The rest of the day passed without any further excitement. Towards evening I brought the Swift closer to the ground and I had the Archers look for any game they could shoot at. We’d finished up all of our fresh food while chasing the raiders, and while I still had dried and preserved supplies in the hold, the townspeople would have need of them after I brought them to the flying island.

I would need to ferry more supplies over, as well as seeds that could be used to plant a garden on the island’s grassy surface. They’d probably never be truly self-sufficient, and I was determined to look for a more permanent solution to their relocation, but I didn’t have a better option for them. I certainly didn’t want them to stay on board permanently.

By the time the sun set, my Shapes had brought down a pair of large deer, and I landed the Swift on the grass and set to butcher them. There was some risk in landing while we were still in the wilds, but I just didn’t have the facilities to prepare food for twenty people on board. Assuming Mable decided to stay with us, I would need to see about getting a proper galley set up for her at some point.

Until then, however, an open campfire would have to do for anything that required more than just boiled water. I’d planned on simply roasting the venison over the flames and breaking out some of the hard bread to go with it, but was interrupted before I could start by the very welcome sight of Mable walking down the gangplank.

She’d been unconscious since she got hit by a lightning bolt during the attack on the raider’s camp, and I hadn’t had a chance to see how she was doing since Marjory took her to my cabin after we boarded the Swift, and worry about her condition had been nagging at me all day. I was very glad to see that she was none the worse for wear, and in fact seemed to be feeling better than she’d been since we found her hiding in Gerald’s Rest.

Gone was the terrified girl who chose to enter an old-world ruin filled with raiders rather than be left alone on the Boat. In her place was the confident young woman who used to strut across the common room of the Boar and Barrel and the dreams of every young man, and at least some of the women, who frequented the tavern. Including, of course, mine.

She was wearing the same outfit she’d worn in her job as a serving girl, an almost too-tight skirt that stretched across her plump rear and a white blouse with a plunging neckline that drew the eye to her generous bosom. For a moment, I could almost believe that I was back at the Boar, waiting for a large mug full of old Henry’s home brewed ale, but the illusion was quickly broken by the ragged tears in the cloth. Tears caused by the lightning strike she took while creating an opening for Marjory and myself to attack the caster.

She was also still wearing the ornate belt I’d given her before the attack. The one that was an old-world shield spell and had been the only thing that saved her from that lightning.

As she got closer to the fire I could see more details. The black hair that was trying to escape the tight braid she always kept it in gave her a somewhat disheveled look that was somehow even more appealing than before. Her green eyes held a sparkle that I hadn’t seen since she went up to Marjory’s room all those weeks ago, and her walk held that enticing sway that always got me drooling.

“Move over, Jacky. We want dinner to actually be edible, don’t we?”

“I’m glad to see you’re up and feeling better,” I answered, but made no move to clear her way to the campfire.

“Thank you,” she smiled at me, her hand absentmindedly dropping to caress the belt around her waist. “I was terrified when we were walking through that ruin, and I should be curled up into a ball and screaming now after being hit by that lightning, but somehow I’m just not scared anymore.”

“I’m glad you brought that up,” I said sternly, “because we need to talk about you disobeying my orders when we were in the ruins.”

“What?” she asked, and I could see the bewilderment replace the smile on her face.

“You promised that you would obey orders before we took you to the ruins, and yet you threw yourself into that lightning bolt against my orders.”

“You needed an opening to attack, and I had the shield!” Her hand was gripping the belt hard enough that her knuckles were completely white.

“That may be so, and it’s possible that I would have approved of your plan anyway, but you still jumped in before Marjory and myself were ready, forcing us to rush into an unknown situation. But that is still beside the point, which is that you broke your promise and disobeyed me.”

“I… I’m sorry, Jacky. I mean Captain,” I could see her shrivel in front of me. “I know I shouldn’t have done it. But I just felt so useless since the raiders came, and when I finally had a chance to help, I just had to take it.”

“I understand how you feel, and I admire how much courage it must have taken to jump in front of that lightning. But if you want to stay on board the Swift, and especially if you want to go into ruins with us, you have to do what I tell you to do. Everything turned out all right this time, but you could have gotten killed, and there was no guarantee that it would have created the opening we needed anyway.”

“You’re not kicking me off the Ship?” she asked hesitantly. “I can stay?”

“I’m not kicking you off, Mable. I’m certainly not kicking you off while we’re in the wilds. But I need you to understand that if you are part of the Swift’s crew, you need to obey orders.”

“Thank you Captain! I don’t think I want to go into ruins again though. That was far too creepy for my taste.”

“That’s fine with me,” I said and went over to take her in my arms. “I really am glad you’re OK, Mable.”

“Me too, Jacky.” She stayed in my arms for a couple of minutes, then playfully shoved me away. “And now I need to start making dinner, before we have a score of hungry warped to deal with.”