44

After Ge Ge’s disappearance, the hopeful did not hope more, and the despondent continued to despair.¹ The dark mood prevailed even when Franklin found another mysterious crate full of rations. He brought the crate to Richards.

‘I found this crate floating in the galley,’ he said. ‘Someone must have forgotten to secure it.’

‘That’s odd,’ said Richards. ‘What’s in it?’

‘It looks like rations.’

‘That’s impossible!’ said Richards. But when she opened the lid, it was indeed the case that the crate was full of foil sachets. These sachets, as with the other rations discovered by Greenstockings and Ge Ge, were unlabeled.

‘They don’t have labels,’ said Franklin, ‘But the crate says it’s Fancy Japanese Shashimi.’

‘What even is shashimi?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know,’ said Franklin.

No one had really enjoyed the steak tartare, and when the fancy Japanese Shashimi was opened, it appeared to be quite similar. Despite this discovery of rations, and despite the reductions in their numbers, it was now painfully clear to each of them that their supplies were dwindling, and they would not continue for much longer.