With the morning light comes the clearing of the blizzard. He heaves the pile of snow from within the tent walls and steps out into the glare of the white island. Their guide follows after. Inside, his wife and two children are putting on their boots. When he sees the look on the guide’s face by the cliff he knows something is wrong.
Looking down into the cove below, he sees the ship half sunk and pressed against the cliffs. Dread takes hold of him as he thinks of this island, its barren, frozen core, and the thousands of miles of sea ice between here and the nearest town. How does he reveal this to his young family?
The guide points. Revealed by the sun, halfway up the mountain, the tiny dark outline of a grand house. Even from here he can see the chimney smoking and inside, someone has turned on a light.
‘You said no one lives on the island?’
The guide’s face is creased with concern. ‘No one does.’
Paddy Dobson
27th September 2021