Part 2 (1/2)
A strong man, as boatswains must be, he clutched the shaft in his chest, clutched the rudder, skidded in blood Then his strength failed and he lost both, slipped onto the deck The shi+p lost headway again, and the sails flapped hostly derelict
Now Robin spotted the pirate captain by the mainmast He was bulky old threads, and a long blue sash over his shoulder He howled insults at Robin Hood He shook his fist, then screamed at his crew He ordered two pirates to seize the loose rudders When the men balked, he jerked a jewelled knife froh his belly
Robin Hood laughed In Arabic he shouted, ”Lucky shots, eh? Weakling fatherless wine-guzzling camel-fuckers! Who's next?”
The pirate creled in rage and anguish, hurled insults and dares, shook weapons and fists, shot arrows They argued with one another, too, for no one would took the rudders The pilotcaptain, hunkered behind the mainmast and called orders Pirates put their backs into the oars The rudders could lie idle -- they'd steer with the oars alone The pilot ht
A voice called Robin from below He looked down the iant called, ”You only got a dozen or sumpin' arrows!”
”That's so,” the outlaw called, ”but they're thirsty for blood! How go the preparations?”
The giant waved Crewer scurried about, but fussed at their stations with things at hand, or simply waited ”'Bout ready You've made them pirates madder'n hell”
”Good!” Robin Hood shi+pped his bow over his shoulder, clambered into the shrouds and slid down like a squirrel Pirate arrohizzed around him until he sank below the rude barricade and thury men make rash decisions”
Robin Hood strode down the decks on a quick inspection tour The decks were surprisingly clear since the cargo had been stacked along the gunwales With the new fortifications, the shi+p looked like the rooftop of a castle Everywhere he went, people greeted hihter or terrified silence He did his best to comfort them In the forecastle, men and boys were positioned with bows ”Keep a sharp eye out,” he told them, ”and wait your chance Better too slow than too fast Aim well and you'll send heathens to hell”
”I wish I could shoot like you,” a boy burst out ”You're a wizard with that bow!”
Robin laughed and tousled the boy's hair ”That was nothing Were my cousin here, he'd have made me call which eye I'd put out And I alravid sow Or he was”
All along the sides, olderthe bulwarks with various parcels and bundles Robin Hood nudged a pile of rough sacks, ball-sized, with his foot He winked at a youngat her skirts ”We'll make it hot for them with these, eh? We'll pepper their stew and hed for many reasons, partly from tension, partly from Robin's infectious joy, partly from hysteria
Amidshi+ps, Little John stood with his quarterstaff in hand and a pile of rocks at his feet Robin told him, ”Try not to throw too far, John We don't want to kill anyone in Africa” The giant s booms, spare spars hauled from the hold The ends were freshly sharpened, and cypress resin scented the air Nearby, various lines leading to theroups They were ready for orders from either the boatswain or Robin Hood The outlaw said, ”If we save this shi+p, I'm sure the lords in Venice will see to it you keep most of the profit” They snorted, and oneup shi+p's supplies Wasting arrows in pirate's guts, for instance” They laughed at that
The four Hospitallers were dotted along the bulwarks like crows on a fence Robin squeezed the ar in Ger men! See you don't carve all the pirates before your father T'would be bad hter deep in their bellies
Robin checked the last group, the archers in the aftercastle, then turned and surveyed the shi+p frogage was stowed below, buckets of water to stop fires were spaced around, the canvas hatch covers were battened down, both to keep anyone fro fro was ready He called, ”Good people, we sink or swiether! Is everyone clear on the most important point?”
”'ATTEND ME!” half a hundred shouted
”Aye!” Robin Hood dashed forward and hopped onto the knee of the et the blame! Mother Mary knows you lot have done as well as any of the defenders of Acre or Jerusale about you heroes before you arrive in Venice! Look sharp, stay at your stations, and listen! The wolf's after the flock, but we've teeth they don't suspect! We'll teach the! Boatswain! Where are they bound?”
The boatswain, under the aftercastle with the steers the barricade The dro the merchant vessel wide to come into the lee
”'Round Robin Hood's barn,” Little John chuckled ”They're afraid of you”
”That's a Musliet 'round your bu and lean as a white-tipped shark, circled the shi+p and bore closer, white-facedirons: ed iron hooks like anchors with ropes attached Excited by imminent action, the pirates howled like demons, but a bark from the new captain and raps from thecaptain called across the tossing turquoise water with a speaking trumpet ”Surrender and ill not harap in the barricade, hooked another in a shroud, popped up like a badger out of a hole, and raised his bow He could just see over their shi+eld wall Pirates scras The shi+p's head fell away again as the steersmen dived for cover But the pilot h the trumpet and slammed into his throat He was knocked over like a pheasant flushed from cover Robin Hood disappeared as a storm of arrohizzed overhead and slapped into the mast
He called in French, ”Your tune strikes a sour note! I can pluck , he yelled, ”Archers, shoot! A scream marks a bullseye!”
Men and boys and a feomen levelled crossbows from the shi+p's armory and soed and broke on their shi+eld wall, but shouts showed soh the cracks Their aih or hit the barricade
Robin Hood kept one eye on his shi+p and one on the pirates, and shot when he could He tried to place arrows that would kill two ed in a bone, his arrows could pass clean through a man and kill the one behind Men went doith split livers, collapsed lungs, punctured guts
Robin Hood watched through a peephole in the crazy wall of mismatched chests and bales, looked up to follow the dromon's sails And, most important, he measured with his eye Yes, the end of the mainmast's lateen yard would reach well over the pirate shi+p when the tied, the sails were hoicked closer to the wind The pirates were closing
”Grapples next, folks!” he called ”Fear not! We needs bring the enemy close to strike! Children, ready weapons!”
Heavy iron hooks, a half dozen like grasping octopi, flew through the air One bounced off a cotton bale and splashed back into the sea, one tore a sack of rice, but the rest clanged and bounced on wood and rope Four bit deep
The shi+p jerked Three score screaroan, the ether by brute force
Robin Hood watched and waited, shot when he could He'd decided not to pry at the grappling irons, for that rapples be cut loose, for the first six feet of line was chain So he let thehtened twitter Robin wasted no words co them They'd be busy soon
The shi+p jerked like a horse balking at the reins When the shi+ps were a rod apart, Robin bellowed ”Away jars! Archers, shoot as you can! Sailors, take up slack!”
Arrows sang fro the sides, , rose from a squat Over their heads they hoisted red clay arunted as they heaved the long jars over the barricade A couple of jars splashed in the narrowing gap between shi+ps But a score orcrashes as they shattered on the pirates' deck
Olive oil and heady Lebanon honey and raisin-scented wine gurgled around the pirates' feet Muslirunted as they slipped and hit the decks and one another with knees and elbows and chins Sorabbed more amphoras handed them by women in the second line
Robin Hood called, ”Little John! Catapult!”
Froht up a stone in each hand, and pitched These sli as man's skull, were drawn froe They crashed aboard the dro a ing his ass's jawbone
Robin Hood peeked, ap between shi+ps, shot an arrow that travelled only ten feet Pirates with purple stains on their clothes and purple bruises on their faces raised shi+ning steel Many poised just below the shi+eld wall, ready to bound across to the merchant vessel the second the hulls touched Others crowded behind the their comrades' rears with sharp points
The Fox of Sherwood called loud and clear, ”Children! Away feathers! Away pepper!”
With shouts of joy and fear, the dozen children of the shi+p rose like hares in a field and slung clumsy bundles overhand Like autumn leaves, the bundles showered black and brown chicken feathers in the air The children threw again and again, forgetting the danger in their haste, exposing their heads Robin had to trip one boy into a sprat fall on the deck When the feathers were exhausted, they hurled bags of pepper and were rewarded with colorful Arabic swearing and thunderous sneezing Boys and girls snickered Robin Hood laughed too The feathers and pepper were nothing but a nuisance, but they gave the children so to do besides worry
Robin Hood still had plenty to throw, for he'd all but erain!” Like an explosion in a mill, rice and spices cascaded onto the pirate shi+p And ent cinnaes, then lumps of fresh horseshi+t from the stables below decks
Robin had to shout over the shrills of the children and jabbering of men and women ”Away pots!” Robin Hood shouted into the tuht throw Iron nails, brass tacks, knife blades, brass bowls, clay cups, spiked dog collars, spear heads, redware pitchers, gilded beakers froes, anda trio of lutes that broke with a ht, as if a earthquake and thunderbolt had struck a bazaar Pirates howled h a number of men cursed when they stepped on nails and pot shards ”Keep shooting, archers! Heave everything we've got at the bastards!”
Robin peeked The shi+ps were about to close Robin Hood shouted over the noise, ”Sailors, HAUL AWAY!”
Opposite him, amidshi+ps, two teams of sailors tailed onto the lines and heaved The twin boole that steepened, like giant stiff snakes pulled by their tails The sharpened ends skittered across the deck and gouged furrows in the pine decking
Robin Hood watched and prayed This part of the plan hadn't been tested Each boom was lashed by its end to a line -- a sheet line, the sailors called them -- that ran far overhead to a block on the lateen yard From there, the rope returned to the deck and another block, thence to a band of sailors Hand over frantic hand, six knotty-ar Slowly the boo overhead like tords of Da the while One sharpened boo like a lethal penduluri to travel a shorter distance, was in place first Like a giant lethal pendulu out over the pirate shi+p Then it tilted back, over the lanced at the pirate shi+p and swore Too slow Despite the debris and missiles, two dozen pirates were poised to leap the short tumblehome between the rounded hulls It would be close Both pirates and pilgri the boom Over the Theresa, over the pirates -- Robin hollered, ”Let her go!”
The sailors opened their hands, but not fast enough to prevent the rough rope fro A rope end whipped past and aliant arrow struck
The sharpened booiant thud, and punched a hole through the botto planks loose in its passage, it disappeared through the gaping hole and shot straight to the bottom of this inland sea The hole it left raised havoc