Chapter: Fly to the rescue

Bunny looked forward to the next day with rimmed eyes and her confusion of the previous night had turned into a bad mood after a few sleepless hours. After getting up, she immediately started making the final preparations for the departure.
Joe and Norman tried to speak to them about yesterday's situation at the beginning, but Bunny blocked everything with an incomprehensible grumble and an evil look. She didn't want to have anything more to do with this guy and that's that!
At this speed, the troops were ready to cast off after lunch and so it happened that the "Miss Akyoo" slowly moved away from the beach of the island in the heat of the midday sun and sailed out to sea. Norman stood at the rail and looked longingly back at the place that had been his home for a few lovely months.
"I'll miss all of that.", He sighed and sadly averted his gaze from the white sandy beach and the coconut trees swaying gently in the wind."It was all so calm and peaceful. Although ... there is not so much going on here at the moment ..." he added and looked around searchingly.
"Bunny is sitting up in the lookout. She wanted to hang up the flag and has not come down since then." Joe answered his unasked question.
"This guy must have really bothered her a lot. I've never seen her like this before. Maybe I should bake some tasty cookies for her to cheer her up. That distracts me a bit.", Norman mused and walked in the galley.
The scent of fresh pastries really seemed to have had its effect, because a short time later the captain also joined the crew in the kitchen.
"It's okay. I got excited.", Bunny said with an embarrassed grin as the other two eyed her worriedly.
"Do I smell cookies here ??", she asked, but before anyone could answer, she had already thrown herself on the fragrant cookies."They just taste great. Where did you get the recipes from?", She turned to the master chef with her mouth still half full.
"The recipe is from Claire ...", he replied more mentally.
Since Norman did not prepare to continue speaking but preferred to stare dreamily into the area, Bunny continued to dig.
"And who is Claire? Your mother ??", she vented her curiosity.
"My wife ...", Norman replied curtly, but he still didn't look at her directly.
"You are married?", Joe blurted out and out of sheer surprise the Atlas, with which he had been busy in the last few days, slipped out of his hands and slammed onto the kitchen table. Only then did Norman look up and smile.
"Is that so unusual?" He asked and the tip of Joe's nose turned red.
"I'm sorry. It wasn't meant like that. But why do you want to go to sea as a pirate when your wife is waiting for you at home?" He stammered apologetically.Norman looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before answering.
"I didn't say that. Nobody is waiting for me at home."
"Are you divorced?" Asked Bunny and Norman was starting to feel a bit like being cross-examined.
Again he was silent for a while. It was difficult for him to talk about, but he also knew that he could confide in his new friends with confidence. They might not be adults yet, but they were certainly old enough to understand his situation.
"No, I would never have divorced her in my life. She is the greatest woman in the world. I met her on one of my trips. She ran a small restaurant on an island in South Blue she falls in love. And with her cookies ... ", a dreamy smile played on his face again.
"I stayed with her on the island and only a few months later we got married. I couldn't believe my luck. I never thought that a woman like that would hang out with a guy like me.But she did. At least until that one autumn day two years ago. She took our little boat out to do some errands on the neighboring island as usual. When she set off the sun was shining and there was no cloud to be seen in the sky, but soon the weather changed and a strong thunderstorm came up. I stood at the port for hours and waited for her to come back, but she didn't come back. They searched for her for days. And when she gave up looking, I kept looking for her on my own. For weeks I drove out every day and searched every corner for her. I screamed my heart out, but she didn't answer me ... After a few months I left the island. I couldn't stand being there without her. But I think of her every day ... ", Norman said in a low voice.
Bunny felt a big lump in her throat. She didn't know Norman very long, but she didn't think that she would ever see him so sad.To see her usually lively buddy like that hurt her and since she didn't know what to say, she slipped over to him without a word and embraced the circumference of his plump belly, which she could embrace with her arms.
"Thanks, baby," whispered Norman, hugging her.
Joe, who was very touched by the situation, got up to join the hug, but suddenly the ship made an unexpected jerk forward and instead he lay flat on his face.
"What was that?" Bunny called, jumping up from the table excitedly.
She was just able to stand on her feet when the ship was shaken again. Then she threw open the galley door and ran on deck. When she called for the others, they had already stepped on deck and were staring outside in disbelief. The sky, which had been cloudless a short time ago, had turned into a wall of deep gray thunderclouds and a strong wind whipped the sea into huge waves, which now broke on their ship.The rush of the water and the howl of the wind, which blew mercilessly against the sails, mixed into a deafening noise that Bunny was now trying to yell at.
"We have to haul in the sails or the wind will break the mast!", She shouted and immediately they started to loosen the ropes to pull up the badly battered sailcloths. But there was a problem.
"Something's stuck up there. Somebody has to climb up and take it off," Norman called.
Bunny had already set foot on the ladder on the mast when Joe held her back.
"I don't feel like pulling you out of the water again. I'll climb up there!" He roared and the wind drowned out the noticeable trembling of his voice.
Bunny looked at him as if moved by thunder, but he had already pushed her aside and began to climb the ladder. She wanted to climb after him immediately, but Norman grabbed her arm and shook her head.
"There's no point in you two getting up there.Let him do that! You'd better help me tie the boxes on deck. ", he called and hesitantly Bunny complied with his request.
Almost all the boxes were already securely moored when both heard a desperate scream from above. When they looked up, they saw Joe hanging upside down on the sail. One of his feet was caught in the rope and now he was dangling helplessly and dangerously from the wind a few meters above their heads. The storm had even torn his glasses away, which didn't improve his situation.
"Damn! He can't do anything on his own either !!", Bunny cursed and rushed over to the mast, which she now climbed without hesitation. When she was about the same height, she tried slowly to move over to Joe. With all her strength she clung to the mesh of the rope so as not to lose her grip during the swing. She saw Joe's frightened face. His eyes were fixed with fear.After a few unsuccessful attempts, she finally managed to grab his hand and pulled him towards her. Joe clung to her and she could feel his whole body shaking.
"Hold on tight to me!" She called and carefully began to free his foot from the noose. Just when she had managed to untie the knot and called Norman downstairs to quickly haul in the sail, a blazing flash of lightning illuminated the area, which was accompanied by a strong gust of wind. Maybe this gust of wind was really stronger than the previous ones or maybe Bunny's hands just hadn't had any strength after all that time. In any case, the wind managed to pull the two with it and let them fly through the air, only to release them shortly afterwards over the raging sea. Joe was still clutching Bunny's hand even if the ice cold water made him catch his breath. He tried to make out the ship through the waves colliding above him and he thought he could hear remnants of Norman's calls in the distance.But he might as well have been blindfolded, because even with glasses he couldn't even see his hand in front of his eyes. So he tried blindly to swim towards Norman's voice and pulled Bunny behind him, whose body no longer showed any movement of its own. Everything reminded him of his last rescue operation, but this was infinitely worse. But he couldn't give up now. He had put her in this situation and he had to do everything to get her out of here.
Suddenly his hand hit something solid that was floating in the water in front of him and he instinctively held on to it. Immediately the object began to move and Joe felt them being pulled forward. He heard Norman's voice more and more clearly now, telling him to hold on to the lifebuoy. But the next big wave was on its way and collapsed over Joe's head. A large amount of seawater found its way into his windpipe and the ensuing fit of coughing shook his body so much that Bunny's hand slipped out of his and the current drove her away.Joe cried out in horror and tried desperately to reach for her but he only felt the water running through his fingers.
Even when Norman pulled him on board, he couldn't stop screaming even though he had almost lost his voice. But she didn't answer him.
Norman stood next to him without a word, staring out at the water. He felt like he was in a nightmare. The sea must be cursed. Why did it tear a loved one out of his life for the second time?
***
"We made a nice catch there, eh guys?" Boomed a rough voice in her head, followed by a dirty, polyphonic laugh.
"Aye Captain. Very fresh prey ...", came another voice.
Bunny tried to open her eyes, but although the area was only illuminated by the dim light of a few lanterns, the light burned in her eyes and so she quickly pinched them again.