Snippet #1323247

James nodded in reply to Maggie and went over to where a large pot full of a motley combination of salted pork, wilting vegetables and scavenged shellfish was simmering over an open fire and stood in line with the rest of the sailors waiting to be given their fair share. Much of the supplies on the ship had been spoiled in the wreck and there was perhaps one or two more solid meals for the whole crew before it would all be gone and they would have to begin to live solely off this new and strange land.

He was two men away from collecting his supper when there came a shriek from the tree-line. James span around, his gaze immediately drawn to where his and Maggie's tent (of sorts) had been set up at the far side of the little encampment. Maggie was there, frozen in the act of movement as she stared off to one side at something just out of sight behind the dense vegetation that crowded up to the edge of the beach. James stepped out of line hurriedly and started towards their tent. As he got closer, he realised that he could see something: a pair of very dirty calloused feet visible just below the leaves of a shrub.

"Miss Thimbleton!" he yelled, breaking into a run, his fingers finding the handles of the pistol in his pocket. "Are you all right?"

He skidded to a halt in a spray of sand to find a woman like no other he'd seen before crouching in the bushes next to their tent. Her skin was tanned or filthy- it was difficult to tell- and her blonde hair was matted into a long braid which was coiled around her throat like a primitive necklace. She wore a few strips of animal hide and little else. Most importantly, however, in one rough hand she clutched a spear and the point of that spear was aimed decisively at the back of Maggie's neck.

"Step away from her," he said coldly, raising his pistol up to shoulder level to aim it squarely at the newcomer's head. It occurred to him that this... woman might never have seen a gun before and not know what exactly he was threatening (though James had little desire to shoot a woman). To rectify this, he punctuated his demand by raising his gun up to the sky and pulling the trigger back sharply. A deafening bang echoed into the trees, spending flocks of brightly-coloured birds leaping terrified into the air from their roosts.