The cook led Vinnie and Helene to the kitchen.
She put the rabbits on a long table.
The kitchen was full of busy people.
"You!" The cook pointed to Vinnie. "Start peeling!"
Vinnie sat down at a pile of onions.
Sighing, he began to peel them.
Vinnie wondered what happened to Mandy.
"I haven't seen you here before," said a kitchen boy.
He grinned at Vinnie.
"I'm new," said Vinnie.
"Why is everyone so nervous?"
"Our king is very picky.
He likes his food cooked a certain way.
If it isn't"—the boy shuddered—"you're in big trouble!"
"What will he do?" Vinnie gulped.
"You don't want to know," said the boy.
Meanwhile, Mandy was trying to find her way out of the palace.
"I wish I knew where Helene was!" she cried.
She walked down a dark flight of stairs.
"This part of the palace is very different," she thought.
The rooms were small and shabby.
Mandy knocked on a door.
She poked her head in.
"Hello?" she said.
"Elise? Is that you?" someone called.
Mandy walked in.
She found a sick woman in a bed.
The room was damp.
"I'm looking for Helene," said Mandy.
The woman coughed.
"Helene? Simone's daughter? She's not here."
Mandy felt very bad for the woman.
"Can I bring you some tea?" she asked.
She shook her head.
"If His Highness knows I am sick, I will be thrown out.
Please do not tell."
Mandy promised she wouldn't.
"King Louis and his friends live in luxury," she thought.
"But the servants do not.
How do the rest of the French people live?" wondered Mandy.
In the kitchen, Vinnie's eyes were watering.
The onions made his eyes sting.
He stood up to wipe his eyes.
Vinnie's elbow hit a bowl of green leaves.
The bowl tipped and spilled on the table.
"Uh-oh," he said.
"Be careful with that!" said the kitchen boy.
He was heading into the next room.
"It looks like parsley.
But that bitter herb can make you sick if you eat too much."
Vinnie scooped the bitter herb back into the bowl.
The cook called out, "Give me that parsley!
I need it for the soup!"
Vinnie looked at him, puzzled.
"What parsley?" he asked.
"In your hand!" the cook yelled.
"But this isn't—," Vinnie began.
The cook grabbed the bowl.
"Get back to the onions!" he screamed.
Then he poured the bitter herb into the soup.
Vinnie's eyes grew big.
"But, sir," he began.
It was too late.
The cook put the soup on a tray.
"This is the king's favorite," the cook said to a servant.
"Take it to him at once."