‘Feet?’ Matthew said. ‘He has bare feet?’ Again he tried to catch the eyes of the archaeologists, but to no avail.
Ulrik sniffed hard. ‘I didn’t see everything, but I think he was naked inside the fur as well. It seems to be stuck to him. The fur, I mean. Almost as if it’d grown together with his skin.’ He scrunched up his nose. ‘He’s been there a long time, let me tell you.’
‘About six hundred years, if he’s a Norseman,’ Matthew said.
‘I don’t remember the dates,’ Ulrik said.
‘But they think it’s a Norseman?’
‘That’s what I’ve been told, and there’s nothing to indicate that the body is more recent or that a crime has been committed, but they’ve requested forensic pathologists and crime scene technicians from Denmark, just to be sure. I don’t think they’ll get here until next week. Until then our job is to secure the area.’ He nodded towards the archaeologists. ‘But they’ve been given permission to look at him.’
‘This is global news,’ Matthew said. ‘BBC, NBC, National Geographic, Time. They’ll all want to know. So do you think we could have a quick look?’
Ulrik nodded. ‘All right—I’ll see how far they’ve got. You can check out the crevasse in the meantime. But hey!’ He caught Malik’s eye. ‘Watch your step. I don’t have time to fly the pair of you to the hospital.’
‘You’ve become really boring—did you know that?’ Malik said with a grin. ‘Before we know it, Lyberth will have got you voted into the Inatsisartut, and then all hope is lost. By next year you’ll be just as dried up and wrinkly as that mummy.’ Malik turned to Matthew. ‘Ulrik is a Siumut Party candidate at the next election, backed by Jørgen Emil Lyberth. We’re looking at a future minister for the environment or justice.’
‘Whatever,’ Ulrik mumbled, although he couldn’t quite hide a smile that sent a red glow of pride to his cheeks. ‘Let’s just wait and see what the voters have to say about it, ilaa? It’s only been sixteen months since the last election.’
‘Oh, you’ll get in. Lyberth has a seat in the cabinet with your name written on it.’
Ulrik shook his head. ‘I think it’ll take a bit more than just a sticky label.’
‘I don’t know about that.’ Malik raised his eyebrows. ‘Listen, if your ministry ever needs a photographer, promise you’ll give me a call?’
‘You just mind where you go and watch your step once you get down that crevasse, all right?’
‘We will, mate—you know me.’
‘Yes, that’s my point precisely.’
Malik rolled his eyes. ‘He’s never going to let me forget the time I drifted out to sea on an icefloe and they had to dispatch several helicopters to find me.’ He flung out his arms. ‘But seriously, mate, the light on the ice that day was mind-blowing!’
4
Matthew perched gingerly on the edge of the crevasse as he watched Malik, who was already quite far down the ice wall. When Matthew had seen the crevasse from the helicopter, it had appeared like a dark slash in the ground, but now that he was staring right into it, it was more like looking into a luminous iceberg.
‘You will be careful, won’t you?’ Matthew called out.
Malik turned and looked up at him with exasperation. ‘This isn’t an active part of the glacier. The crevasse is solid, and the footholds I’m using have been here forever. Don’t worry. I’m only going to that ledge over there where they found him.’
Matthew looked down at him tentatively. Then he took a deep breath and stretched his neck from side to side a few times.
‘Why don’t you come on down?’ Malik went on. ‘We’re going no further than this, so you’ll be completely safe.’
Matthew rolled over slowly and let himself slide down until his feet found a foothold. He looked around. Malik was several metres below him, but the photographer was right—the ice felt safe and solid. Matthew looked to the side. Not far from him there was a vertical drop, and he couldn’t see where the crevasse ended. Deep down, there was nothing but total darkness.
Malik had followed his gaze. ‘We’re not going down there today, but let me know if you want to do that sometime. The caves around here are absolutely insane. Mind-boggling. Completely turquoise. I can show you my pictures when we get back, if you like.’
Matthew nodded slowly. ‘Another time, perhaps.’ He was shivering, and regretted leaving his jacket in the helicopter. The moment they had climbed down between the enormous walls of ice, the temperature had dropped and their breath turned to wispy fog. ‘So you’ve been down here before?’ he asked.
‘No, not here, but you find the same world in every crevasse and cave.’
There was silence for a moment. They could no longer hear voices from above. Matthew looked at Malik. He wore sturdy boots, thick orange trousers and a grey knitted jumper. A wiser choice than the sneakers and jeans in which Matthew had left his apartment.
‘Are you coming?’ Malik continued. ‘This is the place. I can see where he was lying.’
Matthew didn’t respond, but let himself glide down another level, grabbing hold of cracks and protrusions in the ice and compacted snow.
‘Look, there it is!’ Malik’s camera clicked away first from this angle, then from that. Then he straightened up and looked towards the rim of the crevasse above them. ‘The storm the other day must have uncovered him. We don’t usually have such windy weather at this time of year, but you never can tell.’
‘How would the storm have done that?’
‘It must have swept away the snow to reveal him.’ Malik tilted his head and ran a hand through his dense black hair. ‘The wind here can move a mountain of snow in a matter of hours.’ He glanced at Matthew. ‘Let’s head back up into the sunshine. I have some good pictures.’ He hesitated. ‘Do you want some mattak? I’ve got some in my rucksack.’
‘Mattak? That’s whale skin, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, and blubber. It’ll warm you up in no time, I promise.’
Matthew shook his head. ‘I think a bit of sun is all I need.’
‘But it tastes fantastic and it’s full of warming oil. Are you sure? You look like you could do with a cube or two.’
‘I think I’ll pass,’ Matthew replied, and grabbed at the ice, preparing to climb back up. He placed one foot on a small protrusion while the other felt around for a good crack or a lump of hard snow to stand on. Getting down had been much easier than going up. It was like trying to climb up a slide, and the smooth soles of his sneakers weren’t helping. His foot found a hollow and he pulled himself up with one arm, but soon he felt the snow shift, throwing him off balance. The void below reached out for him, and he had a vision of himself lying at the bottom of the turquoise deep with a hundred broken bones and a cloud of frozen breath hanging over him.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’
Matthew felt Malik’s firm grip on his jumper, and allowed himself to be pulled back to his foothold in the snow.
‘I thought we were being careful?’ Malik reminded him.
The snow filled Matthew’s hands as he dug his fingers into it. He was panting now, and could feel the cold ice wall against his face.
‘That never would have happened if you’d eaten some mattak.’ Malik grinned and slapped Matthew on the back a couple of times. ‘And mattak clears your mind, so you can look into nature rather than just walk around it.’ Still smiling, he pointed out a couple of holes in the ice wall close to them. ‘Climb up over there. It’s safer.’