Outside the captain's cabin, a man screamed, and the singing stopped.
For three long heartbeats, there was nothing but the creak of the hull and the wind whistling through the broken window. Rose Marie felt the Storm Tossed slow beneath her as the rhythm of the oars faltered.
Then the captain's voice roared out over the deck, and another voice took up the song, ragged and furious, and the sweeps bit down again.
A sailor burst through the door, nearly bumping his head on the bolt that stuck out of it in the process.
"A man's hit!" he panted. "Arn! On the third bench, a bolt in his shoulder, and he's…"
"Is the bolt still in him?" Rose Marie asked, without lifting her eyes from Domenec's leg.
"Y-yes."
"Then leave it there," Rose Marie said. "Don't let anyone pull it out, or he'll bleed like a stuck pig. Pack cloth around it, as tight as you can, and press on it until I come. Can you do that?"
The man swallowed hard and nodded.
