The Blue Ice (33 page)

Authors: Hammond; Innes

BOOK: The Blue Ice

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I started to get to my feet. But Farnell stopped me. âNo use,' he said.

âYou'll be all right,' I said.

But I knew he wouldn't. I could see it in his eyes. He knew too. He looked up at Jill. âI'm sorry' â his voice was barely audible â âI've been a poor husband, haven't I?'

Husband? I glanced from him to Jill. And then I understood â all the things that had puzzled me were suddenly clear.

He had closed his eyes and for a moment I thought he had gone. But his grip on Jill's hand was tight and suddenly he looked up at me. His glance moved from me to Jill. Without a word he put her hand in mine. Then he said, âBill â you must take over where I left off. The thorite depositsâ' He gritted his teeth and raised himself. Jill supported his back. His eyes were narrowed against the light as he gazed out across the valley. âThe
Blaaisen
,' he murmured.

I turned and followed the direction of his gaze. He was looking across to the JÃ¶kulen, to the flank of the mountain where the glacier ice shone a brilliant blue. When I looked back at him he had relaxed and closed his eyes. Jill bent and kissed his lips. He tried to say something, but he hadn't the strength. A moment later his head lolled over and the thin blood trickle of a haemorrhage started from his open mouth.

Jill laid him back in the snow as a shadow fell across us. I looked up. Jorgensen was standing over us. I became conscious of many voices from the direction of the snowshed. The half coach was still protruding from the tunnel and in the cutting police and officials mingled with a mob of excited passengers.

I glanced at Jill. She was dry-eyed and staring at nothing. âDead?' Jorgensen asked.

I nodded.

âBut he told you before he died?'

âYes,' I said.

I stood up, conscious again of the aching of my limbs, and I turned and stared across the valley to the JÃ¶kulen. At my feet lay the remains of George Farnell. But out there, under the Blue Ice, lay all that he had lived and worked for, all that was best in him. That was the sum total of his life. Nothing visible â nothing that has been visible since the Ice Age first elected to make the ice on the flank of the JÃ¶kulen blue. But an idea â something born of a lifetime's study and work, backed by the solid presence of mineral wealth under the rock and ice. And I swore then and there that I'd stay up here at Finse and build an industrial monument to George Farnell, who died there in the snow â ex-convict, swindler, forger, deserter, murderer â but for all that a great man who subordinated everything to one idea.

And now, here it is, half completed. When I began this story the days were shortening and Finse was in the grip of ice. It is still in the grip of ice. But now the days are drawing out. Spring is coming. All through the long winter months Jill and I have been living up here and the work has gone steadily forward. We have done all the exploratory work. We have proved that George Farnell did not die for nothing. Soon now we shall mine the first ore. Soon these sprawling, wooden buildings will be humming with activity. Finse will be a small town, centre of the life blood of one of the world's greatest industrial plants.

Open the window now and look out across the snow. I can see from here the spot where Farnell died. And away to the right, its icy jaws seeming to grin back at me, is the Blue Ice and all he lived for.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hammond Innes (1913â1998) was the British author of over thirty novels, as well as children's and travel books. Born Ralph Hammond Innes in Horsham, Sussex, he was educated at the Cranbrook School in Kent. He left in 1931 to work as a journalist at the
Financial News
.
The Doppelganger
, his first novel, was published in 1937. Innes served in the Royal Artillery in World War II, eventually rising to the rank of major. A number of his books were published during the war, including
Wreckers Must Breathe
(1940),
The Trojan Horse
(1940), and
Attack Alarm
(1941), which was based on his experiences as an anti-aircraft gunner during the Battle of Britain.

Following his demobilization in 1946, Innes worked full-time as a writer, achieving a number of early successes. His novels are notable for their fine attention to accurate detail in descriptions of place, such as
Air Bridge
(1951), which is set at RAF stations during the Berlin Airlift. Innes's protagonists were often not heroes in the typical sense, but ordinary men suddenly thrust into extreme situations by circumstance. Often, this involved being placed in a hostile environmentâfor example, the Arctic, the open sea, desertsâor unwittingly becoming involved in a larger conflict or conspiracy. Innes's protagonists are forced to rely on their own wits rather than the weapons and gadgetry commonly used by thriller writers. An experienced yachtsman, his great love and understanding of the sea was reflected in many of his novels.

Innes went on to produce books on a regular schedule of six months for travel and research followed by six months of writing. He continued to write until just before his death, his final novel being
Delta Connection
(1996). At his death, he left the bulk of his estate to the Association of Sea Training Organisations to enable others to experience sailing in the element he loved.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Jason Gabbert

ISBN: 978-1-5040-4011-2

This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

www.openroadmedia.com