I glanced at the people garnered around the square, the lights of the lanterns and candles flickering wildly in the breeze, casting odd shadows on their faces. I didn’t see whom I expected to see, and slipped away while Corbin was patiently repeating his instructions.
The scene at Renata’s house was like some horrible parody of a slasher movie—
only without the blood and gore. Bodies lay everywhere—slumped in chairs, drooped over tables, and lying in heaps on the floor. Next to every man was a wooden or metal tankard, puddles of grog staining the floor. I stopped at the nearest body, lightly touching his neck to make sure he was alive, but was soon reassured that the men were indeed drugged only—in fact, several of diem were snoring.
Trying not to step on anyone’s arms, legs, or other parts (I’ve never seen such a variety in “other parts”—clearly Corbin and Holder digitized anatomically correct bodies rather than Ken and Barbie versions), I quickly made my way to the back of the house, where the bedrooms were located, making a mental note to remind Corbin that he’d have to see to his drugged crewmates if the fire reached the town.
“Renata?” I called as I reached the back hall. “Mags? Red Beth? Jez? Suky?
Anyone not drugged?”
The only sound that greeted my question was the faint snore of a crewmate slumped up against the sideboard— who, upon closer inspection, turned out to be Pangloss.
“Oh, no, not you, too… great,” I said, opening the nearest door. It was Jez’s room, dark and silent, her slight form on the bed visible in the lantern light.
“Everyone’s out. Just dandy.”
I started to close the door when a sleepy voice spoke from the depths of the room. “Amy?”
“Jez?”
“Aye.” There was a scrape of tinder, and a flame burst into life, highlighting Jez’s bewildered face as she lit a candle. “Are ye ailin‘ again?”
“You’re not drugged? You didn’t drink the grog?”
“Nay, I don’t like grog—ye know that. What do ye mean, drugged?”
I explained quickly, getting only a few sentences out before she started pulling on her clothes.
“I thought you were drugged, too, when you didn’t answer me, or for that matter, hear the shore guns blowing up.”
“I’m dead tired,” she said with a wry smile. “We worked hard tonight. ‘Twas one customer on top of another. Well, not literally on top, although there were these two who wanted to—”
“Understood, and you really don’t have to spill professional secrets,” I said quickly, starting out the door. “I’ll go check on the others. Maybe they’re just tired, too.”
We went from room to room, but Jez was the only member of the house who hadn’t indulged in the grog. Jez picked up Suky’s baby, who’d started fussing, and looked at me with wide, scared eyes. “What are we goin‘ to do?”
I smiled with more confidence than I felt. “Don’t worry, Corbin’s taken charge of the defenses. Now let’s go out and help get people organized. You take the baby—is there milk to feed her?”
“Aye, we’ve goat’s milk,” Jez said, hurrying toward the backyard, where Renata kept a couple of goats and chickens.
“Renata,” I said, slapping my forehead. “That was her room that was empty, wasn’t it?”
“Aye,” Jez called back as she left the house, a bottle and the baby clutched in her hands.
“Come to the square when you’re done,” I yelled after her, then forced my protesting limbs into a lumbering trot as I ran back to the square.
Just in time to see the ships in the harbor blow up.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Holder gasped, as I staggered to a stop next to him.
The townspeople had just split into two groups, one heading up the hill to tackle the fire, the other starting toward the harbor, Corbin at the lead.
Everyone stumbled to a stop at the sight of one of the frigates blowing up, the blast so loud it hurt my ears, followed almost immediately by another ship, a smaller sloop, exploding in a fury of metal and wood.
I ran forward, pushing my way through people until I reached Corbin. He stood with his fists clenched, watching as ship after ship was blown up, the burning remains quickly sinking to the bottom of the deep harbor.
“Corbin?” I slipped my hand into his, wincing slightly when his fingers tightened around my blistered flesh. Around us, everyone was silent in stunned horror, the blasts coming with regularity now as the bigger warships—the frigates—took several explosions before they were utterly destroyed. “What are we going to do?”
