Arctic Storm Read online

  For my friend Mary Courneyea

  Many thanks to the hard-working Owlkids team, for their insightful comments and steadfast support. Special thanks to Patricia Ann Lewis-MacDougall and Barb Kelly for their engaging and energetic illustrations and design.

  Text © 2011 Frieda Wishinsky

  Illustrations © 2011 Patricia Ann Lewis-MacDougall

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any information storage and retrieval systems, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Owlkids Books Inc., or in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a license from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright).

  Owlkids Books acknowledges the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Book Initiative for our publishing activities.

  Print and e-book editions published in Canada by Owlkids Books Inc., 10 Lower Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON M5V 2Z2; published in United States by Owlkids Books Inc., 1700 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710

  www.owlkidsbooks.com

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Wishinsky, Frieda

  Arctic storm / Frieda Wishinsky ; illustrated by Patricia Ann Lewis-MacDougall.

  (Canadian flyer adventures ; 16)

  ISBN 978-1-926818-09-2 (Bound)

  ISBN 978-1-926818-10-8 (Paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-926973-03-6 (E-book)

  I. Lewis-MacDougall, Patricia Ann II. Title. III. Series: Wishinsky, Frieda. Canadian flyer adventures ; 16.

  PS8595.I834A73 2011 jC813'.54 C2011-900257-4

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2010943319

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  How It All Began

  Chapter 1: Woof

  Chapter 2: Tricky

  Chapter 3: Storm Coming

  Chapter 4: Gloom and Doom

  Chapter 5: Moon Dog

  Chapter 6: Howls in the Night

  Chapter 7: Where Is He?

  Chapter 8: Mush

  Chapter 9: Gone Crazy

  Chapter 10: A Tumble in the Snow

  Chapter 11: Wrong

  More About... Matt’s Top Ten Facts

  Emily’s Top Ten Facts

  So You Want to Know...

  About the Author

  About the Illustrator

  Praise for the Series

  About the Publisher

  Teacher Resources

  Canadian Flyer Adventure Series

  HOW IT ALL BEGAN

  Emily and Matt couldn’t believe their luck. They discovered an old dresser full of strange objects in the tower of Emily’s house. They also found a note from Emily’s Great-Aunt Miranda: “The sled is yours. Fly it to wonderful adventures.”

  They found a sled right behind the dresser! When they sat on it, shimmery gold words appeared:

  Rub the leaf

  Three times fast.

  Soon you’ll fly

  To the past.

  The sled rose over Emily’s house. It flew over their town of Glenwood. It sailed out of a cloud and into the past. Their adventures on the flying sled had begun! Where will the sled take them next? Read on to find out.

  Chapter 1:

  Woof

  “Woof!”

  Emily looked up from her book. A big black-and-white dog was pulling her friend Matt toward the porch.

  “Whose dog is that?” called Emily.

  Before Matt could answer, the dog bounded up the steps with Matt behind him. “It’s my f...friend J...Jack’s dog,” stammered Matt, out of breath. “His name is Tiny.”

  “Tiny? Right, and my name is Cleopatra,” said Emily. “No dog that big could be called Tiny.”

  “That’s what Jack calls him,” said Matt. He tried tying Tiny’s leash to the railing, but Tiny jumped up and licked Emily’s nose and cheeks.

  “Well, at least he’s friendly,” said Emily. She patted the big dog’s head. “He’s soft, too.”

  “He likes you a lot,” said Matt. “As soon as he saw you, he charged up to your porch.”

  Tiny sprawled out beside Emily. She rubbed the dog’s ears as Matt tied his leash to the railing.

  “What kind of dog is he?” Emily asked.

  “Part Canadian Inuit and part Husky. Jack said that Inuit dogs are almost extinct, and he was lucky to adopt him.”

  “So, what are you doing with Tiny?”

  “Jack and his family have to pick up his aunt at the airport. Tiny hates car rides. He tries to leap out of the car. Jack asked me to watch him till one o’clock.”

  “I once read a book about Inuit dogs,” said Emily. “They’re great at hauling sleds with people and supplies. Famous explorers like Roald Amundsen used them in the Arctic. Sled dogs can really run fast.”

  “No kidding,” said Matt, flopping down on a chair beside Emily. “It’s fun when he starts to run, but scary, too. I thought I was going to fall flat on the sidewalk.”

  “I bet it would be amazing to race a dogsled through the snow. I’ve always wanted to do that.”

  Matt nodded. “Me, too. You know…”

  Emily’s eyes sparkled. “I was thinking the same thing. After you take Tiny back, let’s check the tower. You never know. There might be a dogsled adventure waiting for us there.”

  Matt looked at his watch.

  “Wow! It’s almost one o’clock. I’d better take Tiny home. I’ll be back soon. Jack only lives two blocks away.”

  “Great. I’ll meet you here.”

  Matt untied the dog’s leash. “Come on, Tiny,” he said, giving the leash a little pull. But Tiny wouldn’t move.

  “Come on!” said Matt louder. But Tiny still wouldn’t move. He licked Emily’s hand.

  “He doesn’t want to leave you,” said Matt.

  Emily sighed. “I guess I’d better leave him, then. But he’s such a sweet dog.”

  Emily patted Tiny’s head again. Then she stood up and dashed inside. She peeked out the window as Matt tried to convince Tiny to move.

  “Come on, Tiny,” said Matt. “Emily’s gone. Let’s go see Jack.”

  Suddenly, as if he understood, Tiny pulled himself up and raced down the steps, dragging Matt behind him.

  Chapter 2:

  Tricky

  Matt was soon back on Emily’s porch.

  “Ready to mush?” she asked.

  Matt laughed. “Ready.”

  Emily and Matt raced up the rickety back stairs to the tower room.

  As soon as they were inside, Emily hurried over to the dresser. She peeked inside the first drawer.

  “Nothing in the front. Nothing in the left corner. Nothing anywhere.”

  “Wait,” said Matt. “I see something that looks like a dog collar tucked way back in the right corner!” Matt lifted it out. “It is a dog collar and it says: Moon Dog’s collar, Yellowknife, 1976. Yahoo! I think we’ve found our ticket to ride a dogsled!”

  “So, what are we waiting for?” said Emily.

  “I have my recorder. Do you have your sketchbook?”

  “Yep. Right here,” said Emily, patting the pocket of her jeans.

  Emily pu
lled the sled out from behind the dresser. The two friends jumped on. As soon as they did, the magic words appeared:

  Rub the leaf

  Three times fast.

  Soon you’ll fly

  To the past.

  Matt rubbed the leaf on the front of the sled, and fog immediately surrounded them. When the sled lifted, they were flying over Emily’s house and over Glenwood, and heading toward a fluffy white cloud.

  “Too bad we couldn’t take Tiny on the sled with us. He might have met his great-great-grandparents on this trip,” said Emily.

  “Yeah, right. Imagine taking a huge dog on the sled. We’d tip over for sure,” said Matt.

  “Maybe not,” said Emily as they zoomed into the cloud. “Remember, our sled is magic.”

  Soon the sled burst out of the cloud.

  “It’s cold here,” said Emily, with a shudder. She glanced down at her clothes. “Luckily we’re wearing big fat parkas and warm boots and mittens.”

  “At least it’s not snowing,” said Matt.

  “But there’s already snow on the ground. And look at the thick, grey clouds in the sky! I can feel the wind whip through my clothes. I bet a storm is on the way.”

  The sled flew lower and lower.

  “Do you see any people?” asked Emily, peering around.

  “Over there! I see people, dogs, and three sleds. Hooray! We are going to have a dogsled adventure!”

  The magic sled touched down behind a tree.

  “I hope no one saw us fly in. It’s going to be tricky to explain what we’re doing here. I thought we were landing in Yellowknife.

  It sure doesn’t look like we’re near a city. It looks more like we’re in the middle of nowhere,” said Matt.

  “We can always say we’re lost, which is

  true. We have no idea exactly where we are,” Emily said.

  Matt pulled the sled along the snow as they walked toward the group. As they neared, the dogs began to yelp and bark.

  “Hey! Those dogs look a lot like Tiny,”

  said Matt.

  “And none of them are tiny, either. I wonder what they’re called,” said Emily.

  A tall man with long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail looked up. Then he dashed over to Emily and Matt.

  “Hey, you two! How did you get here? Where did you come from?”

  Chapter 3:

  Storm Coming

  “We’re lost,” said Emily.

  “Lost? Did you kids wander off from your family? I bet you were on a dogsled trip, too.” The man shook his head and wagged his finger at them. “Didn’t your family warn you never to wander off, especially in the wilderness?”

  “We know we shouldn’t take off when we don’t know where we’re going, but we like adventures,” Matt explained.

  “How far have you wandered from your family?”

  “Far,” said Emily. “We’re so glad to see you.”

  The man sighed. “I guess it is easy to get lost around here. We were supposed to meet our Inuit guides this morning, but then a heavy fog set in by midday. We’ve been wandering for hours and it’s going to be dark soon.”

  Emily pointed to the sky. The clouds were thicker and darker now. “Do you think it’s going to snow?”

  “I think we’re in for something big and maybe nasty. It’s early in the fall for a snowstorm, but we’ve already had some snow. You never know around here. Bad weather can kick in quickly. Come on. Meet our group. I’m John Reed.”

  “I’m Matt and this is my friend Emily.”

  “Are you on a wilderness vacation?” asked Emily.

  John laughed. “Not exactly. We’ve been studying caribou and wolf migration in the Northwest Territories. This dogsled trip is a treat for my son, Arthur. We promised we’d take him after we completed all our scientific work. Who knew that a simple two-day adventure with dogsleds would turn out like this?”

  “Wow! You’re scientists,” said Matt.

  “Except for Arthur, of course. But we call him the junior scientist. He’s only fifteen, but he’s been a big help spotting animals for us. We camped north of Great Slave Lake for a month, tracking caribou and wolves. We also noted climate conditions. It was hard work. This part was supposed to be relaxing, and now we’re lost like you.”

  The friends followed John to a spot near a forest where the group was gathered.

  “So, who are these two?” said one of the scientists. He was the tallest of the group and had curly grey hair and a shaggy grey beard.

  “This is Emily and Matt, Rob. They’re lost.”

  Rob frowned. “That’s all we need now. More kids. Your son is lying down on his sleeping

  bag behind your sled, John. He says he’s not feeling well.”

  John sighed. “I’ll see what’s the matter with him. Meanwhile, over there fiddling with our radio is Sam Slade. He’s the only one who knows how to fix our two-way radio. We need it to stay in touch.”

  Rob rolled his eyes. “I bet the radio is broken. We have no guides, a sick kid, two lost kids, a pack of hungry dogs, no working radio, and a storm coming. Why didn’t those guides warn us more about this weather? Where are they, anyway? What else could go wrong?”

  “Don’t mind Rob Wiley,” said John. “He’s our official grouch. He read a scientific paper about global warming this year, and now he grumbles all the time that our climate is changing and we’re all doomed. I keep telling him that we need to do something and let people know what’s happening. It’s no use just grumbling about it. Anyway, come on. Meet Sam and my son, Arthur. He probably ate something that didn’t agree with him.”

  As they approached Arthur, they could see that his dark brown hair was matted with sweat. “I’m feeling a bit weird, Dad,” he said.

  John felt his son’s head. “You are a little hot. Maybe you’ve caught a virus. Some soup will help. Any luck with the radio, Sam?” asked John.

  Sam’s curly blond hair peeked out from his plaid toque. He crouched on the ground as he moved the dials of the radio back and forth. He flipped the antenna up and down, but there was no sound.

  “I’ve been fiddling with this radio for two hours,” said Sam, “and I’m getting nothing. It’s busted. Maybe it broke when we dropped it after the fog rolled in. Rob’s right. We can’t get in touch with anyone.”

  John sighed. “I wish we’d at least taken our compass on this sled trip, but in the rush to take off we left it back at the lodge. We were so sure this would be just a short, fun trip. But it’s not turning out that way.”

  Chapter 4:

  Gloom and Doom

  “We can’t be far from the lodge, although it’s possible we’ve been going in the opposite direction,” said Sam. “You kids must be

  worried, and I bet your families are worried

  about you, too.”

  Emily nodded. “We don’t know how far from home we are.”

  Matt could tell that Emily was being careful how she explained where they’d come from. They knew a group of scientists would never believe they flew in on a magic sled.

  “And I bet you were stuck in that fog, too,” said John.

  “Yes. We were in a fog,” said Matt.

  “I wish those guides would show up. They know the land around here. They reassured us that they’d meet us. And now we can’t even get in touch with them by radio,” said Sam.

  “We could be close to the lodge and not even know it,” said Rob. “We could be stuck out here for days without enough food or water.”

  Matt shuddered. “Really?”

  John patted Matt on the back. “We’ll be fine. None of that is going to happen. Pay no attention to gloom-and-doom Rob. Sometimes I think he just likes to scare people. There are guides looking for us and we have enough food.”

  “For now. We have two extra mouths to feed, in case you’ve fo
rgotten,” said Rob.

  John glared at Rob. “Let’s stop worrying everybody. It doesn’t help.”

  “I think we should set the tents up quickly, though,” said Sam. “Those clouds look nasty. A storm is coming—and soon.”

  Just then the dogs began to howl.

  “They also know a storm’s on its way,” said Sam.

  “They’re hungry and so am I,” said John. “Some hot soup and stew will do us all good. Why don’t you set the tents up and I’ll start cooking the food and feeding the dogs.”

  “I could help make soup and stew,” said Emily.

  “Great. All you have to do is rip open some packets, add water, and stir the pot,” said John.

  Emily smiled. “I’m good at stirring pots, even when I’m not in the kitchen,” she said. “My mom tells me that all the time.”

  John laughed. “You mean you’re always up to some mischief, Emily?”

  “A little—now and then,” said Emily, smiling.

  While Sam, Rob, and Matt pitched the tents, John fired up the camp stove and Emily added water to the food mix. She stirred the soup and stew till it was heated through.

  “Mmmmm. It smells good,” she said. “I love chicken noodle soup and beef stew.”

  “You must be really hungry to love this stuff,” said John. “It’s not gourmet food by any means.” He glanced over at his son, who was sitting beside one of the tents.

  “How are you feeling, Arthur?” John asked.

  “Not so good, Dad. But I’ll be okay.”

  John went over and patted Arthur on the back, then he headed off to feed the ten large dogs. He looked concerned.

  “Do you want some soup, Arthur?” asked Emily.

  Arthur shook his head. “I can’t eat a thing, but don’t tell my dad. He has enough to worry about already. I’m sure I’ll feel better soon.”

  But despite his words, Emily and Matt could tell from the grimace on Arthur’s face that he was feeling a lot worse than he’d admit.