Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

W hen the tour ended, Hammond came up with the excuse of needing to return Crosby to the ship to lock him up once again. Caspian and I eagerly joined him while Roscoe snuck away to join Viktor and the rest of the crew.

“We must have misheard,” Caspian muttered under his breath, not for the first time, as he marched back and forth on the bottom deck, looking more troubled than I had ever seen him.

“What? All of us?” Hammond asked, tinkering with the chains as he secured them around Crosby’s wrists, who, somehow, on the way back, had swiped a third orange without us realising it.

“No.” I sat on an empty barrel, not in the mood to pace like Caspian. “We all heard what they were talking about. There’s no way that all of us could have misheard.”

Caspian still looked very alarmed. “But what if we did?”

“It’s not possible,” I insisted with a firm shake of my head.

“What’s not possible?” Viktor asked, catching us by surprise.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Viktor, Roscoe, and the crew walk into the bottom deck. Roscoe closed the door behind them to give us privacy to talk; I assumed in case any islanders had followed them back onto the ship. It was improbable, but I suddenly felt very paranoid.

“You’re not going to believe what we overheard,” I said.

Viktor moved to stand behind me, looping his arms around my waist. “Try us.”

“Did you guys notice anything strange during the tour?” I glanced at Viktor over my shoulder, even though my question was meant for everyone.

“Strange?”

“I’m sure there were a few strange things, but nothing pops to mind right now,” Garth frowned, moving to sit on the barrel next to me.

“Well–” I started, but Caspian beat me to it.

“They’re all cannibals!” Caspian declared with wide, fearful eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Laurence snickered, and the rest of the crew laughed—all except Hammond, Caspian, and I. Crosby didn’t laugh either, but that was because he was eating red berries from the palm of his hand. I don’t think any of us noticed him swipe those, either.

Hammond pursed his lips. “I hate to agree with Caspian, but he’s right.”

“This is nothing to laugh about,” Roscoe scoffed. “We’re not joking. We’re docked at an island full of cannibals.”

“Cannibals?” Viktor repeated, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

He didn’t believe us. I didn’t blame him because if the roles were reversed, I would also struggle to believe it.

But we weren’t joking, and we hadn’t misheard.

These people were cannibals, and we needed to leave as soon as possible.

I turned around on the barrel to face my husband. I pleaded with my eyes for him to believe it.

“We’re being serious, Viktor. Brank and two others were taking us on the part of the tour that we had missed. When we got to the women working on the feast for tonight, they were talking about the meat they were cooking as if they were people.”

“There has to be some misunderstanding here,” Garth said from beside us, but I shook my head again.

“We can’t all of misheard them,” I insisted. “Not only were they referring to the meat they were cooking as a human, but several of them were wearing these necklaces made out of teeth around their necks. You can argue that it’s animal teeth, but when you see them later, you’ll see that they look just like human teeth. Like mine and yours.”

“I did notice that the meat looked a little strange when we walked by,” Gustav murmured, beginning to look doubtful. “It was redder and fleshier. Less fat than most animal meats would have. The cuts are different than I’m used to as well.”

“You could tell all that by just looking at the meat?” Viktor asked, not looking as sure as before but still not wholly convinced.

Gustav nodded. “We’re very far from Jorvik. I didn’t say anything earlier because I thought maybe the animals were different here. I didn’t think much of it then, but the more I think of it now, the more it seems that human meat could be a real possibility.”

Murmurs sounded around the group as we considered everything we had learned about the island of Canne. When I heard a small meow and something furry brush up against my ankle, I reached down and picked up Kis. I immediately buried my face in her fur, nuzzling her close.

If these people turned out to be cannibals and they wanted to eat us, did that mean they would eat Kis, too?

As if Viktor could sense the direction of my thoughts, he chuckled and reached around me to drop his hand on Kis’ head, scratching between her ears the way she liked.

Okay, perhaps they wouldn’t eat Kis, but I wasn’t willing to take that risk.

These people were cannibals, after all.

“I couldn’t help but notice that there weren’t any children around the island,” Jerrik murmured, adding his two cents. “There’s so many adults but no children. We could argue that maybe they’re all asleep or playing somewhere, but there’s no toys, no structures for them to play on… nothing .”

“Are you saying that they’re eating their own children?” Manny gasped with wide, fearful eyes.

Jerrik shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know.”

“How can they eat their own children?” Odin frowned, looking deeply disturbed. “Don’t they have hearts in their chests?”

“They’ve probably eaten many hearts,” Caspian snickered, but no one laughed.

“This is all so bizarre,” Dagfinn groaned, running anxious fingers through his hair. “But there are too many things to ignore and pass off as nothing.”

“It’s not nothing,” Viktor frowned, his arms subconsciously tightening around me. “But cannibals? I’m still not completely convinced.”

“What would it take to convince you? Have one of them bite down on my bones like a chew toy?” I snapped, the words coming out harsher than I had intended. Immediately, I was regretful, but Viktor shook his head subtly, not needing an apology.

“I’m sure there’s an explanation for all of this, but even if they do turn out to be cannibals, the last person I would want them to eat is you, my siren,” he laughed and leaned in to kiss my cheek.

When everybody burst out laughing at his words, my cheeks flamed, and I buried my face in his chest.

“That’s very reassuring, Captain,” Roscoe joked.

“You’ll be the first person I give to them to eat,” Viktor joked back, and another round of laughter filled the bottom deck.

However, the laughter quickly fizzled out when the reality of the situation we had somehow landed ourselves in loomed over our heads once more.

“I’m convinced that they’re cannibals,” Hammond persisted. “There’s this line of empty ships along the shore. We asked about them, and they said that no one uses them. Like they’re just there for decoration.”

“I spotted the ships, too. Bjorn quickly changed the subject when I asked about them,” Viktor frowned, and I could practically see the cogs turning in his head.

“What if they’re not eating each other?” Garth mused aloud. “What if they’re eating sailors who were na?ve enough to stop at Canne like us?”

“Think about it.” Jerrik snapped his fingers, his eyes wide with a look of realisation dawning in them. “We haven’t been able to catch any fish for the past week, so I imagine they have the same issue. What else must they survive on if they don’t have any fish? Surely, they can’t survive on the limited fruit and vegetables they grow. And it’s not like they have abundant animals here either.”

“And have you seen the amounts of huts they have?” Laurence asked. “They have more than double the huts we have back at Jorvik, and each is brimming with people. More than just one couple.”

“With that many people, they’re bound to have worked their way through all the animals already,” Manny added. “Probably even years ago.”

“We have to think rationally here,” Viktor murmured, his eyes distant.

“What is there to think about?” Odin snorted. “We need to get off the island. I refuse to allow myself to be the next meal for these people.”

“Me neither!” Crosby agreed, but after a brief look, we all went back to ignoring him.

“But if we leave, we’re going to die at sea,” Jerrik groaned and buried his face in his hands.

“I’m with Jerrik on this one,” Gustav said. “There’s no food, and who knows when we’ll find fish again? It could be a day or two if we’re lucky, or it could even be another week. We won’t be able to go on long without food.”

“What do you want us to do?” Laurence snapped at him. “Stick around here and wait to be eaten for dinner?”

“They’re not going to eat us. Not if we don’t let them.” Caspian shook his head fiercely, though he still looked worried.

“I’m sure that’s what the crews of those other ships also thought,” Odin snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Enough!” Viktor squeezed my hip before rising to his feet, a stern look on his face. “I see both sides of the argument here. Frankly, it doesn’t look good for us either way.”

I nodded and rose to my feet as well. “If we wait around here for too long, they’re going to eat us, but if we leave for the sea now, then we’re going to die out there. Either way, we’ll end up dying, and no one will ever find us.”

“What are you saying?” Garth asked, his voice deathly quiet.

“I hope you’re not suggesting that we take this lying down,” Laurence frowned deeply at me.

“No, of course not,” I said. “I think we need to time ourselves.”

“How so?” Viktor asked, cocking his head to the side in a curious fashion.

“We stick around here for the feast and to gather as many supplies as we can. We play nice so they don’t suspect anything, and then tonight, after everyone has fallen asleep, we sail away. The more food we grab, the longer we’ll be able to survive out on sea. We’ll ration it. Try to make it last as long as possible, and hopefully, we’ll be back in waters where we’ll be able to find some fish. At least enough to keep us alive till Greenland where, hopefully, they won’t be cannibals.”

“I’m certain the people of Greenland aren’t cannibals,” Viktor chuckled from behind me and leaned forward to press a kiss to my hair.

I loved many things about Viktor, but I especially loved that he was never shy or embarrassed to show me how much he loved me, regardless of where we were or who we were with. And it was never in an overbearing way I had seen some men behave with their wives.

The best part was that it was all subconscious, as if he did all these sweet little acts without thinking—like it was second nature to him.

“Now, any objections to Astrid’s idea?” Viktor asked.

I couldn’t help but hold my breath as I glanced around the crew. No one stepped forward to oppose my idea.

“Okay, great. A few of us will need to split up and grab some supplies. I don’t care what it is. As long as it’s something that we can eat, perhaps some of the berries or fruits, that’s all that matters. We need to take enough where, hopefully, it will last for a while but not too much, where Bjorn and everyone else will notice and start to get suspicious. The last thing we need is for them to suspect that we know the truth about them and their ways.”

“They’ve also promised us some nuts and dried fruit, so we could remind them about that during the feast,” Jerrik suggested, and everyone nodded in approval. The nuts and dried fruit would last much longer than the fresh produce and would be easier to ration.

“It might be a long shot, but we could try asking for some flour?” Gustav asked. “I can use the flour to make bread, which will keep us fuller for longer.”

Viktor nodded. “Good idea. We’ll ask them at the feast.”

We all huddled together to finalise the finer details of the plan. It was optimistic, but it could work if we executed it perfectly. If we didn’t, there was a good chance we would all be on the menu for the next feast.

And there was no way I would let these people eat Kis or Viktor.