The Oracle of Philadelphia (Tales of an Unremembered Country) by A S Peterson, Stephen Hesselman

To Thurston, signing up for an expedition into the Arctic Sea seemed like an entirely reasonable idea: fame, fortune, and the promise of Belinda Lee waiting for him upon his return. But when his ship becomes ice-locked in the harsh polar winter, he discovers an oddity aboard the ship in the form of John Obadiah, and for John, the world is far simpler and far more mysterious that Thurston would like to believe.

Features illustrations by Stephen Hesselman.