Polar Bears Past Bedtime (4 page)

They ran until the two cubs fell down ahead of them. The cubs lay perfectly still.

Panting, Jack and Annie stared at them.

“Are they hurt?” Annie wondered out loud.

Jack and Annie ran to the cubs.

Then, just as they leaned down to see if they were all right, the cubs jumped up. They pushed Jack and Annie over and scampered away.

“They were pretending!” said Jack. He laughed.

Jack and Annie charged after the cubs. They ran over the white tundra until they came to the frozen sea.

Jack looked around.

“We're pretty far from the igloo. I don't hear the huskies anymore,” he said. “Maybe we should go back.”

“In a minute,” said Annie. “Look!”

The bear cubs had scooted up a snowbank. They were on their backs, sliding down the bank onto the ice-covered sea.

Jack and Annie laughed.

“It's like sledding!” said Annie. “Let's try it!”

“Okay,” said Jack, “but then we have to go back.”

Jack followed Annie up the snowbank. He clutched his pack in his arms.

Annie lay on her back. She whooped as she slid down the ice.

Jack followed her.

“Watch out below!” he shouted.

The little bears were sitting at the bottom of the snowbank. One gently whapped Jack in the face with her furry paw. Then she lay down.

“I'm tired, too,” said Annie.

“Yeah,” said Jack. “Let's rest for just a minute.”

Jack and Annie looked up at the orange moon as they lay beside the cubs. All they could hear was the wind and the soft breathing of the cubs.

“That was
fun
,” said Annie.

“It was,” said Jack. “But we'd better head back to the igloo. The seal hunter's probably looking for us. Plus we have to solve the riddle.”

Jack rolled onto his side and tried to stand.

Crack.

“Uh-oh,” he said. He went back down onto his knees. “I think we're on thin ice.”

“What do you mean?” said Annie. She started to stand.

Another
crack
rang out.

“Uh-oh,” she said.

She carefully lay back down.

The polar bear cubs moved closer to Jack and Annie. They made little crying sounds.

Jack wanted to cry, too. But he took a deep breath.

“Let's see what our book says,” he said.

He reached into his pack for the Arctic book. He took the masks out first and handed them to Annie.

“I took these from the igloo by mistake,” he said.

As he started to reach for his Arctic book, he heard the loudest crack of all.

CRACK!

“We're not even moving and the ice is cracking,” said Annie.

Just then, there was a new sound—a low, snorting sound. It came from the top of the snowbank, about fifty feet away.

Jack looked up.

Staring down at them was a giant polar bear.

“The polar bear mother,” whispered Annie.

The cubs whimpered louder.

“They want to go to her, but they're afraid of the ice,” whispered Jack.

Annie petted the cubs.

“Don't be afraid,” she told them. “You'll get back to your mother.”

The big polar bear growled. She paced back and forth, sniffing the air.

Annie kept patting the two cubs and whispering to them.

Jack looked in the book for anything that might help. Finally he found something:

“Oh, man, that's incredible,” whispered Jack.

He watched the mother polar bear walk down the snowbank.

On large silent feet, she crept about at the edge of the frozen sea.

She tried to step onto the ice. But each time she did, it cracked, and she had to retreat. At last, she found a firm spot.

Then the polar bear stretched out her four legs and lay on the ice. Slowly she moved forward, pushing herself with her claws.

“Is she coming for her babies?” said Jack. “Or is she coming to get
us?
”

“I don't know,” said Annie. “Hey, let's put on the masks.”

“What for?” said Jack.

“Maybe they'll protect us,” said Annie. “Maybe she'll think we're polar bears, too.”

“Oh, brother,” said Jack.

But Annie gave him a bear mask. He took off his glasses and slipped it on.

Jack peered through the mask holes. It was hard to see the huge white bear sliding over the frozen sea. He squinted. That helped.

The polar bear looked at her cubs and let out a deep moan.

The two little bears carefully went to their mother. She licked the cubs and touched her nose against each of theirs. Then they crawled onto her back.

“They're safe now,” said Jack. “Even if the mother breaks through the ice, she can swim with them to the shore.”

“Yeah, I just wish she wouldn't leave
us
behind,” said Annie.

The mother bear slowly turned her body around. Then she pushed off with her hind legs. With her cubs on her back, she began sliding away.

“Let's try moving like her,” Annie said.

“But we could break through and freeze to death,” said Jack.

“If we just stay here, we'll freeze, too,” said Annie. “Remember, the seal hunter said his people had learned from the polar bears.”

Jack took a deep breath.

“Okay,” he said. “Let's try it.”

He lay on his stomach. He spread out his arms and legs.

Then he copied the bear. He pressed his mittens against the ice and pushed off, sliding his feet.

Amazingly, there was no cracking sound.

“
Grrr
,” he growled. And he pushed off again.

Jack heard Annie sliding behind him. He kept going. He pushed and slid. He pushed again and slid again.

He made the movements over and over, until something happened: He didn't feel like a boy anymore. He felt like a polar bear.

Then Jack felt something even stranger. He felt like a
flying
polar bear.

Jack swirled along as if his arms and legs were giant wings—and the moonlit sea ice were a glassy sky.

He remembered what the seal hunter had said:
Polar bears can fly
.

“Jack, you can get up now,” said Annie.

Jack opened his eyes. Annie was standing over him. She still had her mask on.

“We're on safe ground,” she said.

Jack felt as if he'd been dreaming. He looked around. They had reached the tundra at the edge of the frozen sea.

The cubs were romping in the distance. But their mother was sitting nearby, gazing at Jack and Annie.

“She waited to make sure we were safe,” said Annie.

Jack stared at the polar bear in awe. The words of the seal hunter came back to him:
Always thank the animal spirits
.

“We should thank the polar bear spirit now,” he said.

“Of course,” said Annie.

Jack scrambled to his feet. Still wearing his bear mask, he stood before the polar bear and pressed his hands together.

“We thank you,” he said, bowing.

“Yes, we thank you forever,” said Annie, also bowing.

“We thank you beyond the moon and the stars,” said Jack.

“And beyond the deepest sea,” Annie added.

Then she threw out her arms and twirled around. Jack did the same. They both danced around in the snow, honoring the bear. Finally they stopped and bowed one last time.

When they looked up, the polar bear rose up on her hind legs. She was twice as tall as Jack. She lowered her huge head, as if she were bowing back to them.

At that moment, the sky exploded. The night became a giant swirl of red, green, and purple lights. It looked like a genie coming out of a magic lamp.

The sight took Jack's breath away. He stared in wonder as the dazzling lights lit the tundra.

“Is it the polar bear spirit?” Annie asked in a hushed voice.

As far as Jack could see, the sky and snow shimmered. Even the bear's fur shimmered in the strange light.

“No, it's not a spirit,” said Jack. “There's got to be a scientific reason. I'll find out.”

Shaking, he reached into his backpack and pulled out the Arctic book. He took off his bear mask and put on his glasses.

By the greenish glow, Jack found a picture of the sky lights. The picture didn't come close to the real thing. He read aloud:

“See, there
is
a scientific reason!” said Jack. “It's not the spirits.”

Then suddenly all the dancing lights were gone, as if someone had blown out a candle.

The magic had ended.