Page 36 of Astrid at Sea

Viktor also wasn’t happy, and I couldn’t blame him either. Crosby’s presence here complicated many things, including the mess he made with our food supply on the bottom deck. We were all now waiting for Gustav to confirm just how much of a problem Crosby had caused.

“What’s on the agenda for today?” Crosby asked eagerly, rubbing his hands together as if he couldn’t be more excited.

Viktor sighed and spared him a glance but didn’t say anything. Instead, he glanced around the circle we were all sitting in.

“Who’d like to start?” He asked, opening up the floor for everyone to voice their concerns or any problems they might be facing. As Captain of the ship, it was his job to ensure smooth sailing for us all. Pun intended.

“Roscoe and I have been doing the cleaning lately,” Manny started, surprising us all. This was a first for him and a pleasant surprise. “But with how it’s been raining every night and the sick puddles everywhere–” He was a better person than me because he resisted the urge to glance at Crosby for that part. “–it’s just been a lot, and we could do with an extra pair of hands.”

“I agree with you, Manny. Since Crosby has been attributing to the mess, I think it’s only fair that he helps you with the cleaning,” Viktor said, turning his attention to the man in question. “Any objections?”

“None,” Crosby answered far too quickly, and we all burst out laughing at the terrified expression on his face.

I couldn’t blame him. Viktor at sea wasn’t quite the same as Viktor on land. I wasn’t sure which one I preferred. They were both pretty damn irresistible.

“Great, let’s move on to the next matter of business. Who wants to go next?”

Jerrik cleared his throat, drawing all attention to him in a very subtle way. “We’re at that part of the trip where there’s not many fish in the water. I don’t know if it’s a simple shortage or if something in the water is eating them all up. Either way, I’m struggling to get my hands on some,” Jerrik sighed, brushing his fingers through his wet hair. “This is the third day that I’ve barely been able to catch anything. I went in early this morning to try my luck at a different time of day, but still nothing. I’ll go back in again after lunch, but things aren’t looking good.”

“How long do you think this will last?” Viktor asked, a gravely serious expression on his face.

Jerrik shrugged. “I don’t know. It usually passes by now. Hopefully, things will improve as soon as we get close to civilisation.”

The expression on Viktor’s face was tight as he stared at Jerrik, their eyes locked. Even though I couldn’t tap into their silent conversation, I had a pretty good idea of how concerned they were.

I reached over and slipped my hand into Viktor’s, giving it a gentle squeeze. It was worrying that there was a shortage of fish–the central part of our diet while out at sea–but I was hopeful that things would get better soon. They had to.

“I’m sure the fish will turn up soon,” Crosby grinned, but no one replied.

“We need more hands at sea,” Viktor announced after a few moments, finally breaking eye contact with Jerrik. “Whoeverhas some spare time today, I want them out at sea. Take Chip’s rowboat, do whatever you need, but we must get our hands on some fish.”

He didn’t need to explain why.

A few hands were raised, offering their help—mine included. I wasn’t a good swimmer, and I had only been fishing with my father and brother a handful of times, but I was willing to try if it meant helping the crew.

Gustav finally joined us, having just emerged from the bottom deck where he had been inventorying our dried food supply.

“What’s the verdict, Gustav?” Viktor asked, subconsciously squeezing my hand. The simple action warmed my heart more than he could imagine, knowing that he relied on me when he struggled to stay afloat amid all these problems he was expected to solve.

“Things aren’t looking good,” Gustav sighed, shaking his head. He sat between Latham and Hammond and helped himself to the few slices of bread we left him.

“How can that be possible?” Caspian groaned, clicking his tongue in displeasure. “Surely, that’s the whole point of dry food. To last for a long time because it’s been dried?”

“Feel free to go down there and take a look for yourself if you don’t believe me,” Gustav snapped, clearly stressed.

Cooking and keeping us all fed were the main parts of his job description. If I were him, I would be stressed as well.

“Sorry,” Gustav grumbled the apology and sighed deeply. “I’ve checked it all. All the fresh vegetables we’ve been picking up from islands along the way have gone off. I think I can salvage some of the potatoes, but that’s about it.”

“What about the dried foods?” Latham asked.

“No good.”

“Why not?”

“Many of them have been unwrapped and left out, so much of it has gone stale. The rest isn’t in the best condition for consumption, but we haven’t got much else of a choice right now. Anyway, that’s not the bulk of our issues right now,” Gustav sighed, dropped the slice of bread he had been eating plain and brushed his hair away from his forehead. His face twisted into a grim expression. “I don’t know if you caught wind of the smell last night, but there’s a mix of urine and faeces in a few of the barrels. It wouldn’t have been an issue if those barrels contained packaged food, but as we were short on time, we just put a lot of it into the barrels without wrapping them up.”

“How many barrels?” Viktor asked, his tone deathly quiet.

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