Page 60 of Blow Me Down
“Nope.” I thought for a moment, unwilling to put into words what I wanted to ask. “Do you think we have a chance?”
“You and Corbin?”
“Yeah.”
“Inside the game? Absolutely.”
“That’s well and fine, but what about outside it? That’s what really matters.”
The laughing light left his eyes as he gave me a long look. “I’d say that’s completely up to you.”
Approximately four and a half hours later, Bas and I took a lantern from Holder and marched our way along the leeward-side path up and over the turtle’s back, down to the town proper. As I feared, Bas had been full of the (to him) fascinating facets of drowned bodies and had spent the entire trip describing in great detail his time spent with the surgeon/undertaker. I let him go on not only because it was one of his few pleasures, but also because I was currently struggling with a few unwieldy and unwelcome emotions.
I’d only been parted from him for six hours, and already I missed Corbin.
“I am not going to do this,” I told myself a short while later as we slipped into Renata’s house. I sent Bas off to the small closetlike room Renata had given up to him, and headed toward my own room. Although it was the small hours of the morning, I could hear voices and the sound of a concertina from the main room, while assorted giggles, shouts, and moans from some of the bedrooms told me the ladies were still going strong. “I’m not going to become one of those women who can’t exist without a man. They’re nice in many aspects, and handy when it comes to dealing with spiders, but I can get along just fine without one in my life permanently.”
“Can ye, now?” Renata asked as she emerged from my room just as I was reaching for the half-opened door, causing me to jump in surprise.
“Oh, man, you startled me. Evening, Renata.”
“Good evenin‘ to ye, too,” she said, giving me a shrewd look. “Ye’re comin’ in a wee bit later than normal, eh?”
“Oh. Uh. Yeah. I… Bas and I were out sailing, and we didn’t get back until late. We ended up on the other side of the island,” I said, fingers crossed behind my back even though I wasn’t outright lying.
She nodded, but the look she gave me told me I wasn’t fooling her. “Ye’re a woman with a few brains about ye,” she said, surprising me again. Renata wasn’t one to heap praise on someone where it wasn’t due. “Ye’ve got yer wits about ye, and ye’re not afraid to work. And ye stand up for what ye believe in.”
“Thank you,” I said, humbled but wondering what brought on the praise. And what had she been doing in my bedroom? I didn’t have anything there but a few items of clothing that had been given to me, and the fake leg I’d acquired the first day. Certainly nothing of interest for anyone to snoop around.
Her gimlet glance turned even sharper. “There are times, however, when I think ye’ve less sense than that tick-riddled harbinger of death that clings to Bas’s shoulder. Ye’re riskin‘ losin’ the man what is meant for ye over a few scraps of pride. ‘Tis folly of the worst sort, lass, but I don’t expect ye’ll be seein’
that until it’s too late.”
She hobbled past me, leaving me sputtering, “But… he… we’re only… I’m not… huh?”
“If I was ye, I’d be doin‘ everythin’ I could to join me man.”
“Er… we’re on opposite sides of the blockade. That makes it a bit difficult.”
“Does it?” She stopped for a moment at the door to the common room.
“Perhaps ye’re not tryin‘ hard enough.”
“Not trying hard enough!” I made an impatient gesture. “I like that. Just what am I supposed to be doing that I’m not?”
She made a thoughtful face. “Well, as ye’re askin‘ me advice… if we was wearin’ each other’s shoes, I’d be makin‘ sure that I talked to Black Corbin as soon as possible. If ye truly want to resolve the blockade, that is.”
“Of course I do, and I’d love to talk to him, but there’s no time. Bart says the blockade ships will be here tomorrow morn—scratch that, this morning—and short of using Girl Scout semaphore, I don’t see how I’m going to be able to talk with him.”
“Get him on yer ship, dearie,” Renata said, smiling.
“Hmm.” I mused that thought over. “That might be possible.”
“Aye, ‘twould be an unnatural man as could resist a wench as comely as yerself.”
“Thank you… I think.”
Her laughter floated through the door as she closed it behind her, leaving me alone in the hallway. I shook my head before entering my room.
