The Haunted Igloo (17 page)

The igloo came into sight.
Just a few more minutes and Jean-Paul would know what was happening
with his mother. What would she think when he didn’t bring the
doctor? Of course, Arnayak would be there. But Lise didn’t know her
that well. Maybe she wouldn’t let Arnayak come inside the
igloo.

When Amarok stopped the
sled near the big igloo, there was no one around, and there was no
sound in the still of the morning. Where was Sasha? Sasha would
have been aware if someone had come to the igloo. She would have
come out to greet them.

Jean-Paul’s knees shook as
he jumped from the sled and ran to the entrance of the igloo.
Chinook followed, and together they stopped and looked at the
ground:
fresh blood!
Chinook knelt and examined the snow.

“
Something’s been here,” he whispered
to Jean-Paul. “Maybe a wolf or a fox. The tracks are too messed up
to tell.” He looked up at Jean-Paul, frowning.

Jean-Paul leaned over and
looked. “Well, that’s probably Sasha’s tracks right there, Chinook.
See? This one looks like hers.”

Chinook stood up and looked
around. “Maybe,” he said, shaking his head. “But where did all the
blood come from?” He gazed thoughtfully into the distance, then
pointed north. “The trail of bloody prints goes that
way!”

Jean-Paul shivered. There
was not only blood on the snow, but Arnayak’s pail lay nearby. Its
lid was off, the contents scattered over the ground in a fishy-wet
mess. “Your mother’s bucket of food,” said Jean-Paul, feeling sick.
“Something made her drop it.” His knees shook something awful. He
knew Sasha wouldn’t leave his mother alone at the igloo. He
was
sure
the dog
wouldn’t go off hunting after he had ordered her to stay. He didn’t
really know what to think. Now, a strange, soft sound came from
inside the igloo. Jean-Paul jerked around to listen.

“
What
is
that?” he whispered, his eyes large
and scared. “Do you think something got in there after my
mother?”

“
And my mother, too,” said Chinook.
“Look, here are her tracks going into the igloo.”

Both boys looked anxiously at each other as
a different sound met their ears. It was the same lonely cry of the
wolf they had heard earlier on the trail.

“
That’s it, Chinook! A wolf was here!”
Jean-Paul looked down at the tracks again. He was very sure now.
These prints looked like a wolf’s. Sasha’s were smaller.

Chinook moved carefully
toward the entrance of the igloo. “There’s only one way to find
out. We have to go inside. Are you brave enough?”

Jean-Paul’s heart jumped.
If anything had gotten his mother and his dog! He got down on his
hands and knees and took a deep gulp of cold air. “I’ll go
first.”

Chinook squatted next to
Jean-Paul. “See anything yet?”

“
Just a small light. But there was a
lamp going when I left.” He took another deep breath and let it out
slowly. “I’m going in now.”

Jean-Paul had no sooner stuck his head
inside the tunnel when something cold and damp touched his nose. He
jumped, and backed out faster than a fish on a hot griddle. He felt
the air sizzle out of his bravery.

“
Something’s ... there’s something in
there!”

A black nose suddenly
appeared at the entrance, followed by a pure white muzzle and a
pair of cool blue eyes. Sasha wiggled through the opening and
trotted up to Jean-Paul, wagging her tail. He threw his arms around
her neck and buried his nose in her fur. He didn’t know whether to
laugh or to cry.

“
It’s only Sasha!” exclaimed Chinook.
He tweaked her ears as Jean-Paul hugged her. “We were afraid of
your husky!”

A shrill cry came from
inside the igloo, a very angry-sounding cry. Jean-Paul released
Sasha and stood up. “What do you think that is?”

Chinook laughed, his dark
eyes crinkling with mischief at the corners. “I think maybe it’s
your baby brother or sister!”

Jean-Paul’s mouth fell
open. “You mean that’s what they sound like? It sounds like a pig
squealing. Do I have to listen to that for the rest of my
life?”

Chinook thumped him on the
shoulder. “Only till it learns to talk. Then you might settle for
the pig.”

“
Gosh!” said Jean-Paul, turning toward
the igloo. “I’ve never been around a newborn baby
before.”

“
And when it learns to walk,” said
Chinook with a chuckle, “then you’ll have bigger problems. Babies
tag around after you and get into your things. They never leave you
alone.”

They heard a loud grunting
noise and saw Arnayak squeezing through the tunnel opening. It was
so funny that Jean-Paul nearly burst out laughing. For a minute he
thought she was going to get stuck. If the haunted igloo was going
to be used as a birth place, someone should make the opening
bigger.

Chinook helped his mother
up. She held onto his arm till she got her balance. Her hood was
thrown back, her face happy. She spoke quickly to her son, and
Jean-Paul wished he could understand
Inuktitut
. When she had finished, she
came to Jean-Paul and spoke, pointing to the igloo.

“
She wants you to go inside,” said
Chinook. “She says your mother hears your voice and wants to see
you.” Chinook pushed at Jean-Paul. “Go now! Hurry!”

Sasha went inside ahead of
Jean-Paul, barking for him to follow. And a moment later, he was
kneeling beside his mother. She smiled and held a small bundle
against her chest. For a moment Jean-Paul couldn’t speak. Then
finally the words tumble out. “I couldn’t find the doctor, Ma! You
sent me for Dr. Morgan, but he wasn’t there and ... and the
hospital was closed ... and ... and…”

Lise beckoned, and
Jean-Paul moved closer. Her face was flushed. Her voice was warm
and kind when she spoke. “Shhh, everything’s fine now, Jean-Paul. I
never needed the doctor, you see. A small miracle took place in
your haunted igloo.”

She began unwrapping the
blanket. A small head with fuzzy black hair appeared, then a tiny
red face with eyes screwed up tightly. A small round mouth made
sucking motions, and a pink little fist—no bigger than a pup’s
paw—shot into the air as if waving at Jean-Paul. Jean-Paul watched
in amazement as the infant cried out. How could anything so small
make such a loud noise? He looked at his mother and
smiled.

“
Is—is it all right for me to touch
it?”

Lise held the baby closer to Jean-Paul. He
took a small fist into his bigger one. Tiny wrinkled fingers opened
and closed around his own. Suddenly, Jean-Paul was the happiest boy
on earth.

“
It’s strong! See how it holds my
finger? And, look. It’s even got fingernails!”

“
How do you like him?” asked his
mother.

“
Him?
”

Lise laughed softly. “Yes,
dear, your baby sister turned out to be a brother.” She covered the
baby again. “It’s cold in here. We must keep him warm.” She looked
at Jean-Paul with love in her eyes. “And do you know
what?”

“
What?”

“
Well, your beautiful Sasha helped
keep him warm until you came back. She lay down next to me and I
put your brother next to her warm fur. What a lifesaver she was!
You should be very proud of her.”

Jean-Paul looked at Sasha, who now lay next
to Lise. Her pointed ears came erect at mention of her name.

“
I told her to stay by you,” Jean-Paul
said proudly. “She didn’t want to, but she did anyway. Now I’m glad
I walked all the way to Chinook’s.”

Lise touched Jean-Paul’s
soft, curly hair. “I’m sorry about that, honey. But you did the
right thing. And Chinook’s mother came to help.” She smiled. “I
couldn’t understand much of what Arnayak said, though.”

“
Was she in time to help? Chinook said
she knows all about babies.”

Lise looked down at her
infant, who was sleeping again. “This child wouldn’t wait for
anyone. I was alone, except for Sasha.”

“
Oh.”

“
But it’s all right now,” she told him
brightly. “Do you know Sasha almost didn’t let Arnayak inside the
igloo? She was very protective.” Lise lay back and closed her eyes.
Jean-Paul thought she had gone to sleep. But after a moment she
opened them. “Something else happened. I’m not sure what—a fight or
something—outside. Sasha tangled with some other animal just before
Arnayak came. Of course, the poor woman couldn’t tell me what
happened.”

Jean-Paul leaned over and
watched the baby, although he couldn’t see much more than its nose.
He still could not believe he really did have a brother after all
those years. How long would it be before he could take the little
one for a ride in the sled? Then his mother’s voice cut off his
thoughts. “What are you thinking?” she asked.

“
What? Oh, I was thinking about the
baby. And the fight. I think that must have been a wolf. Chinook
and I heard a wolf howling before we got here. There are bloody
tracks outside.”

Lise looked thoughtfully at
Sasha, who lay with her nose on her paws. “She didn’t have blood on
her,” she said.

“
Then it must have been wolf blood.
Sasha must have bit the wolf to make it run away.”

Lise scratched Sasha’s ear.
“She saved
your
life
once, now mine and the baby’s. I
hate to think what might have happened if she hadn’t been here and
the wolf had come inside.” She looked around the igloo, at the
shadows where the lamplight didn’t reach. “This place isn’t so bad,
Jean-Paul. I didn’t see a single evil spirit.”

Jean-Paul grinned, knowing
his mother was teasing. “Maybe there never were any. Maybe I was
just being a baby, like when I have to leave a light on all
night.”

His mother smiled. “Perhaps
it’s time to put some childish habits behind you. What do you
think?”

Jean-Paul didn’t answer the
question. But he had an idea what that answer might be. If there
was a new baby in the family, then he, Jean-Paul Ardoin, would have
to be the big brother. He would have to set a very good example.
Now he stood up.

“
Is it all right if Chinook comes in
to see the baby?”

“
Of course it is.”

In a moment Chinook and his
mother were squatting beside Lise and her new baby. Arnayak kept
speaking
Inuktitut
and pointing to the baby, then to Sasha.

“
She’s telling us that Sasha almost
didn’t let her come near your mother and the
nutaralak
. I mean
enfant
!
”
Chinook grinned at Lise. “And she threw the pail of hot seal stew
at the wolf. Then Sasha ate some of it. Only then would she let my
mother come inside.”

Lise brushed her hair away
from her forehead and beckoned for Arnayak to come closer. She
pointed to the baby, smiled at the woman, and said,
“
Nakomik
,
Arnayak,
nakomik
!
”

Arnayak clapped her hands
and spoke rapidly, her face blooming with delight. She pointed to
Lise’s blond hair. Then she reached out to gently stroke
it.

Chinook laughed. “My mother
says she wants hair that color of mush. She says how do you make
yellow hair?” Everyone laughed. Chinook looked seriously at the
baby. “This one will have the hair of his brother.” He stood up and
wrapped his arm around Jean-Paul. “My best friend isn’t so tall,
but his heart is very big! He was concerned about his mother and
her new son.”

Lise smiled and took
Chinook’s hand. “I’m happy you’re Jean-Paul’s friend, Chinook. And
if you will teach me
Inuktitut
, your mother will be my
friend, too.”

Chinook repeated that to
his mother, then he said, “She will like that, Mother Ardoin.
There’s no word for Ardoin in
Inuktitut,
so
she calls you ‘Yellow Mush’!”

“
Oh, no!” cried Lise. “Wait till
Cordell hears that! He will never stop laughing!”

“
She means it as a compliment,”
Chinook said.

Suddenly, Arnayak was
bustling around, picking things up and putting them in a pile. She
spoke to Chinook, who began to help.

“
She says it’s time to take you home.
She says tiny baby can’t stay in a cold
apudyak
.
Apudyaks
are for Inuit
nutaralak
, not
kablunak enfants
.” Chinook
was quite pleased with himself for making such a funny mixture of
French and
Inuktitut.
“We’ll take you home, then my mother
will come to your log
apudyak
and help.”

Lise smiled at Arnayak, and
Arnayak squeezed her hand.

“
How do you like my brother?”
Jean-Paul asked Chinook.

Chinook studied the
sleeping infant. “I think he is small. He won’t amount to much
until he gets on his feet and runs like the wind, and gets into his
brother’s stone collection.”