Across Frozen Seas by John Wilson Page B

even the sick for getting himinto this predicament. To disagree with him was enough to earn a beating or even worse. Eventually the food ran out. Some of the men went mad and ran about screaming until they dropped. Others gave up, lay down and stared silently into space until they too died. Still others, led and organized by Seeley, resorted to a more frightful means to stave off death— they ate the remains of their comrades.
    As soon as the worst of the winter storms abated, Seeley led a group of survivors, no more than thirty half-starved men, east in an attempt to reach the whaling grounds. The three men we found were too sick to go and had been part of a group left behind to die. That would have been their fate in a very short time had we not come along.
    Our way too is clear now. We have come down here through uncertain passages and leads, but the ice has closed firm behind us. There is no way back and we must go on now regardless. Seeley and his devils must fend for themselves as best they can in the wilderness. And George, where is he? Did he join the unfortunate party who perished attempting to return to the ship, or did he stay at camp and die here, or is he somewhere out there with Seeley, still alive?

    This is the end, we can go no farther. The
Erebus
still floats free but, as far as the eye can see there is impenetrable ice. We know the way back is blocked so there is onlyone option left to our small party—Simpson Strait. If we can sail through it we may still be able to cross to the Gulf of Boothia and meet up with whalers before 1849 is out. We must, for another winter will be the death of us all. It will be a hard journey in our weakened state, but better than trying to cross the Barren Lands.
    The problem is that the strait is too shallow for the
Erebus
so we must abandon her and take to the small boats. They are loaded now and we are hauling on the oars looking back at the
Erebus
where she sits, calm and peaceful, at anchor in a flat open sea. On our left looms the mainland shore of the Adelaide Peninsula. On our right the bleak, hopeless rock of King William Land which has become a grave to so many of our friends. Will it be ours too before this hellish journey is over?

CHAPTER 15
    By this time, my dreams had become like a horror movie that I was compelled to watch. Every night I was drawn back, fascinated, to the story created by the dark imaginings of my overwrought mind, but I did not want to follow where they led. The sense of loneliness was almost overwhelming and it took an enormous effort of will even to get out of bed in the morning.
    After the holiday disappointment, Mom and Dad’s fights just kept getting worse. It seemed like they argued every day and it didn’t matter whether I was around or not. When they weren’t actually arguing, they were bickering at each other. The pressure began to build again.
    It was Friday night and their third fight of the week. I was watching TV and they were going at it behind me.
    â€œThat place is like an albatross around our necks,” my Mom was saying. “You have to get rid of it.”

    â€œNo,” my Dad shouted. “I have to give it a chance.”
    â€œYou’ve given it a chance. It’s not working.”
    It was the same old stuff as before. Their voices were mingling with whatever I was watching on TV
    â€œLook.” Mom was trying to calm down and try a different approach. “I can get a job. Dorothy says she needs some help at the store. It wouldn’t pay much, but it would help us over this spell. But I won’t do it to support the chicken place. We have to get out from underneath that.”
    â€œAll I need is more time.” Dad was still being defensive. “I know it will work out.”
    â€œNo it won’t,” I hadn’t planned to say anything, it just came out. I certainly hadn’t planned to take anyone’s side. “Dad, no one is going to go there. The place is a