He wondered if they would consecrate a stone and jar of sea water in the back yard as an altar to a sailor lost at sea, just like his mother had; set for Alba’s father, starved to death on a northern ice-locked ship then eaten by crew mates who inevitably died right alongside him. Alba used to shudder at the thought; but since returning home years prior knowing what it was like to fear for one’s life on an ice-locked ship in the north, knowing what human flesh tasted like on his own tongue, he’d realized to die first was actually a blessing.
