Chapter TwelveGREENLAND SEA
APRIL 1914
No accounts whatever have been had of the ship George Dempster, whence it is inferred that she must have foundered at sea on her outward voyage'
Montrose Customs and Excise Records, 2nd February 1795
'Captain! Out there on the ice!' Thoms pointed with a gloved hand. 'Can you see them?'
Snapping open his telescope, Captain Milne focussed on the objects. 'Of course I can see them, Thoms. More polar bears, but we don't have time to hunt them just now.'
'No, sir. That's not polar bear. That's people!'
We had spent a week killing seals, turning the once pristine ice into a slaughterhouse of blood and broken bodies, and then spent another week hacking off the skin and blubber and dragging the bloodied mess back to Lady Balgay. I had thought that the
