The White Voyage by Christopher John

Author:Christopher, John [Christopher, John]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9780992768652
Publisher: The SYLE Press
Published: 2015-06-02T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

After Annabel had gone to sleep, they sat together on the sofa opposite the bunks, watching her. It was not very big; they were not pressed together but their bodies touched comfortably. They had the single light on over the dressing-table. It dimmed, as though about to go out, and then picked up again.

‘I am not happy,’ Mouritzen said, ‘over that generator. She has had heavy work – heavier than is right. If it fails things will be harder. There is none of us can mend it.’

Mary said: ‘It’s strange.’

‘What is strange?’

‘That things are so nearly normal.’

‘The Kreya is a good ship. On others, one might not have been so well placed.’

‘And yet we are lost, drifting. There must be an end to it, mustn’t there? What happens when the food runs out?’

‘You need not worry over that. She is well stocked. None of us will starve. I do not think we shall even have to eat Katerina.’

She smiled with him, but grew serious again.

‘But there must be some end to it all. Day after day, and we still sight no ships.’

‘Of course there is an end.’ Mouritzen took her hand, moved it forward in a horizontal plane, and then made it dip down. ‘We go on and on, and then, one day, we come to the edge of the world, and over we go. Down the great cataract, for ever and ever.’

‘No, seriously.’

‘Seriously, there is nothing to worry about. We have had storm after storm, but storms do not go on without stopping some time. When we come into calmer seas, we try again with the rudder. We will fix it, and when we have fixed it we can see to the engines. Then we limp quietly to the south, into the shipping lanes. With clear skies, we can fix our position. Even if we do not sight a ship, we can make a port.’

‘What port?’

‘Maybe Reykjavik – Iceland, that is.’

‘I know. We’ve been blown so far north?’

‘Farther, maybe.’

‘And then – I suppose the Kreya will be in port for some time, while the rudder is mended?’

Mouritzen laughed. ‘Truly, for some time!’

‘And us – the passengers?’

‘You will be taken to your destinations. By air, I guess.’

‘I see.’

‘And all the bells of Amsterdam will ring for the marrying.’

Her hand, which he still held, was drawn away.

She said: ‘Please, Niels. Please don’t make fun of me.’

‘I make fun of you,’ he said, ‘because I love you. Don’t turn away from me, Mary. You are listening? I love you. I will always love you.’

Her voice stifled, she said: ‘Don’t say that.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I’ve heard it before. Because it doesn’t mean anything, except loneliness and misery.’

‘Words can be good or bad, true or false. What do you think I want of you?’

‘The same. It’s always the same.’

‘Listen. You will not go to Amsterdam, you and Annabel. You will go to Copenhagen, where my mother and my two sisters and my two sisters-in-law will look after you both until the Kreya can come back.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.