Bang la

The winch rolled, the iron anchor was launched, and at a depth of less than 20 meters, it touched the hard surface and came to a clattering stop.

Clen glanced at the number on the chain, frowned and walked to Lorraine's side: "Captain, the depth is 17.2 meters, if it stops for too long, the Golden Deer is at risk of being shallow." ”

"The Golden Deer doesn't have to stay here." Lorraine looked at the assault boat that was slowly launching into the water, "When we get on the boat, you can drive the boat away and keep it in a relative position of one kilometer outside the ice peak...... Remember to watch out for ice floes. ”

Karen nodded solemnly.

After a while, Acharin commanded the assault boat to the side, and Lorraine, Henna, and Daniel disembarked one after another. The Golden Deer closed anchor and slowly sailed away from the dangerous sea with only one stern sail.

At a distance of more than 500 meters, the oarsmen paddled hard, and the dinghy swung over the calm sea of the leeward wind, slowly approaching the gentle slope of the iceberg.

Lorraine was the first to jump out of the boat, stepping on the icy waters, and with two sailors, struggled to tow the dinghy to shore.

Not far away, the stranded ship was a small Slupp sloop, only about ten meters long, lying crooked on the ice.

Most of these boats are used as offshore fishing vessels, which are easy to operate and have small cabins, so it is impossible to have too many people on board, and naturally there are few supplies on board.

Henna couldn't help but be a little strange: "How could such a small ship run into the Atlantic?" ”

"It's not that far from Iceland, maybe they were just fishing inshore and for some reason they ran aground, so they came here with the iceberg."

"What is the reason?"

Lorraine was stunned for a moment: "For example...... Too dark? ”

Naturally, nothing could have come of this speculative discussion, and the group cautiously stepped on the smooth ice to the side of the boat, and found that the wind lamps on the masttips had long since been extinguished, and the so-called fire was nothing more than the shadow of the glass reflected by the sun.

The junction between the side and the ice is covered with condensed crampons, which hold the bottom of the ship firmly embedded in the iceberg, and remain untouched by the wind and rain.

Lorraine walked around the side of the ship, found a huge stubble in the warped bow keel, and tore a huge hole in the bilge, freezing even the ice near the breach.

Clearly, there was a violent collision here.

He sighed and straightened up: "The high-speed impact broke the keel, which is the main reason why she is stranded here." ”

Henna rolled over and jumped onto the side of the ship, squinting and looking around: "Everything on the deck is frozen. Lorraine, they've been here for a long time. ”

"Not unexpected." Lorraine shook her head, "Acharin, check the cabin with Henna to see if there are any survivors." ”

"Huh? I? Yacharin pointed to his frozen red nose, "Captain, didn't you bring a ship doctor?" ”

"Are you afraid?"

"What's so scary about a broken fishing boat!" Yacharin recklessly spoke, propped up his arms and climbed onto the side of the ship, and casually took out two guns, clanged twice, and pulled the hammer, "In order to have a tryst with a beauty, I have never been afraid of the black-backed group in the courtyard!" ”

After saying a big deal, he looked at the frost-covered hatch on the deck and swallowed hard: "Miss Yesla, ladies first?" ”

"Coward." Henna jumped off the deck and pushed the hatch a few times, but found that it couldn't be opened.

She turned her head, her turquoise eyes fixed on Acharin, not speaking, not hinting.

Acharin was so embarrassed that he jumped down, raised his gun, and kicked the hatch.

There was a muffled sound, the hatch was not seen, and the eaves behind the cabin were startled with two screams.

Two black bird shadows shot into the sky, startling Yacharin, and subconsciously pulled the trigger.

Rumble! Rumble!

Two gunshots rang out like thunder, and the startled birds flew farther in panic, as if they were about to run away from home and never to return.

Lorraine looked at her embarrassed gunner.

"Palm-sized bird, black feathers, white belly, short wings, colored beak...... Two Icelandic puffins can scare you like this, Acharin, have you really joined the army? ”

Acharin wept with a sad face: "Captain, am I scared by birds?" ”

"Is there a difference?"

Lorraine really didn't bother to pay attention to him, and climbed into the cabin himself, holding the doorknob and slowly exerting force.

Little by little, the freeze of the hatch loosened under his tremendous force. When the hatch first saw that it was shaking, he seized the opportunity to use his strength and snapped the entire door open.

"Simple, isn't it?"

Lorraine and Henna stepped in together.

The cabin of the small boat is not large, and the objects in it are scattered, mostly metal objects, and not a single piece of furniture is missing.

In the corner, a man and a woman slept embracing, blonde-haired, white-skinned, dressed in heavy clothes, and a extinguished brazier was erected nearby.

They had long since frozen to death, their stiff bodies maintaining their pre-mortem appearance, the man holding the woman, and the woman snuggling up to the man, looking serene.

Henna briefly checked it and shook her head silently at Lorraine.

"Something that didn't confirm identity?"

"Nothing." Henna handed Lorraine a small axe without a handle, "Even the handle of the axe is gone, it looks like they burned everything that could be dismantled." ”

"That's a pity......"

The rescue failed, and Lorraine ordered the sailors to chisel open the crampons embedded in the ship's hull, and the group worked together to push the long-unsailable Slop back to the surface.

The sea rushed down the crack in the keel, and the boat drifted farther and deeper on the waves.

"Icelanders are descendants of the Vikings, and you are fishermen of the sea. When you are gone, Nuo Otong will accept you, there is no cold, you can still sleep in your arms and enjoy peace. Lorraine prayed softly, "Good night, stranger......"

After bidding farewell to the deceased, the search and rescue team members rowed back to the Golden Deer, and Lorraine only landed on the deck, when suddenly two quarking birds were heard.

The bird's call was familiar, and Toyacharin had the privilege of hearing it once not long ago.

This made him feel ridiculous.

"Those two puffins actually ran to our boat?"

The greeting Karen pouted at the stern: "I don't know where I flew from, I stopped on the porthole of Carmen, and I am not afraid of people at all." ”

"Carmen didn't scare them away?"

"What's the surprise? As soon as Carmen stretched out his hand, they hit the snake and stopped on Carmen's arm, like human pets, not at all like wild birds. ”

"Maybe they're pets...... Lorraine shook her head with a wry smile, "let's build a nest for them outside the restaurant." It's too far from land, and even if they were to be driven away, they wouldn't be strong enough to fly back to Iceland and die halfway through. ”

……

Through a magical fate, the Golden Deer has joined two new crew members, the puffins, in the high latitudes outside the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

They settled outside the canteen in the stern cabin, and Carmen named them Jenny and McCarthy.

The name comes from a hearing they had heard before they set out to sea.

Jenny was originally a weaver in the Southampton countryside, but was fired from the steam workshop and lost her job.

In retaliation against the capitalists, she and her admirer McCarthy orchestrated a robbery of the bank vaults of Southampton.

The reckless plan did not succeed, they snatched the money, and then, without any suspense, they were both shot dead in front of the bank.

When he heard that the vigilantes were shooting, McCarthy tried to block Jenny's gun.

Carmen felt that this sentimental feeling was heartfelt, especially in line with the monogamous and unswerving habits of puffins, so she gave them the name, praising their love and condemning them for their unreasonable forced boarding.

The birds loved their new names, the male named Jenny and the female McCarthy.

At the end of the encounter, the Golden Deer re-set sail, cut into the middle ridge, and turned southwest along the 1,600-kilometre-wide submarine mountain range, continuing towards the warm Caribbean Sea......

It's a long road, it's a long one.