Page 43 of Ruining His Smirk

“So they came into the Weddell Sea on a rickety dink,” he said. “What happened?”

“They became trapped.”

“Oh Jesus.” His face paled like he could empathize with the plight of those souls from years ago. “Here?”

I pointed at the ice around us. “You see that ice? It closed around the ship. They could not sail forward, and they could not turn back. Our modern ship is an icebreaker. I’m not sure you’ve been on one. Look down at the hull. See how it’s not pointed but round?”

He leaned and studied. “Yeah.”

“That’s so this ship can glide up on the ice sheets. Like how the rounded part of a spoon would do?” I tried to mime the action to him. “Once the ship is on top of the ice, it cracks due to the tons of weight on it. That’s how this channel of water we are in was created. But even just a few decades ago, ships didn’t have this technology. Mostly ships tried to plough through ice.”

“Like a bull.”

I laughed. “Close enough. I don’t think I’ve seen a bull up close. I guess you have… I heard you’re a cow… I mean from Texas?”

“Yep. Bred and reared on a ranch,” he said in an exaggerated drawl.

Damn. Why was that so hot? Corny but hot.

“So what happened then?”

“The ship fractured and sank.”

“Damn. All those fuckers died?”

“No.”

“No?”

“The entire company—twenty-eight men—spent five months camped on the ice.” I lifted a hand and pointed out to the ice.

His eyes opened wide. “No way.”

I took a step towards him until we were both standing close to each other.

“What did they fucking eat?”

“Rations salvaged from the ship. Seals and penguins when necessary. They had dogs too.”

His expression shifted. I did not need to explain what eventually happened to the dogs.

Landry blinked several times and kept looking around the scenery. Of all the people I’d narrated this story to, his reaction instantly became my new favorite. He stared at the Weddell Sea, and I could see him imagining himself in that situation. I could clearly picture him as one of those mad lads. He would have been strong and brave. Landry would have found a way to survive. I didn’t know why, but I just had a strong conviction about that.

I, on the other hand, would definitely have perished.

Our shoulders were touching slightly.

Eventually, he asked in a quiet voice, “Did they survive?”

“Yes. The ice began breaking apart beneath them. They could not remain on it, so they launched the three boats they had left.”

“Boats? That is even worse.”

“They had no good choices left. They spent days at sea before reaching an island called Elephant Island. From there, it took another few months, but they were rescued.”

His forearm shifted against the railing. The sleeve of his parka brushed mine.

“Not one man died?”