03 Mush!

Chapter 03 Mush! “ Did you come with the wolves?” asked Annie. The seal hunter looked puzzled. “ Did Morgan send you to us?” said Jack. “ I had a dream, ” the man said. “ You were in it. You needed help. ” Annie smiled. “ Morgan sends dreams sometimes, ” she said. “ We came in Morgan’s tree house. It flies through time. ”

Oh, brother, thought Jack. Who will believe that? The seal hunter smiled as if he was not surprised at all. “ We do need help, ” said Jack. “ W-w-we’re fr-fr-freezing. ”

The seal hunter nodded. Then he left the window. He returned a moment later with two small parkas like his own. They were made of heavy dark skins with fur-trimmed hoods. He passed one to Jack and one to Annie. “ Thanks! ” said Jack and Annie. They put the parkas on. “ Hooray! ” said Annie. “ It’s warm! ” “ Yeah, ” said Jack. “ They’re made of sealskin. ” “ Poor seals, ” said Annie. “ Don’t think about it, ” said Jack. He pulled his hood up. His head and upper body were very snug now. Only his legs, hands, and feet were still freezing. “ Oh, thanks! ” said Annie. Jack looked up. The seal hunter was giving Annie a pair of fur pants. Then he handed a pair to Jack.

“ Thanks, ” said Jack. He quickly pulled the pants on over his pajamas. Next the seal hunter gave each of them a pair of fur boots and mittens. Jack took off his sneakers and pulled on the boots. He wiggled his frozen fingers into the warm mittens. “ I have a quick question, ” Jack said to the seal hunter. “ Do you know the answer to this riddle?” He opened his notebook and read: I cover what’s real and hide what’s true. But sometimes I bring out the courage in you. What am I? The seal hunter shook his head.

“ Come, ” he said to Jack and Annie. Then he disappeared from the window. “ What about those wolves out there?” Jack called. But the seal hunter didn’t answer. Jack grabbed the Arctic book and looked for a picture of the seal hunter. When Jack found the picture, he smiled. The seal hunter was standing beside a dogsled. Jack read: In cold weather, the seal hunter travels by dogsled. Siberian Huskies often howl like wolves. A lead dog controls the others. The sled’s runners are sometimes made of frozen fish rolled up in sealskin. “ Hey, Annie, they’re not wolves, ” said Jack. “ They’re—” He looked up.

Annie was gone. Jack threw the book and notebook into his pack. But he was so fat in his furry clothes that the backpack wouldn’t fit. Jack loosened the shoulder straps and tried to put the backpack on again. It fit. Jack looked at the small window. That would be a tight fit, too. He went out headfirst and barely squeezed through. Jack fell onto the snowy ground. The snow was still drifting down. The air was misty white. Jack heard barking and howling. He moved carefully toward the noise. At first, he couldn’t see the dogsled. But when he got closer, he counted nine Siberian Huskies. They had thick fur, big heads, and pointy ears.