The Pole (14 page)

“How could I need all of this in ten miles?” I asked, pointing to the bulge on the sledge. Everything was tied down and hidden beneath a sheet of canvas.

“Hopefully you won't need any of it. But you might.” He reached down and pulled out a rifle. “I know you know how to use this.”

I nodded my head. I also knew what I might have to use it for.There had been polar bear tracks by the camp just yesterday.

“There are also dry clothes in case you go through the ice and—”

“But the ice is solid, completely solid, isn't it?” “Most places almost three feet thick. But just in case.”

“Then shouldn't the dogs be hooked up differently?” I asked.They were all in a straight line, not fanned out.

“No need for that.You get better speed this way, and there's almost no chance that you'll be going through.”

“Almost no chance, but
some
chance,” I said.

“Tiny.”

“So I ask ya again, if it's a tiny chance, why bring along the extra clothes?” I asked.

“Even if it's only a one-in-a-thousand chance, aren't those extra few pounds of clothes worth it to save your life?”
That was hard to argue with. “But that can't all be clothes,” I said pointing to the mound under the canvas.

“There's a sealskin tent, a little stove, some sleeping skins, and enough food for three days for you and the dogs.”

I was shocked. “But this is only going to take four or five hours, isn't it?”

“More like seven or eight, and that's if you run fast and clean. Running clean isn't the problem. If a blizzard blows in, there's no telling. It could be three or four days.”

I almost felt sick to my stomach. “Do you think that could happen?”

“The weather looks good,” Matt said. “No clouds on the horizon.” That made me feel better.

“But storms can come across the ice pretty fast. If that happens, you just make camp and wait it out.” “By myself?”

“Maybe a few of you might be together. Just don't panic. Remember that the Captain and I are going to be driving sledges along the route as well.”

“You're part of the race?”

He laughed. “Wouldn't be a race if I was part of it. We're going to leave a few hours later, just to make sure everybody is moving. If you break down or have to camp, you know we'll come and find you. Just stay on the course.”

“Don't worry, I'm not plannin' on takin' any side trips.”

“That's safe, but not necessarily smart,” Matt said.

“And how would goin' off the course be smart?” I asked, feeling confused.

Matt didn't answer right away. Instead he moved very close and started to speak in a low voice, like he was afraid of being overheard. “If you don't go off course you won't be able to win.”

“Matt, I wasn't even thinkin' about winnin'.”

” “You
should
think about winning,” he said.

“You think I can win?” I asked, incredulous.

“No, I don't think there's any way you can beat George … that is, unless you go
off course
.”

Now I was just plain confused.

“Let me ask you a question. Do you want to be sitting here at the camp waving when the expedition finally leaves for the Pole?”

“I don't think I have much choice in that.”

“There's only one way you'll have any choice. But it doesn't matter unless you want to come along. Do you want to come along?”

I had to think. It would have been easier if I had made the decision to stay with the ship in the first place. I would have been saved hours of back-breaking work. I would have been warm and safe. But I was glad I'd come. If I left here for the Pole, across the frozen but unfreezing ice, I'd be exposed
to open water, more cold, more danger. I knew what I wanted to do.

“I'd like to be part of it … but can I?”

“It depends. The Commander will take the best sledge drivers he has.You need to show him you can drive a sledge and handle the dogs.”

Now I understood. “I need to win the race.”

“Not necessarily win, but do well, show him something.”

“And if I do well, I can go to the Pole?”

He laughed. “The only person who's definitely going to the Pole is the Commander. He's also promised Captain Bob. Me, I have a good shot. You're a long shot, but you have to remember that the Commander owes you a debt for saving the life of his daughter. If you can give him reason to believe you should be coming along, who knows?”

“So … what do I have to do if I want to win the race?” I asked.

“Well … there's this one spot …”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I STOOD THERE
thinking about what Matt had told me to do. I could do it. I was positive. I just didn't know if either I
should
or I
would
. After all, taking a shortcut was cheating … wasn't it?

All I had to do was keep track of the markers. At the tenth blue marker the course was going to shoot off sharply to the right to get around a large pressure ridge. Pressure ridges are places where the ocean currents push the ice up into the air, sometimes ten or even twenty feet high. Matt said that the ridge ran for almost two miles and then the course cut back to the left again. If I could climb over the ridge I'd gain almost two miles of running on everybody else. He said I'd have to do some chopping and maybe even unload the komatik but I could do that a lot faster than they could do the two miles. As well, my dogs would be two miles less tired than the other teams.

Matt said it wasn't unfair. He said I shouldn't think of it as cheating.What I'd be doing was taking
a risk. Maybe it would turn out to be a shortcut, but maybe I'd just be making things harder for myself if I got hung up on the ice. It was a gamble, and I could only hope that it would get me to the finish line faster!

I was nervous. Despite the cold I could feel the palms of my hands sweating. I'd been on the ice before for short trips, but this was different. I'd be on the ice for a long time, going off course, and out of sight of other people, by myself.

Oatah came up, along with three Eskimo women—one was his wife. All four had big smiles. His wife pulled something out of the inside of her parka. It was the baby Jesus!

“Here,” Oatah said, gesturing to the doll that she was now holding out to me.

I took it from her hands. “Why is she givin' it to me?”

“Komatik.”

“What about my sledge?”

Oatah said something to the woman and she answered. He nodded his head and then turned back to me.

“Baby Jesus needs ride.”

The three women smiled and giggled. Oatah's wife took the doll from me, pulled out a piece of rawhide, and tied it firmly in place on the top of my load. I looked at the little doll. It looked peaceful, eyes
closed, sound asleep.Turned out I wouldn't be alone out there after all. I had baby Jesus with me!

There was a lot of barking going on up and down the line.The dogs knew that they were going out on the ice and they were excited. They didn't necessarily like pulling a heavy load but they did like running and being out in the open.

“Drivers, please go to your teams!” Captain Bartlett called out.

I gave baby Jesus a little pat and then walked alongside of my huskies.As I passed each dog I grabbed the harness and gave it a strong tug to make sure they were all tied in securely. Better safe than sorry. No snags, no loose leads. My team was ready.

“Drivers take your marks!” Captain Bartlett yelled.

I hurried behind the sledge and grabbed the lead in my hand. I knew I had to get off quickly.The course was wide here, but when we hit the shoreline the path both narrowed and dipped. If you got behind at the beginning it would be hard to make up that time.

“Ready!” Captain Bartlett yelled. He held a pistol in his right hand and had it aimed straight up into the sky.

Bang!

I started, jumping slightly, and the sledge surged forward before I could even yell for the dogs to go— they knew what was happening. I held onto the handles and the lead but I didn't jump onto the back,
not even one foot. I ran behind, almost pushing the sledge forward instead of adding extra weight for the dogs.We had to get ahead of as many of the others as we could before the narrows.

I tried to focus only on my team but I could sense and see out of the corner of my eye the other teams. I was pulling away from the team to my right. I was even with his lead dog, which put me a full sledge ahead.To the left, beside me, was George. His team was slightly ahead, but not much. If I could keep George in my sights then nobody else would be able to touch me— he was that much stronger and faster. I looked past him and toward the other sledges to the left. They were even farther back. I was in second place!

George let out a whoop that even overpowered the barking of the dogs. It was a cry of sheer delight. Almost instinctively, before I could even think of it, I screamed out a reply. But why not? This was amazing!

I put one foot up onto the runner and then jumped on with the second. George was in front of me, in the lead. He was still running instead of riding. Was he gonna run the whole way? He was opening up a big lead already. He had to be twenty yards ahead.There was no way he could be caught. If I'd been Commander Peary, I knew who I'd take with me to the Pole.

I looked over my shoulder. I was happy with what I saw. The other teams had fallen into a line. The
closest sledge to me was at least five lengths distant. It was Mr. Marvin's. Sometimes he wasn't the friendliest person on the expedition, but I had to hand it to him, he knew how to handle a team. He also knew a lot about the Arctic. Behind him, the other four sledges were trailing by different distances. I couldn't tell who was who because of the similarity of the parkas. If things worked out, I wouldn't need to know because they'd just get farther and farther behind and—

“Aaaahhh!” I screamed as the sledge dipped down and I was thrown off the runners. I held onto the handles. I was being dragged along as we dipped off the shore and onto the ocean ice. I struggled to pull myself up, get to my feet. My body bounced and I was badly jarred by the bumps and scrapes! I wanted to let go, I wanted to yell out in pain! Instead I worked harder and pulled myself up and put a knee down on one of the runners. I held on, got the second knee on, and then hauled myself back up to a standing position.

I felt a gust of cold air against my chest—there was a rip in my parka! It wasn't big, but it was gonna chill me pretty fast. Still holding on with one hand, I took off my mitt and started to stuff it into the hole. It was a tight fit, but it worked. I reached down into my pocket and grabbed another mitt—I'd stashed a spare pair.Your hands got sweaty and damp and a new
dry pair was good to have. At least I still had one extra mitt.

I jumped off the komatik, still holding on to the handle with one hand. I started running and I felt a sore spot on my left leg—I'd probably smashed it against something when I was being dragged. It didn't feel good, but it didn't feel bad enough to stop me.

Up ahead George had opened up his lead even more. It looked as though he was still running. As I watched, he passed between the first pair of markers, blue to his left and red to his right. I had to keep count, and I had to be certain. If I went off course at the wrong place, I wouldn't finish the race at all.

George was up ahead, going fast, still pulling away slightly, but still within my sight.That was good.All I had to do was follow his route. Hopefully he was finding the best path around the ridges.

Anybody who had never been up north on the ocean ice would figure that the frozen sea was just smooth ice. It was nothing like that. Aside from the drifts there were the pressure ridges—some small, almost like little ripples on the surface, but others as high as a house. They were forming all the time. Maybe the surface of the ocean was frozen, but just below the ice the water was alive and constantly moving. The ice was solid and strong, but the currents were much, much stronger.

More dangerous than the ice rising up into pressure ridges was it opening up underneath your feet. There was less worry about that now because of the extreme cold, but it was still on every driver's mind.

I heard barking behind me. I jumped onto the runners and looked back over my shoulder. It was Mr. Marvin. His team was getting closer. The dogs were barking excitedly. He was running beside the sledge, screaming out commands. He was strong and determined and pretty good with a team. I hadn't expected to keep ahead of him for very long anyway, but I wasn't ready to give up just yet.

I held the lead and jumped down off the runners. I ran behind the sledge, yelling out encouragement to my dogs. They began barking more enthusiastically and picked up their pace. They could hear the other team behind us, and I think they just knew it was a race and they didn't want to be beaten. They dug in deeper.

Off to the left we passed by another blue marker. I cut close, trying to follow the route I'd watched George travel. I was moving so fast that I was gaining on him. He was still far, far ahead, but I was closing the gap. Almost on cue he cut to the right and vanished behind a large pressure ridge. I had a rush of uneasiness, not seeing George, not having him in my sight.

I could still hear Mr. Marvin's dogs pursuing me, but now that seemed less threatening and more reassuring.
I couldn't see George, but Mr. Marvin still had me in his sights. He wasn't always the nicest man but he was smart and knew what he was doing. If I got into any trouble he'd be there.

I noticed that the barking didn't seem to be coming from the back now as much as from the side. I jumped back onto the runners so I could turn around and have a look. Mr. Marvin was still behind me but he had taken a different tack and was well off to the left-hand side. Maybe he'd seen a better route, one that George had missed. Either I had to move faster to stay ahead—if he had found a shorter way— or this was my chance to put some distance between us if he had made a bad choice. I couldn't be sure, but it looked as though he was going to try to find a way to the far left of the pressure ridge. I jumped back down and started to run along.