shark at
arm’s length. His left hand was gripping the shark’s snout and his
right was clutching the outside of its lower jaw. The shark swam in
a wide circle, thrashing its head back and forth trying to dislodge
Jeff’s grip. He held on as hard as he could and kicked furiously to
keep his position at the surface so he could breathe. He knew that
this was a stalemate that he could not maintain for long.
Eventually the shark would shake him off and tear him apart. As he
stared into the shark’s mouth, the water suddenly filled with a
dark cloud. “Blood!” Jeff realized. But as far as he could tell, he
had not been bitten. Then to his left, he saw a silvery flash in
the moonlight beside the shark’s head. It was the blade of Jenny’s
knife and she was slamming it into the shark’s gills!
The shark continued to thrash
violently in the cloud of blood. As it did, it knocked the knife
from Jenny’s hand and Jeff saw it sink into the depths below. The
shark was wounded, but still dangerous and Jeff dared not let go of
it. Jenny quickly swam around behind him and wrapped an arm around
his waist as she reached down and pulled his knife from its sheath.
She pushed back and swam to his right and attacked the other set of
gills. Jeff could feel the shark beginning to weaken. Finally it
stopped thrashing and although he was reluctant to release his
grasp on it, the shark was starting to drag him down and he had no
other choice. As he let go, he half-expected the shark to spring
back to life and resume its attack, but to his relief, it slowly
sank into the dark water below.
Jeff and Jenny were too exhausted to
speak. Jeff motioned with his head and they manage to swim the
remaining distance to the reef. Jeff found a cut through the rocks
and they made their way to an area of chest-deep water where they
could stand and catch their breath. The two held each other tight,
both shivering with a combination of cold and adrenaline. When he
could finally speak, Jeff smiled at Jenny and said, “I thought you
were beautiful before, but I’ve never seen anything so sexy as you
stabbing that shark! Thank you for saving my life!”
“Oh, I didn’t do it for you, not
really,” Jenny replied, still breathing heavily, “I was planning to
use it for shark fin soup, but you let it get away! But besides
that, after finally finding a man to give me a good rodgering, I
wasn’t about to let you die just yet!”
“I see, you’re just
keeping me around for the sex,” Jeff replied. “That’s fine, just
use me as you wish - 17 th century,
21 st century, you women are all alike!” The two managed a weak
laugh together before Jeff said, “We should get back to the ship
while we still have the adrenaline keeping us going.” Jenny nodded
and the two headed towards the silhouette of the Wandering Wench that was
barely visible in the moonlight.
As they approached the ship, Jeff
reached over to get Jenny’s attention and whispered, “We’ll go
quietly to the stern so we can get you disguised again.” Jenny
nodded in agreement and they slowly closed the distance to the
ship. Jenny’s shirt and chest wrap were where they had left them
and Jeff unrolled the chest wrap. Getting the wrap and shirt on in
the water was no easy task, especially in their state of
exhaustion, but they finally managed to get Jenny dressed. She then
pulled out the pouch of ash and grease and Jeff rubbed some on her
face. He had her turn her head back and forth to look at the makeup
job in the moonlight. Convinced that she was ready to be seen by
the crew, the two splashed their way to the cargo net. Crabtree
peered over the rail with a flintlock in hand and saw the two
struggling up the net. “They be here!” he called over his shoulder.
“Men! Grab the net and heave-to!” Several of the crew ran to the
rail and started pulling the net up the side of the ship. As the
pair’s hands made it over the rail, they were assisted onto the
deck by several men.
The
arm’s length. His left hand was gripping the shark’s snout and his
right was clutching the outside of its lower jaw. The shark swam in
a wide circle, thrashing its head back and forth trying to dislodge
Jeff’s grip. He held on as hard as he could and kicked furiously to
keep his position at the surface so he could breathe. He knew that
this was a stalemate that he could not maintain for long.
Eventually the shark would shake him off and tear him apart. As he
stared into the shark’s mouth, the water suddenly filled with a
dark cloud. “Blood!” Jeff realized. But as far as he could tell, he
had not been bitten. Then to his left, he saw a silvery flash in
the moonlight beside the shark’s head. It was the blade of Jenny’s
knife and she was slamming it into the shark’s gills!
The shark continued to thrash
violently in the cloud of blood. As it did, it knocked the knife
from Jenny’s hand and Jeff saw it sink into the depths below. The
shark was wounded, but still dangerous and Jeff dared not let go of
it. Jenny quickly swam around behind him and wrapped an arm around
his waist as she reached down and pulled his knife from its sheath.
She pushed back and swam to his right and attacked the other set of
gills. Jeff could feel the shark beginning to weaken. Finally it
stopped thrashing and although he was reluctant to release his
grasp on it, the shark was starting to drag him down and he had no
other choice. As he let go, he half-expected the shark to spring
back to life and resume its attack, but to his relief, it slowly
sank into the dark water below.
Jeff and Jenny were too exhausted to
speak. Jeff motioned with his head and they manage to swim the
remaining distance to the reef. Jeff found a cut through the rocks
and they made their way to an area of chest-deep water where they
could stand and catch their breath. The two held each other tight,
both shivering with a combination of cold and adrenaline. When he
could finally speak, Jeff smiled at Jenny and said, “I thought you
were beautiful before, but I’ve never seen anything so sexy as you
stabbing that shark! Thank you for saving my life!”
“Oh, I didn’t do it for you, not
really,” Jenny replied, still breathing heavily, “I was planning to
use it for shark fin soup, but you let it get away! But besides
that, after finally finding a man to give me a good rodgering, I
wasn’t about to let you die just yet!”
“I see, you’re just
keeping me around for the sex,” Jeff replied. “That’s fine, just
use me as you wish - 17 th century,
21 st century, you women are all alike!” The two managed a weak
laugh together before Jeff said, “We should get back to the ship
while we still have the adrenaline keeping us going.” Jenny nodded
and the two headed towards the silhouette of the Wandering Wench that was
barely visible in the moonlight.
As they approached the ship, Jeff
reached over to get Jenny’s attention and whispered, “We’ll go
quietly to the stern so we can get you disguised again.” Jenny
nodded in agreement and they slowly closed the distance to the
ship. Jenny’s shirt and chest wrap were where they had left them
and Jeff unrolled the chest wrap. Getting the wrap and shirt on in
the water was no easy task, especially in their state of
exhaustion, but they finally managed to get Jenny dressed. She then
pulled out the pouch of ash and grease and Jeff rubbed some on her
face. He had her turn her head back and forth to look at the makeup
job in the moonlight. Convinced that she was ready to be seen by
the crew, the two splashed their way to the cargo net. Crabtree
peered over the rail with a flintlock in hand and saw the two
struggling up the net. “They be here!” he called over his shoulder.
“Men! Grab the net and heave-to!” Several of the crew ran to the
rail and started pulling the net up the side of the ship. As the
pair’s hands made it over the rail, they were assisted onto the
deck by several men.
The
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