The Stolen Heart by Jacinta Carey Read Free Book Online Page B

to diminish the
    water level in the prow; a bit of water in the boat helped slow the
    whale down, but too much water and they would sink.
     
     
He was delighted to see the Trident come back into view
    about half an hour later. The whale had dragged them almost in a
    full circle. They shot past it, though, and their second line came
    into play as the huge sperm whale kept on pulling.
     
     
“Loop the rope around the logger head. Let’s see if we can’t bring
    him to a halt before we run out of line,” he instructed the man
    behind him.
     
     
Another five minutes saw the whale still near the ship, so Jared had
    Wright throw their drag out the back, a large wooden board attached
    by ropes which would, as the name suggested, slow the whale down
    even further.
     
     
Soon the whaleboat was in position for Jared to lance the exhausted
    creature. He aimed carefully at his optimum target, the join of the
    great fin and side of the sperm whale.
     
     
He gathered all of his considerable strength, thrust the razor-sharp
    lance in through the thick, tough blubber, and twisted mightily.
     
     
“Fire in the chimney!” Wright the boatsteerer called, as huge gouts
    of blood began to gush from the whale’s spout.
     
     
It began to thrash about wildly, fins and flukes flailing. They
    rowed back a safe distance to await the end, ever watchful in case
    it should decide to thrash or sound, or begin its run anew.
     
     
This time, the whale was remarkable calm, much to Jared's relief. He
    had struck hard, and well, and prayed he had caused as little pain
    as possible.
     
     
After a half an hour, Jared declared, “Fin out!”
     
     
The newly expired whale was floating on it side, and they secured a
    strong rope to his tail, and began to row him in.
     
     
“Gosh, he was a lively one up until you lanced him,” Bob the
    strapping former farm boy commented to the captain, awed by what he
    had just seen.
     
     
“Aye, lively enough, but you'll see far more fighting ones before
    this voyage is through, I'll be bound. The main thing is that we're
    all safe, and we got him. Now comes the trying out, and the oil.”
     
     
Bob wrinkled his nose. “It sounds terrible.”
     
     
“It’s how we all make our money, lad, even if it isn’t pretty.”
     
     
“Aye, it could be worse. We could be miners buried underground all
    day every day, or--”
     
     
“Or prostitutes having to put up with stinking whalers like us!”
    Luke Peterson, one of the most experienced of the senior men,
    guffawed.
     
     
“You said it, not me,” Jared remarked with a grin. “Anyway, we have
    no cause for complaint. We'll get more oil for the ship, and Cook
    will be making up doughnuts for the try pots even as we speak.”
     
     
“And we'll get fresh whale steaks, and crackling,” Bob said
    enthusiastically. At his size and as a teenager, he was constantly
    hungry.
     
     
“ When we get to eat at all, you mean,” Wright the boatsteerer
    reminded him.
     
     
“The doughnuts and crackling are coming, but not just yet,” Jared
    said. “We're going back out as soon as we get this one secured and
    cut off its head. I can still see that pod out there.”
     
     
“Aye, Captain.”
     
     
"And extra helpings for Al for spotting our first whales," he said,
    feeling as fond and proud as any parent about his young protégé, and
    wishing he were there in the boat with him to share in his soaring
    triumph.
     
     

 
CHAPTER SIX
     
     
After about half an hour, the captain's whaleboat had pulled back to
    the Trident .
     
     
Jared jumped onto the deck to grab another line tub while the men
    secured the whale. He handed the tub down into the boat and heaved
    back up the spent one, then went back for the second spare.
     
     
The rest of the men wrestled with the chains around the flukes of
    the whale while their captain looked over the whaleboat one more to
    make certain they had all they needed.
     
     
Once the carcass was secure,