Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett

Author:Andrea Barrett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, the sheet remained blank. Ned took Erasmus aside, while Zeke rummaged through the supplies on the ice. “No one’s going to sign up,” he said. “Of course no one is. After what happened—I’ll never go anywhere with him again. And neither will anyone else. I’ve talked to the men.”

He looked Erasmus squarely in the eye, and Erasmus understood that, beyond the rebuilt bulkhead, Ned had been telling the crew his version of the trip to Anoatok, which must have won out over Zeke’s.

On Thursday, Zeke sat down to dinner with an armful of charts. “Well?” he asked. “Who is joining me?”

“We must stay with the ship,” Captain Tyler said. “Mr. Tagliabeau and I—it’s our duty to guard the ship, and ready it for our departure.”

The seven crewmen rose from the table as one. Ned stepped forward and spoke for them. “It’s too risky,” he said. Brave boy, Erasmus thought. “There’s nothing to be gained. The ice may break up before you think, and we must be here when it does.”

Zeke’s face turned white, but he clenched his hand around his charts and said to Erasmus, “It’s just you and me then, my old friend. But we’ll move more swiftly without these malingerers. Shall we leave on Saturday?”

For a minute Erasmus struggled with himself. His duty toward Zeke and Lavinia, his duty toward Ned and the rest of these men—no matter what he decided, he’d fail someone. “It’s a bad idea,” he said. “I can’t support you in this. I vote to stay.”

Zeke rose, scattering papers. “This isn’t a vote. Who said anything about voting?”

“I’m staying here,” Erasmus said, hoping he sounded as firm as Ned had.

“You can’t do this,” Zeke said to him. He turned, faced the others, and repeated himself; then added, “You’ll all regret this.”

“We’ve followed you wherever you wanted,” Captain Tyler said. “Look where it’s brought us.”

Mr. Tagliabeau said,“We might now consider this ship a wreck, since it has no power to move. Under maritime law, the commander of a ship has no further powers once a ship is wrecked.”

Ned took a breath and steadied himself. “The Narwhal isn’t a ship anymore,” he said. “Maybe it’s not a wreck like Mr. Tagliabeau says, but it’s not a ship. It’s our home, even if it feels like a prison.”

Was this mutiny? Erasmus wondered. If Zeke started hurling orders at them, if he threatened them and still they refused . . .

“I’ll give you all another chance to act like men,” Zeke said, beginning to pace. “We’ll meet here tomorrow at noon, and I’ll ask each of you to state for the record your decision to support me in a journey north. Perhaps a party of six is excessive, given our reduced numbers. I need only three of you. Any three.”

He left the cabin, clambered down onto the ice, and did not return. No one slept in the cabin that night. Erasmus tossed in the deckhouse, aware that below him, Captain Tyler and Mr. Tagliabeau had abandoned their bunks to join the men in the forecastle.

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