Thinking
she’d read it wrong, she scrubbed her eyes and read the inscription again. Her
mouth open, she turned the photograph over to reveal the family portrait.
“Son of a…” she said out loud. “ERF doesn’t stand for Eric
Robert Finlayson, the E stands for Elizabeth. Finlayson was a woman!” She
put the photograph down, hurled herself through the door, and half-ran,
half-slid the distance to the makeshift morgue.
She
burst through the door of the morgue and found Sarah and Michela intently
studying the body. They turned around and shielded the body from Allison.
Allison
struggled to get her words out and breathe at the same time. “You’re not
going to believe this. I’ve got the most amazing news.”
Sarah
smiled, her arms crossed. “I bet our news is better than yours. We’ve
found the first female expeditioner on the Continent and it’s Finlayson.”
Sarah pointed over her shoulder with her thumb to the body. “This makes
the Conner-Boyd expedition of 1928 not the first time a female set foot on
Antarctica.”
Allison
laughed, her breath coming a little easier. “You may have found the first
female expeditioner, but I can do better than that. Eric’s name is actually
Elizabeth.
And by the looks of the photos that fell out of his, I mean her diary, she
was married to a woman—she’s gay.”
“Just
because she was living with a woman, doesn’t mean she was gay. It could’ve been
a Boston marriage,” Michela said.
Allison
tilted her head. “What’s that?”
“By
most modern-day accounts they were intense friendships formed between women who
had no interest in marrying, in the more conventional sense that is. As far as
we know, they were asexual relationships, but very strong, loving friendships
all the same. This could have been the sort of relationship Charlotte and
Elizabeth shared.” Michela turned to Sarah for confirmation.
“Or,
they could be gay, and she was more comfortable dressing as a man rather than a
woman. I mean, have you ever heard of a Boston marriage resulting in actual
marriage? And heaven knows, it can’t have been that easy to be a woman in the
late 1800’s and one who was an explorer to boot!” Sarah replied.
“Either
way, how do think we should break this news to the rest of the group?”
Allison asked, not receiving any great comfort from the concerned look on both
Sarah and Michela’s faces.
“Let’s
do it after dinner. People tend to be a lot more relaxed on a full stomach, and
something tells me this news isn’t going to go down all that well,”
Michela ventured.
“What
about Di and Rick?” Sarah asked. “They’re going to be keen to know
what you’ve found in the diary.”
Allison
waved her hand. “Leave them to me.”
ALLISON
CAST HER eyes around the table in the mess hut. “Today, while I was
reading the Finlayson diary a small waterproof pouch fell out. It contained two
photographs, one had an inscription on the back. It’s this inscription that
leads me to believe that Eric Finlayson isn’t Eric at all, he’s
Elizabeth.”
There
was a stunned silence as Dianne, Rick, and Rob absorbed Allison’s revelation.
“Garbage,”
Rick replied. “You must have read it wrong.”
Sarah
folded her arms. “She did no such thing. I conducted the same
investigation on Finlayson as I did on Ross. Trust me when I tell you Finlayson
is definitely a woman.”
Confused,
Dianne turned to Allison. “But in the reading material you gave to me on
Finlayson, you said he was married and had a child. How can that be?”
Allison
shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain the child, but I can tell you that
these two women were in a stable relationship of some sort or another.”
Dianne
looked at Sarah, and then back to Allison. “That’s disgusting.”
Rick
stood and pushed his chair away from the table. “You’re damn right it
is.” He wheeled on Sarah. “So, a damned dyke was the first to
establish a base in Antarctica. You must be pretty happy about that. Bloody
hell, you’re all over the damn place.” He angrily jabbed his finger at
Sarah. “You and your bloody perverted lifestyle, you don’t deserve to be
here.”
Rob
strode toward Rick. “That’s it. I’ve about had it with you, mate. You’ve
had this coming for a long time. No one and I mean no one offends my
friends.”
Michela
stepped between them. “Hang on, Rob.” She turned to Rick. “And,
Rick, you hang on a minute, too. If you’re pointing fingers then you better
point one at me as well.”
The
implication of her words hung in the air. Dianne cast a baleful eye at her.
“I should have known. I always had a funny feeling when I was changing in
the same hut as you and now I know why.”
Michela
quickly glanced at Allison, before she turned her steely-eyed gaze on Dianne,
who defiantly stood beside Rick. “Ms. Peterson, you’ve got to be
joking.” Michela cast a disdainful look the length of Dianne’s body.
“Please credit me with some taste.”
“You’re
bloody sick, you know that. You’re a bloody pervert just like her!” Rick
bellowed.
Allison
held up her hands. “Please, just stop it. We’ve discovered a world first.
This will make the dig a household name and establish us for future
expeditions. Now’s not the time for name calling—”
Rick
pointed at Michela. “Why are you bothering defending that damn dyke? If
she was looking at Di’s body, what makes you think you’re all that safe?”
Disgusted,
Allison rolled her eyes. “Oh for heaven’s sake, you uptight prick, get a
life.”
Rob
burst out laughing.
“Hang
on a minute, Alli,” Rick said, “or have I got it all wrong? Do you
like what that damn psychologist dyke puts out?”
“That’s
it!” Rob hit Rick squarely on the jaw.
Sarah
knelt beside an unconscious Rick, while trying to push away a hysterical
Dianne. “Shit, mate, you dropped him like a bag of spuds.” She
arranged him in the coma position and stood. “You know, you really ought
to be more careful.”
“Yeah,”
Rob said. “And he really ought to learn some bloody manners.”
My
Darling Charlotte,
It
has been over two months since I last made an entry in my diary, and it is only
now through sheer will that I do so. The second expedition that left in such
good spirits has failed to return. Their original journey was to be no more
than twenty days duration. I knew them to be an exuberant band and didn’t
really expect to see them before the twenty-five day mark. This day came and
went, as did many others. Without the dogs, sleds or ability to man a search
party, I can only assume the worst
—
they
have perished also. I thought I had reached my lowest ebb.
The
three of us that remained tried our best to maintain each other’s spirits,
dutifully keeping our diaries so as to have at least something to show for our
time here. However, the worse was yet to come. The day came when our ship was
to rendezvous with us and yet it did not appear. We waited in vain for one week
and then two but still there was no sign of it. I can only assume that it too
has been lost and now we are trapped. Trapped with our food dwindling and no
possible means of escaping the continent we so proudly set out to conquer.
Where
have I led my men? What have I done?
ERF
Antarctica—2010
MICHELA
CHUCKLED AS Sarah attempted to divide her time between the overflowing pot on
the stove and preparing the dinner rolls. “Need help with that?”
Sarah
turned the gas down on the stove. “Aargh! I can’t believe you let me loose
in a kitchen.”
“Yeah
it does look a little out of control.”
Sarah
laughed. “Hah, no more so that what it’s been like here over the past few
days. Alli’s not talking to Rick at all and I can barely get a word out of Di.
I swear, meals around here are like pulling teeth. It’s a wonder they’re
getting any work done on the dig.”
“I
know what you mean. I think we better have a team meeting after dinner, if we
survive it, that is.” Sarah threw the spoon as Michela rushed out the
door.
“Everyone’s
a bloody critic,” Sarah yelled.
“EVERYONE’S
BEEN WALKING around on eggshells these past few days. I’m not pointing any
fingers here. I’m as much to blame as anyone else. But we’ve got very little
time left to finish the cataloguing of the site and then commence our pack
up.” Michela consulted her notes. “By my estimate we’ve two more days
of digging and cataloguing. After that we have to start packing or we’ll miss
our window to get home.”
Allison,
Dianne, and Rob all spoke at once.
“We’ve
got so much to do inside the hut.” Allison’s voice cut through, silencing
the others. “Not to mention trying to identify where the photographer’s
hut might lie. For all we know this camp may be right on top of it.”
Michela
nodded. “I understand and that’s why we need to work together these last
few days to get as much done as possible. I know there are some here who’ll be
more than happy to see the last of some of us. But, for the moment, we’re a
team, relying on each other to get as much done as possible. Now, we can do
that or we can all retire to our huts and sulk until it’s time to pack
up.” She scanned the faces in front of her. “What’s it going to
be?”
Rick
pointed to Rob. “Is he going to be able to keep his fists to
himself?”
Rob
cracked his fingers and made a pretence of picking his nails before staring at
Rick. “Depends. Are you going to give me a reason to use them?”
“That’s
enough, the two of you. There’ll be no more of that while I’m in charge.”
Sarah
held up her hand. “Look, to allow you three to focus on the dig, I’ll pick
up the slops task as well as cooking.”
Michela
shook her head. “I know how much you hate cooking. How about I do that and
you do the slops?”
Sarah
breathed a sigh of relief. “Sounds fine by me.”
Michela
looked around the team. “Okay, then let’s get on with it.”
AS
SHE CATALOGUED, Allison’s mind wandered, as it had done over the past week, to
Rick’s words:
Do you like what that damned psychologist dyke puts out?
She’d
been shocked into silence and was grateful if not a little regretful of Rob’s
physical defense of her. It wasn’t until later, in the silence of her own
counsel, that she’d managed to give the matter more thought.
How
do I really feel?
There was something
about Michela that drove her crazy and yet drew her at the same time. That
morning in the hut, when they’d returned from trying to find Ewan, she was sure
Michela meant to kiss her. She’d waited, surprisingly eager for Michela’s
intimate touch. Even now, the thought evoked feelings she’d never felt before.
But, with Sarah’s knock on the door, the spell had been broken.
Maddi was waiting
for a report. Of course she’d be more interested in reporting to her than
anything else.
Since
the incident in the hut, Michela had been polite, going out of her way to give
Allison space. But the more Michela gave, the closer Allison realized she wanted
to get and yet she was unsure how to do so. When Michela prepared for bed,
she’d secretly watch her undress, marveling at Michela’s toned but powerful
body. Now, within days, the dig would be over, they would travel back to Wills
Station, and return home. Michela would slip from her life, returning to her
own job on the other side of the world.
So how do you feel about that? Yes,
but how does a straight woman, broach such a subject without looking completely
hypocritical?
DIANNE
HELD UP one side of the wooden barrier as Rob hammered the other side to one of
the posts of the existing hut. “Are you sure this will keep out the
snow?”
“I
suppose you won’t know until you’re down here next, but it can only help. When
we first got here there was no door and the whole place was full of snow and
ice. At least next time you mightn’t have so much to dig.” He shifted his
weight so he could hammer the other side of the door. “So, when do you
think you guys will be back?”
Just so I can be forewarned and make sure
we never run into each other again.
Dianne
shrugged. “I don’t know. It depends on whether father decides it’s
worthwhile to finance another expedition and that’ll depend on what we have to
report. Somehow I don’t think he’s going to be all that happy.”
“I
don’t get it. You’ve collected a heap of stuff from the site.”
Dianne
shuffled from one foot to the other. “My father is, well, a little
conservative. While he’ll be excited by the find and the circumstances around
the discovery, who we discovered may set him back a bit.”
Rob
bent down and hammered the final nail in the door. “What, you mean because
Eric’s actually Elizabeth and Elizabeth was living with a woman and child as
husband and wife?”
Dianne
nervously laughed. “Something like that. You have to admit it’s a little
odd.”
Rob
straightened and silently observed Dianne. “That’s where I think you and I
won’t ever agree. I see nothing odd about it. Who gives a toss whether it’s a
man and woman, a man and man or a woman and woman? What’s the issue if there’s
love involved?” He shook his head and, muttering, walked away.