“Now what are we going to do?” asked Ben desperately. “We’ll never survive out here in a snowstorm.”
“We have to take shelter,” said Zoe. “Remember what Amaguq said about snow holes? We need to make one – now!”
“The ground looks raised over there.” Ben pointed into the distance. “There might be enough snow to dig into.”
“It’s hard to see anything!” shouted Zoe, struggling to walk against the rising strength of the wind, which howled around them and tugged at their clothes.
At last they reached the banked-up snow and dropped to their knees, the wind blasting into their faces.
“Perfect!” yelled Ben. “It’s facing away from the wind!”
“I wish we were!” Zoe yelled back.
They clawed blindly at the snow.
“It’s falling too fast to clear!” called Ben.
“Use your RAT as a spade!” The children were soon scooping great shovelfuls of snow away with the front end of the boards.
At last they’d scooped out a space just big enough to crawl into. They took off their goggles and lay huddled together in their sleeping bags, listening to the wind roaring outside. Zoe pulled a torch out of her backpack. She shone its beam at the entrance to their shelter. It lit the snowflakes that were driving past the entrance. The storm was at its height.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Ben. “We’ve seen snowstorms like this on television, but I never realised how bad it would be to land up in the middle of one.”
“It’s going to delay our search,” said Zoe. “Those poor cubs.”
“It could go on for hours.” Ben sighed. “We’ll have to make the best of it. How about some provisions? I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry,” laughed Zoe, wriggling round to put her hand into her brother’s backpack. “If you get your elbow out of my stomach, I might be able to reach the food.”
“Not easy!” Ben shifted painfully. “Now I’m sitting on the RAT’s motor.”
The children soon had their high-energy fruit bars unwrapped. They sat and munched in silence. Outside it was as dark as night now, and the snow was piling up at the hole’s entrance. Strange noises rose up above the whine of the wind.
“That’s the ice floe creaking,” said Zoe. “It moves all the time and this storm’s making it worse.” She scooped some snow into her glove and sucked at it. “No shortage of drink here.”
Ben yawned and rubbed his eyes. “I’m going to get a bit of sleep,” he told Zoe. “Jet lag. Wake me up when the storm’s over.”
Zoe nodded. Ben always suffered more than she did from the time changes when they went on their missions. She knew she wouldn’t sleep anyway. Her mind was too busy picturing the shivering bear cubs alone in their den. She wondered how they’d ever get to them in time. Any tracks the mother polar bear or fisherman had left would be covered in fresh snow. So would the den…
Zoe’s breathing was quickening and her thoughts were suddenly tumbling about.
She had a weird feeling of confusion. She turned to Ben and was horrified to see that his lips were blue – and yet when she touched his skin it was warm. What was happening?
She shook her brother hard. She was relieved to see he was breathing, but he wouldn’t stir. Her muddled brain tried to work out what was going on. She had to get a grip on herself, but she felt so light-headed! She took a handful of snow and rubbed it in her face to wake herself up.
She flashed the torch around. Where was the entrance to their shelter? It had vanished. Was she having a nightmare? No, that was silly, she was awake.
And now the tiny bit of Zoe’s brain that was still working had the answer. The storm had sealed them in. They were trapped in a tomb of snow. If the hole had gone, then no air was getting in. They were being starved of oxygen. That explained why she felt so strange. And that was why Ben wouldn’t wake up.
Zoe knew that if she didn’t do something straight away they were going to die! But all she wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep.
“Stay awake!” she muttered to herself, pinching her cheeks hard, hoping the pain would keep her focused.
She started to scrape at the covered entrance, but the snow was thick and she could feel her strength draining away. She was gasping now from lack of air as she clawed desperately for a way out.
Then, just when she thought she couldn’t dig any more, the snow fell away and her gloved hand broke through the wall. With the last of her strength, Zoe heaved herself up to the small gap and took great welcome gulps of freezing air. She felt her brain slowly come back to life. She twisted round to Ben.
He was pale and still. Zoe’s heart almost stopped. Was she too late?