The Pole (20 page)

Ookeah came into camp first, followed by Matt and the Commander. Dr. Goodsell was still well in the distance—at least a minute or two back.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen!” Commander Peary yelled out, as he waved a greeting.

“Good afternoon to you too, sir!” I called back. All three sledges came to a stop. Ookeah started to care for the dogs. Oatah looked as though he was about to help when the Commander stopped him.

“Tell me, what is ahead?” he asked.

“Ice open.”

“Straight line north?” Commander Peary asked. Oatah nodded. “Rest of day, then pressure ridge, go,” he said, pointing off to the west. “Big ridge.”

“But the Cap'n found a way through it,” I added.

“Captain Bob would find a way through. How far ahead are they?” he asked.

“They left at the same time as us,” I said, “moving north while we moved south, so they're eight hours by sledge north of here.”

“Good. If we go with speed we'll catch them by midday tomorrow.”

“A train only moves as fast as the last car,” Matt said. He gestured out onto the ice where Dr. Goodsell was still off in the distance.

“That does present some difficulty,” Commander Peary agreed. “There is only one possible solution.” He turned to me and Oatah. “Have you two eaten?”

“Just some jerky,” I said.

“Then you will dine with us. Matt, please prepare food for the party.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I can help,” I said and started off.

“Not necessary,” Commander Peary said. “Matt is a very able servant. He'll fix us a warm meal, while Ookeah tends to the dogs.”

“And what should we do, sir?”

“Take your personal possessions from your sledges and unhook your teams.”

“You want our teams?” I exclaimed. I didn't want to give up my team, especially not Lightning.

“No,
you
will want your teams. Oatah will hook his team onto the sledge that Ookeah has brought out,
and when Dr. Goodsell arrives, you, Danny, will be driving his sledge with your team.”

I understood the words, but I didn't understand what he meant.Why did he want us to do this?

“The Doctor and Ookeah will bring your empty sledges back to the base camp and you two will be accompanying Matthew and me on the next stage.”

OATAH AND MATT
 took turns leading. Commander Peary came next, and I brought up the rear. I could have easily passed the Commander. Despite having an almost empty sledge, he still wasn't able to move that fast. It made me realize just how slow Dr. Goodsell had been if he couldn't even keep pace with the Commander. I had had some vague thoughts that if we moved fast enough we might have overtaken George and the Captain before nightfall, but that just wasn't going to be happening. At this pace, it would take us most of the remaining light just to get back to where Oatah and I had started the day.

I had begun to be more aware of the ice beneath us. The passage of all those sledges had scarred the surface. I was able to pick out our trail now. It might not have been obvious to everybody—well, to everybody who wasn't an Eskimo—but it was certainly noticeable.

What was also noticeable was the way the wind had picked up. It was strong and coming almost
straight out of the north, directly into our faces. It was bitter and blew snow and ice at us. I kept my head tilted slightly down, protected by the rim of the hood of my parka and partially blocked by the load on the sledge.

When I had been offered the opportunity to come along with Matt and the Commander, the chance to catch George and the Captain, I'd been thrilled.That thrill had long since gone and been replaced by the ache in my legs, the biting wind in my face, and the nervous feeling in my guts. I really didn't want to sleep out on the ice again. Especially not in that same igloo. Something about that igloo just bothered me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

MARCH 3, 1909

THE SUN WAS SO WARM
, so good. I could feel it against my skin, radiating inward, warming my body and my soul. I felt like a cat, lying close to the stove, drinking in the heat. Maybe I could go for a swim and—

“Everybody up! Everybody out!”

I started awake, confused, stunned, and unable to see anything in the pitch-black of the igloo. Somebody grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me to my feet! There was yelling and screaming but the voices were almost drowned out by a roaring, crashing sound coming from outside. And then suddenly I was hit in the side of the head, staggered, almost fell over—the roof was collapsing on our heads! There was more light, but the roar was even louder—what was happening? I stumbled over the remaining blocks and fell over the walls and out of the igloo. Oatah was
on one side and Matt on the other—he had a grip on my parka, he was the person who'd pulled me to my feet. Commander Peary stumbled out of the remains of the igloo. Awkwardly he shuffled over to us.

As instantly as it had started the noise just stopped. We stood there, in complete silence, a million pinprick stars overhead and a bright, bright moon providing the light by which we could see the shattered igloo. In panic and confusion I looked at Matt. He looked calm.That suddenly made me feel calmer.

“Almost broke underneath our heads,” Commander Peary said.

Then I saw it.A large ridge of ice had piled up just over from the igloo. And right in front of it, right up against the wall, was a gash, an open river of water. My mouth dropped open in shock. I was dreaming about going for a swim and that dream had almost turned into a nightmare.

“The dogs, where are the dogs?” Matt asked.

I snapped back to reality.The dogs were tied down to the ice beside the entrance to the igloo … the entrance that was now almost in the open water … oh my God … the dogs were gone … Lightning was gone!

“Lightning!” I yelled, and ran toward the open water.

Matt grabbed me and practically yanked me off my feet.

“Lightning!” I yelled. “Lightning!”

“He's gone, Danny.They're all—”

There was a bark, and a second one, and howling, and then we could hear a whole choir of dogs barking and yelling!

“They must be on the other side of the ridge. They're alive!” I yelled.

“At least some of them,” Matt said, curbing my excitement.Was Lightning alive? Was Blackie okay?

“Matthew, Danny, Oatah, go and get the dogs,” Commander Peary ordered.

The gash and the pressure ridge were long. They extended into the distance in one direction as far as the eye could see. In the other, the ridge and open water were stopped at the massive pressure ridge to our right, the ridge that had forced the Captain to go around. The ridge that had stopped us before was now our route to the dogs.

“Come on!” I yelled, and I started running.

“Slow down, Danny! Wait!” Matt called after me, but I kept going.

I reached the ridge and started to climb. It was then, as I put my hands down to gain traction, that I realized I wasn't wearing any mitts. I dug into my pockets. There was one but not two. I put it on and kept going. I wanted to get high enough to at least see over that smaller ridge, to see the dogs. I didn't need to get to them right away but I needed to know they
were all there. I scrambled up the ridge, digging in with my feet and clawing with my hands—the hand without the mitt could actually grip better.

“Take more care!” Matt yelled.

I heard his words but needed to see the dogs. I kept climbing and—I saw the first dogs! They had broken free from the ice but were still all tied together as a team. It wasn't my team. There was a sledge … a second sledge … and a few dogs, loose, but I couldn't see any more, my view was still blocked by the ridge.

“I can see some of the dogs!” I yelled down to the rest of the party. Matt and Oatah were following behind me.

I had to climb higher to see more. I dug in deeper and climbed up over another chunk of ice and another and tried to look over and—my foot slipped and I almost tumbled down. I needed to focus on the climbing. I reached and pulled myself up to another layer and stopped. I could see more dogs, another team, still all tied together but loose, and a third sledge … but no Lightning. I couldn't see my team!

“Lightning!” I yelled out. “Lightning!”

There was an answering bark that rose above the rest of the noise—was that him? I started to climb, and then I saw him—Lightning! He had poked his head over the top of the little pressure ridge. He
climbed higher, and then I could see that he was dragging the rest of my team along with him!

“They're all okay!” I called back down the trail. “I think they're all there! The dogs are fine!”

IT TOOK US A WHILE
to corral the dogs that had gotten loose. They had been spooked by the ice being ruptured, and they didn't seem to want to be put back in harness. I couldn't blame them. I was feeling pretty spooked too, and I wasn't sure how I was going to sleep tonight. The last place I wanted to be was in an igloo on the ice … no … the last place I wanted to be was in the water,
underneath
an igloo.

Oatah had been leading this whole leg. Commander Peary followed, then me, and Matt brought up the rear. The komatiks had been knocked around as well by the shifting ice, and one of them had been damaged. Oatah had repaired the damaged komatik and Matt had rearranged the load. At first I couldn't see what he was doing, and then it became more obvious. He was putting most of the heavy things on the sledges that belonged to him and Oatah. They were making the load lighter for me. I told him he didn't need to do that, that I could pull my own weight, but he told me he was in charge. I felt bad at first—I really wanted to do my share—but now that we were moving, I was just grateful.

“Whoa!” Oatah called out, and his team came to a stop. Peary pulled up behind him and then I brought my sledge to rest. Finally Matt came in behind me.

Oatah pointed up into the pressure ridge.There was a trail gouged through the ice. It was marked by poles and pemmican cans so it couldn't be missed.The trail was narrow—it looked barely wide enough to allow a sledge to pass—and it was on a steep incline.

“Danny, unhook your team from the sledge,” Commander Peary ordered.

“Yes, sir.” I wanted to ask why, but I knew it wasn't my place to question. I hurried to follow his direction.

Matt offered his assistance. I could ask Matt. “What's happening?”

“We're going to double-team,” he said. “The only way to get through that gap is to put twenty dogs on each sledge to get them over the ridge.Your team is with me.You'll be driving.”

“Me? You want me to drive?” I exclaimed. I couldn't believe my ears. Matt was a much better driver than me, a much better driver than anybody, even better than some of the Eskimos.

“Unless you want to be pulling them from the front,” he said.

“Pulling them?”

“The dogs won't want to go through the gap … too narrow … the walls are all closed in. The dogs don't like to be closed in or crowded. Besides, you
won't be so much driving the sledge as pushing it. You'll see.”

Matt took Lightning's lead and brought my team over to his. He lined them up so he could tie my dogs to the front of his team. As he started to position them, his lead dog lunged and tried to bite one of my dogs! My husky jumped forward, barely escaping the snapping jaws! Matt yelled at his dog and it dropped to the ice in a submissive pose.

I knew his lead dog. He was big and strong and one of the dogs I always avoided because I didn't think that I could trust him. One minute he was all friendly and wagging his tail and the next he was trying to bite off your fingers. He was wagging his tail now, and pushing his head against Matt's hand to get rubbed. Obviously the dog knew that Matt was in charge. He allowed the other dogs to be tied on in front of him.

Matt walked to the front of the double-team and I went to the back of the sledge. He put one hand on Lightning's lead and then pulled him forward while he commanded the whole team to follow. He led them up the incline and into the gap. There was a slight hesitation but the dogs kept moving. Quickly the walls of ice rose up until I couldn't see over them.The sides of the sledge bounced against the ice. If I hadn't known that the Captain had carved this out and passed this way I wouldn't have thought it was possible to get through.

We slowed to a stop as the sledge ground against the ice. Matt yelled out to the dogs and I pushed as hard as I could and we popped through the gap and kept moving.This happened again and again. I could feel sweat dripping down my chest—it was hard work, much harder than driving a sledge and team along the open ice. How much farther did we have to go?

I pulled myself up and looked beyond the sledge, the dogs, and Matt. I could see that the path continued to rise up, that we hadn't reached the highest point, so I had to assume we hadn't reached the halfway mark, either.

There was barking from behind me. I turned. Oatah was leading a second double-team.They were pulling Commander Peary's almost empty sledge. I knew that no matter how hard I was working Oatah would be working harder because the Commander wouldn't be able to push much—he'd basically be pulled along by the dogs and Oatah.

The sledge jammed against the wall and we came to a complete stop. Matt screamed at the dogs and I pushed with all my might but it wouldn't budge—it was frozen in place.

“Rock the sledge!” Matt yelled. “Get it free!”

I tried to move the sledge over. It wouldn't move.

It didn't budge. It had to weigh almost three times as much as me.

“Come on, Danny, shift it over! Put some muscle behind it!”

I grabbed one handle with both hands and braced my legs against the ice wall. I used my legs to push while I pulled with my hands. I felt the handle bending. Something was going to give and—the sledge popped over!