The Haunted Igloo (6 page)

“
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

T
hree 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?
Okalerk
s
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.”

____________

T
hat 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.

____________

T
he 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.”

A couple of dark-eyed Inuit
girls came out the door and scampered off, laughing, in the
direction of their homes. Chinook came out next and squatted down
to pet Sasha.

“
She’s really a great little husky!”
he told Jean-Paul. “But she isn’t going to be very big. She might
have trouble pulling a sled by herself.” He looked up at Jean-Paul.
His friendly face was lighted by the glow from the schoolhouse
window. His eyes were shiny, black marbles.

Jean-Paul said, “It’s not
size that counts, Chinook, but strength. That’s what Pa
says.”

“
I think your father’s right,” agreed
Chinook. “That’s a good point.”

The schoolhouse door opened
again and Aiverk and Nanuk appeared. “We’re ready!” yelled Aiverk.
“Let’s go!”

“
I’m ready if Jean-Paul is.” Chinook
stood up and turned to Jean-Paul. “We have to go to my
apudyak
first. I have to
get my sled and Amarok. Is it too far for you to walk?”

Jean-Paul was embarrassed.
He wondered if Chinook really cared if it was too far for him to
walk, or if he was just making another joke about his foot. The
Inuit village wasn’t
that
far from school.

“
I can walk,” he said.

Jean-Paul knew where
Chinook lived, but he had never been inside the igloo. During the
summer months, Chinook’s family usually lived in wooden shelters
made from driftwood, or trees that grew along the river. Unlike
most Inuits around those parts, Chinook’s family did not follow the
trails of large game during the cold months. Instead, Chinook’s
father, Taguk, hunted seals on the ice. Those who tracked land
animals often built
apudyaks
along the way, as needed. Winter snow was welcome,
for snow houses were snug and warm.