The Voyage of the Unquiet Ice Read Online Free

board? (Seven, varying in size and shape, the largest twice the height of a man.) And so on.
    Then came questions about the ship’s day-to-day running. What was the rotation of the companies and the watches? (First Watch, First Company, Midnight to Eight Bells; Second Watch, Second Company, Eight Bells to Noon; Third Watch, First Company, Noon to Four Bells; Fourth Watch, Second Company, Four Bells to midnight.) What was the chain of command on board? (The captain, then the first officer, then the two lieutenant-commanders, then the nine lieutenants, then the various mates and masters, and lastly the twelve midshipmen – mere boys mostly, in training to be officers – all set over the six hundred or so men of the common crew.)
    Next came queries about the rigging; Dow had to list with their proper names the full multitude of the Chloe ’s different sails, then the lines which controlled them, then the myriad belays and halyards and clews and pins that held them fast. Then he was asked to explain what various commands or whistles meant in regard to the setting or furling or trimming of those sails.
    And on it went.
    For all his nervousness, Dow found he actually had no trouble in answering such questions. Just as he had instinctively grasped the workings of small boats, all those months ago on the calm waters of the Claw, he had quickly grasped the workings of a tall ship too.
    But understanding was not doing , and Dow’s unease only grew as the test progressed. Worse, one by one, various midshipmen and junior lieutenants were emerging from below to loiter about the high deck. They paid Dow no obvious attention, but he was grimly certain that they’d come to observe his examination, especially the final part of it. Last to appear, his long face pinched red by the wind, was Lieutenant Diego, who smirked at his fellows, then leant on the rail with a bored and indifferent air that Dow knew was entirely feigned.
    Soon after, Commander Fidel came to the end of his questioning; he straightened and glanced austerely about at sky and sea once more. ‘Very well, Mr Amber. I’m satisfied as to your theory. But theory is only so much use. Ultimately, a seaman must show practical proficiency.’ He smiled thinly. ‘How high is the mainmast, measuring from the main deck?’
    Dow’s heart sank, for all that he’d known this was coming. ‘Two hundred and seventy feet, Excellency.’
    â€˜A long ascent, and a long way to fall. But we can’t have an able seaman who is afraid of heights, can we?’
    â€˜No, Excellency.’
    So it had come. This was always the last part of a seaman’s test, to climb to the crow’s nest and stand a full watch there. Dow had not yet climbed so high. Indeed, he’d been expressly forbidden from doing so before now. By long tradition, the test itself had to be the first time.
    â€˜Very well then,’ said Fidel sternly, but also with a half smile, ‘report to the crow’s nest immediately, Mr Amber.’
    Dow saluted, then spun and made for the steps leading down to the main deck. Several of the junior officers, Diego in the lead, had already slipped ahead of him. In fact, as Dow descended, he noted a change all about the ship. On the main deck, gangs who had been set scrubbing or painting now left off their chores to sit back and watch; likewise, those at work in the rigging had paused to hang idly from various vantage points.
    The tension in Dow tightened a notch further. He approached the mainmast shrouds, the ladder-like ropes that gave access aloft, running up at a steep angle from fixed points by the rail. And lounging at the same rail, their backs to the sea and their feet braced against the slant of the deck, were Diego and his friends. As Dow came up, Diego smirked once more, muttering something inaudible, and the others broke into laughter.
    Dow said nothing, only set his hands to the shrouds, and began to climb,