Bink got to his feet and slunk up to the mast. The sails were furled, so that it offered scant concealment; they would see him when they turned with their lamps.
Well, he would have to act first. He felt ill equipped to indulge in combat, his arms and feet cold and heavy, but it was necessary. He walked silently up behind the four, his heart pounding. They were leaning over the rail, trying to see Fanchon, who was still making a considerable commotion. Bink put his left hand against the back of the nearest sailor and caught the man's trouser with his right hand. He heaved, hard and suddenly-and the sailor went up and over with a cry of alarm.
Bink swung immediately to the next, grabbing and shoving. The man had started to turn toward his companion's exclamations-but too late. Bink heaved, and the sailor went over. Almost over--one hand caught the rail. The sailor clung, twisting around to face inward. Bink knocked at his fingers and finally pried them loose, and the man dropped into the water.
But the loss of time and momentum had been crucial. Now the other two were upon Bink. One wrapped an arm around Bink's shoulder, trying to choke him, while the other hovered behind.
What had Crombie said to do in a situation like this? Bink concentrated and remembered. He grabbed the man, bent his knees, leaned forward, and heaved.
It worked beautifully. The sailor sailed over Bink's shoulder and crashed on his back on the deck.
But the last one was stepping in, fists swinging. He caught Bink on the side of the head with glancing but numbing force. Bink fell to the deck himself, and the man dove on top of him. To make things worse, Bink saw one of the others climbing back aboard. He put up his feet to hold off his opponent, but this was only partially effective. The burly sailor was pushing him down, pinning him-and the other was about to join in.
The standing figure lifted a foot. Bink could not even flinch; his arms were tangled, his body held down. The foot swung-and struck the head of Bink's antagonist
The man rolled off Bink with a groan. It was not fun, being kicked in the head. But how had the kicker missed the proper target, at such close range? The lamps had all gone into the water along with their owners; maybe in the dark a mistake-"Help me get him over the edge," Fanchon said. "We've got to secure this ship."
And he had mistaken her for a sailor, though she was naked! Well, blame the inadequate light again. Moonlight was pretty, but in a situation like this-But the remaining two sailors were already rising over the gunwale. Acting on a common impulse, Bink grabbed his erstwhile opponent's shoulders, and Fanchon grabbed his feet. "One-two-three--heave!" she gasped.
They heaved almost together. The man swung up and into his two companions. All three went over the edge to splash in the sea. Bink hoped they were all lively enough to swim. The fourth one lay on the deck, apparently unconscious.
"Pull up the anchor!" Fanchon ordered. "I'll get a pole." She ran to the ship's cabin, a lean figure in the moonlight.
Bink found the anchor chain and hauled on it. The thing snagged infuriatingly, because he did not know how to make it let go, but finally he got it up.
"What did you do to this guy?" Fanchon demanded, kneeling beside the fallen sailor.
"I threw him. Crombie showed me how."
"Crombie? I don't remember-"
"A soldier I met in Xanth. We got caught in a hailstorm, and I was going back after Dee, but-well, it's complicated."
"Oh yes-you did mention the soldier." She paused. "Dee? You went after her? Why?"
"She had run out into the storm and-well, I liked her." Then, to cover up what might have been taken as a slight to his present company, who had shown extreme sensitivity about such things before, he said: "What happened to the other sailors? Did they drown?"
"I showed them this," she said, pointing to a wicked-looking boathook. "They swam for shore instead."
"We'd better get moving. If we can figure out the sail"
"No. The current is carrying us out. Wind's the wrong way. We'd just mess it up, trying to handle the sails when we don't know what we're doing."
Bink looked across at the other ship. Lights were on it. "Those sailors didn't swim ashore," he said. "They went next door. They'll be coming after us-under sail."
"They can't," she said. "I told you-the wind."
But now it was unmistakable. The other sail was being spread. They were using the wind.
"We'd better find that elixir," she said.
"Yes." He had forgotten about it. But for that, they could have run across the land and been lost in Mundania. But could he have lived with himself, buying his own freedom while leaving Xanth subject to the siege of the Evil Magician? "We'll dump it overboard-"
"No!"
"But I thought-"
"We'll use it as hostage. As long as we have it, they won't close on us. We'll take turns standing on the deck and holding the vial over the sea so they can see us. If anything happens to--"
"Beautiful!" he exclaimed. "I never would have thought of that."
