Page 3 of Polar Fates
Strange, how I’m already seeing them as different. I was a human a few days ago, but now I’m a new Isla. And I somehow acquired a bear spirit in theprocess.
Not a spirit,Alis protests but I ignore her. I’m too excited by the large ship that’s anchored in the distance. It’s massive, bigger even than the cruise liners I remember seeing as a child before the Drowning. There must be thousands of people living onboard.
“What are you going to trade withthem?”
Arnold smiles sheepishly and points at his large backpack. “Batteries. There used to be a factory nearby and we managed toacquirea large stockpile when it closed. It’s been our trading currency for years. We used to trade with antibiotics, but we’re now keeping the rest of them for emergencies. I think we’ve got enough batteries for another few years, and then we’ll have to find somethingelse.”
“Where did you get antibiotics from?” I ask in wonder. They’d been one of our most valuable possessions back on Salvation Island and we ran out years ago. Instead, we’d had to turn to herbal medicine, which was rarely as effective, if it had any effect atall.
“We used to work in a lab together,” Arnold explains. “When it became clear that the world was going to change, we... ehm... took some ofthem.”
“Good for you.” He smiles in relief that I’m not judging them for stealing. It was chaos back then and I’m sure the drugs would never have reached the pharmaciesanyway.
We watch as a small boat is let into the water and is rowed towards the beach where we’re waiting. It’s not very big, but there’s at least six people on it. One of them is a woman with fiery red hair waving in the wind like a flag. I once knew someone with hair like that and the memory stifles my mood a little. Julie, my best friend who was one of the few who fled the island. If she actually managed to leave and didn’t drown in the sea. I wonder what happened to her... I try to tell myself that she’s living happily on some island with friends and maybe a partner, even children. But in today’s world, that’sunlikely.
Finally, the boat is almost here and two of the men jump out to pull it further up onto thebeach.
“Good to see ya,” one of them calls and waves at Bertrand and Arnold. “See ya’ve got new people onInchbrach?”
“Yes, relatives from the South!” Arnold calls back and I wonder why he’s calling us his relatives. Is it because we’re bear shifters like him or because he doesn’t want the traders to know that we’re just random strangers they tookin?
The two men approach while the others climb out of the boat and wade the last remaining steps to the beach. Four men and two women, including the girl with the flaming hair. Now that she’s coming closer, it’s evident that she’s a lot younger than I first thought. Maybe fifteen, sixteen? But something is off about her. She looks young but also… not. Her eyes are old, like they’ve seen more than any fifteen-year-old ever should. She sniffs the air and looks straight at me.Weird.
She’s not what she seems, Alis warns me, but I don’t need her to tell methat.
“What do you have for us today, Ben?” Bertrand asks the man who first greeted us. He’s large and it’s not just muscle, it’s a lot of belly fat as well. I haven’t seen someone overweight in a long time. Not since the Drowning. Resources are scarce everywhere and there’s not enough to eat in mostplaces.
I eye the other men and women. They all look like they’ve been well fed. So different from the people on Salvation Island where the seamstress was constantly busy tighteningclothes.
“The usual,” Ben responds and signals the guys behind him to collect supplies from their boat. While they start heaving boxes and metal chests onto the beach, Ben takes out a list and reads it outloud.
It’s mainly tinned food, dried goods like sugar and flour, some spices and tea. Arnold’s eyes light up when Ben mentions jasmine tea while Bertie mumbles something about not getting Earl Grey. Those two are socute.
“And we found some books on an abandoned island a little furtherWest.”
That makes both of them perk up. Ben points to one of the chests his mates have carried onto thebeach.
“Take a look. They’ll cost extra, of course, but I’m sure we’ll come to anagreement.”
Both of our hosts immediately head to the box and rummage through the books inside. I’m tempted to go and look as well, but I wouldn’t have anything to trade with. We’re relying on our hosts’ generosity too much already. At least we’ve been able to supply them with some fresh meat. Alis is an excellent hunter and so are my guys. They’ve also started helping out with doing some repairs to the house that Bertrand and Arnold had put off. I’ve put some of the skills my father made me learn to good use and sewed some of their clothes. Back when he forced me to learn the ‘things any woman should know’ like sewing, cooking and knitting, I hated it. I still hate doing it, but at least it helps giving something back to thebears.
“So what brings ya to this island?” Benasks.
“We wanted to check if our uncles were alright,” Torben says immediately. He’s already put together a story for us. Trust him to think of everything. “We’d not heard from them in a long time so we decided to take a trip up North and persuade them to come with us. No luck sofar.”
Ben laughs heartily. “I don’t think ya’ll ever get them off this island. We’ve been trying for years to have them join us on the ship but they keeprefusing.”
Torben plays along. “Yes, they’ve always been stubborn. But at least we now know that they’realright.”
“Anyway, do ya want to trade aswell?”
Torben shrugs. “We don’t have anything with us that would be of interest to you. But thanks for theoffer.”
I’m beginning to find it strange that Ben is the only one of his crew to talk. The other three men are standing behind him, disinterested in what is being said. The woman is the same, examining her fingernails. The only one looking at us with obvious curiosity is thegirl.
She meets my eyes and smiles. A shiver runs over my back. What is wrong with me? This is a young girl trying to be friendly and I feel…scared?
Listen to your instincts. She’strouble.
