Leif became an orphan after his mother died giving birth. His father, who died heroically in a whaling accident, was already in Valhalla. Leif was born with a blood clot in his hand, a sign foretelling danger. When he was a baby, he survived thanks to an old woman who nourished him with a milk-soaked rag. Called “wharf rat” (4) by the locals, Leif fed and clothed himself on scraps until taking up living and sailing on the ships. Leif paid his way by doing odd jobs on ships traveling north to hunt seals for their fur. Now age 12, Leif has lost count of how many ships he’s been on. One particularly abusive ship takes him far north, only to leave him and all the old men aboard behind in a remote fishing camp. A man called “Old Carl” (7) cares for Leif along with another orphan boy called “Little Carl” (8), teaching the children how to catch and smoke the salmon the camp sells to seal-hunting ships. When they realize their ship is not returning for them, the group attempts to build a canoe to escape the brutal weather, but