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Back The Spice King
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Books by Elizabeth Camden
  3. Title Page
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Thirty-Four
  38. Thirty-Five
  39. Thirty-Six
  40. Thirty-Seven
  41. Thirty-Eight
  42. Thirty-Nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty-One
  45. Forty-Two
  46. Historical Note
  47. Questions for Discussion
  48. In 2020, look forCaroline Delacroix’sstory in
  49. About the Author
  50. Back Ads
  51. Back Cover

“Gray, the Department of Agriculture is already ten steps ahead of you in trying to sound the alarm about adulterated food. Why don’t you cooperate with them? This is for Luke, and you need to swallow your distaste for that person from Kansas if it means helping this plan succeed.”

“Forget it, Caroline.”

If Good Housekeeping was walking in lockstep behind the bureaucrats in the government, he intended to keep his distance. He would carry out Luke’s mission by meeting with scientists, businessmen, and newspaper reporters. Those were the men who shaped opinion in this country. Caroline might know Washington politics, but he knew business, and he didn’t need her help in this matter.

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Annabelle’s odds of getting Gray to accept the rice-collecting assignment were slim, but there would be no shame if she failed to recruit him to a noble cause. The only shame would be if she didn’t try.

Just as Mr. Fairchild had said, the mercantile warehouses in Alexandria were blanketed with announcements about the availability of cargo space on the Pelican, complete with a list of the ports the ship would stop at on the journey to Madagascar. The notices directed interested merchants to the customs house at the Port of Alexandria.

Annabelle set off for the customs house, clutching the wooden box of two dozen glass vials. This might be a fool’s errand, but she had to try. If nothing else, she wanted to see Gray again. Any ocean voyage was dangerous, and his health had already taken a beating from tropical diseases. She didn’t want the koi pond to be the last time they saw each other on this earth.

The clerk at the customs house was brusque as he informed her where Gray could be found. “The Pelican is in the first berth on the third quay, right behind the shipment of dunnage. Watch out for the bollard lines.”

He shoved back from the counter and disappeared into a storage room while she tried to process the terms he’d just flung at her. She might be a hayseed from Kansas, but she could still read, and the ships all had names on their side. She’d find it.

If she wasn’t so anxious, she’d enjoy watching the cranes lifting cargo onto the various ships harbored in port. Men with leathery skin gave her curious glances as she walked along the wind-battered dock, carrying the box of vials carefully before her. Hopefully these vials would someday return to America filled with rare strains of African rice, but only if Gray was willing to cooperate.