LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 12: Can't Take a Trick
Arrie had used an oar to push a life buoy towards Winter's bobbing head.
The waves were still choppy, so they struggled to keep the tiny girl in sight as the boat tacked back against the wind.
Winter had seen the life buoy and was swimming hard towards it. She reached the buoy before the boat came close enough to pick her up. She pulled the buoy over her head and rested there for a minute after swimming so hard.
Arrie fished her out with the long hook, hooking the life buoy onto the rod and pulling Winter back to the boat. The girl shimmied up the rope ladder and collapsed onto the deck.
She looked up at them all, surrounding her. "You're all black. I guess he had the last laugh." Then, "my ankle hurts," she said as an afterthought.
They let Ruby through; she was the most skilled among them in first aid. She wiped her eyes clear of the salty ink, her face smeared with black, her blonde hair now dyed the same colour. She gently manipulated Winter's ankle.
"It's not broken. It will be your skin that's hurting. The suckers have left big welts around your ankle. Let's get some ointment onto you. Loveday and Indy can you carry you down for a shower, after they de-ink themselves. We'll get you cleaned up and tucked into bed with some salve on that ankle."
Winter nodded tearily. "That was really scary. I thought it was going to drown me."
"You were kickass, Winter," said Delphi. "You kept your head; you held onto your sword, and you saved yourself with one heck of a sword slash."
She nodded with determination. "I thought, I'm smarter than this amoeba with a floppy head. I wasn't going to let him get the better of me. If I can survive that sea sickness, I can definitely survive an octopus."
"Well said, Winter," said Arrie. "What a bloody hero you are. And while you were keeping your cool and freeing yourself, Delphi filled that creature up with arrows like she was pressing pins into a pincushion. She never stopped shooting until she got it in its little squidgy eye. That's when it pulled you up and swam off. After it covered us all in ink…"
"Grotty slimebucket," growled Delphi. "He'll think twice before he underestimates us again. You touch a Guerilla Girl, and we pay you back tenfold!"
"Yes!" shouted Lili fiercely. "We twisted his balls and kicked the living shit out of him!"
"Our plan is on track," Delphi said with menace. "Advance and keep on advancing. Whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy."
The eight girls gripped their hands together in the secret GG handshake.
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Lili was in the bow pulpit with binoculars when the Mainland finally came into sight.
She rang the bell. "Land in sight, land in sight," she cried excitedly.
The team who had been sleeping came up out of the hold. They couldn't really see anything with the naked eye, but they took Lili's word for it, and they all hugged each other in relief and elation.
They couldn't get off the water fast enough after the last few days, thought Delphi.
The currents picked up as they navigated their way towards Phillip Island.
"Shark fins starboard side," called Lili. "There are at least five of them."
"Are they tubiàn?" asked Delphi.
"Can't tell yet. They're too far out… Looks like it, yes. They're too organised to be natural. They're swimming in formation. Coming in fast!"
"Geez Louise we can't take a trick," muttered Delphi. "And so close to land. Weapons, Loveday! Get the oars too."
Everyone took up their positions arrayed around the boat. They were getting too practised at this, thought Delphi.
"Incoming," called Lili. "Starboard, ten metres!"
One of the sharks swam up against the hull and gratuitously opened its jaws, displaying a huge mouth filled with wicked looking teeth. It wasn't clear for what purpose, other than menacing them.
"There's a killing machine if ever I saw one," said Delphi. "Stay out of the water at all costs."
They weren't as huge as the tubiàn killer whales, so they weren't going to be able to put their heads up on the deck. The five sharks circled the boat, bumping it gently with their noses like they were testing it for something.
"Keep your powder dry girls," called Delphi. "Let's see what their plan is before we attack them."
One of the sharks bit onto the hull at the prow.
Lili called out, "a shark's biting the hull, starboard prow."
"Use your oar, Lili. If that doesn't work, try your sword or an arrow," shouted Delphi.
"Shark's biting the hull at the stern," cried Arrie from the back of the boat.
"Yep, another one's bitten onto the port side hull," said Feifei phlegmatically.
All five sharks had now bitten into the hull, and they started to pull downwards, using the not inconsiderable strength of their muscular bodies and tails.
"They're trying to pull us under!" shouted Delphi. "Get rid of the bastards!"
The oars were quickly discarded as useless. Arrows bounced off their tough skin. Only the swords were having any impact, but although they drew blood, the tubiàn didn't seem to be letting go.
The gunwale was about two feet above the water now and being dragged inexorably lower.
Ruby screamed as she hacked at a shark's nose over and over again.
As if in response, a strange staccato chattering sound rang out across the water, and the sharks stilled and stopped their pulling.