Chapter FiveVICTORIA DOCK, DUNDEE
FEBRUARY 1914
'A grey crow came and sat on our yards…which a few of the watch thought a bad omen.'
Journal of a Voyage to Baffin Bay Aboard the ship Thomas Commanded by Alex Cooke; John Wanless, 10th April 1833
Laden with ice, the February wind rattled the rigging of the ships that crouched miserably beside the harbour warehouses, their masts and spars stark as charity and their hulls half seen in the bleak dawn light. Intermittent sleet pattered the puddles on the quay as a train chugged past, spewing steam against the closed windows of the Seaman's Hostel and the classical authority of the Custom House.
'Who the hell's that?' A labourer paused from piling jute onto an already heavily laden cart to jerk a thumb toward me.
His colleague looked, shrug
