[Alaskan Quest 03] - Whispers of Winter Read Free Page A

four-o’clock watch, correct?”
    Jayce nodded. “I looked around and found tracks that headed off toward the west along the beach. I’m thinking Latimore might have gone off that direction. Maybe he heard or saw something that caught his attention.”
    With continual daylight upon them, Jacob knew it should be easy enough to find the man if they spread out and searched. “We should be able to locate him if we split up. Gather the men, and we’ll do what we can. He may have become confused or snow-blind.”
    Jayce quickly retrieved the men. They had long ago turned to Jacob as their leader, especially given Latimore’s despondency toward life and his crew. “Look, it seems the captain disappeared last night. We don’t know if he saw something that took him from his post or if he simply wandered away.” Jacob didn’t want to further demean the man, so he quickly continued. “There have been many bear tracks as you well know, so it wouldn’t be wise to just assume Latimore is unharmed. Go in pairs, and take one of the firearms. If you haven’t found anything in an hour,” he said, gazing to the southwest, “return to camp. The skies are looking mean, and we’d best be settled back here before it hits.”
    “All it ever does up here is snow and be cold,” nineteen-year-old Bristol grumbled. “I never knew you could have temperatures as cold as this place.”
    “Oh, stop complaining,” Elmer Warrick, former first mate, commanded. “We haven’t got time to list all of our problems.”
    Originally there had been fourteen men who’d abandoned the Regina when she sank. They’d lost four in accidents—accidents that had awakened the rest of the team to just how serious their station had become. Now with Latimore gone, that left nine men. They were a good bunch, as far as Jacob was concerned, but they were starting to get sick and irritable. It would only be a matter of time before they started feeling the desperation of their situation. Especially if help didn’t come soon.
    As the men paired up in teams, Jacob considered the lay of the land and each man’s ability. Some were growing weak from the lack of a good diet, and Jacob didn’t want to further risk anyone’s life by making their trek too arduous. The snow was difficult to navigate at times, and unfortunately, many of these men were from southern states that saw very little cold or ice.
    “Travis, you and Keith go north. Dr. Ripley and Elmer go west and follow the tracks Jayce found. Jayce, you and Bristol head east and Ben and Matt go northeast.” Since they stood on the southern shore of the island and were able to see for some miles to the south, no one felt the need to head in that direction. Besides, the ice was far too unstable.
    As the men gathered some supplies and split up, Jacob decided to head northwest, away from the shoreline. There was no telling if the tracks Jayce had found belonged to Latimore or to one of the other men. The captain could have gone any direction, for any reason. Jacob sighed. Latimore hadn’t been much use to them since getting stuck in the floes, but he couldn’t be forsaken—no matter the risk to the rest of them.
    “What I wouldn’t give for a few good dogs,” Jacob muttered.
    The landscape of their island offered some diversion. There were hills and cliffs where nesting birds had provided good meals for the team, but dangerous crevices and ice heaves were plentiful and difficult to navigate, and snow depths were often deceptive due to the drifts. It was truly an inhospitable wasteland. God forgive the leader of the Karluk expedition for calling it “the friendly Arctic.” Vilhjalmur Stefansson was well known for declaring that the Arctic was merely misunderstood and that with proper training anyone could live quite easily in the frozen north. But Jacob knew better. Life up here was a matter of God’s grace and common sense. Lose either one and you were doomed.
    The glare from the constant sunlight was