Queen Mary's eyes widened in astonishment, as though she had witnessed the most miraculous magic. "That's incredible! How did you do it?"
The boy bashfully raised the yellow powder in his hand. "Just use this, honorable lady. Razor clams don't like it."
"That is an Alchemy creation?"
"Uh, it's just some salt..."
"Salt? Shouldn't it be white?"
"You mean table salt, ma'am. We couldn't afford to use that to catch razor clams. This is Stinky Salt."
"Stinky Salt?"
Joseph cut in, "Salt dried from seawater?"
"Yes, honorable sir. Dry seawater in the sun, and you get this bitter, foul-smelling salt."
As he spoke, the boy carefully pulled a Razor Clam from its hole. It was as long as a spoon.
By habit, he wanted to toss the Razor Clam into his basket, but the girl beside him hurriedly tugged at his sleeve.
The boy immediately realized what he was doing and presented the oversized Razor Clam to Queen Mary with both hands. "Honorable lady, this is for you."
Queen Mary happily accepted it, turning it over and over in her hands as though she had received her favorite toy as a child.
"Um, honorable lady, I would like to ask..."
Just as the boy was about to ask that he and his sister be allowed through this stretch of beach, Queen Mary suddenly remembered something and said apologetically, "Please forgive me. I was so happy that I forgot my manners."
She plucked a pearl ornament from her hair and pressed it into the boy's hand. "This is my gift in return. You see, I came to gather from the shore, and this is all I have at hand."
The boy jumped in fright. He wanted to return the hair ornament, yet did not dare touch Queen Mary. In his panic,