by Chris Kurtz
Large emergency boxes from both lifeboats were dragged ashore. Tools, dry blankets, and cans of food came out, and when the boxes were empty, the men used axes to chop them up and build a fire. The blankets were laid down around the fire, and a mangy mix of teeth-chattering men and dogs huddled as close to it as they could. Some of the men dashed back out in a lifeboat to see if they could find any more supply boxes or bits of wood in the water. When they had warmed up a bit, others began building walls of snow for a shelter. There was still very little said.
Flora gave up her search and nosed under a corner of a blanket. She now realized how cold she had become. She was shaking harder than she thought possible, but the cold in her bones was nothing compared to the ice in her heart. Sophia could be sharp-tongued and selfish, but without a friend to keep Flora’s hope alive all those weeks in the belly of the ship, she didn’t know if she would have survived.
Now Sophia was gone.
Rolled up in several blankets, the captain lay on the snow beside the fire, eyes closed. He did not move. Across the fire from Flora, Aleric and Oscar sat, shaking together. The boy had taken Oscar’s chain off and was wrapped in a blanket.
Flora was startled to see Aleric’s heart beating inside his blanket. She watched, amazed, as his chest rippled and bumped. Then it popped out!
This was no heart. It was an orange cat with pointy ears, and it looked around with wide eyes. When it saw Flora, it pushed itself free and bounded over to her.
“Sophia!” Flora squealed. Sophia purred and rubbed against Flora. By some miracle, they had both survived. Now that she had a friend and teammate beside her, Flora thought, she could face whatever challenges lay ahead.
When Flora blinked her eyes awake the next morning, the low sun buttered the bumpy snow a light yellow. Boxes that weren’t there the night before had been stacked nearby. Sophia’s fur tickled her nose from where she was tucked in under Flora’s chin.
For a moment, all the fear and sadness from the day before overwhelmed Flora. She felt her heart twist for the brave dogs that didn’t make it. Still, here she was—alive with Sophia at her side.
In the night, someone had covered her with a second blanket. The dogs, on the other hand, had moved away from the blankets. They lay in a rough circle in the snow with their noses pointed to the center. Flora imagined they were probably remembering and mourning their lost companions.
As the day continued, Flora watched the men finish the walls of the snow cabin and place one of the lifeboats on top as a roof. They did not sing as they worked. They did not shout or curse or laugh or clomp. Each footstep of their heavy boots landed as softly as a cat’s paw.
They carried the captain inside the shelter. Flora had not heard him say a word, but color had returned to his cheeks.
Flora poked her head under her blanket. “Let’s go take a look at this place,” she said to the fluff of orange. Sophia didn’t stir.
Flora brought her head back out and blinked in the sun. The training in the hold had been hard, but Flora was stronger and more confident now. She was ready to learn new lessons, and she could not ignore her curiosity about the Antarctic.
Sophia’s words sounded muffled. “There’s nothing to see.
True. The land was white in every direction. Not a plant, not a tree, not any spot of green or brown was visible outside the little camp. Except for a jumble of ice blocks that stuck out of the snow here and there, the terrain was also flat.
“I’m going to go see it anyway.” Flora eased out from under the warm blanket, careful not to step on Sophia.
The wind bit into Flora’s ribs as she looked first one way and then another. In the distance, a low ridge of mountains rose out of the white. In the other direction, the white took on a light shade of blue where the ice met the sea and bobbed on the waves. She shivered as she remembered floating in the lifeboat out there.
Flora decided to explore a wide circle around camp. The edge of camp felt even colder than the center, and by the time Flora had traveled only halfway, even her teeth were cold. The stiff air froze the insides of her nostrils. There were no smells. This was a land that kept secrets.
Sophia made complaining noises as Flora nosed back under her blanket, bringing in the sharp polar breeze for a moment.
When darkness came, Flora noticed how hungry she was and realized she hadn’t seen anyone eating in camp. She snuggled up closer to Sophia for warmth and promised herself that she would not be the first to grumble over something they must all be feeling.
The next morning, the men brought out a large square of material and spread it out next to the snow cabin.
“Is that some kind of special blanket?” Flora asked Oscar.
Oscar took his nose out from under his tail and looked up. “Canvas,” he said. “They use it for covering loads or making a shelter.”
The edges of the canvas were marked in the snow with shovels, and then it was folded up again. Through the day, the men took turns digging out a rectangle a little smaller than the size of the canvas. All the snow they took out was piled around the perimeter. They chopped and shoveled, piled and patted, until the lowered floor was flat and the snow walls were even, except for an opening with snow stairs going down. Finally they unfolded the canvas, draped it over the walls, pulled it tight, and packed snow on the roof’s edges so the canvas would stay put. When the shelter was finished, they moved their tools and supplies inside.
Flora was curious about everything and took quick breaks from her blanket to poke her nose into the new shelter as often as she could without getting stepped on—or noticed by Big Amos. He stayed under the canvas, growling orders to the men about where to stack the supplies that had been salvaged.
None of this activity was of any interest to the dogs, who mostly slept or stretched and then slept some more. But all of that changed when bags filled with frozen fish were carried in. The dogs sat up and sniffed the air. A couple tried to sneak through the doorway but were chased out.
It wasn’t long before Amos emerged with his arms full of cans. The men built up the fire again, opened the cans, and put them carefully on the flames. When enough time had passed, they used sticks to lift the hot cans off the fire and sat around eating with their knives. From the smells, Flora could tell they had warmed tomatoes, beans, and chicken soup for their first Antarctic meal.
She was disappointed that none of it was shared with the animals, who watched every bite disappear. Even Sophia poked her head out to look. But the feelings changed to joy when Amos brought over a bag of fish. He opened the bag and began chopping the frozen fish into pieces. The dogs set up a frenzy of barking and whining, but any that came too close got a curse and a kick, and they soon learned that those that sat quietly were fed first.
Flora ate her fish alongside Sophia. It was icy and crunchy and gone in three bites, but it was delicious.
While the animals were eating, the men took a bundle of blankets into the canvas-roofed shelter then disappeared inside the snow cabin next door.
Flora followed the dogs into the shelter and watched them claim sleeping spots. The men had laid the blankets around the perimeter of the shelter. Each dog stood a moment on the spot he had picked and looked around to see if he had a challenger. Then, nose down, each circled three or four times, pawing at the blanket to fluff it up, before sinking into a tight ball and bringing tail over muzzle.
When all six of the dogs were settled inside, Flora trotted back to where Sophia was trying to keep warm near the dying fire. “Come see what’s happening. We need to choose a sleeping spot.”
“It won’t matter, because it’s impossible to get warm anywhere in this place,” Sophia complained, but she got up. Against the snow she looked more orange than ever. She hurried across the white ground to the doorway like a cat-shaped sunset.
At the entrance, Sophia stopped and let Flora go in first. Flora hoped the dogs had heard about the job she and Sophia had done on the rats and would accept them as friends. She w
alked cautiously down the few steps.
As nervous as Flora felt around the dogs, she could only imagine what Sophia was feeling, but the cat bravely made her way to a blanket in the farthest corner. Then she nosed underneath a corner and disappeared. Flora carefully sat on the blanket Sophia had chosen for them and looked around.
Oscar was on the nearest blanket, but except for raising his eyebrows, he did not move. None of the other dogs seemed to notice the newcomers.
Nose down, Flora began to circle her blanket as she had seen the dogs do.
“Lie down before you step on me,” Sophia hissed.
Flora settled down. No one barked. No one made an unfriendly comment. She’d been accepted in the sledding-team home, which already smelled like dog but was surprisingly warm.
Chapter 24
The dogs still didn’t seem to have the energy to do anything, but Flora scrambled up with the rising sun—and an empty stomach.
If yesterday’s three bites of fish were any indication, they were very low on food. They would have to get it from somewhere else. And they would need sled pullers for the job. She wanted to be one of those pullers.
But as she peered out from the doorway of the shelter, she realized she had not seen any sleds. They must not have made it off the ship! It made Flora sad to imagine the sturdy gliding machines on the floor of the sea. And it made her panic a little to think that even if there was a place to find food, there was no way to get there—or bring anything back.
And when would another ship be heading this way?
Well, Flora wasn’t going to let herself sink into gloom. She decided to get used to the cold. She wanted to be ready to work just in case, and what good was a puller with cold feet?
But the moment she stepped outside, the cold became painful. It was the wind that cut the hardest. She nosed into it and felt her nostrils become crusty with frost. Her eyeballs stung. Her breath caught in her lungs, and she couldn’t release it without effort. She wondered if her extra hair was doing anything to protect her.
Flora turned her back to the wind. Don’t be a baby, she told herself. She trotted out and began to make a wide circle in front of the two shelters.
Her knees hurt. Romp, she told herself. Leap about and frisk. She tried to take a little leap and found that there was no lift in her legs. In fact, she couldn’t feel them any longer.
Behind her, she heard a shout and turned. It was Aleric. He looked twice as big in his coat, which seemed to have one or two coats underneath, and he was waving something high in the air. Flora stumbled toward him as best she could, and he knelt down beside her.
Pulling his gloves off, he buttoned her into a dark red coat. He rolled up the sleeves so her front hooves showed. But when she tried to walk, the bottom of the coat dragged on the ground. She couldn’t avoid stepping into it.
Aleric shook his head. “It’s too big. Wait right here.”
He returned with a knife and a length of rope, then helped Flora out of the coat. After he cut a wide strip off the bottom, he buttoned her back into the coat and cinched it around her middle with the rope. She looked back and tried to see herself. She was sure she looked funny.
She took a few steps and stopped. Her coat whispered with every move, but no part dragged on the ground, and she felt so cozy. Even her eyeballs felt warmer.
When Sophia woke up, she made a surprised sound and walked around Flora slowly, then woke up Oscar to look. They sat together and stared.
Oscar cleared his throat. “I wondered how you were going to make it out here. This answers one of my biggest questions.”
Sophia nodded. “I don’t have to worry about my bed partner turning into a pigsicle any longer.”
Flora stepped back out into the pale light.
She began to run around the camp.
She pushed hard until the cold air burned her throat. Then she ran even more.
The lifelessness of the land still amazed her. There were no seals or polar bears or rabbits disappearing into their holes. No mice or birds, not even a single seagull.
“I sure wouldn’t mind if there was a little color out there,” she said to one of the other dogs when she returned to the shelter.
The dog’s eyes twitched as if he were surprised to be spoken to, but he didn’t respond.
She tried again. “Even a spot of green poking up out of the snow would do my heart good.”
The dog gave a big sigh and turned his nose in under his tail.
Flora looked around the cave. “But one thing’s for sure,” she said in a louder voice. “A little run around camp loosens your lungs and makes breathing easier.”
It was as if she weren’t there. No one even turned to look at who was talking. Even Oscar and Sophia were ignoring her, curled up together sleeping.
One morning, after Flora came back inside from a romp, she heard a dog telling the others that the men were having a meeting.
Flora leaned over to Oscar. “We should have a meeting too,” she said.
Sophia moved to her side, and Oscar came closer. “Plans are afoot,” he said.
Flora’s heart thrilled. She was pretty sure that any plans would involve pulling something, even if there were no sleds.
“Huff!” Oscar suddenly lifted his head and crossed his eyes in an effort to look down his nose. A hair was stuck to one of his nostrils. He huffed again, and the hair took flight, fluttering down to the blanket. “Cat hair,” he muttered.
“At least it doesn’t smell like a dog,” Sophia said.
Flora coughed politely and sat down. “You said there were plans afoot. What happens to the expedition now?”
“No dogsleds,” said Oscar. “No expedition.”
“Couldn’t they send a replacement ship with a new sled?”
“No ship,” said Oscar. “No replacement, no expedition. There is a new project now, and it is called staying alive as long as possible. We might be lucky and get rescued, or the men might try to sail away in the lifeboats and save themselves. That’s probably what they’re meeting about.”
Sophia was quiet, but Flora knew she was listening.
“No matter what, it means the food has to last a long, long time.”
Flora nodded. The once-a-day fish feedings had gotten even smaller.
Oscar went on. “Actually, there is more food, out in the snow.”
Flora stopped herself from jumping up. She remembered Oscar talking about this, but it didn’t seem important before.
“About four months ago, the captain brought a different crew and two dog teams, including me, to the Antarctic. We landed not more than a mile from here. Each team pulled big boxes of food on sleds to two separate food stations out there.” Oscar pointed his nose to the snowy wilderness. “We did that so those on the final expedition wouldn’t have to carry so much food with them. The first food station is at least three days from here—”
“But we don’t have a sled to bring back the supplies,” Flora finished.
Sophia’s tail twitched. “Let’s not get too worried. We should know a lot more as soon as the men finish their meeting.”
“Um ... yup,” Oscar muttered. “I’m a little tired. Better take a nap.”
Outside, there were shouts and the sound of work being done. Flora walked to the doorway and saw men moving about with a new sense of purpose.
The extra lifeboat, with canned food already loaded inside, had been set down on its belly as if it were about to sail away on the snow. Ropes, tied to the front, lay stretched out, ready for pullers.
Wow. She had to tell Oscar about this. The dogs were sniffing and talking to one another in low voices.
Aleric was in a terrible mood as he helped carry cans. “I didn’t sign on to this crew to be a nursmaid,” he complained out loud. No one was listening, but that didn’t stop him. “I don’t know anything about taking care of a broken leg and busted ribs. Why do I have to stay in this nowhere place?”
Flora didn’t have to go tell Oscar. He slipp
ed by her and sidled up beside the boat, pacing and looking more excited than she had seen him in a long time.
“Oscar.” She ran up to him. “They’re going to use the boat as a sled, aren’t they? They’re going to go get the food, right?”
“Nope.” Oscar didn’t seem to be able to stop walking and sniffing. “They decided to pull the boat to a place where they can safely put it in the water, sail off, and flag down a passing ship to come rescue the captain and a few others who have to stay in camp, poor bums.”
Flora wanted to do a crazy dance. Pulling! It was about to start!
Big Amos had made a sort of table in front of the men’s cabin out of wooden boxes. He was sharpening his knives. When Flora walked by, he got very excited and dropped to his knees at the doorway. “Come to me, my little sausage!”
Flora backed away hastily, but she wasn’t fast enough. His hands ran inside her coat over her sides and legs.
“Oh, not so fat now. No worry. Still a nice pig. You come back same place tomorrow.”
Tomorrow, she hoped, she’d be out doing her job far away from him.
Chapter 25
That night, Flora was awakened by a small furry paw tapping her ear.
“Get up,” whispered Sophia.
Was it time to get hitched to the boat already? Flora rose immediately and silently followed Sophia out of the cave.
Someone else was outside too. It was Oscar. A light snow was falling.
“Come on.” Oscar sniffed the air. “We have a lot to do tonight.”
Finally, a pulling adventure! Flora’s heart soared as they crept through the camp. She noticed the packed-up makeshift sled. They were awake even earlier than the rescue crew.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
No one answered. She followed the two dark shapes in front of her. They seemed to know what they were doing. The falling snow had turned into tiny ice pellets that made a hissing sound on the ground and a patter on her coat. The cold began seeping into her body, but Flora was determined not to complain.