Page 46 of Valour

“The person who would borrow your things and forget to give them back?” Fliss asked, her mouth quirking to the side.

“What?!” Hester cried as everyone pointed to her. “This is a fix. You cannot all say things that relate to me. It isn’t fair.”

“You didn’t stipulate any rules against that, Captain,” Winston said, smirking. “Drink up!”

“Fine. The person most likely to have a secret,” Hester said, folding her arms, then pointed at Arnold, who won the vote and drank. Opposite, Winston shifted in his seat, rubbing the scar on the side of his neck.

“The person most likely to get pregnant by accident,” Arnold said, his smile broad. Quite a few fingers pointed between Hester and Fliss, and then Charlotte pointed to Marjorie and a few of the others laughed and changed their votes, so that Marjorie ended up with six votes, Fliss with one, and Hester with three.

“Well, Marjorie can’t drink, so it’ll have to be you, Hester,” Arnold said.

“I’m hardly likely to get pregnant when no one will f⁠—”

“I’ll take the shot,” Fliss said with a laugh. “For you, my friend.” She raised her glass and downed it.

Half an hour later, Hester was slurring her words. “The person—hiccup—most likely to—hiccup—fixallyourproblems.”

Winston won the vote, and Hester clambered onto the table, standing up and pointing at the crew in turn. “You are all—hiccup—completely out of order—hiccup. I was trying to do something—hiccup—nice for you. Trying to cheer you up—” She swayed and fell off the table.

Winston stood and cried, “Person most likely to fall off a table!”

16

IN WHICH THERE ARE DOGLOOS, A LITTLE LOAF OF GINGER CAKE AND CAPTAINLY TASKS

16th February 1915, Weddell Sea

They were well and truly stuck.

Charlotte fiddled with the hem of her coat as Hester stood, resting her hands on the galley table. “As the ice has not broken up, we will no longer need to function as a ship, and that means the watches will be disbanded, apart from a night watchperson, who will receive extra rations while on duty.”

A murmur went up at this, and Hester smiled grimly and continued, “The Valour will now serve as a winter base. We will build kennels for the dogs on the ice and begin training with the sleds for the overland journey. My hope is that the ice will break up next summer, and we can reach Vahsel Bay then. But for now, there seems little hope of escape.”

There was silence. Charlotte didn’t blame them for being so downcast. It would mean the expedition would continue for much longer than planned. She waited for the complaints, for them to blame her for commissioning them to come south, and for what? The glory of being the first people to cross the continent. Hardly a worthwhile endeavour in the face of it.

“And the Intrepid?” Betty asked.

“Good news! Also stuck fast. I have agreed a dog-sled derby with them in June, when the ice is thickest. We had best get practising because I do not intend to lose.”

A rousing cheer went up, and Charlotte’s spirits lifted. No one had gotten angry at her, and the dog-sled derby sounded thrilling. She was keen to see the dogs in action, and perhaps even have a go at sled-driving herself.

“I have a cunning plan for the hold,” Winston said, stroking his beard in a sly sort of way. “I’ll need Mei, Betty and Rufus to help me for a couple of days.”

“Oh? Run it past me first before you get too happy with the saw, won’t you?” Hester said. “The rest of you can get to work building the igloos for the dogs.”

“Dogloos,” Charlotte breathed, grinning as the others laughed.

“Dogloos! Excellent. Let’s reconvene at lunch,” Hester said.

“And what, O leader, will you be doing while we’re all working up a sweat?” Fliss asked, hands on her hips, an eyebrow raised.

“I have a few very important captainly tasks. I wouldn’t want to bore you with the details,” Hester said, smirking. “Say, has anyone seen Satan?”

“He was snoozing on my bed this morning. Such a dear little cat,” Charlotte said.

Hester stared. “W—what?”

“He was snoozing on my bed. He’s often in there. Marjorie does cower from him! It’s very funny.” She patted Marjorie on the head. The poor girl was terrified of the cat.