Page 121 of Valour

“Cheers,” Betty said. “To you, Boss. You make it all worthwhile.”

Charlotte beamed. “You’re just saying that.”

“I am not!”

“Despite the hardships, I’m glad I got to voyage with you, Boss,” Rufus said, plucking a note from the banjo in emphasis.

“Despite the lack of toes, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Tom said, raising his glass.

There was a laugh, and a rumble of approval as more glasses were raised, and Charlotte blushed. She really couldn’t think of anywhere she’d rather be, which was partly why the bad spirits of the crew had gotten her so down. To know that, deep inside, they were pleased to be here…well, that meant everything.

“Shall we have a song, then?” Rufus asked.

“How about the Hester song?” Mei said.

Rufus grinned and started the tune up.

“Oh, the Weddell Sea is a cruel mistress,

Where the floes stretch ever more,

But Captain Hester Orn set out,

To seek the Antarctic shore.”

20th April 1916, Interior of South Georgia

Midnight had come and gone, and progress across the glacier was slow but steady. Hester hummed the shanty that Charlotte had written all those months ago as she cut steps into the ice, the moon lighting a silver path for her to follow.

“Through pack ice and the sparkling mists,

Her sturdy ship did glide,

And when the giant orca came near,

She refused to run and hide.”

“What’s that you’re singing?” Septimus asked.

“Oh, just a song someone special wrote. Say, is that Stromness down there?” Hester pointed down. She was sure the shapes in the moonlight were the harbour entrance.

“Possibly. In that case, we’re not too far away. Thank God for that, I can barely go another step.”

Hester didn’t think she could, either, but the thoughts of the crew on Elephant Island, of Peggy, Winston and Frank in King Haakon Bay, kept her going.

They descended the glacier further.

“Wait. No. That isn’t Stromness. We are still on the Fortuna Glacier.” Septimus hung his head. “There is further to go.”

Elephant Island

The crew were roaring with laughter, and Charlotte’s cheeks ached from smiling.

“The person most likely to get into a fight with a sea elephant,” Mei said.

Fingers pointed at Rufus and Tom, and the young stowaway threw up his hands.

“As if I’d fight a sea elephant with only five toes,” he said, laughing.