Chapter 12~ Cashing In
The ice pack was hell this season. Maverick had already lost one pot in his string, he really didn't want to lose another. Coming up on the next set of buoys he prepared to go in close to allow the man at the rail to throw the hook and snag the damn pot. But the ice had other plans. It shifted suddenly, the boys were dragged, the orange one vanished and then the white one when under as well. "Fuck!" Maverick swore. "How many more god damn pots are we gonna lose?!"
Time Bandit wasn't having much success either. Though he hadn't lost any pots his crab count was mediocre at best. "This is what I get for coming up here?" He grumbled. "I want a pay raise!" Captain Andy Hillstrand just laughed. "All in good time my friend." He replied. Time Bandit just huffed.
Cornelia grimaced as she felt the ice scrap up against her hull. "Come on, I want to get through this!" She hissed. The longer she remained in the ice, the more nervous she became. She trusted ice about as far as she could throw. "Come on, come on!" She growled, putting more power into her engines. She grimaced as the still sore starboard main made its protests known. She really shouldn't have been pushing it but when did she ever follow doctors' orders anyway? Inch by inch, she fought her way through the ice.
Northwestern practically raced into Dutch to collect her children before sailing home to Seattle. Anatuliv and Big Valley II raced away from Alaska as they met their mother just before the breakwater. "Mamma, mamma!" They squealed happily. "Oh my babies! I missed you!" Northwestern cried, hugging them up. "We missed you too momma." Anatuliv purred. Big Valley said nothing, burying his bow into his mother's white hull. "They're worth it." She thought to herself. "No matter how much pain and misery I have to go through each season, it's worth it for this." They were safe, both of them were safe and that's all that mattered to her in the end.