Voyage of Ice (20 page)

Icy snow prickling my coat and the lantern glass.

The hiss of flame.

Then, laughter.

Chills crawled over my scalp and down my spine.
By the devil. Something's out there.

I took a deep breath, cold searing my lungs. Grabbing a life-line and holding my lantern high, I moved in the direction of the laughter.

Soon after Dexter and the others had arrived, Sweet had ordered a perimeter rope strung like a fence round us, fastened to timbers driven into the snow. Lifelines spread from our camp out to the perimeter like the spokes of a wheel. The enclosed area was huge, the lifelines twice the length of a ship's deck in any direction. It was so that on nights like this, we could find our way back. Now I gripped the lifeline and moved away from camp, praying I wouldn't lose my way. Or drop the rope.

What in tunket do you think you're doing? Are you crazy? Go back to the shelter before you freeze, before you're lost forever!
But I could no more stop what I was doing than I could have stopped myself from visiting Elizabeth in the captain's quarters when she was sick. It was something I had to do. I was crazy that way, I guess.

Up ahead, I saw a light. A faint glow, a blur of swirling white. As I drew closer, something moved within the light. A human. I extinguished my lantern. If I could see him, he might see me. Darkness wrapped round me, thick and heavy. I wanted to cough but didn't dare. Again I crept toward the light, the lifeline sliding through my mittens.

Gradually, I saw within the light. A man crouched over Thorndike's grave, a lantern and harpoon by his side.

I moved round so I could see his face.

It was Briggs. Wild and crazy-eyed.

In front of him the body lay exposed, heaps of gravel and snow pushed to the side. Atop the body lay several biscuit, and as I watched, Briggs shoved a biscuit into his mouth. He chewed and laughed, chewed and laughed, afterward pulling from inside his clothes what looked to be a strip of meat. He shoved this into his mouth as well, grinning and smacking his lips, throwing his head back and laughing….

Meat …
Where did Briggs get meat? He's thawing it next to his skin
.…

With a sickening roll of my stomach, I dropped to my knees, unable to stand a moment longer.

It was meat …
fresh from the grave.

In that instant, something moved behind me.

I whirled, my heart in my throat.

Elizabeth stood looking past me, her gaze fixed on Briggs. Her eyes grew large until I could see the whites all round. Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened. Then a piercing scream burst from her, gushing like blood from a whale.

I shot to my feet and clamped my hand over her mouth.

Too late.

Briggs was already standing, his harpoon in his hand.

Elizabeth tore my hand away. “You murderer!” she shrieked. “You—you
cannibal!
” She lunged toward him, clawing the air, but I grabbed her and held her back.

“No, Elizabeth!”

Saying nothing, stealthy as a hunter, Briggs slipped out of the circle of light.

“Quiet!” I said in Elizabeth's ear. With a whimper, Elizabeth
ceased struggling. Except for the howl of wind, the night was suddenly silent. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled.
Briggs is cutting off our retreat to camp! He's …

I heard a movement.

“Elizabeth, run!”

“But I don't have the lifeline!”

“Neither do I. Run!”

“Where to?”

I began to run, yanking her alongside me. “Anywhere! He's after us!”

We fled into the darkness.

My spine tensed, bracing for the ice-cold point of a harpoon. Terror surged like vomit. I heard the pummel of our footsteps, the swish of our clothing, Elizabeth's breathing, panicked and racing. I tasted fear, cold and metallic.
Find the perimeter fence. Follow it to a lifeline and then back to camp. Hurry!

Farther and farther.
God help us! Where is the fence? We should have reached it by now!
My legs began to wobble. My heart skit-tered like a rabbit's. The swirling snow dipped and rolled, and I knew my head was spinning. My knees buckled and I fell.

Elizabeth knelt beside me.

Once again the night was silent. My chest heaved.

Where's Briggs? Has he lost us? Are we safe?

Slowly, I rolled over and sat up.

Elizabeth whispered in my ear, “Stay quiet. He doesn't know where we are.”

One minute … Two …

Nothing but the snow …

The wind …

Between gusts, I glimpsed the light, distant now. It was time to go. We struggled to our feet, holding hands. And without a
word we crept back toward the light. I knew that with the perimeter fence likely blown down, it was the only way to find the camp again.

Then, without warning, like a giant ship appearing out of the dense fog, something moved in front of us, blocking the light.

Briggs!

“Run!” I screamed.

Too late.

I saw an arm reach back. A sudden thrust forward. A har-poon released.

“No!” I leapt in front of Elizabeth.

But not before she exploded backward into the darkness, 'pooned through like a beast.

o! No!

Someone was screaming, and I realized it was me.
He's killed Elizabeth! God help me, he's killed Elizabeth!
Like a blind man, I stum-bled through the storm, searching for her. “Elizabeth!”

Over the shrieking wind, I heard laugh-ter. “Oh, Bones! Oh, Bones, where are you? I have something for you as well.”

No! No!

Snow and tears blinded me. Again I braced for the cold stab of metal in my back. A dagger. Another harpoon. “Eliza-beth!” I cried, knowing she couldn't answer, knowing she was …

I stumbled over something and fell hard, scraping my cheek on the snow.

A body.

Elizabeth's.

I scrambled to her side.

At the same time, I heard claws scraping.

A huff of breath.

A roar.

A scream. A man's scream. “Blood and thunder, a bear! Get him off me! Get him—”

A strangled, gurgling cry.

Beside me, Elizabeth moved and groaned.
She's alive!

I tried to pull her to her feet. “Run, Elizabeth! Hurry! A bear has Briggs!”

Horrified, I realized she couldn't move. The harpoon pinned her to the ice. I grabbed it and pulled with all my strength. Behind me, I heard a crunching. Like bones. My skin crawled. My hair stood on end.

Please, God!

Then Elizabeth was free from the ice, the harpoon still lodged in her shoulder. I heard her cry with pain. With a strength I didn't know I possessed, I tossed her over my shoulder, harpoon and all, and began to run.

I expected to feel claws in my back, teeth on my scalp, the full weight of a polar bear upon me, my bones snapping like twigs. I heard Elizabeth gasping. My own panicked breath. I ran until the sounds of the bear faded and I heard nothing but the wind. I ran forever, until we collapsed behind a snowdrift. Elizabeth sobbing. Tears freezing on my cheeks.

“I thought you were dead,” I finally said.

Her teeth chattered. Her body shook. “We're lost, aren't we?”

I didn't answer. I held her close, wishing I could protect her, knowing I was helpless. The Arctic was too powerful. We were too small. Too human. Too alone.

“We're lost, aren't we?” she asked again.

“Aye. We're lost.”

Endless darkness.

The wind, bone-numbing and relentless. Howling, howling.

My eyes watering.

Constant cold.

My feet, my hands, my face, blocks of ice.

It was a frozen hell. And us lost within it.

“Leave me,” Elizabeth said when she could no longer walk. We huddled behind another snowdrift, trying to find relief from the wind. Already she'd walked with me for what seemed miles, both hands wrapped round the harpoon to keep it steady as I tried to support her. But finally, she'd collapsed. I'd carried her to the snowdrift. I could hardly see her. The milky white of the churning darkness surrounded us, blinding me. Her breath came in pants. “Leave me,” she said again. “I'm going to die.”

A heaviness filled my chest. “No. You're not going to die, Elizabeth.”

“Listen to me. Save yourself. I—I want you to live.”

I pressed my cheek to hers. Tasted the salt of her tears. “Aye, I want to live, but not without you. We belong together.”

“You—you always had a hard head.”

“No harder than yours.” I pulled her close, wishing I could take her pain away, wishing for the thousandth time that it was me who was 'pooned instead of her. “I'll never leave you. I'll not let you die. Not while I have breath in my body.”

“Nicholas?”

“Yes?”

Her mittened hand touched my cheek. “You're a good man. The kindest, nicest, dearest friend I've ever had. My—my only friend.”

My throat clogged and I could say nothing. I held her for a long while, until the cold crept in like poison, numbing every-thing. Finally, I pushed myself to my feet. If we stayed longer, we'd freeze to death. “Elizabeth? Can you walk?”

There was no answer. My stomach crawled with fear. “Elizabeth?” I put my ear next to her mouth, almost crying with relief when I felt a puff of warm breath. Either she was asleep, or she'd fainted. Breath burning, I scooped her up and heaved her over my shoulder. It was no easy task with a harpoon in the way. My knees trembled, wanting to buckle, but I steeled my knees, set my jaw, and began to walk.

First one foot, then the other.

One foot, then the other …

One foot, then the other …

The cold numbed my thoughts, froze the song I was singing so that I sang the same words again and again.
Think, Nicholas! Think!
I imagined returning home. I imagined the warm smell of a fire in the stove. I imagined Aunt Agatha telling me to set the table for supper, the taste of hot biscuits, jam, baked beans, clam chowder.
I will return home. I will. Remember the cupola? One day, I'll gaze out of it again with my spyglass.
I tried to picture the cupola, but it kept slipping away, a frozen thought, lost in the churning wind. I wanted to cry but couldn't remember why I was sad, or where I was, or why I carried this heavy thing over my shoulder.

Suddenly, my knees buckled. The snow stung my chin, and my mouth snapped shut, ice in my teeth. A grunt of air spilled out of my lungs; snow clogged my ear. The heavy load on my shoulder mercifully fell off.

Darkness gathered, darker than the night. It seeped through my skin, pressed on my brain, clawed down my spine, and grasped my heart….

I blinked—an icy, leaden blink, one eyelid frozen shut.
So cold … Just sleep…. Just sleep….

Then I saw something through the darkness. It was as if the night had parted and I could see forever, though the snow kept swirling and it was a long, long ways away. Shapes in the dark-ness. Different shapes. Different from snowdrifts, from the end-less flat tundra. I smelled smoke. Saw dim squares of light.

I'm dreaming. It's a nice dream—heaven, maybe.

A spark of warmth fluttered inside me. Little at first, then swelling. And with the spark's swelling, I pushed the heavy dark-ness away with a will.
No! Elizabeth can't die! Not while I have breath in my body!

Slowly, as though someone else were moving, not me, I grabbed a handful of snow and mashed it into my face.

Wake up! If you don't wake up now, you'll die!

I staggered to my feet, reeling like a drunkard, and began to drag Elizabeth toward the shapes. She was heavy. So heavy. My hands were blocks of wood, unable to grasp anything. One step. Another. Many steps. Miles, maybe.

Then the shapes came alive. Bursting out of the snow. Barking, growling. Warm breath, snapping teeth, and hot tongues surrounded us. I heard shouts. Voices. Men, women. Many people. Emerging from the ground. I felt hands on me, a tickle of fur.

“Help,” I blurted, before I collapsed alongside Elizabeth in a drift of snow.

Warmth.

A sod home.

Walls of whale ribs and driftwood. Gigantic jawbones sup-porting a sod roof. A skylight covered with dried intestine. The stink of grease and oil and urine. Children stared, giggling,
clutching dolls of ivory dressed in bird skins. Men, lips pierced with bone, studied us, talking among themselves. Women smiled, their teeth blackened and worn, chins tattooed. They pried open my mouth and put food on my tongue. I swallowed, moaning.