Trapped in Ice (20 page)

Worse than the ridges, we had started to come across more and more fresh leads and open water. I was very grateful to have Daisy there to protect me. So far the leads hadn't been very long or wide but they were appearing more frequently. This was a sign the entire pack ice was
starting to break up and I knew we didn't have much more time left.

“I's been t'inkin' 'bout what will 'appen at the end of this trip,” Jonnie said. “Ya t'ought much about it?”

I shook my head.

“Ya gotta t'ink 'bout yer future ... plan ahead like ... think 'bout a husband an' such.”

“A husband! I'm only thirteen,” I replied.

“Only thirteen! Back where I come from some of the girls is all married an' 'avin' their first babies by the time they're fourteen or so.”

“Helen, Jonnie, lend a 'and,” Mr. Anderson ordered.

I was grateful for his interruption. “What is we goin' be doin'?” asked Jonnie as he climbed to his feet. “Setting up camp,” Mr. Anderson answered.

“We can't set up camp yet—it's too early,” I protested.

I stood up. My pants were wet from the melt water on the ice.

“No choice, Helen. Look!” Mr. Anderson said motioning into the distance. There was a column of thick, billowing clouds stretching from the ice to the sky and across the entire horizon.

“Gotta break out the skins an' put down some shelter. No time ta build with ice. Storm's comin' in ... feel the wind?”

I nodded. It was blowing in strong and hard.

“Bringin' snow too. Be 'ere in less than an hour. We gotta get settled under the skins afore it gets 'ere.”

“Best get movin',” Jonnie said.

 

T
HE WINDS PICKED UP
and the sun disappeared behind the clouds. The temperature fell quickly and the snow
started blowing. It was coming almost horizontally, hard and fast. It was difficult to set up the tents because the ice was so soft in places the stakes wouldn't stay in. Finally they were secured and the skins were strung up. There were only three tents and they were small.

“We can't all fit in those, can we?” I asked.

“It'll be mighty tight,” Mr. Hadley replied, “but we'll fit. Helen, you and your mother should get inside and settle in. Michael, you give Kataktovick and the others some help getting the dogs settled. They'll have to be staked onto the ice.”

“On the ice? In the storm? You can't leave them out! They have to have shelter!” I objected.

“The dogs'll be fine. No storm is going to bother them. Besides there isn't space for them in the tents. Don't worry, Helen, they'll be okay.”

“He's right. They like the snow,” Michael added. “I've seen them fall asleep buried under a foot of snow,” Mr. Hadley noted.

“But what about Daisy?”

“What about her?”

“Couldn't we just bring Daisy inside?”

“What's so special about that one?” Mr. Hadley asked. “She's going to have puppies ... soon ... Kataktovick told me,” I answered.

Mr. Hadley nodded. “Even if she is heavy with young she'll do fine on the ice with the other dogs. Now go.”

“But what if she has her puppies tonight ... in the storm?”

“She probably won't, but if she does there's nothing any of us can do about it,” Mr. Hadley said, shooing me with his hands. “Nothing.”

 

T
HE SNOW WAS BEING DRIVEN
under the edges and between the seams of the tent. The thin skin walls heaved and strained as the wind rattled and howled. I was afraid the whole thing would come crashing down.

Squeezed in around me, people were sleeping. I couldn't understand how anybody could fall asleep under these conditions, but I suppose everyone was just exhausted. I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about Daisy, huddled outside in the storm. If she gave birth tonight the puppies would perish. I knew I wouldn't be able to close my eyes until I'd at least checked to see if she was all right.

Moving as quietly as I could, I started to pull myself free from my sleeping sack. I gently pushed Figaro off to the side. He'd at least keep a little part of my bed warm. Getting clear of the bedding was easy, much easier than getting out of the tent. It was almost pitch black and I was in the very centre of a lot of sleeping bodies. Carefully I stepped over and around them. The storm drowned out any sounds I made. As I unfastened the bottom buckle of the flap, I heard a voice.

“Helen, what are you doing?” It was Michael. “Ssshhhh!” I hissed.

“Where are you going?”

“Outside ... I've got to go,” I answered. This was only partially a lie.

“Wait till the storm passes.”

“I've been waiting, and I can't wait any longer,” I whispered back.

“Daisy'll be okay, Helen, go back to bed,” said Michael.

I had to smile. He knew. “I have to check. I'll be right back.”

The instant the first buckle was undone the cold air blew in a trickle of snow. With the release of the second buckle the trickle became a stream. I squeezed through the opening. The snow stung against my face as I pulled up my hood and refastened the tent buckles behind me.

Turning away from the tent, I was almost blinded by the raging storm. The other two shelters, only yards away, were nearly invisible. I fought against the wind, bowing my head and pressing my body forward as I took a few tentative steps. The snow came in waves, hitting me squarely in the face and momentarily blinding me with each surge.

I reached into my pockets for my gloves. They weren't there! I'd left them in my bunk! I couldn't return for them without waking somebody up, but I knew I would get frostbite if I exposed my hands to these winds for any more than a few seconds. I stuffed my hands deep into my pockets. I wasn't going far.

I turned back towards the tents. I knew better than to lose sight of the shelters and I was relieved to make out a faint outline. The wind was now at my back and I almost tumbled over onto my face. As I shuffled backwards, looking around for the dogs, I stumbled. I tried to remove my hands from my pockets to cushion the fall, but I couldn't free them in time. I crashed hard against the ice. Then I saw what had caused me to fall—a metal stake protruding from the ice on a bizarre angle. How could there be a stake here! Stakes were driven in to support the tents or to hold the dogs in place. The dogs! This must
be where the dogs had been staked out on the ice, but they were gone. The Captain's words echoed in my head: we were dead without the dogs.

I staggered to my feet. I had to get back to the tent and tell the Captain the dogs were gone. I had taken no more than two steps when I heard something. It wasn't the sound of the storm. The thought of a polar bear struck fear into my heart. I couldn't see anything in the blowing snow. I fought to keep my head up and my eyes trained ahead. Then I spotted something. At first it just looked like a series of bumps, a row of small snow drifts. Then I saw movement. It was the dogs! They were huddled together for protection from the storm.

I faced a dilemma. How could I get help without losing sight of the dogs? It wouldn't do any good to yell; my voice would be lost in the storm. I had no choice— there was no one else but me. Maybe I could get near enough to the dogs to grab hold of the chain and drive them to the tents.

I quickly glanced back at the shelters. They were no more than twenty-five paces away. I turned again towards the dogs. At first I had trouble seeing them, but I focused my eyes and spotted them, lying on the ice, half buried beneath drifting snow. They were less than fifteen paces from me. Would I still be able to see the tents if I walked out to the dogs?

I started walking, carefully counting my steps. At the count of nine, one of the mounds of snow moved and a dog lifted its head. I froze in my tracks. I didn't want it to bolt. Slowly I brought my hands up to grab it. It wasn't until I caught sight of my hands that I remembered I was
not wearing my gloves. My hands were numb, but I had to carry on.

I counted six dogs. I had no idea where the rest of the dogs were but I hoped they weren't far away. I'd get these six back to the tent and then the men could look for the others.

I no longer feared the huskies the way I had in the beginning, although I still respected their sharp teeth and unpredictability. What I did fear was that they'd run and I wouldn't be able to get them.

The six dogs were chained together and would either be captured together or run like a pack. There was no more time to think. I braced my feet and flung myself at them. The dogs yelped and jumped away in shock. I crashed with a sickening thud against the ice, cushioned by one deadened hand. Somehow my other hand clasped around the chain.

“GOT YOU!”

Before the words were even out of my mouth I realized the dogs were running and I was being dragged along.

“STOP, STOP, STOP!” I screamed.

I tried to let go of the chain but it wouldn't let go of me! The bare skin of my hand was stuck to the metal! I screamed in pain as I bumped across the ice. All at once I felt a searing pain in my side and my hand dropped off the chain. My face plummeted into the snow and I slid to a stop. My hands were red and raw and the skin had been pulled off where it had been stuck to the metal. I pushed myself up just in time to see the last of the team disappear.

I stood up and was suddenly aware that there were no dogs ... no tents ... nothing ... except the driving snow.

I had to fight the urge to run. I had to think. I knew I couldn't be more than fifty or sixty paces from the tents. Or could I? How far had the dogs dragged me? I looked for my tracks but the blowing snow had already erased my footprints. I knew the shelters were downwind so I had to move in that direction. I'd just walk straight ahead, then over a few steps and back again ... but was I just moving farther from the tents and closer to freezing to death? Freezing to death! I was gripped by a cold panic that had nothing to do with the driving winds or snow.

Then I remembered that Michael had seen me leave. Wouldn't he have realized by now that I hadn't re-turned? He'd wake up Mother, who would wake up the Captain. They'd start a search. It wouldn't be long before they found me. Unless Michael had fallen asleep again.

I couldn't decide what to do. If I moved, I might find my way back to the tents. On the other hand, I might wander so far away they'd never be able to find me.

If I stayed put, right where I was, I would be rescued sooner or later. I might suffer some frostbite ... maybe lose a toe or a finger ... but they'd find me. That is, if they were even searching for me.

I couldn't make this decision alone. I needed help, somebody to talk to. Slowly I dropped to my knees.

“Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name ... thy Kingdom come …thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

As I bowed my head, I felt something press against my back and almost knock me over. I looked round.

“DAISY!” I screamed.

She nuzzled against me and then started searching through my parka, looking for a treat. I wrapped my arms around her neck and buried my face into her thick fur.

“I don't have anything for you, girl ... nothing.”

Daisy shifted slightly and I heard the rattle of a chain. Around her neck was a loop which trailed six feet behind her.

“Good girl, good girl.”

I scratched her head behind the ears, right where she liked it. Daisy rubbed against me and I took this as a sign she wasn't going to try to run away. I dried my hand on my parka before I reached for the chain. I didn't want my skin to freeze to the metal again. I took the chain and looped it completely around my waist. Daisy wasn't going anywhere without me. I pulled her in close and huddled against her fur.

I wasn't sure how long it had been since I left the tent. I figured I could survive out here an hour or possibly two. After that I'd be ... I'd be ... I couldn't even bring myself to think about it. I racked my mind for things I'd heard, stories, things I knew. I remembered stories about how you'd feel warm all over and sort of fall asleep before the cold would finally get you. I was relieved nothing about me felt warm at all. Then I recalled that awful story the Captain told us about the man freezing to death, curled up just a few feet from the shelter. I couldn't die that way.

“Come on, Daisy, come on,” I ordered.

I started walking into the wind, the snow driving into my face. Each step was a struggle.

“Come on, girl,” I yelled back over my shoulder.

As if the wind and snow weren't bad enough, Daisy seemed to be digging in her heels. It felt as if I was dragging her behind me.

As I moved, I counted out my steps. Ten ... twenty ... fifty ... seventy ... one hundred. And there was still no sign of anything. Nothing at all. I stopped and stared all around. Nothing. Looking back where I'd walked only seconds before, I couldn't even see any tracks on the ice.

I had to try a different direction. I started moving across the wind, the snow hitting against my left side. I'd move one hundred paces. If I didn't find anything I'd come back two hundred paces in the opposite direction.

I moved back and forth across the ice. I could see nothing. I kept walking, forcing myself to put one foot in front of the other. Daisy continued to lag and I had to pull her along behind me. What was wrong with her? Was she going to have her puppies right now?

I stopped and she came right up to me, pushing against my cheek with her muzzle. My face was so numb I could hardly feel her.

“I need you to come with me, girl ... I need you to follow me,” I said quietly. I was shocked at how slow and awkwardly the words rolled off my tongue.