By the time Jack could see again, the Turk had grabbed the horse's bridle with one hand and raised the other to strike. Jack, peering out sidelong through burning eyes, wheeled his musket about to make some kind of barrier between him and the bloody saber and felt a mighty shock when the two weapons connected, instantly followed by a hot blast that knocked his hands apart and spat metal into his face. The horse reared up. Under other circumstances, Jack might've been ready for this. As it was, blind, shocked, and burnt, he performed a reverse-somersault down the animal's muscular ass, plunged to the ground, and then rolled away blindly, terrified that the hind hooves might come down on top of him.