Page 67 of Blow Me Down
Until I looked back at the ship. Corbin was wrestling with a gun, trying to do the job of three men and load it himself. The gun bucked as I started to scream out a warning to him, but another blast of cannon fire from Pangloss’s ship joined with Corbin’s lone gun to drown me out.
Gunpowder was thick in the air, getting in my nose, leaving an acid taste in my mouth, but worst of all, it hung in thick, heavy gray clouds over the decks, obscuring my vision. By the time the gunpowder dispersed enough so we could see, the deck of Corbin’s ship was destroyed, half of it gone, the ship slowly sinking into the water. The ship seemed to implode on itself under the cannon fire, but there was enough of it left for me to see that Corbin wasn’t still on board.
“Where is he?” I yelled, desperately scanning the wreckage of the ship.
Bas shouted, pointing to the water.
Corbin’s body was almost invisible against the dark water, but the shimmer of water on his flesh caught my eye. He was facedown on a chunk of deck, partially draped over a bit of railing. As I watched, the wood started to sink, taking an unconscious—or possibly dead—Corbin with it.
I didn’t debate the question of what would happen should one of our virtual selves die while our brains were still hooked up to the game, or whether we evencoulddie in the game. All I wanted to do was save Corbin. Without thinking of the wisdom of my actions, I ripped off my boots, snatched up a length of rope, and tossed an end of it to Bas. “Tie it to the railing. If I go down, sail home. Don’t try to rescue me.”
Bas’s eyes were huge, but he nodded, quickly securing one end of the rope. I scrambled up on the railing, took a deep breath, and flung myself into the water.
The shallower waters of the harbor might have been warm, but out in the open sea, the water was cold enough to stun me for a few moments. A floating piece of debris slammed into my head, reminding me that I had a man to save. I trod water trying to see any sign of Corbin, but he had gone down. Without considering the likelihood of my own death, I dived, thanking my stars for the relatively clear water that let me see the sinking body ahead of me. My lungs started to burn as I kicked madly toward Corbin, grabbing him by the shirt to keep him from sinking down to the depths. As I struggled to drag him upward, I wrapped a couple of lengths of rope around him, giving it several sharp tugs that I prayed my crew would interpret as my need for assistance.
Black spots started to dance before my eyes. I looked upward, where I could see the hull of the ship, but it seemed an inordinately long way away. The water didn’t seem to be so cold now. In fact, it was rather pleasant, as if it was welcoming me. I drifted toward a deep abyss in the middle of it, clutching Corbin, figuring that if we were together, it might not be so bad…
With a painful jerk, I was slammed up against the side of the ship, my lungs convulsively gasping in both air and water as we broke the surface. Pain blossomed to horrible life all over my body as I collided three more times with the ship while the men hauled us on board.
“We thought we’d lost ye,” Prudence said with repulsive good cheer as Corbin and I landed like dead flounders on the deck.
I vomited up a couple of gallons of water, got to my knees, and crawled over to where Corbin lay motionless.
“Anyone know CPR?” I asked, feeling for a pulse.
The men stared at me. I pushed my dripping hair back from my face, pinched Corbin’s nose, and blew two breaths into his mouth, watching from the corner of my eye to make sure his chest rose. The men gawked openly as I put my hands over his chest and started pumping quickly, counting to fifteen before I repeated the two breaths.
Around us, the air was filled with the sounds and smells of cannon fire, screams of men as they were injured, and the terrible sound of ships being blown apart, but none of that registered with me. I blew breaths into Corbin’s mouth and pumped his chest, my whole world having narrowed down to just one person.
I was aware of blood seeping through his shirt, and dripping off my head, but none of that mattered. The pain that wracked my entire body didn’t matter.
The fact that my ship was damaged possibly to the point where we might not make it to shore didn’t matter. Not even the fact that someone I trusted had turned on me mattered. My whole being, my every breath, every beat of my heart, was focused on willing Corbin to live.
Minutes seemed to turn to hours, and just as I thought my own heart was going to burst, Corbin’s body jerked beneath me, his chest rising as he took a horrible long, rasping breath.
He coughed and choked, vomiting up seawater as I turned him on his side, tears of joy blurring my vision so I couldn’t see.
“Am…” The word cracked as he coughed up more water. He took a long, shuddering breath and tried again, his voice so hoarse it was painful to hear.
“Amy?”
“I’m here, my darling,” I panted, a painful lump in my throat making it hard for me to speak. “I have you. You’re safe now.”
“Famous last words,” he said, then passed out.
Chapter 17
Revenge is sweet,
And flavours all our dealings!
—Ibid, Act I
“Eh… be that Black Corbin?”
“Yes. Will someone get me the ship’s first-aid kit? There’s blood. I think he’s been hurt.”
“Oy, Imp, the captain has caught us Black Corbin,” Prudence told his brother excitedly.
