Part five: alive again
Irene took the blue children to her quarters and put them on the table. They were not dead, but their chances at life were so slim she didn't want to get Emily and Jack's hopes up. They were both clean, and very blue.
Irene pried open their mouth and pressed gently on their chest to get them to breathe again. Her efforts proved fruitful when Samuel began to cough and Sophia started to breathe. Irene got warm water and dabbed their head with it until they resumed a normal color. She looked at the sun. The sun had set and there was no light save that from the dim lights hanging in her cabin.
"Anna, Elizabeth! Come here quick!" Irene heard foot steps pounding on the wood and the door ran open. Elizabeth took one look at the two breathing babies and cried out in joy. She swooped in and lifted little Sophia up. She didn't make a noise, Samuel, however, began to cry, scream actually. Anna Maria clucked and picked him up. Both women carried the separate children to Emily and Jack to show that they are, in fact, alive.
Irene fell down on her bed, exhausted. It had been a long day. Her wounds and cuts stung like the dickens and the salt water of the ocean she had plunged into had not made it any better.
Now that the adrenaline from fighting and from being the midwife of your best friends two twins, then saving their lives, was gone; and she was tired and in pain.
She checked over her cuts from the fight with Will and found none of them serious, except the one in her leg. The breeches she had borrowed from Anna Maria were dark, so Irene had not noticed that the wound was still bleeding- four hours later.
It wasn't bleeding a lot, but it was bleeding enough to really hurt later if she didn't do anything soon. Irene groaned and sat up, pulling the loose breeches above the stab and staking a strip of cloth and bandaging it as tight as she could, winces as the inflamed skin protested. Once that was done she crawled into bed and fell fast asleep.
One hour later the storm struck. Irene was thrown from her and onto the hard floor. She was instantly glad that Emily, the twins and Jack were below deck. That was the safest place to be.
Irene ran up the steps to the top deck to find the Black Pearl already running around, but without a person to direct them, they would last very long.
"TIE YOURSELVES TO THE LIFE-LINES!" Irene shouted over the pounding rain, the ship jerked to the starboard side and Irene slid to the mast-the mast that had the life-lines attached to it. Irene grinned and wrapped it around her waist tightly, tying it in a sailor's knot. The other sailors followed quickly. Ana Maria bellowed orders above the pounding gale, to pull the masts up, secure the sails, hold the helm, and check the food supply.
A gust of wind sent Irene sprawling to the railing, her life-line jerked taut around her belly and the knot held. She struggled to gain her feet on the slippery wood, but her wounds and the merciless gale kept bringing her back down. A bolt of lightening struck the mizzenmast, it did not catch fire because it was raining to hard, but the thunderbolt successfully blew up the mast and scared the living daylights out of the crew, Irene included.
Irene squinted around her, trying to get her bearings. She spotted a sandy shore to the right.
"Hard starboard!" she yelled at the helmsman. He looked at her, but obeyed. "ALL HANDS TO THE DECK!" She bellowed. The ship wasn't going to make it, but she'd be damned if the lives wouldn't as well. Emily, Anna, Elizabeth, Sylvia, Mary, Jack and all four kids came up to the deck, the babies were being held by various women.
The ship was almost at the shore now, then a huge wave came and rammed the ship hard, the ships turned over. Irene prayed that the crew knew to swim to the shore and had cut the life-lines. Her last thing she saw before the darkness engulfed her was Will, hanging dead-smiling like a demon. Then she knew nothing more.
Irene took the blue children to her quarters and put them on the table. They were not dead, but their chances at life were so slim she didn't want to get Emily and Jack's hopes up. They were both clean, and very blue.
Irene pried open their mouth and pressed gently on their chest to get them to breathe again. Her efforts proved fruitful when Samuel began to cough and Sophia started to breathe. Irene got warm water and dabbed their head with it until they resumed a normal color. She looked at the sun. The sun had set and there was no light save that from the dim lights hanging in her cabin.
"Anna, Elizabeth! Come here quick!" Irene heard foot steps pounding on the wood and the door ran open. Elizabeth took one look at the two breathing babies and cried out in joy. She swooped in and lifted little Sophia up. She didn't make a noise, Samuel, however, began to cry, scream actually. Anna Maria clucked and picked him up. Both women carried the separate children to Emily and Jack to show that they are, in fact, alive.
Irene fell down on her bed, exhausted. It had been a long day. Her wounds and cuts stung like the dickens and the salt water of the ocean she had plunged into had not made it any better.
Now that the adrenaline from fighting and from being the midwife of your best friends two twins, then saving their lives, was gone; and she was tired and in pain.
She checked over her cuts from the fight with Will and found none of them serious, except the one in her leg. The breeches she had borrowed from Anna Maria were dark, so Irene had not noticed that the wound was still bleeding- four hours later.
It wasn't bleeding a lot, but it was bleeding enough to really hurt later if she didn't do anything soon. Irene groaned and sat up, pulling the loose breeches above the stab and staking a strip of cloth and bandaging it as tight as she could, winces as the inflamed skin protested. Once that was done she crawled into bed and fell fast asleep.
One hour later the storm struck. Irene was thrown from her and onto the hard floor. She was instantly glad that Emily, the twins and Jack were below deck. That was the safest place to be.
Irene ran up the steps to the top deck to find the Black Pearl already running around, but without a person to direct them, they would last very long.
"TIE YOURSELVES TO THE LIFE-LINES!" Irene shouted over the pounding rain, the ship jerked to the starboard side and Irene slid to the mast-the mast that had the life-lines attached to it. Irene grinned and wrapped it around her waist tightly, tying it in a sailor's knot. The other sailors followed quickly. Ana Maria bellowed orders above the pounding gale, to pull the masts up, secure the sails, hold the helm, and check the food supply.
A gust of wind sent Irene sprawling to the railing, her life-line jerked taut around her belly and the knot held. She struggled to gain her feet on the slippery wood, but her wounds and the merciless gale kept bringing her back down. A bolt of lightening struck the mizzenmast, it did not catch fire because it was raining to hard, but the thunderbolt successfully blew up the mast and scared the living daylights out of the crew, Irene included.
Irene squinted around her, trying to get her bearings. She spotted a sandy shore to the right.
"Hard starboard!" she yelled at the helmsman. He looked at her, but obeyed. "ALL HANDS TO THE DECK!" She bellowed. The ship wasn't going to make it, but she'd be damned if the lives wouldn't as well. Emily, Anna, Elizabeth, Sylvia, Mary, Jack and all four kids came up to the deck, the babies were being held by various women.
The ship was almost at the shore now, then a huge wave came and rammed the ship hard, the ships turned over. Irene prayed that the crew knew to swim to the shore and had cut the life-lines. Her last thing she saw before the darkness engulfed her was Will, hanging dead-smiling like a demon. Then she knew nothing more.