“How do you feel?’ he asked in his native language.
“I think I just had the wind knocked out of me,” he said. “Don’t seem to have anything broken.”
“Good.” Getting a grip on him, Ootah helped him to his feet and the two went down to the cavern itself. There were number of stalagmites, and centuries of ice build-up had created outcroppings that protruded all around them, along the walls and overhead. It was hard to determine how large the space was, and how deep it might go.
“Water must seep in all the way from the bay from cracks and cervices,” Henson observed.
“True,” Ootah agreed, also looking around. He pulled back the hood of his fur parka and combed his long hair away from his eyes.
“Hey, over there” Henson said, pointing into a gloomy patch beneath an overhang of rock and ice. They walked over to find the remains of a dogsled and pieces of skeleton.
Ootah bent down and sorted through some of the bones with his gloved fingers. Momentarily he announced, “Dog and human bones.” He glanced up at Henson. “Not sure, but I’d say two people, but one sledge.”
Henson pursed his lips. “Maybe one of them was a woman, lighter in weight.” Peary had brought his wife and young daughter along on at least one of their expeditions. Though he was pretty sure he hadn’t introduced the missus to his mistress Ahlikahsingwah. Hell, Peary had even hired the woman’s husband, and that man was proficient with a rifle.
He refocused.
“What happened to trap them in here? They both couldn’t have broken a leg. One would have been able to help the other out.”
His friend offered a blank expression.
The diffused light was tricky among the shadows, but Henson got closer to the tread marks from the sledge. He began following the trail which ended at a wall of ice.
“That’s not from a ski,” Ootah said standing next to him.
They both got out their ice axes and began chopping away, working up a sweat. Through the translucent layers, there seemed to be an object, greyish black and roughly shaped. The two explorers got more excited as they went, and after a half hour of chopping away, a portion of the object was exposed.
“She was right,” Ootah exclaimed.
“Yeah,” Henson breathed.
Embedded in the ice was a hunk of rock that looked like the Tent and its two mates. It was the smallest of the four, maybe the size of a two-person couch Henson figured. But there was something different about this specimen. Renewed, they kept hacking away and got more of the artifact exposed. It was black and craggy with depressions and outcroppings like the other three. Only its surface wasn’t matte, but had a sheen to it.
“What is this?” Ootah said, touching a blue vein in the rock. The meteorite was shot through with those veins. They’d uncovered enough that a dome of the ore protruded from the ice.
“I don’t know.” Henson raised his axe high, hesitating for a second then struck the meteor’s surface forcefully. After several more chops at it, he broke off a triangular fragment. He picked it up, the piece filling his palm. The blue evident by contrast. “Maybe Ellsmere’s not so far gone he can’t test it. Or, when we get back to New York, I can get it examined.”
“You’re not going to tell the others? Not even the captain?”
Henson scoffed. Peary had not dissuaded the Eskimos from calling him by a rank he’d yet to achieve. “Not yet I’m not.”
Ootah regarded the other man evenly.
“What have you two jigs been up to, huh?” said a voice behind them.
As one they turned to see Leeward descending the slope. He had a revolver in his gloved hand.“I knew seal hunting was bullshit. I figured you two had found gold, but this…” he said, reaching the floor. “This could be bigger.” He came closer, eyes glittering as he took in the meteorite. “It’s different than The Tent,” he said, excitement rising in his voice.
“You were gonna hog all the credit, weren’t you, Henson? Tired of being in Peary’s shadow? Well, huh, I can’t blame you for that.” He laughed and snorted. “Shit, I’m going to be famous.”
“You?” Henson growled, starting toward him.
“Easy, now, boy,” Leeward said, waving the pistol at him. “Take it easy. I’ll make sure you and slant-eyes here get a mention in the footnotes.” He laughed again. It sounded hollow and mocking in the underground chamber.
“Now, you two do what God made you for. Get to digging.”
Henson and Ootah went back to work, gun on them. In another hour and a half, they had more of the rock exposed. Henson stood back. Both men’s chests rose and fell, sweat coating their faces.
“Another break already?” Leeward joked. “Well, I wouldn’t want to wear out my two mules.
Henson said, “You think your story will be believed, Leeward?”
“Why not, Henson? I’m the white man here.”
“He’s got you on that one,” Ootah said straight-faced.
Henson pressed. “How will you explain you learned about the meteorite? How did you know to find it? And how are you going to stop me and Ootah from telling the truth?”
“Don’t you worry your lil’ burr head about that, son. Maybe you two will have an accident out here in the wild. I came here out of the goodness of my heart searching for you two, but you must have fallen into a crevasse.” Leeward had been sitting on a rock, legs crossed like he was relaxing at the theater. He stood up, menace drawing his face tight.
“Break’s over, get the fuck back to work and get me my meal ticket.”
As Henson had challenged
