Read Online Between Two Worlds by Katherine Kirkpatrick - Free Book Online
Authors: Katherine Kirkpatrick
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sharp rocks.
The girls raced over the last hill that separated us from the beach. I followed, breathing fast. As I neared the top, I heard shouting.
Marie called, “Billy Bah! Look!”
CHAPTER NINE
The
Windward
, still tilted on its side, slowly moved out from the shoal in the blue-black water. It rocked one way, then the other, then stood upright. The water had risen on the rocks and was climbing the sloping beach toward the tidemark.
I half slid down the bluff and ran as fast as I could toward the crowd on the beach. The
Windward
’s crew were making a storm of their own by their yelling. “Hip, hip, hooray!”
Their happiness made me shout for joy.
Angulluk came toward me. “There you are, woman!” His bushy eyebrows knit together. “Where did you go? I wanted you to help me raise the tent.”
“I didn’t know where you were, either. I was busy unloading the ship.”
Though Angulluk still frowned, I rubbed noses with him. The familiar smell of his damp furs mingled with the cold, salty wind.
“Lucky for the
qallunaat
,” I said. “They won’t be stranded here.”
“I suppose not.” The righting of the ship didn’t meanmuch to Angulluk if it wasn’t going to return us to Itta. He didn’t seem to care if we were stranded here; a village that didn’t know his reputation for laziness was an opportunity to prove himself.
All the
qallunaat
possessions lay stacked on the sand. The ship couldn’t be leaving for America right away. Could it?
Angulluk said firmly, “Let’s tend to our tent.”
Dogs barked as we climbed toward the village. Our dogs were tied together with many others on the bluff, though a few slept curled outside the entranceways of their masters’ igloos. Our small tent stood between two igloos, shielded from the wind. Soon I had my two seal-oil lamps filled and lit; our home was cozy enough as we ate the seal meat Angulluk had hunted during our journey. With our fur covers, our cooking pot, my chest of keepsakes, and all our other tools, hunting gear, and belongings around us, life was almost the same as in Itta. No, not quite. Angulluk untied my pink ribbon, which wasn’t so clean now, and ran his hands over my hair. “No trades. Tonight you are mine.”
I was glad to be with him, too. Perhaps I’d forget all about the
qallunaat
in a few days. But during that night, when I awoke to the howling of the wind, I wondered what had happened to Duncan and the ship.
The next day, a bright sun shone without giving much heat. As we sat outside our tent, making a meat rackfrom bones and sinew, blasts of sound rumbled over the ridge. “That’s not like any gunshots I ever heard,” Angulluk said.
“Dynamite.” I’d seen Peary’s sailors use it to break apart ice floes.
“For once, woman, you must be right.”
“A man is admitting his ignorance?” I let my work fall and leapt up. “Let’s go look.” Others came out of their tents and rock igloos as we neared the water.
During the night, the wind had shoved great masses of ice into the harbor. The ship was visible in the middle of the channel, high walls of ice on either side. In its path loomed a blue iceberg several times the height of the ship. The mountain of ice leaned over the ship like a monstrous wave about to break, blocking the
Windward
’s passage to the ocean.
A deep roar cut across the sparkling sound, followed by an even louder rumble as a piece of ice fell from the iceberg. The ship might be smashed, with Duncan, Marie, and Mitti Peary on it. My legs grew weak.
“They’re trying to blow up the whole iceberg,” Angulluk said. “Impossible!”
I nodded. Another explosion echoed. The ship swayed and seemed to move forward as a thin curl of smoke climbed the face of the ice.
I pictured Duncan and the sailors clinging to the rigging, hacking at the mountain, sections of ice crashing andshattering. Was Marie below deck, holding tight to her mother? Or did she think it was another jolly adventure?
A
The girls raced over the last hill that separated us from the beach. I followed, breathing fast. As I neared the top, I heard shouting.
Marie called, “Billy Bah! Look!”
CHAPTER NINE
The
Windward
, still tilted on its side, slowly moved out from the shoal in the blue-black water. It rocked one way, then the other, then stood upright. The water had risen on the rocks and was climbing the sloping beach toward the tidemark.
I half slid down the bluff and ran as fast as I could toward the crowd on the beach. The
Windward
’s crew were making a storm of their own by their yelling. “Hip, hip, hooray!”
Their happiness made me shout for joy.
Angulluk came toward me. “There you are, woman!” His bushy eyebrows knit together. “Where did you go? I wanted you to help me raise the tent.”
“I didn’t know where you were, either. I was busy unloading the ship.”
Though Angulluk still frowned, I rubbed noses with him. The familiar smell of his damp furs mingled with the cold, salty wind.
“Lucky for the
qallunaat
,” I said. “They won’t be stranded here.”
“I suppose not.” The righting of the ship didn’t meanmuch to Angulluk if it wasn’t going to return us to Itta. He didn’t seem to care if we were stranded here; a village that didn’t know his reputation for laziness was an opportunity to prove himself.
All the
qallunaat
possessions lay stacked on the sand. The ship couldn’t be leaving for America right away. Could it?
Angulluk said firmly, “Let’s tend to our tent.”
Dogs barked as we climbed toward the village. Our dogs were tied together with many others on the bluff, though a few slept curled outside the entranceways of their masters’ igloos. Our small tent stood between two igloos, shielded from the wind. Soon I had my two seal-oil lamps filled and lit; our home was cozy enough as we ate the seal meat Angulluk had hunted during our journey. With our fur covers, our cooking pot, my chest of keepsakes, and all our other tools, hunting gear, and belongings around us, life was almost the same as in Itta. No, not quite. Angulluk untied my pink ribbon, which wasn’t so clean now, and ran his hands over my hair. “No trades. Tonight you are mine.”
I was glad to be with him, too. Perhaps I’d forget all about the
qallunaat
in a few days. But during that night, when I awoke to the howling of the wind, I wondered what had happened to Duncan and the ship.
The next day, a bright sun shone without giving much heat. As we sat outside our tent, making a meat rackfrom bones and sinew, blasts of sound rumbled over the ridge. “That’s not like any gunshots I ever heard,” Angulluk said.
“Dynamite.” I’d seen Peary’s sailors use it to break apart ice floes.
“For once, woman, you must be right.”
“A man is admitting his ignorance?” I let my work fall and leapt up. “Let’s go look.” Others came out of their tents and rock igloos as we neared the water.
During the night, the wind had shoved great masses of ice into the harbor. The ship was visible in the middle of the channel, high walls of ice on either side. In its path loomed a blue iceberg several times the height of the ship. The mountain of ice leaned over the ship like a monstrous wave about to break, blocking the
Windward
’s passage to the ocean.
A deep roar cut across the sparkling sound, followed by an even louder rumble as a piece of ice fell from the iceberg. The ship might be smashed, with Duncan, Marie, and Mitti Peary on it. My legs grew weak.
“They’re trying to blow up the whole iceberg,” Angulluk said. “Impossible!”
I nodded. Another explosion echoed. The ship swayed and seemed to move forward as a thin curl of smoke climbed the face of the ice.
I pictured Duncan and the sailors clinging to the rigging, hacking at the mountain, sections of ice crashing andshattering. Was Marie below deck, holding tight to her mother? Or did she think it was another jolly adventure?
A
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