“What’s wrong?” I asked him as I looked around his stiff form. “What’s happening-”
My words died in my throat as I beheld the scene laid out before us. Baba stood beside the hearth, poker in hand and a wicked smile on her lips. The cauldron had been set on the bricks in front of the hearth, and the spit had been lowered closer to a full fire. Ramaro was roped to the spit, which Baba slowly turned with a cackle every rotation.
“Let me go, you hag!” he snapped as he thrashed around. He spied us at our entrance, and his eyes widened. “About time! This witch is trying to cook me alive!”
She wagged the poker at him. “Only because you tried to steal my shard again.”
“I only wanted to look at it!”
She tapped the tip of the poker against his snout several times. “That’s not what the cookies told me.”
He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t care what they told you! They jumped into my mouth!”
A smile danced across Torvus’ lips as he sauntered up to the pair. “Wait a moment, Baba. I need him.”
“Why? You want his leg or his tail?” She used the poker to point at each of the said body parts. “Or do you prefer the skull?” She rapped the poker several times against his forehead. “It’s probably hollow, but there might be a peanut in there.”
“I’m very useful!” Ramaro insisted as he squirmed in the ropes. “So useful that I have something for Rose!”
I straightened at the mention of my name. “For me?”
He nodded at his stomach. “It’s in there if you don’t believe me, but you have to untie me so I can get it out.”
Baba clapped the poker into her other palm and narrowed her eyes at him. “How do I know this isn’t a trick? I’ve been hankering for lizard for quite some time.”
“Release him, Baba,” Torvus commanded her.
She wagged the poker at him. “You wouldn’t have anything to do with this theft, would you?”
“Not this time. Maybe next time.”
“Next time indeed. . .” she grumbled as she waved her hand over the agama.
The knots came unloose at the beckoning of her fingers and unwrapped themselves from around Ramaro in a way that they created a slide from the spit to the floor. The lizard tumbled down on his side and landed on his back. He rolled onto his feet and scurried over to us, where he hid behind my legs.
Ramaro peeked out from behind me and flicked his tongue at Baba. “Witch!”
“You flatter me, lizard,” she quipped as she leaned the poker against the hearth. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “Now show us what you have, or it’s back to being my supper.”
Torvus leaned toward me and lowered his voice to a whisper. “That would be an improvement over the stew.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, and she reached backward for the poker. “What was that?”
“I was just telling Miss Larkin that I was curious to know what Ramaro was hiding in his pouch.”
I blinked at him. “His pouch?”
He smiled down at the lizard. “Ramaro, show her what you have for her.”
Ramaro sat back on his haunches and brushed his front claw down his chest. His paw disappeared into a pouch that perfectly blended in with the rest of his skin. He fumbled around for a few moments before he drew out a small envelope, which he held out to me.
“This is an envelope with powder from my scales.”
I reluctantly accepted the envelope and peeked inside. A tan colored powder presented itself to me. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but what do I do with this?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “You toss it in the face of your attacker, of course. My scales can cause horrible rashes if inhaled as a powder.”
Torvus grinned at the lizard. “Is that why you were late getting on the boat? You wanted to fetch your scales to protect Miss Larkin?”
