INSIDE THE TENT, Grace popped Robert’s shoulder back into place.
Robert screamed.
Grace felt bad that she had hurt him. She had been as gentle as she could.
Outside, working with the dogs, Andrew covered his ears.
“Ah,” Robert sighed. “That feels better.”
“I wish I had something to give you,” Grace said.
“Scott had some opium on his trip,” said Polly. “I’ll bet we have some here.”
“I’m okay,” Robert said. “Thank you, Grace.”
Grace smiled.
“Here,” Polly said, handing him a rolled-up sweater. “You can use this as a pillow.”
“And Polly, I want to thank you. You were”—Robert searched for the right word—“strong.” He smiled feebly at her.
Grace felt Robert’s ribs. “I don’t think any are broken.”
“That’s a miracle,” Polly said.
“And Andrew? Where’s Andrew? I want to thank him.” Robert lifted his head up.
“He’s feeding the dogs,” Polly told him.
Robert’s gaze fell on Billy.
Billy’s face reddened. He needed to face the facts. This morning had been a disaster for him. Probably everyone watching television hated him, just as every kid he had ever known ended up hating him. He needed desperately to do something to save his image. He felt his face grow even redder. “Robert, I …”
“What happened, Billy?” Robert looked into his eyes. Was this guy a coward, or did he just not know what he was doing? “Why did Andrew come for me and not you?”
Polly admired the way Robert faced things.
“I panicked,” Billy said.
You sure did, Polly thought.
“I’ve done some climbing, but never with a big drop,” Billy explained.
Billy hung his head. “I’m sorry.”
“No problem,” Robert said, deciding that Billy was both scared and inexperienced. But he knew shaming Billy wouldn’t help. “We’re all in this together.”
Robert’s forgiveness made Billy feel better, but he’d never forget Polly’s look when he had refused to rescue Robert. “I’m not a coward, just practical,” he wanted to tell her now. But he never wanted to talk about that killer crevasse again.
Andrew stuck his head into the tent. “It’s snowing.”
The flap closed and Andrew was gone again.
Robert tried to sit up. “We’ve got to secure camp.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Polly said.
Robert touched his hurt shoulder. “You’re right.” It was funny, but Robert didn’t mind that Polly seemed to be taking over as leader. He had always been the leader in every situation that he’d been in. But he was injured and shouldn’t move, and that was that. He felt relaxed. Let her take the burden for a while; she’ll do a good job, Robert thought. Polly, that geeky girl, was a natural leader. Weird.
Robert turned his attention to Grace, who was adjusting the rolled-up sweater under his head. “Thanks,” he said.
Fine flakes fell lightly on Polly’s shoulders, but there was no wind. This was more of a snowstorm than a blizzard, Polly thought. Still, travel would be difficult. Oh, well, they weren’t going any farther today, anyway.
Polly found Andrew standing next to the pony.
“Cookie hates this cold,” Andrew said as he pulled a blanket up near Cookie’s head. He patted her. “Poor Cookie. This is all I can do for you.”
“I bet it’s way below zero,” Polly said. “Let’s go.”
“I guess I could get out the thermometer.” As Andrew turned toward the blue tent, Polly linked her arm in his.
“Bowers took most of the temperature readings for Scott’s group,” Polly said. “Imagine. He took off his gloves, picked up a metal thermometer that stuck to his skin, and held it out in the cold air long enough to get a reading.”
“You really like him, don’t you?” Andrew said.
“Yeah,” Polly said.
“Why?”
“He was unselfish.” Polly knew what she wanted to say but felt embarrassed. She felt her face grow red. “Like you’re unselfish, Andrew.”
Andrew stopped and stared at her. Snowflakes dusted her cap and the shoulders of her parka. She smiled at him.
“I mean it. That’s really your special gift. Oh, I know that you can bear the cold. But everyone else here has done just fine with that. Only you were brave enough to risk your life for Robert this afternoon.”
“I couldn’t just let him die.” As he said these words, Andrew thought of himself just a few months ago. Heroic words like these never came out of his mouth then. Thinking about his past, he felt something else strange. It was as if he had awakened from a long sleep. That old pudgy Andrew who had a special place on the soft couch seemed like a dream.
Suddenly they heard Grace shout, “Get him!”
Andrew saw the large shape of a dog trot past.
“It’s Brontosaurus,” Grace called.
The dog that Andrew had chased this morning had returned to camp.
Grace guessed that the dog had run off to find more food. When he couldn’t find any, he had come back.
Polly lunged for him, and Andrew turned to run after him, too.
“No!” Grace screamed. “I forgot! There might be more crevasses.”
Polly shuddered, remembering Robert’s narrow escape. “You’re right. Chasing him is too risky.”
Brontosaurus skipped to the outer edges of camp, next to Robert’s abandoned snowcycle, and sat there licking ice off his paw.
Grace held out her hand. “Bronty! Come here, boy!”
A gust of wind scared Polly. “Grace,” she said, “in case it starts snowing hard again, we need to get inside.” She turned toward the tent.
“Bronty! Come here, boy!” Grace repeated.
Brontosaurus dashed away from her and rolled on his back in the snow. He was having a great time.
Grace turned away from the dog and followed Polly. Each life form must make its own choice about whether to live or die. Maybe Bronty would stick around camp until tomorrow. Then again, maybe not.
Polly carefully checked the sleds to make sure that they had brought all the food inside. They couldn’t take a chance that a loose dog would eat their meager supplies.
Grace crawled into the tent. Polly and Andrew followed her.
Robert was snoring in his sleeping bag. Usually he was a light sleeper, but now he slept as though nothing would wake him.
Billy was leaning over a pot of boiling water, about to drop some pemmican into the pot for a late lunch.
“Billy,” Polly said, “we can take a vote on this if you want, but I think we should save the pemmican for later. We don’t know how long this storm will last.”
Billy didn’t say anything, but he rolled the pemmican up in foil. He couldn’t care less if he cooked the pemmican or not. He wasn’t going to eat it.
After taking off her gear, Polly squatted next to the stove.
“We just had one,” said Billy. “Why is it storming again?”
An Iñupiat would never ask that question, Grace thought.
Polly shook her head in despair. “We have a little food. If the snow quits soon, we’ll still be in good shape.”
“Where will we put all the gear without the snowcycles?” Andrew asked.
In her mind, Polly reviewed the collection of things on Robert’s sled. “Grace, do you think that the dogs could carry the stuff from Robert’s cycle, too?”
It would be hard. The dogs’ load was already heavy. But Grace felt proud as she answered simply, “Yes.”
“Great.” Polly stared at the water boiling in the pot. She felt thankful but exhausted. It was hard to believe that this game had barely begun.
“I can’t believe that Scott’s crew lived in Antarctica for two years,” Andrew said.
“Yeah,” Polly agreed.
“How many blizzards did they live through?” Andrew asked.
“Lots,” Polly said.
“I don’t see how they did it,” Andrew said.
“Me either,” Polly said.
“And we’ve been here only five days,” Andrew said.
“Yeah, five days,” Polly said. Five long days. Scott’s men had endured two years of temperatures like this and much colder. She knew that adults were a lot tougher than kids, but she wondered if people in the twentieth century had been tougher than the people of the twenty-first century. “The time would go faster if we napped,” she finally said. “Maybe, when we wake up, the storm will have quit.”
“I’m not sleepy,” Andrew said.
“I know,” Polly said. She was too hungry to sleep.
Every time Billy looked at the watch, he thought about D.C. “It’s four o’clock.” Some people were getting ready to go home from work and watch the five-o’clock news. What he wouldn’t give to be in D.C. or any city now!
“What else can we do in this small tent but sleep?” Polly asked.
“That’s a good idea, Polly,” Billy said. He climbed into his sleeping bag and fingered a package of peanuts. He shut his eyes. After the kids went to sleep, he’d comfort himself by eating a health-food bar or a bag of peanuts.
Billy heard Andrew’s stomach growl, and suddenly he felt ashamed. If his friends couldn’t eat, neither would he. But he clenched the peanuts in his fist, grateful to know that he wouldn’t starve. Not for a while, anyway.