Page 104 of Blow Me Down
The last warship exploded, bits of wood and metal and cloth raining down on the harbor. Corbin watched it impassively, and for a moment, my heart sank with the knowledge that he had given up, that Bart had won.
“I’m going to kill that bastard,” he finally said, turning to look at me. His eyes were quicksilver pools of fury so intense it sent shivers of dread down my spine.
“How?” I asked, silently cheering his spirit, but the practical side of me needing to point out the obvious. “The fire is almost on the town. Your crew is out, drugged, and no help. The ships are gone. The townspeople are scared and close to panic. How are we going to stop him?”
“We aren’t—I am. This is personal, between Paul and me. You just got in the way of his wrath to me.” He started to pull away.
“No, sir,” I said, shaking my head, squeezing his hand. “It may have started out like that, but this ismytown, andmyisland, andmypeople, and I’m just as much a part of it as you. So if you go after Bart, I go after Bart. Only I don’t see how we’re going to with no ships left but a few dinghies and my borrowed sloop.”
Out beyond the crescent arms that guarded the entrance of the harbor, large black shapes moved against the horizon. Bart’s ships were coming. Corbin watched impassively for a few moments as the first ship sailed into the harbor, then he pulled me along with him as he started herding the people back toward the square. “Get everyone out of town,” he yelled to those people he’d designated as group leaders.
“How?” One of them cried, pointing at the hill where fire had the governor’s house fully engulfed. Beyond it a line of fire stretched out, sweeping a path straight for the town. “We can’t cross that!”
“The mines,” Corbin said, giving me a gentle push forward. “Take them through the mines to Careenin‘ Cove. I have a ship there—a sloop, but everyone should be able to fit on her. Sweetheart, I know you want revenge just as much as I do, but I need you to do this for me—you have to lead the people to my ship. Get them there safely and set sail for Mongoose. Don’t worry about me—I can take care of myself.”
There was so much wrong with that ludicrous plan, I didn’t even bother to discuss it. “I don’t know where the mine is, let alone your secret way through it.
You lead the people to the ship—I’ll take care of Bart.”
The look he shot me was priceless, and I mentally tucked it away in a file to be examined later, when I could appreciate the look of mingled love and exasperation. “Don’t even go there.”
“I just wanted you to see how it felt,” I told him, kissing his sooty nose, but sobering up as our dire situation was made clearer by the sound of the arriving warship opening fire on the town. She was still too far out in the harbor to hit the town, but the sound of her cannons thundering in the night air had a chilling effect. “If you’re the only one who knows the way through the mine—”
“I’m not. Holder!”
“Front and center, boss,” Holder said, pushing his way forward, saluting smartly. “I heard—you want me to take them through the mine?”
“Aye. Get them to the ship.”
“What about the crew and the ladies?” I asked, gesturing toward Renata’s house. “They’re all asleep. You can’t leave them there.”
“We’ll cart them to the mine, then leave them there until it’s over,” Holder said quickly, yelling for the carts that had been about to haul supplies to the fire line. “The fire won’t go into the tunnels, so they’ll be safe there.”
Bas stood forlornly at the edge of the crowd. I went to him, explaining that I wanted him to accompany Holder to the ship, smiling when he frowned at my request.
“Ye be goin‘ to battle Bart?” he asked. Bran was back on his shoulder, cawing wildly at everyone.
“Yes, but don’t even think you’re going to come with us.”
“I’m yer cabin boy,” he said stiffly, and I knew I’d injured his pride.
“You’re the best cabin boy ever, but Holder is going to need help with the townsfolk,” I said quickly, attempting to smooth his ruffled feathers.
He squinted up at me. “Ye’re just sayin‘ that to get me out of the way.”
“No, I’m not. I promise that you can come with me to the very next battle I go to,” I said, adding to myself that there was no way I’d risk the life, even the virtual life, of a child if I thought there was a good chance we wouldn’t survive the battle.
“Ye promise?”
“Cross my heart,” I said, doing just that, then totally embarrassing him by giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Women,” he said disgustedly, wiping his face with the back of his hand. Bran squawked his agreement but hopped over to me. I kissed his head, too, then sent them both off to Holder.
“That takes care of getting the women and children from town, but how are we going to get Bart so we can beat the tar out of him?” I asked Corbin as he was organizing the remaining people.
He gave me a long look, then suddenly pounced on me, pulling me into a hard, fast kiss. “Have I told you today how much I love you, wife?”
“No, you haven’t, husband, but I’ll take issue with you over that later. There’s a villain to capture, first.”
