05 You're It!

Chapter 05 You're It! The dogs were barking wildly at two small creatures playing in the moonlight. “ Polar bear babies! ” cried Annie. One roly-poly cub leaped onto the other. Then they both rolled through the snow. “ Hi, little bears! ” Annie called. The cubs jumped up and shook themselves like wet puppies. Then they scampered toward Annie, who rushed to greet them. “ Hi, hi, hi! ” she called.

“ Wait—” shouted Jack. “ Where’s their mother?” He looked around for the mother bear, but she was nowhere in sight. Maybe they’re orphans, he thought. Jack looked back at Annie. She was wrestling with the little bears in the snow. She was laughing so hard that she couldn’t stand. Jack started laughing, too. He carefully put the bear masks into his pack. Then he ran to join Annie. She was running with the cubs across the snowy tundra. One of them raced to her, tagged her, then raced away. Annie ran after the bear and tagged him back. “ You’re it! ” she said.

Jack and the other cub joined in. Soon Jack and Annie and the two cubs were all chasing each other over the moonlit snow. They ran until the two cubs fell down ahead of them. The cubs lay perfectly still. Panting, Jack and Annie stared at them. “ Are they hurt?” Annie wondered out loud. Jack and Annie ran to the cubs. Then, just as they leaned down to see if they were all right, the cubs jumped up. They pushed Jack and Annie over and scampered away. “ They were pretending! ” said Jack. He laughed. Jack and Annie charged after the cubs. They ran over the white tundra until they came to the frozen sea. Jack looked around.

“ We’re pretty far from the igloo. I don’t hear the huskies anymore, ” he said. “ Maybe we should go back. ” “ In a minute, ” said Annie. “ Look! ” The bear cubs had scooted up a snowbank. They were on their backs, sliding down the bank onto the ice-covered sea. Jack and Annie laughed. “ It’s like sledding! ” said Annie. “ Let’s try it! ”

“ Okay, ” said Jack, “ but then we have to go back. ” Jack followed Annie up the snowbank. He clutched his pack in his arms. Annie lay on her back. She whooped as she slid down the ice. Jack followed her. “ Watch out below! ” he shouted.

The little bears were sitting at the bottom of the snowbank. One gently whapped Jack in the face with her furry paw. Then she lay down. “ I’m tired, too, ” said Annie. “ Yeah, ” said Jack. “ Let’s rest for just a minute. ” Jack and Annie looked up at the orange moon as they lay beside the cubs. All they could hear was the wind and the soft breathing of the cubs. “ That was fun, ” said Annie. “ It was, ” said Jack. “ But we’d better head back to the igloo. The seal hunter’s probably looking for us. Plus we have to solve the riddle. ” Jack rolled onto his side and tried to stand. Crack. “ Uh-oh, ” he said. He went back down onto his knees. “ I think we’re on thin ice. ”