On their last playdate, Zia, Katy and Cassandra had decided to mark the beginning of their adventure by standing in a circle and reciting a sort of password. They got into the same position, with Thunder in the middle, and grabbed each other’s hands in a tight squeeze.
“Now, close your eyes and imagine yourself in the Arctic,” Zia instructed, trying to calm the butterflies in her tummy. “The North Pole is towering into the sky and all around is fluffy white snow as far as your eyes can see!”
“Er, you know the North Pole isn’t a real pole,” interrupted Katy.
Zia grinned. “Of course, silly! But it’s more fun to imagine it is. How else will we know we’re in the right place?”
“Good point,” said Katy. “Ignore me!” She laughed.
“OK, now repeat after me,” Zia continued. “I wish to go on an adventure.”
“I wish to go on an adventure,” the girls chanted in unison, all eyes scrunched closed.
After just a few seconds, they started to have the same fizzy, bubbly sensation they’d had at Katy’s house. They felt both BOILING hot and FREEZING cold, as if their bodies were super-charging with electricity. And then, as quickly as the peculiar sensations had started, they stopped. Everyone slowly opened their eyes.
“MY!” gasped Cassandra.
“GOODNESS!” cried Zia. Katy and Cassandra put their arms around her, and they turned slowly in a circle, taking in their surroundings.
They were no longer standing in Zia’s bedroom among white cotton sheets, k but on actual, real snow – the kind that looked like whipped cream rather than the wet, muddy stuff they got at home. All about them was gleaming white for miles and miles, with icy cliffs towering up into a clear blue sky to their right and silky white terrain stretching all the way to their front and left.
Then Zia looked down and gasped again, because rather than their own clothes, they were now wearing thick coats with furry hoods, expedition trousers and big, padded snow boots and gloves. They looked like real Arctic explorers!
“I can’t believe it’s happened again!” Zia shrieked. She linked arms with Katy and Cassandra excitedly, and soon the three of them were picking up armfuls of snow and throwing it in every direction.
“I’ve never seen so much snow in my life!” Katy exclaimed, taking aim at the back of Zia’s head. “I mean, we’re actually in the Arctic!” Bullseye! The snowball exploded on Zia’s hood.
Zia made a snowball and hurled it back at Katy, then Cassandra joined in and soon the three girls were laughing so much their sides began to hurt.
“OK,” Zia blurted out eventually, trying to brush off her giggles as she also brushed the snow from her coat and hood. “We can’t stand around having a snowball fight all day.” She took one more snowball to the face and squealed. “Come on, we need to find our way to the North Pole.”
They stared into the distance, straining their eyes in search of a clue as to which way they should go.
“Um, guys, look over there,” said Cassandra timidly. “Is that what I think it is?”
Zia looked in the direction Cassandra was pointing with her gloved hand and that’s when she saw it, a thin, icy-blue pole some way off in the distance, soaring up, up, up into the sky.
“Cassandra!” cried Zia enthusiastically. “You found it! That must be the North Pole!”
She was about to start heading towards it when Katy put up her hands to stop her.
“Hold on a minute. Where’s Thunder?” Katy asked, looking worried.
Their eyes scoured the ground, but Thunder was nowhere to be seen…until, moments later, two small grey ears began to emerge from the snow, followed by a grey-and-white face with frosted whiskers, a green hooded coat and finally four paws and a bushy grey tail.
“Thunder!” the girls shouted, relieved.
“Look at you!” said Katy, trying hard to stifle a giggle. “You’re all covered in snow!”
“What else would I be covered in?” he replied in a cross voice.
Zia had forgotten that Thunder had been able to speak on their last adventure. She wondered if she’d ever get used to hearing animals talk.
“I hate the cold,” the cat continued, licking his paws and wiping his whiskers.
“Oh, don’t be a spoilsport,” said Katy, heaving the cat into her arms, brushing the snow from his coat and putting him back down. “It’s going to be fun. You’ll see.”
“Fine,” said the cat. “Just don’t expect me to like it.”
With a smile, Katy started walking towards the icy pole. “Who’s coming?” she said, Thunder trotting, with difficulty, by her feet. Cassandra and Zia followed close behind.
They couldn’t go fast. It was quite exhausting walking through thick snow. With every step their boots sunk a bit deeper and they had to use all their effort to pull them back up again. They trudged forwards like this for ages, mostly in silence, and without seeing any signs of life around them. But just as Zia was about to open her mouth to suggest they take a rest, she noticed something up ahead, something big and white and furry. As they got closer, she realised what it was. She didn’t like it, not one little bit.
“Polar bear!” she shouted. “Everyone, RUN!”
