Brotherband 4: Slaves of Socorro by John Flanagan

speed as she came round.
    ‘Stand by up for’ard!’ he called.
    Stig raised a hand in acknowledgement, then bent to the sights. Ingvar stepped forward and loaded the bolt into the grooved section on top of the Mangler. Kloof watched him do it, dancing on her toes, rearing back slightly onto her rear legs and letting her front legs come down together on the deck. Her tail lashed from side to side with excitement.
    Lydia couldn’t help but smile at the dog’s prancing. Kloof obviously sensed the anticipation in the small group around the crossbow. Then Lydia shook her head and ignored Kloof, resuming her position on the mast support once more.
    ‘Two-fifty,’ she called.
    Stig waved a hand to her but said nothing. He was concentrating on his sights.
    They came in at speed, the wake hissing down Heron ’s flanks, spray sheeting back as she occasionally cut deeper than normal into a wave. Stig kept up a muttered string of directions to Ingvar. He wanted this shot to be perfect. This was for real, after all.
    Kloof! said Kloof, rising and falling onto her forepaws once more.
    ‘Shut up,’ Stig told her, concentrating fiercely. She didn’t bark again, but she began to whine in expectation and excitement.
    They passed the one-fifty mark, Lydia calling the range as they did. Ingvar was busy, constantly making the tiny corrections that Stig was calling for.
    ‘Ready?’ Hal called from the stern.
    They all ignored him. Stig peered down the sights, winding the elevation up, watching the target drift from right to left again. He took the firing lanyard in his left hand, took up the tension on it. Mindful of Hal’s warning, he smoothly pulled the lanyard just before the target drifted across his sights. There was a slight delay, then . . .
    SLAM!
    The Mangler bucked with the recoil. The bolt streaked away.
    And Kloof, with an excited yelp, hurled herself over the railing, hitting the water with an enormous splash and striking out after the streaking bolt.
    For a second, they were all struck dumb by the dog’s unexpected action. Jesper and Stefan collapsed with laughter, closely followed by Ulf and Wulf. Stig, who had been concentrating on his sights, hadn’t seen the dog leap overboard and was looking around, a bewildered expression on his face. In all the confusion, nobody saw where the shot had gone – except, presumably, Kloof. Hal yelled at his dog to come back – a command that went totally unheeded as Kloof ploughed on determinedly through the water. Lydia and Thorn exchanged puzzled looks, wondering what had come over Kloof. It was Edvin who first realised what had happened.
    ‘She’s going to fetch it!’ he said. The laughter redoubled from the twins, Jesper and Stefan.
    Ingvar had only seen a blur of movement from behind him and had heard the massive splash as Kloof hit the water. ‘What happened?’ he said.
    Lydia quickly explained the situation and a crooked grin settled over the big boy’s features.
    Thorn turned a withering look on Hal, who was red-faced with rage as his dog continued to ignore his shouted commands.
    ‘Where did you say you found this dog?’ he asked.
    Hal shook his head dismissively. ‘Never mind that. We’ll have to go get her.’
    ‘Why?’ Thorn asked. ‘She seems perfectly happy out there, swimming off into the distance.’
    The ship and the dog were on slightly divergent courses, so that Kloof was moving further and further away.
    ‘We’ll have to go round to fetch her,’ Hal called. ‘Lydia, keep an eye on her so we don’t lose her. Stig, get ready to haul her on board. Sail handlers, get ready to go about.’
    ‘Is there anything you’d like me to do?’ Thorn asked, smiling sweetly.
    Hal glared at him. ‘I suppose it’d be too much to ask you to shut up?’
    ‘Absolutely too much,’ Thorn said.
    They came about, describing a giant circle, then heading back in to intercept the dog, still swimming strongly in the direction she had seen the bolt disappear. Lydia