Magic Tree House #54

by Mary Pope Osborne

  Jack didn’t know what to do. He was hungry, but now they only had seven hours left to find Gunnar and get back to Nome.

  “I’ll make some soup,” said Ed. He seemed determined to keep them from going back out into the blizzard. He grabbed a can of tomato soup from a shelf and began opening it with a can opener.

  What about our mission? Jack wondered. How could he make Ed understand that they had to leave? “Excuse me,” he said. “I’m afraid—”

  “You can wash your hands over there!” Ed interrupted. He pointed toward a tin basin on a washstand.

  “It’s okay,” Annie whispered to Jack. “We have time.” She put her red chapped hands into the cool water and washed them with soap. Jack reluctantly did the same.

  Ed nodded toward the table. “Sit!” he said, as if giving a command to two huskies.

  Jack and Annie smiled. They dried their hands and sat on two wooden barrels at the table. Ed dropped a box of soda crackers between them and gave them each a glass of milk. While the blizzard raged outside, he filled two bowls with steamy soup from a pot on the stove and put them in front of Jack and Annie. Then he sat in an old armchair near the table.

  “Thanks, Ed!” said Annie.

  “Yeah, thanks,” said Jack, sighing. Breathing in the delicious smell of the tomato soup, his worries momentarily faded.

  “Mmm, delicious!” said Annie. She and Jack slurped down the hot soup. As they chewed the salty soda crackers, they watched the dogs breathe peacefully in their sleep.

  “Do most Alaskans have sled dogs?” asked Annie.

  “Many do,” said Ed, resting in his armchair near the fire. “But the day is coming when dogs won’t be used much anymore, except for racing. I can see it happening already. Small planes will get better and better and take over the long trips. Cars will improve, and roads, too. Soon enough, we’ll have vehicles that go through deep snow in no time.”

  “That’s good in a way,” said Jack. “It’ll help medicine travel faster.”

  “But it’s sad, too,” said Annie.

  “I’m with you, missy,” said Ed, looking at the sleeping dogs. “Breaks the heart of an old-timer like me. People have used sled dogs for hundreds of years in this territory. I myself have known many brave dogs during my lifetime.”

  “Do you know Balto?” said Jack. “Gunnar Kaasen’s dog? We’ve heard of him.”

  “Sure do,” said Ed. “Balto is the best lead dog in Alaska, along with Togo, Leonhard Seppala’s dog. Both Togo and Balto have stopped here on runs with Seppala and Kaasen.”

  “What’s Balto like?” asked Annie.

  “Ahh, that dog loves to run a trail,” said Ed. “Loves it more than any dog I ever saw. Great strength and lots of courage. Big shaggy black dog. Beautiful to watch because of his spirit.”

  Annie smiled. “I’d like to meet him.”

  “Annie has a special way with dogs,” Jack explained.

  “With all animals, really,” said Annie.

  Ed smiled at her. “Alaskans are real respectful of animals, too,” he said. “We wouldn’t have survived a minute without ’em. People here have learned to use all the gifts this frozen world can give.”

  “Like what?” asked Jack.

  “Well, the socks I just gave you are made of sheep’s wool,” said Ed. “The parkas that are drying over there are made of squirrel fur. We all wear sealskin pants and reindeer boots and fox fur hats. I wear moose skin and caribou skin and rabbit fur. The medicine headed for Nome is wrapped in bear hide. The medicine itself is made from horse serum.”

  “What’s serum?” said Jack.

  “The blood of a horse,” said Ed. “It has antitoxins to kill diphtheria.”

  “Wow,” said Annie. “So Alaskans get gifts from”—she held up one finger after another—“sheep, squirrels, seals, reindeer, foxes, moose, caribou, rabbits, bears, horses…”

  “And dogs,” said Jack, finishing his milk.

  “And dogs, of course,” said Annie.

  “And fish and whales and birds of the air. All creatures,” said Ed.

  “So everything’s connected,” said Annie.

  “That’s right,” said Ed, nodding. “Eventually it all becomes one thing…the people, the land, the animals, the sea, and the air—it becomes Alaska.”

  “Cool,” said Jack.

  The three of them stared for a long moment at the dogs. Some of the huskies paddled the air with their paws, as if they were dreaming about running over the trail.

  Ed yawned, and his eyes started to close. A moment later, his head drooped forward, and he was snoring.

  Jack quietly put down his spoon. He tiptoed to the stove and grabbed his fur boots. They were dry, but his socks were still damp. So he pulled the boots over the big pair of socks Ed had given him. “It’s time to head to Solomon,” he whispered to Annie. “We have to finish what we came here to do.”

  Annie nodded.

  Ed snored loudly as Jack and Annie silently pulled on their fur parkas. They grabbed their mittens and slipped over to the dogs and gently woke them. The dogs jumped to their feet. Even though there were whines and yips, Ed kept snoring.

  “Thanks, Ed,” Jack whispered to the sleeping man.

  “Yeah, thanks for being so nice to us and the dogs,” whispered Annie. Then, very quietly, she led the team out of the log cabin. Jack followed, closing the door behind them.

  Outside, the wind and snow were blowing wildly. Jack and Annie pulled off their mittens long enough to harness the team. They nimbly hooked the dogs to tug lines, neck lines, and the towline.

  “Ready?” Jack shouted above the wind.

  “I hope Ed doesn’t worry about us when he wakes up!” Annie shouted back.

  “Oh, man. I just thought of something,” said Jack.

  “What?”

  “Stardust!” said Jack. “For Ed!”

  “Yes!” said Annie. Leaving the dogs waiting for a moment, she and Jack hurried back to the cabin, slipped inside, and closed the door.

  Ed was still snoring.

  Annie reached into her pocket and took out the dark blue box. When she opened the lid, the silvery dust shimmered like starlight. She emptied a small amount into her palm and tossed the glittering dust into the air, whispering, “We wish to be forgotten!”

  The stardust flashed through the room, then quickly evaporated. To Jack’s amazement, the bowls, spoons, and cups were clean and stacked neatly on the counter. Jack’s damp socks had vanished. The unopened soup can was back on the shelf. The hay was neatly spread across the floor.

  “No sign we were here,” said Annie.

  “Except Ed will be missing a pair of his socks,” whispered Jack.

  Annie laughed. “Full speed ahead!” she whispered. Then she and Jack slipped back outside into the storm. They ran through the blowing snow to their waiting team.

  “I’m happy to drive for a while!” Jack shouted in the wind. “Is that okay with you?”

  “Sure! I’ll take over whenever you want!” said Annie. She picked up the snow hook and put it into the basket, then climbed in herself.

  Jack stood on the sled runners, crouching slightly and gripping the handlebars. “Okay, team! Ready to find Gunnar and save lives?” he said.

  The huskies barked, as if saying YES! YES! YES!

  “Ready, willing, and eager!” said Annie.

  “Line out!” Jack commanded.

  The team pulled the towline straight out, making it taut.

  “Hike!” said Jack.

  The eight huskies surged forward. Bells jingling, the team raced away from the roadhouse of Port Safety, pulling the sled through the blizzard.

  As the basket bounced and bumped over uneven ridges on the trail, Annie almost fell out, but she didn’t complain. Jack could hear her laughing, as if she were enjoying the ride.

  The wind from the frozen sea was bitterly cold. As the wind howled and snow whirled through the dark, the dogs kept their heads down and ran on and on.

  Jac
k used his skills to move the team around banks of drifting snow. Through gale-force winds, he drove the sled over the rough, frozen path at the edge of the sea.

  Like sand in a sandstorm, ice crystals beat against his face, stinging his skin. His mittens were nearly frozen to the wooden handles. But he felt protected in his thick fur clothing. He was grateful to all the creatures that had given their gifts to help Alaskans survive in their frozen world.

  As more and more snow stuck to the lenses of his glasses and turned to ice, Jack knew he shouldn’t keep driving. “We need to switch now!” he called to Annie.

  Before he could give a command to stop the dogs, a fierce gust of wind slammed against the sled, sending it into a bank. Jack fell off the runners and was swallowed up in a pile of snow.

  “Jack!” cried Annie. “Where are you?”

  “Here! Here!” said Jack, floundering as he tried to get up. His heavy fur clothing made it hard for him to stand, but Annie grabbed his hands and helped him to his feet.

  Together they pulled the sled out from the snowbank and untangled the rigging.

  “I can drive for a while!” said Annie.

  “Okay!” said Jack. He sat in the basket.

  Annie stood on the runners. “Line out!” she shouted.

  The dogs straightened their lines. But before Annie commanded them to take off, she yelled, “Jack! Listen!”

  Jack listened. He heard the shriek of the wind and the whooshing of snow. “Listen to what?” he said.

  “Bells! I hear bells!” Annie shouted. “Up ahead!”

  Now Jack could hear the bells, too—jingling bells. “Yes!” he said. “Another dog team must be coming toward us!”

  “Could it be Gunnar Kaasen and Balto?” shouted Annie.

  “Maybe!” yelled Jack.

  The jingling bells grew closer…and closer!

  “Yay! They’re coming this way for sure!” shouted Annie.

  But the sound of the bells stopped suddenly. Then through the storm came the frantic, high-pitched barking of dogs.

  Uncle Joe’s team of huskies answered with yowling and yelping.

  “Something’s wrong!” cried Annie.

  “Maybe they had an accident!” said Jack. “Let’s check it out!”

  “Hike!” yelled Annie. “Straight ahead!”

  The team took off.

  Annie drove the huskies through the dark toward the frantic barking. Soon they came to another team of dogs floundering in a snowdrift. A sled had crashed and flipped over. The driver was trying to free his dogs.

  “Whoa!” Annie ordered. “Stay!” Jack planted the snow hook firmly in the ground to secure their team. Then he and Annie bowed their heads against the wind and trudged through the gale.

  “Gunnar?” shouted Jack. “Gunnar Kaasen?”

  The driver waved and shouted, “Yes!”

  “Oh, wow! We were sent to help you!” cried Annie. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes! Just hit a bump back there!” said the famous dog musher. “The sled went flying and crashed on its side!”

  Annie and Jack began helping Gunnar. They grabbed each dog by its harness and, one by one, pulled them out of the soft snow. By the time the dogs were all on their feet again, Jack had counted thirteen huskies.

  Jack and Annie helped Gunnar turn the sled upright, setting it back on its runners. Then together, all three stomped on the snow with their boots, packing it down so the dogs could pull the sled out.

  “Line out!” Gunnar commanded his team.

  Soon the dogs were lined up in pairs in front of the sled, with a single dog in the lead.

  “Wait, is that Balto?” shouted Annie.

  “Yes!” said Gunnar.

  Annie hurried to the front of the line. “Hi, Balto!”

  Balto barked a greeting and leapt up to lick Annie’s face. The bells on his collar jingled wildly. She laughed and hugged him. “I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time!” she shouted.

  “Do you have the medicine for Nome?” Jack asked Gunnar.

  “Yes!” the musher said, leaning over the sled. “It’s right here—Oh! No! No!”

  “No what?” said Jack. “What’s wrong?”

  “The package is missing!” Gunnar yelled.

  “Missing?” said Jack.

  “Where is it?” cried Gunnar. “Where is it?”

  “Where is it?” Jack echoed.

  “It was tied to the sled!” shouted Gunnar. “This is a catastrophe!” In the biting wind, the musher fell to his knees and frantically dug through the snow, looking for the medicine package.

  “What’s wrong?” Annie called from the front of the line of dogs.

  Jack ran to her. “He lost the medicine! It fell off his sled!” he said. “We have to help him find it!”

  “Wait, wait!” said Annie. “I’ll bet Balto can find it!” She crouched beside the lead dog and unhooked his tug line and neck line.

  “No, don’t unhook him!” said Jack. “We can’t lose Balto, too!”

  “We won’t lose him!” said Annie. “He can help.”

  She grabbed the lead dog’s head between her mittens and put her face close to his, saying words Jack couldn’t hear. Then she released Balto. “Find the medicine! Find it now!” Annie yelled.

  While Gunnar crawled around in the snow looking for the package, Balto took off in the direction his team had come. With his nose to the ground, the husky trotted back down the trail.

  “Let’s follow him, Jack!” cried Annie. Leaving Gunnar and the rest of the dogs behind, she and Jack hurried after Balto. They trudged through the snowstorm after the eager dog, following the jingling of his collar bells.

  When Annie and Jack reached Balto, he was whining and digging through the snow.

  “I think he found it!” Annie shouted.

  Jack felt around in the windswept snow until he touched something soft and solid. He pulled a heavy, fur-wrapped bag out of the snow and struggled to stand up with it.

  “Great job, Balto! You found it!” shouted Annie.

  “Gunnar!” Jack yelled. “We found the package!” But his voice didn’t carry through the storm. “Let’s take it to him!” he said to Annie.

  Balto started back the way they’d come, his collar bells jingling. Carrying the package of lifesaving medicine, Jack followed Balto and Annie.

  When they reached Gunnar’s team, Annie quickly hooked Balto to the front of the line. Then she and Jack hurried to Gunnar. The musher was still on his knees, not far from the sled, wildly shoveling through the snow with his hands.

  “Gunnar, it’s okay!” shouted Jack. “We have the package! It was back there! It must’ve fallen out when you hit the bump.”

  “Balto found it!” said Annie.

  Gunnar gave a happy shout and staggered to his feet. Jack handed over the fur-wrapped package, and Gunnar tied it tightly to his sled.

  “You go ahead, we’ll follow you!” Jack shouted.

  “We can help you if you need us again!” said Annie.

  “Thank you!” shouted Gunnar Kaasen. “I won’t forget you! Thank you!”

  Annie yelled good-bye to Balto. Then she and Jack hurried back through the whirling snow to their own sled. The huskies greeted them noisily.

  “Ready, team!” Jack yelled, pulling up the snow hook. “You’re going to follow Balto!”

  “Can I drive?” Annie shouted.

  “Sure! We can switch places at Port Safety, if you want!” said Jack.

  As he climbed into the basket, Jack thought about the Port Safety roadhouse. He wondered if Gunnar planned to stop there. It would be weird to meet Ed all over again, as if for the first time.

  Annie stood on the runners and waited. Soon jingling bells could be heard. Moments later, Gunnar’s team dashed by. With Balto in the lead, all thirteen huskies pulled the musher and his sled over the snow.

  As the jingling faded into the night, Annie shouted, “Hike!” The eight huskies bolted forward and got back on the trail, dashing after Balt
o’s team.

  As Jack bumped around in the basket, he held on to the sides and closed his eyes against the fury of the storm. It wasn’t long, though, before he heard Annie shout, “Port Safety roadhouse up ahead!”

  Jack opened his eyes and saw the log cabin.

  “Jack, look! Gunnar kept going!” yelled Annie. “He didn’t stop at the roadhouse!”

  “Keep following them!” said Jack.

  “Gee!” Annie yelled, and swung her dogs away from the roadhouse.

  Jack and Annie’s huskies kept following the jingling bells of Balto as he and his team led the way north to Nome. Racing along the coast of the Bering Sea, Jack and Annie’s team seemed even livelier and stronger than before. It was as if Balto was leading their team as well as his own.

  Guided by Balto’s spirit, all twenty-one dogs flew over the flat shoreline. As they ran, the weather improved. The snow stopped falling, and the wind died down. Amazingly, in less than three hours, the blizzard had stopped completely. The sky had begun to clear.

  In the early gray dawn, Jack saw a church steeple in the distance. He saw lights flickering in the windows of houses.

  “We’re back! We made it to Nome!” he cried.

  “Hurray!” said Annie.

  The sun was rising as they followed Balto’s team into town.

  “We should take these guys back to Oki and Uncle Joe!” said Annie.

  “You’re right!” said Jack. “Gunnar’s good now! The medicine’s arrived!”

  “Haw!” commanded Annie. And the dogs veered left and headed for the spit of land near the frozen sea.

  In the early light, the huskies stopped at Uncle Joe’s shack. As the dogs whined and yelped, Oki flew out the front door. His uncle followed, hobbling on his crutch.

  Though exhausted, the dogs had enough energy to jump up and down and bark excitedly as their two friends greeted them with great joy.

  Jack climbed out of the sled as Annie stepped off the runners. A thin layer of ice covered their faces and clothes, but they were both laughing as they stamped their feet and swung their arms.

  “You made it back!” Oki shouted.

  “What time is it?” asked Jack.