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Ada Blackjack slithers across the tundra on her stomach. Her rifle is slung across her back.

Her eyes are focused on a ring seal, lying on a small ice flow not far from shore. The sun catches the light gray rings that cover his small plump body.

He's watching her carefully. It's early July 1923. Blackjack has been alone on Wrangle Island for a little over a week.

She's had good luck shooting birds, but today she has her sights on a bigger prize. This seal. It's a more efficient use of her limited ammo. The seal will provide much more meat as well as blubber she can use to light her lanterns and skin she can turn into clothes. But seals are tricky to hunt. They're suspicious animals. They park themselves near open channels of water.

And dive right in as soon as they sense danger. And most of them say out on the sea ice. Too far for Blackjack to reach them without a boat.

But this seal is on an ice flow close to shore. If Blackjack can kill it, she thinks she can reach its body on foot. This is her chance.

She moves slowly, keeping her head down. By staying on her stomach, she hopes the seal mistakes her for another seal. It seems to be working. When she's about 200 yards away, she watches the seals eyes close as it drifts off to sleep.

She knows seals take short maps. She only has a few minutes before it wakes up again. She crawls forward as fast as she can to get within shooting range.

At the edge of the water, she raises her gun and fires. The seals head jerks and dark red blood flows onto the ice. She killed it with one perfect shot.

Blackjack leaps to her feet and lets out a triumphant shout. But seconds later, the seal slips over the side of the ice flow and into the water.

No, no, no, no, no! Blackjack rushes into the water, but it's no use. The current is already carrying the seal's body away from her. She watches helplessly as her prize goes out to sea.

Disappointment washes over her. No seal meet tonight for her or Vic, the cat that is now her only companion. Birds are keeping her fed for now, but winter is going to be here soon. And then the birds will be gone.

If she's not rescued before the ocean freezes over, she'll be stuck on wrangle island for another nine months. To survive that long, she has to catch bigger gain. For Blackjack, ring seals are the perfect prey. They're docile and their bodies are small enough that she can move them on her own.

But to hunt them, she needs a boat. There is a boat back at her expedition's first campsite, but it's useless to her. It's a big wooden door, far too heavy for her to move by herself.

She needs something later, more like an umiak, the traditional inuit hunting boat. And Blackjack knows there's only one way that she can get one. She's going to have to build it herself.

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