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An Excerpt from Icebergs:
There they were in the middle of the bush, at the very edge of the continent, their place unknown. When had he ever been so unsure of where he was or which way was the way to safety? It made his skin itch. He had a compass, but that only worked when a man was sure of where he was to begin with. Al wasn’t in any shape to travel anyway, and without snowshoes or a dog team Walt would have very little luck slogging through the bush. He thought of all that wilderness around them, the trees and snow and hills, the sea, and himself and Al small as drops of rain in the ocean, smaller even, and wondered how on earth they would ever be found.

He dozed a little, woke, and felt the stirrings of panic. The blankets were heavy, then heavier, then leaden. He felt he might smother under the weight, and an uncomfortable, unfamiliar feeling came over him. Even though he knew the blankets were going to keep him alive that night, it was all he could do to sit still, to breathe in and out, to not let himself imagine the snow piling up on top of the blankets, snow closing in around his face and his breath smothering him, and the panic rising up in him that he would never be found, that there was no one out there who knew where he was or how to get to him, and he would lose his breath out here in the wilderness and freeze solid and never be found. At times it was all he could do to sit still and not lift the edge of the blankets, to not let the cold air underneath.

Just a breath. He just needed a breath. He stuck his face out and felt the cold like a wall, and it went all through him, and he wished he could get rid of the smothering feeling. Beside him, he heard Al lift the blankets and spit into the cold. The spit crackled and froze in mid-air, a small explosion.

“Guess I’m holding it tonight,” Al said.

“Guess so.”

They huddled under the blankets and tried to get warm. The wind picked up the edge of a parachute, whipped it around like a dog with a rag, and Walt reached out of the blankets for a minute, grabbed it and sat on the edge to keep it still.

“Think our wives have their telegrams yet?” Al asked.

Walt wished Al hadn’t brought that up. He didn’t want to think about Dottie, back in Ontario. No—he wouldn’t think about her, not now. He could get through this if he didn’t have to think about his wife or his mother. “Maybe not yet. Maybe tomorrow.”

He had never met Al’s wife, but he knew Adele lived in Windsor with Al’s mother. Al and Adele had known each other since childhood. He knew she’d just had a baby, a little girl, and that Al was sick about not being home with them then, that he’d been trying to get leave for months with no luck.

“You think they know where we are?” Al asked.

“They know we’re out here.” He was silent for a minute, thinking. “How far do you figure we are?”

“I’m guessing twenty miles. Did you send the SOS?”

“I did, but the wireless was out of commission. Couldn’t get a signal in, so I doubt I got one out. But they’ll find us. Len put us down in a good spot.”

They were silent then, the air close under the pile of blankets, thinking of Dusza out in the snow, and Dawson and Ingalls. In the morning Walt would have to find somewhere to put them. In the morning he would look for supplies and the portable radio and maybe make a signal fire away from the wreck. In the morning, hopefully, they would still be there to be rescued.

The dark was heavy, oppressive, and complete. Walt couldn’t see Al’s face, just a few inches away. When he looked out from under the covers, he could feel, but not see, the trees ringing the grove like an occupying army, and he felt how small the fire was, throwing the barest circle of light around them, a perimeter they dared not cross. The sky bent down and covered them, thick and cold and damp. He could hear the branches bending, breaking, and he felt very small in his own skin, as if he might shrink away and disappear.

He said, “They’ll come for us in the morning.”

Above them the snow whirled down, and the two of them huddled close for warmth as the wind rose up and howled.

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