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“Are you certain he’s tied up good?” Boy kicked the thief before heading over to sit in the co-captain’s chair.
Harmony looked back at the man now roped to the starboard rail. He was still out cold from where she had hit him on the back of the head with one of the planks that had been torn off the airship during the crash onto the island. She had meant to throw the damn thing overboard but had been too busy fixing other things to ever get around to it. For once in her life her procrastination had paid off.
“He’s not getting out of those ropes by himself, and from the look of that large lump on the back of his head, he won’t be trying to any time soon.” It served the bastard right for trying to steal her airship. She was tempted to go back over and hit him again – just because. She still might, as soon as she had Airus out of the tree and into the air.
“Damn it.” Harmony slapped the side of the helm.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to have to go back and collect everything I left and haul it back onboard. I can’t leave Grandmother’s comb. Dad would never forgive me if I did.” She would never forgive herself, come to that.
Harmony watched the pressure gauge as she ran the friction engine faster. Slowly but surely, Airus lifted out of the tree and out of danger.
She turned to the still unconscious thief and told him, “And that’s how it’s done.” Not missing a beat, she motioned for Boy to take her place at the helm. “I’m going to do a quick look-see to make certain we’re still in one piece before heading back down.” She pointed to the spot near the riverbank where everything still lay undisturbed. “Take us down but not too close. I don’t want any more unexpected surprises. You and Molly stay here, and as soon as I’m on the ground, head back up until I motion for you to come down again.”
Harmony checked Airus, looking over the side to see if she could spot any damage from its crash into the oak tree. Everything seemed fine. There were a few scratches but nothing that would stop them from flying. She patted the rail and whispered, “You’re a tough old girl. Grandmother would be proud of how you’ve withstood everything you’ve been through lately. I promise I’ll fix you up again as soon as we get home.”
Satisfied that everything was in good shape, Harmony grabbed the plank on her way over to Molly, handing it to her. She nodded toward the unconscious man. “If he so much as moves, I want you to hit him until he stops.” Harmony patted Molly’s head and bent down to her eye level. “Okay?”
“Damn straight.” Molly stared at Harmony without blinking.
“Jeez. I’ve totally corrupted you too. Griffin’s going to kill me when he finds out.”
Molly positioned herself over the thief, the bat in swing mode, then looked over at Harmony. “Griffin will get over it.”
In spite of everything that had just happened, Harmony laughed. “Damn straight.”
With Boy at the helm and Molly guarding the thief, Harmony waited until they were close enough to the ground before she headed down. Once there she motioned for Boy to take the airship up again and only went to gather their belongings when he had it back up at a safe height. It didn’t take long to collect the dry washing from the branches and brushes and put it with everything else she had placed by her clean clothes earlier.
Harmony looked down in surprise at her nakedness. In all the excitement she had completely forgotten she wasn’t clothed. “I really have turned into a heathen. Something else I can never tell my mother. She would be completely horrified and would never let me leave the house again.”
She slipped on the clean clothes and then spread a bed sheet out, in the middle of which she piled everything. It didn’t take but a minute to tie the sheet up tight so she could throw it over her shoulder and get it all back up the ladder. Glancing around to make certain there wasn’t anyone lurking about, she motioned for Boy to bring Airus down again.
Only when the airship was safely in the air once more did Harmony breathe easy. Groans from the other side of the deck reminded her she had another problem to sort out. It was tempting to throw the thief overboard. If she did that, though, she would have to knock him out again. She would hate having to do it since too many thumps on the head might do him some permanent damage – not that he didn’t deserve it. He certainly hadn’t thought about their welfare when he took off with the airship and their supplies.
Harmony glanced at Boy and asked, “What do you think we should do with him?”
Boy stared at the man, who was now trying but failing to sit up. “Throw him overboard.”
“My thoughts too but how do we go about doing that without killing him?” There were some lines even she refused to cross. There had always been the possibility that one day she might have to take a life to defend her own. After all, she often traveled alone and into isolated spots, but she had always hoped it would never come to it.
She looked over at her prisoner again. Even though he smelt like three kinds of death, he didn’t appear to be much older than her brother, Walker. If Walker were in the same circumstance, she would want him to receive leniency, but then her brother would never steal, so it was hard to compare the two. Now the dust had settled and she had control over Airus again, it was easier to be rational about the situation. Maybe she should get a few hours’ sleep before deciding a man’s fate.
“Take the helm, and if you run into any type of trouble, come wake me up. I’ve had enough of this shit for one day.”