Aurelie is hoisted back on the ship

Aurelie was disoriented by the constant spinning and bobbing, frozen by the icy water, roasted by the sun rays and half drowned and half strangled as she was pulled in the wake of the galley. A thousand times she thought she was going to die but was always saved by a wave or a sudden surge of water or just a last-ditch bout of stamina. After hours of constant struggling for survival, she had been reduced to a limp puppet.

At last, after what had seemed an eternity, Aurelie was reeled in. She hardly felt any change at first. Her eyes were blinded by the salt and the sun and it was only once had been pulled close to the galley's stern that she saw that something had changed. Then there was an awful moment when they hoisted her out of the water. She pulled by her neck so that almost all her air supply was cut off. She spun and swung and kicked weakly, while her hands tried to grip the rope. She was banged a couple of time against the hull. Her face had turned a dark shade of red and her eyes were puffy and reduced to slit.

Finally she was lifted over the rail and dropped on the deck. She remained there, collapsed on the planks, coughing and vomiting torrents of sea water. She was totally defeated, too weak even to get to her knees. All she knew was that she was alive and safe at last.