Ben and Zoe stared horrified at the widening channel of freezing Arctic water between them. The ship carried smoothly on past.
“Stay there,” shouted Zoe. “I’ll go and fetch a kayak.”
“No,” Ben shouted back. “By the time you get back I could have drifted miles away. Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan.”
“You’re not to do anything stupid,” called Zoe.
Ben didn’t reply. Instead he turned his RAT and steered away from the broken edge of the spur.
“Where are you going?” cried Zoe in alarm.
“Stand back,” Ben shouted. He brought the RAT to a halt and swivelled it round in the snow. Now he was facing Zoe again. With a look of grim determination on his face he revved up the motor. Then he set off, accelerating until he was racing along at top speed towards the water.
With a stab of horror, Zoe suddenly realised what her daredevil brother was about to do. He was going to jump the gap.
“No!” she shrieked. “You’ll never make it!”
But she knew it was too late. Ben was already crouching on his board, both arms stretched out for balance. She hardly dared watch as he sprang up into the air towards her, the whirring RAT at his feet. It was a huge jump – and made even more difficult with the weight of the cub in its sling. And every second the channel of deadly water was widening. For a moment it looked as if Ben was going to plunge straight into the freezing depths.
Now he was almost at the bank – but surely he couldn’t make it! Zoe let out a scream as her brother landed on the very edge of the ice. A loud cracking noise ripped through the air as the ice began to fall away into the water.
Desperately, Ben waved his arms to get his balance, then flung himself forwards. Boy, cub and RAT toppled on to the ice. But they were safe. Zoe darted over to him. Ben got to his knees, checked he hadn’t squashed Guzzle and raised his hand for a high five.
“OK,” said his sister, pulling him to his feet. “You get the Olympic gold this time.”
“It was nothing.” Ben grinned. “You can have my autograph later.”
Ben wasn’t going to admit that he’d felt as scared as Zoe looked. It had been a big risk, and he didn’t like to think of what would have happened if he hadn’t made it.
Ben stroked Guzzle’s head, and the little cub popped her head up. She began to wriggle about, trying to get out of the sling.
“I don’t blame you, Guzzle!” said Ben. “That was a bit of a hairy moment.”
The children checked the kayak tracker and whizzed off across the ice floe, their headlamps lighting the way as they went. The storm had blown the snow into frozen ripples. There were occasional animal tracks trailing across it. Zoe cut a figure of eight and came up alongside Ben, spraying up an arc of powdery snow.
“Couldn’t resist,” she called. “If we got snow like this at home, we’d be out all day making snowmen and having snowball fights and sledging...What’s the matter?” Ben was frowning.
“I’m a bit worried about Guzzle,” he said.
“Doesn’t she look good?” asked Zoe.
“Just the opposite,” groaned Ben. “She wants to get out. Her wriggling’s putting me off balance!”
“Not long now.” Zoe laughed. “Look, there are our kayaks. We’ll soon get her to someone who can look after her.” In the moonlight, the snowy outlines were just visible in the distance.
“Top speed then,” yelled Ben.
But Zoe had stopped. “There’s something further along the edge of the floe.” She pointed to a large, dark shape in the snow.
“Nothing to worry about,” called Ben. “It’s just a lump of ice, isn’t it?”
Zoe gulped. “Lumps of ice can’t walk,” she said slowly. “It’s coming towards us, Ben. It’s a polar bear.”
“You’re right,” said Ben fearfully. He brought his RAT to a halt. “Wave your arms and make yourself as tall as possible. We mustn’t look scared.”
Zoe did as he said although she could feel her heart thumping with fright. The huge polar bear raised its head to the sky and gave a ferocious growl.
“Hope it’s not hungry,” she whispered. “We must show it we’re human – and dominant,” Ben told her quickly. “Go away!” he yelled in his deepest voice. Zoe joined in. But the bear began to pad towards them.
“It’s not working,” said Zoe, trying to keep the wobble out of her voice as the bear picked up speed.
Now it was galloping towards them, strong legs pounding away at the snow, sharp teeth gleaming. It was covering the gap between them quickly – too quickly.
It wasn’t only the cubs that needed saving now.