The Surfacing Read Online Free PDF

bore doctor’s name. As though to celebrate, DeHaven had been drinking. On
his head was Rink’s hat, and now every time he opened his mouth, it was the governor’s
buckled English that emerged. He pointed his chin at the sailors down by the shore.
    See these men! he ordered Morgan. I turn my back three minutes, they are pulling
her off with her hair!
    Down by the shore, the sailors were haggling and clowning with the native girls.
    Not enough you are taking our furs, our dogs, our meat, DeHaven told Morgan, you
want all the lock, stock and caboodle. So here – And he thrust the bundle straight
at him, forcing him to fall in with the joke, quick, before he let go.
    In Morgan’s arms, right away, the thing began to squirm. Kitty studied him with a
sour look. DeHaven, too, stood back to admire. Already he was sporting a lavish grin.
    Richard, she said, but Morgan didn’t answer.
    A very pretty picture, if I may say so. This was Brooks, determined to enjoy the
scene. I believe one of your plates, Doctor, might capture the moment.
    Kitty took a step closer, peered into the bundle, offered it a finger. The eyes were
screwed tight, with what looked like tremendous effort.
    Fifty yards away, the sailors were chasing the girls into the sea. By now there was
pushing, shoving, screams. The water was too much of a temptation. Morgan was watching
them in silence, one in particular, and it wasn’t long before she went in.
    Elle n’aura pas résisté longtemps, DeHaven said. She didn’t put up much of a fight.
    Morgan was listening, nodding at whatever was said, but his eyes were still on the
girl down at the water’s edge. There she stood, arms wide, twirling, pagan. Under
her shrivelled clothes, everything looked perfect. Everywhere you looked, something
was straining to break out.
    Can’t you do something, Doctor? Kitty said. I’m afraid the poor girl will catch cold.
    I’m afraid I couldn’t possibly interfere with a sailor’s entertainment, DeHaven
said. He nodded at Morgan. Apparently it’s an unwritten rule. There seem to be so
many of them. Of course not being a Navy man myself, on these matters I must defer
to a higher authority.
    They deserve it, Morgan said. And no man more than Cabot. He’s done Trojan work this
past week.
    I thought he was the cook, not the carpenter, Kitty said.
    Cook and carpenter. Almost every one of us is doubling up.
    Down at the shore, the girl’s court began to clap. The performance was over, she
told them, with a pompous bow.
    What I’d like to know is where she got the drink, MacDonald said. I’d understood
it was strictly forbidden the natives.
    What makes you think she’s drunk? Rink said, ready to be offended.
    She’s doing it out of the goodness of her heart, I suppose? Brooks said.
    Of course, said DeHaven. Pep up the boys. You know how it is. The hard summer behind
us, the long hard winter ahead.
    Rink shuffled off stiffly towards the shore, to see what could be salvaged.
    I can take him, if you like, Kitty said, stepping closer to Morgan.
    But the baby was still asleep, and Morgan was afraid to shift it. The look on its
face was one of total concentration. A mind in deep conspiracy with itself. Waiting
to be disturbed, to be outraged. So that even the act of sleeping was just prolonging
that possibility, that power.
    I expressly forbid it, DeHaven said. The man must learn to assume his responsibilities.
    Rink had set out a buffet for the officers, and in his presence they’d savaged it
as politely as they could. Now he was gone, they were helping themselves again. But
Morgan had his arms full and was missing out. She’d seen where he was looking, allowed
herself to presume, and within seconds she was guiding a spoon towards his mouth.
Perched on the edge was a lump of jam. That jam was the deep, quiet colour of blood.
Her hand was trembling slightly, and he stretched his neck forward to meet it.
    That night he sat alone on his bunk. The rest were all up on deck, and he did