9 The Midnight Sun

Chapter 9 THE MIDNIGHT SUN "Jack," Annie whispered. "Wake up!" Jack rubbed his eyes. "Where is everyone?" he asked. "I just checked. They're asleep at the other end of the house," said Annie. "We have to go." "Now?" said Jack. "Maybe we should wait till daylight…." "No, they might get up before then," said Annie. "You're right," said Jack. He threw off the warm fur and sat up. "Let's go," said Annie. She picked up the burning oil lamp. Jack grabbed his bag. As they crept to the door, snoring came

from the other end of the long house. They stopped at the bench by the door. In the dim light of the lamp, they put on their coats and hats and mittens. "We should write a note to Leif," whispered Jack. "Good idea," said Annie. Jack pulled out his notebook and pencil from his bag. "How's this?" He whispered as he wrote: Dear Leif, we had to leave suddenly. We are borrowing your rowboat to go back to the bay. We will leave it where we met you. Many thanks to you and your family. "Perfect," said Annie. "And let's leave him our map since he liked it so much." "Good idea," breathed Jack. He tore the note from the notebook and placed it on the bench with their map. Jack and Annie pulled on their gloves.

Then Annie opened the door, and they slipped out of the house. It was freezing outside. But to Jack's surprise, it was sunny! "What time is it?" he said. "I thought it was night.' "Me too," said Annie. "But no one's around—not even the dogs. Hurry!" Jack and Annie took off down the hill. In the cold, windy sunlight, they hurried to the shore.

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Small waves were splashing against the moored Viking ships. Leif's rowboat was tied to the pier near them, Jack and Annie stepped onto the pier, and Jack untied the rope. Just as he and Annie were about to climb aboard, someone yelled, "Stop!" "Oh, no!" said Annie. Leif was limping down the hill toward them. He held their note and map in his hand. "I heard you leave!" he called. "Then I read your message. I must take you to your ship. It is not easy to row in windy waters." "But your knee still hurts. I can tell," said Annie. Leif shrugged. "That is not important," he said. "We should go quickly so I can return before morning." "Morning? I thought it was morning now," said Jack.

"It is close to midnight," Leif said. "You have come in the time of the midnight sun." "I get it," Annie said to Jack. "On a day that seems endless, with no dark of night." "Right," said Jack. Now he remembered the Midnight Sun! In the far north, the summer sun can still be seen at midnight. "Here, you forgot this," said Leif. He thrust the map and note into Jack's hands. "You will need your map to sail your ship home." "No, we won't," said Jack. "We know the way. You need it more." He handed the map back to Leif. "Oh!" Leif stared at the map as if it were made of gold. "I cannot believe you would give this to me," he said in a hushed voice. "Thank you very much." "No problem," said Annie. Leif smiled. "Let us go!" he said. Jack put the note into his coat pocket. Then he and Annie climbed aboard.