night. He snores like a pig. I barely slept at all."Jean put his arm around Tumen's shoulders. "Come now, mon ami. Tell us what has gotten you so upset."Tumen sank to the ground, burying his face in his hands. He felt like crying. "They have expelled me forever. From my own home. They think I led you here to steal it. And Mam is sick, and they blame me for that, too."
    "Expelled you? Forever?" Jean said with horror. Constance hissed angrily."Tell us about this amulet," Arabella suggested soothingly. "And why it's so great that I would have stolen it," Jack added.Tumen sighed. "No one knows exactly what it is. . . . It is supposed to be very powerful. We think the Xitami people acquired it from the Spanish. The Xitami wanted to make certain it never landed in their hands again. They did not tell our ancestors what it did, only to keep it safe." He started to draw in the sand as he spoke. "The amulet is of a white metal that is not silver. It has three hollow settings.
    The three missing gems were said to be lost long ago, before my people came into possession of it."The five crewmates looked at the drawing morosely."Well, of course we've got to go and find it," Jack decided. "We'll get it back, return it to the village, and clear your good name. You can go home aga in, and we can be on our way." It wasn't just a good deed he would be doing ... there was something in it for Jack, too. Returning the amulet was also a way to form some very powerful allies in the Yucatan. A useful thing for a sailing adventurer in search of treasure and safe harbors. On the other hand, right now with this amulet missing, he had some pretty powerful enemies.Well, what are you waiting for?" Jack shouted, sweeping his hands forward. "Go look around! See if we can find this thing, or at least some clues."
    The crew split up and took different sections of the area around the bay, being careful not to come too close to the village. What seemed like an impossible task ended sooner than anyone thought it might. A bright piece of cloth among the green leaves of the jungl e caught Jack's attention. His eyes grew wide and he brought everyone to the small clearing where he stood."Feast your eyes on this, lads and lassie and lassie-cat-thing," he said, a little smugly.
    There, sitting at the base of a tree between two roots like it had been placed carefully, was their clue."It's a little doll," Arabella said with wonder, reaching for it.It was little more than two sticks crossed and wrapped in cloth, built up to make a body and head. The head had no hair, but the face had a stitched mouth and eyes. It was dressed in a strangely familiar white and red cloth with purple X `s down the middle and had a miniature jade necklace around its neck."Look at the clothes it wears!" Tumen exclaimed, picking it up. "Those are Mam's robes!"Jean took the creepy little figure and looked at it grimly. "It is a doll made by someone who practices magicks. He pulled the doll's clothes apart at the chest. Over where the heart would have been was a drawing in blood red ink: a crescent dagger with a serpent wrapped around it. Jean let out a low whistle. Ooh. We're in for it, now. This is the sign of Madame Minuit--Madam Midnight-- of New Orleans. This is her doing."
    "Like Tia Dalma?" Jack asked. "A practitioner of the mystical arts, as they say?"Jean nodded. "She is a very, very powerful woman. But she only uses her powers for her own profit. This could be why your great grandfather is sick, Tumen. She is using this