“It’s no use, Sasha. If the fox doesn’t step in the trap soon, my sister will be born already.”
He made a tight, hard snowball and tossed it into the trap. The mighty jaws sprang shut with a loud clank. Sasha jumped back with a yelp.
“I just wanted to see if it still worked. I guess it does.” He kicked at the bait with the toe of his boot. “It’s all in one piece. That means nothing has tried to get it off. And there are no tracks.”
Sasha watched Jean-Paul reset the trap, not daring to move an inch toward the strange monster with big iron teeth.
“Not even a rabbit. You’d think there would at least be a dumb ol’ okalerk.”
It was Saturday morning, a very dark and dreary morning. Even the Northern Lights had not come to brighten the sky with their wavering shafts of color.
Jean-Paul felt lonely and left out. He knew the other boys had things to do. With their own dogsleds, they could go riding and visiting anytime they wanted. Chinook had his own husky, a large brown dog with white patches around its eyes. The white circles made the husky look like a bandit. He also looked mean, but Jean-Paul knew he wasn’t. Chinook’s dog’s name was Amarok, which meant wolf, but he was as gentle as a kitten.
As they walked back to the cabin, Jean-Paul compared Sasha with Amarok. She would never be as big as he was, but Jean-Paul had the feeling she might be almost as strong. She wasn’t mean-looking, either, but had gentle, intelligent blue eyes. There was a nice black streak marking her forehead, and her mouth seemed always to be smiling. She had grown a lot during the last two months. Her baby fuzz had been replaced with black and silver guard hairs on the outside. Her undercoat was soft and thick, in spite of her staying in the cabin too much. Sasha was low to the ground, her feet and legs dainty, though well-muscled.
Now, Jean-Paul ruffled the thick hair that stood out around Sasha’s neck. “I could teach you to pull a sled if you were bigger. I’ll bet you would be as good as Amarok.”
____________
That night after supper, Cordell went outdoors. Soon he returned and walked over to Jean-Paul, who sat working a jigsaw puzzle. Cordell watched him silently, and Jean-Paul sensed trouble.
“We need to talk,” said Cordell, finally.
Jean-Paul didn’t look up. “Wait till I find where this piece goes.”
When Cordell spoke again, Jean-Paul nearly jumped out of his chair. “The puzzle can wait! Put it away now! We’re going for a walk!”
Cordell looked ferocious when angry. Jean-Paul laid down the puzzle chip and rose. “Wh–where are we going?”
Cordell ignored the question. “Bundle up. The wind’s sharp.”
Without speaking, Jean-Paul pulled on his parka, closing it tightly around his neck. Next came the boots. When he turned to the door, Cordell already had it open.
The first blast of cold air brought a gasp from Jean-Paul. He pulled his hood tightly around his face. Only his eyes were open to the strong wind as he peered through a very small space.
The huskies arose from their warm snow beds and howled, the noise promptly blown away by the wind. Sasha trotted over to the group and barked, as if to say, “You don’t have a warm bed to sleep in at night!” Then she joined Jean-Paul and Cordell.
Once or twice Cordell had to wait for Jean-Paul to catch up, the drag of the boy’s crippled foot slowing him down. They went up behind the shed and started down to the stream. Cordell carried the lantern, beaming its yellow light on the ground ahead of him. Jean-Paul was glad he couldn’t see his father’s face. His thoughts went around and around inside his head.
Cordell’s deep voice cut into Jean-Paul’s thoughts. “Aha! Look over here, Jean-Paul!” He aimed the beam at the ground. He no longer sounded angry, but a lump came into Jean-Paul’s throat just the same.
“It—it looks like…”
“Footprints,” Cordell said. “Where do you suppose they came from?” Jean-Paul didn’t answer. Cordell stooped down and examined the tracks.
A chill shot down Jean-Paul’s spine as Cordell pointed to another set of tracks near the larger ones. “And a smaller animal, too. Could be a mother with her cub, no?” He arose. “Well, come on then, Jean-Paul, let’s trail them to see where they go.”
Sasha bounded on ahead, knowing exactly where they were going. Jean-Paul also knew. Suddenly he hung back, refusing to budge. Cordell was already there, kneeling in the snow to look behind the boulders. He turned and called Jean-Paul over.
Jean-Paul limped slowly to his father. Before him in the lantern light was the big steel trap, exactly where he’d checked it earlier that morning.
“Now who do you think swiped my old trap and set it up back here?” Cordell said.
There was no use denying it. Jean-Paul was caught. What could he say, with the evidence right there before him? The only thing he had in his favor was that his father didn’t stay angry long. He hung his head. Sasha nuzzled the hand hanging limply at his side. He hunched himself down inside his parka, feeling smaller than ever. There was only one thing to do.
“It was me,” he said.
Cordell stood up. “Why, Jean-Paul? Why did you take this, when I’ve told you never to touch the traps? This particular trap is very dangerous.”
“It—it was a surprise.”
“A surprise? It certainly was! When I saw the tracks this afternoon, I followed them and wound up here.”
“You knew they were mine,” Jean-Paul said, shaking his head. “Mine and Sasha’s.”
“Do you take me for a fool, son? Of course I knew. What I want to know is why you disobeyed me. If you wanted to trap, why didn’t you come to me?”
Tears stung Jean-Paul’s eyes. “I wanted to show you I could do it all by myself. If I’d asked, you wouldn’t have let me.”
“I see.”
“And—and Ma said she wanted an Arctic fox fur for the baby.”
“Arctic fox?”
Jean-Paul nodded. “Yes, sir. She said she wants a girl. And she wants white fox fur for a baby parka and boots.”
Cordell thought for a moment. “Yes, I understand. I guess she’d like silks and laces for our new baby. Sometimes I forget how hard it must be for your mother, living up here like this. She hasn’t made many friends, and women need other women when a baby’s coming. What do men know, eh?” He looked at the trap again. “Has it been here long?”
“A few weeks.”
“And you haven’t caught anything yet?”
“Nothing!” Jean-Paul said. “Not even an old rabbit!”
Cordell studied the trap. “Well, it might have caught a boy. Or a husky. But since you’ve already got it set, I guess it can stay.”
Cordell slipped an arm around his son. “What makes you so sure the baby will be a girl?”
“Because I think that’s what Ma wants. All she’s got now is a crippled boy.”
Cordell gave him a hard squeeze. “Aw, now, son, your mother wouldn’t trade you for all the girls in the world.”
“Did she say that?”
“She doesn’t have to.”
“But a girl would make a difference, huh, Pa?”
Cordell laughed. “It might. But for different reasons, not because her son is lame. Mothers don’t stop loving their children just because they might have a birth defect. Besides, I believe there is someone out there who can fix you right up. All we have to do is find him, eh?”
Jean-Paul nodded. “I hope so, because I don’t like being different.” Then he had a sudden thought. “I don’t know anything about babies, Pa. What will I do with a baby in that small cabin?”
“The question is,” replied Cordell, clearing his throat, “what am I going to do with two children in my way when I’m trying to work? I might have to move to the North Pole to get away from the noise.”
They walked back to the cabin in silence. But before going inside, Cordell said, “We won’t tell her about the trap. She’d be upset, knowing you could have hurt yourself. I want you to promise me something,
Jean-Paul.”
“What?” Jean-Paul stomped snow off his boots.
“Well, if you see a fox in the trap, or any other animal, let me know, eh? Don’t touch it.”
He was glad his father was no longer angry.
“You have to keep the drifts from burying that trap,” Cordell said. “Otherwise, someone could step in it and break an ankle or a foot.”
“Won’t foxes smell people-scent around the trap? Maybe they won’t come at all because of the smell.”
“Maybe,” Cordell agreed. “But if they’re hungry enough, it won’t matter. Just like when you’re hungry, you don’t care if anyone catches you sneaking cookies before bedtime. And I happen to know there are still some molasses cookies left. Let’s have some with a cup of hot tea.”
Chapter 4
Three weeks before Christmas, Chinook, Nanuk, and Aiverk cornered Jean-Paul outside the school. Sasha had come to school with Jean-Paul and had waited outdoors all day. Now, all eyes were on the beautiful young dog as she jumped up and licked his face, her tail wagging furiously.
“That the pup you stole a couple of months ago, Jean-Paul Okalerk?” Chinook asked.
Jean-Paul moved back a few inches. “I told you I didn’t steal her, Chinook. Our girl dog had nine pups, and Sasha’s one of them.”
Nanuk folded his arms across his chest and stared right into Jean-Paul’s eyes. “What does an okalerk want with a husky? Okalerks don’t do anything but hoppity-hoppity-hop. Boys have huskies.”
Aiverk laughed.
“You going to train her to pull a sled?” asked Chinook. He stroked Sasha’s head. “She’s very small.”
“But she’s strong,” answered Jean-Paul.
There was a twinkle in Chinook’s eyes that made Jean-Paul wonder if the teasing was only for the benefit of the other boys. Sensing a warmer side of him, Jean-Paul was sometimes drawn to his special ways of making people laugh. If he could have only one friend in the Arctic, he would want someone like Chinook. If only Chinook wouldn’t make fun of him. He could stand almost anything but that. He often envied Aiverk and Nanuk their special friendship with Chinook.
“Why didn’t you steal a bigger dog?” asked Nanuk. “Can’t do anything with such a puny runt.”
“She’s not a puny runt!” Jean-Paul yelled. “And she’s smarter than all your huskies put together!”
“Oh yeah?” Nanuk sneered.
“Yeah! She does everything I tell her to do. Here, I’ll show you.”
Jean-Paul stepped out in front of Sasha. She started to follow, but he held out his hand and told her to sit. Sasha sat down and waited.
Aiverk grinned. “Ha! That’s nothing, Jean-Paul Okalerk! All dogs know how to sit.”
Jean-Paul tried again. “Well, here’s one yours can’t do!” He turned to Sasha again. “Sasha, would you rather look at Aiverk’s ugly face or be dead?”
Sasha dropped immediately to her side. She lay without moving until Jean-Paul said, “Sasha, up!” And she bounded up on all fours, barking and wagging her tail. Jean-Paul was very proud of her and gave her a great big hug.
Chinook jumped up and down, laughing so much he could hardly get his breath. He held his belly and tried to stop laughing. Then he started in again, and laughed and giggled until tears rolled down his cheeks.
“What’s the matter with him?” asked Nanuk.
Chinook stopped before Nanuk and shook a finger in his face. “I was laughing because Jean-Paul’s dog got the best of Aiverk! She would rather be dead than look at his ugly mug!” He grinned at Jean-Paul. “How did you teach her to do that, Okalerk?”
“I don’t tell people things when they call me names!” Jean-Paul yelled. “I’m not a rabbit, Chinook! If I tell you how I trained her, you have to stop calling me Okalerk!”
“Let’s go, Chinook,” said Nanuk, turning away. “I don’t want to be seen talking to an okalerk.” He began walking, calling to Aiverk over his shoulder. “You coming or not?”
But Chinook grabbed Nanuk’s arm. “Wait! I want to hear what the okal ... I mean Monsieur Jean-Paul Ardoin has to say. Maybe his dog goes to school. She comes here as often as we do.”
“I won’t tell you the secret of training your dogs to play dead, unless you promise to stop calling me names.” Jean-Paul looked off into the distance and saw Cordell driving his team over the snow. “My pa’s here to get me now.”
“Why don’t you ride your dog home?” asked Nanuk. “She’s just about your size.”
Chinook turned his back on his two friends and spoke to Jean-Paul. “So, your dog’s name is Sasha?”
“Yes. It means ‘helper of man.’”
“My dog’s name is Amarok,” Chinook said. “That means ‘wolf.’”
“I already knew what it meant,” Jean-Paul said. “But I’ve got to go now, Chinook. Pa’s almost here.” He started to move away with Sasha at his heels.
Chinook caught up with him again. “Hey, Jean-Paul, would you like to join our Ice Patrol?”
“Your club?” asked Jean-Paul, surprised. “You want me?”
“We don’t want him!” cried Nanuk.
“Why not?” asked Chinook. “He can teach us lots of things about training dogs to die and come alive again. Right, Jean-Paul? How about it, want to join?”
Nanuk and Aiverk looked at each other and shrugged. They knew it would do no good to argue with Chinook, for he was their leader. It was he who came up with all the neat ideas for their club. Now they watched him, and didn’t like what they saw. It looked as though Chinook was trying to make friends with Jean-Paul Ardoin. On the other hand, it might not be a bad idea to wait and see what Chinook had up his sleeve.
Jean-Paul looked warily from one boy to another. It was obvious that Nanuk and Aiverk didn’t want him, but he thought he could trust Chinook to handle them.
“What would I have to do?” he asked.
“Tell you what,” said Chinook. “You meet us right here after school tomorrow and we’ll show you. Our club’s fun. We go ice fishing and sledding and kayaking and—”
“—and girl watching,” said Aiverk. He nudged Nanuk in the ribs and grinned.
Cordell stopped his sled and waited for Jean-Paul.
“Pa always picks me up after school. How would I get home?”
“No problem,” Chinook replied with a grin. “We’ll take you home, right guys?”
“That’s right,” said Nanuk. “We’ll take you home after you get all signed up.”
____________
That evening at the supper table, Jean-Paul said to Cordell, “The boys want me to join their club, Pa.”
Cordell stopped chewing and looked at his son. “That right?”
“Um-hmmm.” Jean-Paul took a bite of meat. From across the room, Sasha pricked up her ears and whined. Then her black nose wiggled back and forth. She knew she wasn’t to beg at the table, but no one had said anything about begging from the other side of the room. Jean-Paul glanced at her and winked, sending her a mental message that he would save her a bite of his food.
Lise laid down her fork and looked at Jean-Paul seriously. “Are those the boys who tease you so much? I’m not sure I want you with them, since they’re always picking on you.”
But Jean-Paul was excited. “It’s different this time, Ma! They asked me to join their Ice Patrol. I’ve always wondered what they do in their club, and now I’ll find out.”
Lise shook her head. “I don’t know . . .”
Cordell laughed. “Ice Patrol, eh? Maybe I should write a story about a group of boys who patrol the ice. Pass the meat.”
Lise pushed the platter toward him. “You could write a story about your big toenail, Cordell Ardoin!”
Jean-Paul giggled. “That would be a very tall tale, huh, Ma?”
Cordell narrowed his eyes at Jean-Paul. He helped himself to the food and started eating again. Jean-Paul looked from his father to his mother. Was he going to get an answer or not? They were sitting there eating as though he didn
’t exist.
“Well?” he asked, impatiently.
Cordell looked up. “Eh? Well what?”
“The club! The club! Do I get to join Ice Patrol or not?”
“I don’t think so,” said Lise. “I just don’t know enough about those boys.”
“Aw, Ma.”
Cordell came to his son’s rescue. “A boy’s got to have fun, Lise. I belonged to a club when I was his age. There’s not much else to do in this godforsaken country.”
Lise looked at her husband. “You brought us to this godforsaken country.”
Cordell reached over and patted her hand. “And you followed right along like a lemming to the ocean!”
“To fall in and drown,” she whispered.
Lise silently picked at her food. Then suddenly she jumped up and went into the bedroom. Cordell stared after her. He became lost in thought as Jean-Paul tried to recapture his attention.
“Chinook said they’ll bring me home right after the club meeting. So you won’t have to come for me.”
Cordell’s mind was far away. “Um-hmmm,” he mumbled.
“They said I have to join right after school tomorrow. I have to be initiated.” Cordell still wasn’t listening, so Jean-Paul tugged on his sleeve. “Pa?”
“What? Oh, well, I guess it’s all right.”
“Thanks, Pa. And tell Ma she won’t have to worry. Sasha will be with me.”
At the sound of her name, Sasha stood up and barked.
“See?” Jean-Paul exclaimed. “She knows we’re talking about her.”
“She only wants the food you pushed under the edge of your plate,” said his father.
When Cordell disappeared into his bedroom a moment later, Jean-Paul cleared the table and put a kettle of water on to heat for the dishes.
____________
The next day, after school was dismissed, Jean-Paul hurried outside to find Sasha. Happy as always to see him, the pup bounded up against his chest and licked his face, whining and wiggling. Jean-Paul scratched her ears and laughed. “Today’s going to be great fun! They’re finally treating me like one of them. I get to be in their club, Sasha, and you can come, too. I think the boys all like you, especially Chinook.”
The Haunted Igloo Page 4
