pottersparky: Thanks for the review as well as the recommendation!
Mina-chan AMD: Glad to hear from you again! Thanks for reviewing!
Riverfox237: Thanks for the review and especially the bday present! .
sammanson: What a great compliement! Thankee!
Ghostcougar: But nasty cliffies are fun!
Spiffy McFloogan: I prefer fic-Valerie too!
Galateagirl: Don't have a heart attack, here's the chapter!
Writer's-BlockDP: So you brought me to life for not putting a cliffie!
My Eternal Facade: Thanks for the input, sorry 'bout the late update!
I Brake For Ghosts: Wow long review. Thanks soooo much for the HP info! SPLEE!
the sleep warrior: I only updated tonight 'cause I knew youo would haunt my sleep if I didn't get a move on.
Jessica01: Yes, yes he does.
IwuvMyKenshyPoo: Revenge is sweet, but...
TayloWolf: Thanks for reviewin' anyway!
Frodo01228: We like fantasy for the Hapily Ever After, right?
crazyvi: What's thatin the sky? A bird, a plane?...No! It's an UPDATE!
A/N: Hello again, sorry the update took sooooo long; I had to do bloody semester finals at school and I've been spending all my free time studying. (Not to mention being grounded from the computer for a week.) But, now that finals are done, normalcy shall return and updates will be up quicker. I'm hoping to have this story done by Valentine's Day at least, but I'm not sure. More info on that later. 'Till then, read the chapter!
Chapter Seventeen
The Fright Knight's sword swung down and, instinctively, Valerie jerked away. Unfortunately, she was backed up against the wall, which didn't give her much room for maneuvering. She wasn't dead, and that was good, but her left shoulder was injured, which made her lose what was left of her balance. Stumbling, she smacked into the wall again and slumped to the floor. She could feel the warm blood trickling down her arm with every painful throb. And he was raising his sword again.
Valerie knew she was a goner, if she didn't find that thermos immediately. She shoved her good hand into the bag again and dug down until she felt the cold metal under her fingers. But it was too late.
A white beam of light blasted the Fright Knight and he was sucked into Tucker's thermos. The four or five remaining ghosts fled in a panic. He dropped it and rushed over to her.
"Valerie! Are you okay!" he asked, dropping to his knees next to her. She heard hurried footsteps and then the others were all surrounding her. They blurred together to create a many-headed entity and she giggled.
"Tucker?" she slurred. "Your head looks funny."
"We need to stop her bleeding." Jazz said, ripping the sleeve off her sweater. Maddie expertly wrapped it, bandage-style, around Valerie's arm, sling like, and tying it securely at her shoulder. Slowly, the room came back into sharper focus.
"Are you okay, honey?" questioned Maddie anxiously. She nodded weakly and looked up at Tucker.
"You saved me." she murmured. "Thanks."
Tucker blushed. "It was no problem."
"I hate to be the one to ruin this potentially touchy-feely moment, but if we don't get out of this dungeon, there will be problems." Sam said lightly. She held her hand out to Valerie. "Do you think you can stand?"
"I can try." Valerie replied, grabbing Sam's wrist. At the same time, Sam shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Unluckily, she'd forgotten she had an wounded ankle and so when Valerie grabbed her hand, the combined weight sent both girls tumbling to the floor.
"Ow!" yelped Sam, tears springing to her eyes as she felt her ankle twist again. She brushed them away angrily and tried to climb to her feet, but Maddie stopped her.
"I'm so sorry, Sam!" she apologized. "I forgot you ankle was hurt. Let me look at it."
So Sam obediently sat still and allowed Maddie to feel her ankle, biting back a whimper when Maddie tried to bend her ankle. The older woman's face looked grave as she examined it. Then, she sat back and sighed deeply.
"It's broken." she notified the others. "There's no way she could walk on this without a splint."
"Maybe we could make one out of whatever we can scrounge up." suggested Jazz helpfully.
"Or we could leave these two here," Maddie gestured at Sam and Valerie, "until we get back with Danny."
Sam's eyes flamed and she sat bolt upright. "You aren't leaving us here!" she protested. "After we've come this far."
"She's right Maddie." Jack said, unexpectedly standing up for the girls as Maddie opened her mouth to argue. "Besides, if we left them here and some ghosts came back, they wouldn't be able to defend themselves."
"You're right." Maddie answered, but still concerned. "But they'll be in trouble with us too."
"Let's just find stuff to make Sam a splint." Jazz suggested. She stood up and walked around the dungeon room, looking for makeshift-splint material. After a few minutes of searching, she returned, carrying two ghost axes that had, apparently, not been sucked into the thermos. One had a missing head.
"I got the head of this one.' Jazz said, holding it up. "But I need help to get this one loose." Maddie and Jack each took and end of the axe and pulled. The head popped off easily in Jack's hands.
Maddie handed Jazz the handle and smiled. "Now kids, don't ever do that." she said "This was an emergency." Sam rolled her eyes.
After a few minutes, Jazz had a fairly decent do-it-yourself splint, made from the axe handles and tied with Jazz's other sleeve and Sam's right sock, wrapped tightly around Sam's broken right ankle. She took Sam's arm and helped her slowly to her feet. Sam swayed on the spot for a moment, before getting her balance.
"Ta-da!" Sam joked, trying to reassure Maddie that she was fit enough to keep going. Jazz was helping Valerie up, which was much easier because Val's shoulder was not bleeding nearly as badly as it had been and then they were ready to go.
"Right." said Sam through gritted teeth. "Let's go find Danny!"
A/N: Done! I know it's a bit short, but writers' block hit me just after I got computer privileges back. Bleh. Oh well, next chappie ASAP! 162 days 'till PotC 2: Dead Man's Chest!
