“It sure does,” Hok said. “I see smoke drifting from the chimney, though. It seems someone is home.”
“That’s g-g-great,” Malao stammered from the mast top, his teeth chattering. “I c-c-can’t wait to warm up!” He quickly untied a few ropes and coiled them up, then scurried down the mast, onto the deck, stopping next to Charles. “All c-c-clear, C-C-Captain.”
“Thanks, Malao,” Charles said, looking up at the mast top. “I couldn’t have done better myself. Can you give me a hand with the mainsail?”
“S-s-sure,” Malao replied.
Charles nodded and turned to Hok and Xie. “When the big sail starts to come down, could you two do your best to grab it?”
“Of course,” they replied.
“Very good,” Charles said. He turned to Fu in the bow. “Are you ready?”
“Aye, Captain,” Fu said, and he gripped the head of a large anchor.
“On my mark, then,” Charles said. “Ready … and … anchor away!”
Fu heaved the heavy anchor overboard with a loud grunt, and Long watched as Malao and Charles began to pull furiously on a complicated series of ropes attached to the mast. The sloop’s mainsail dropped like a billowing cloud, and Hok and Xie scrambled about the deck, doing their best to scoop it into their arms before it slipped into the water.
“Hang on!” Fu warned.
Long turned to watch the anchor’s thick rope playing out quickly through Fu’s hands over the side of the sloop. The rope slackened for an instant, and Fu hurriedly wound it around a cleat. An instant later, the rope went taut and the boat stopped its forward progress with a violent jerk. The sloop then began to drift backward with the current until the rope went taut again, the boat stopping altogether with its nose still facing upstream.
“Well done, everyone,” Charles said as he glanced around the boat. He began to untie his robe sash, and Long asked, “What are you doing?”
“Someone is going to have to get wet,” Charles said. “It might as well be the captain.”
Charles slipped off his robe, and Long saw for the first time that he had a pair of matching pistols in holsters strapped across his pale chest. Charles removed the pistols and holsters, as well as his boots.
“Malao, the bow rope, please,” Charles said.
Malao handed Charles a section of sturdy rope, and Charles placed it between his teeth. He grinned, nodded to the group, and dove overboard.
Long watched as Charles surfaced in the muddy water with a loud gasp, the frigid temperature doubtless a shock to his system. He did not complain, though, and swam powerfully to shore before scrambling up the riverbank. Once he reached the top, he took the end of the rope from his teeth and tied it to a thick tree trunk, then waved.
Long was surprised to feel the boat begin to move. He glanced toward the bow and saw Fu pulling the opposite end of the rope, his face red with exertion.
“Use the winch, Fu!” Charles called out, but Fu ignored him. Instead, Fu continued to heave on the rope hand over hand until the boat’s keel scraped the river’s bottom close to shore. Fu stopped heaving and tied the rope off.
“Well done, you stubborn pussycat,” Charles called out. “A winch would have made for a lot less effort. Malao, toss me the stern line!”
Malao did not obey, either. Instead, he threw a coil of rope over his shoulder, jumped onto the boat’s side rail, and made a tremendous leap ashore. He landed well clear of the water and played out rope as he raced up the bank, handing the coil to Charles.
“Show-offs,” Charles said, shivering in the cold breeze. “You did remember to tie the other end of this line to a cleat, right?”
Malao giggled. “Of course.”
Charles tied the stern line to a second tree trunk, and he slid back down the bank through the yellow mud. Long watched him step back into the water and wade over to the sloop, the water reaching above his waist.
“Xie,” Charles said, shivering more violently now. “Help Long down onto my shoulders.”
Long wanted to protest, but knew there would be no point. He allowed Xie to lower his legs onto Charles’ cold, wet shoulders, and Charles quickly waded to shore, depositing Long on solid ground. Malao helped Long up the bank, and when they reached the top, Long looked back to see Hok and Xie leap directly onto the shore as Malao had done.
Hok hurried over to Charles and wrapped him in a blanket she’d brought, while Xie held up a bundle. It was another blanket wrapped around Charles’ pistols and holsters. Xie unwrapped the blanket, draped it over Charles’ head, and said, “I will hang on to your firearms until you have warmed up.”