Polar Boy

by Sandy Fussell

  “This man brought your daughter home despite Hulag’s stories of your bloody ways,” Nana’s voice booms across the ice.

  The Bear turns. His hand is lowered but his face is twisted in a snarl. “I am not a murderer.”

  “Prove it,” challenges Nana.

  There’s only one way for the Bear to do that. He has to back down.

  Bjalki snarls at Raynor but he doesn’t raise his hand again. “Very clever, old woman. Now get me a drink of tea.”

  Brushing aside his arrogance, Nana grins. She has the Bear right where she wanted.

  Mama has placed two filled cups on the blanket outside our tent. Warily, Nana and the Bear take their places beside each other. Swatting at a mosquito, Bjalki’s perfect aim smears a smudge of blood along his cheek. He looks more frightening than ever.

  Tread carefully, Nana. This man could squash us all as if we were insects.

  Papa is a skilled hunter. Speaking softly, he says something to Bjalki and their laughs roll together. But Nana stomps in oversized sealskin boots.

  “It’s easy to crush something smaller than yourself,” she muses.

  Bjalki snorts. “I could crush you with one blow. Your old bones would be dust.”

  Nana shrugs. “Death is never far away from any one of us. Fear helps us survive.” Now standing, she is at eye-level with the sitting bear. “You know I could easily poison a man, even a very large one. Perhaps you would like another bowl of whale stew.”

  I hold my breath. Is Nana mad? Why is she goading him like this?

  But the Northman isn’t angry this time. He nods admiringly at this second show of strength. “I think I will.”

  It’s a gesture of both bravery and trust. And a measure of how good Mama’s cooking is.

  Bjalki and Nana might not be working together but at least they’re not working against each other. For the moment.

  After all the bowls are licked clean, collected and stacked, Asmund appears beside me.

  “Is there nothing to drink around here?” he grumbles.

  “It’s best not to.” I grin. “We haven’t got a people locker here and I wouldn’t want Papa to throw you in with the dog meat.”

  Asmund laughs, louder than a walrus’s bellow. Then he looks serious. “Your friend, Finn, showed me how to navigate using the sky. I know how to read the stars, but who would have guessed you could see thin ice by looking above? I have learned a lot today.”

  I nod. We all have.

  “So when am I going to teach you how to be an explorer?” Asmund raises a bushy eyebrow.

  “My people follow the lines, the caribou trails and the sastrugi. We don’t explore,” I say.

  “You’re not afraid, are you?” Asmund smiles. “The boy who braved the Bear, afraid to follow his heart.”

  Shuffling my feet, I stare into the snow. If I look into his eyes, he’ll know how much I want to get away from the ice.

  “You are your own man, Iluak. You can go wherever you choose. Think about it,” Asmund says.

  I shrug. Mama and Papa would never allow me to leave with a Northman. Not even Nana could talk them into that.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  GREEN LANDS

  “I wish I’d known it would turn out like this. I wouldn’t have been so afraid,” I tell Tuaq, standing beside me.

  “There is still much work to be done but if you didn’t call the Bear, it wouldn’t be like this at all.” Tuaq shudders and I know he can see a different future, the way it might have been. “You were very brave,” he says.

  “I didn’t feel brave. I felt afraid all the time.”

  Tuaq bites his lip. “I’m afraid.”

  I never expected to hear that. My friend is already a priest of great power. “What are you afraid of?”

  “I am afraid of the time when Nana won’t be here. I’m worried I won’t be ready,” he admits.

  I roll my eyes. “Sometimes I think Nana will live forever. But when she does leave us, you’ll know you’re ready. Nana wouldn’t die until all her work was done.”

  Tuaq smiles, relieved. It always helps to talk with a friend.

  “I’m thinking of going exploring,” I whisper. I’ve never told anyone, not even Nana or Finn. Or Asmund.

  But Tuaq doesn’t look surprised. The shaman already knew my thoughts. “I’ll miss you,” he says.

  “I’ll be back.”

  He nods and taps his forehead. “I know.”

  Surrounded by a group of Northmen girls, Miki waves.

  “I used to think you wanted to marry Miki.” I grin and Tuaq laughs.

  “Not likely. Your sister is too much of a handful for me,” he says. “But maybe if Elga has an older sister, I might marry a pretty Northwoman.”

  More stitches. The soft swoop of Nana’s needle catches even Tuaq.

  As the sun drops, Mama and Aunty bring lamps out onto the snow. I look over the faces illuminated in the shadowy light. Finn, quiet, strong and always loyal. Tuaq, wise and clever. Both my friends much braver than I. Mama, gentle. Miki, her eyes glued to the face of Bjalki’s son, Leif.

  Papa speaks and the great Bear laughs. Their two large bellies quiver and shake, full of whale stew. But my stomach is still nervous. Can one old woman hold us all together?

  At the edge of the darkness, Nana stands. I don’t need light to see her face. Old and weathered, crafty as a fox.

  Nana walks towards Bjalki. Ears straining to untangle the mass of Northman and Too-lee voices, I edge closer to hear what she says.

  “I have a gift for my new friend.”

  She hands Bjalki a coat, made of polar bear fur. It’s Grandfather’s old blanket but restitched, the coat is brand new.

  Does the Northman understand what Nana has given him? More than a prized piece of fur and skin, like my necklace, it’s a link to Grandfather’s soul.

  “This is good work. Fit for a bear.” Bjalki inspects Nana’s craftmanship.

  “All in the sewing.” She smiles. “If stitching is done properly, then many pieces joined together are stronger than any one. A sword slashes a river of blood but a sewing needle barely spills a drop.”

  Putting on his new jacket, Bjalki flexes his arm. He nods to Nana. It’s not going to be easy but they’re in this together now.

  “Iluak.” Nana calls me to her. She places Bjalki’s hand on mine. “The time has come for the boy and the Bear to join our people together. To pull my stitches so tight they can never come apart again.”

  “What does the Bear want from the boy?” Ananaksaq asks.

  She already knows and so do I.

  “My brother’s son,” Bjalki whispers, looking down. Even the great Bear is afraid of some things. He’s afraid Nana might say no.

  But it’s really up to me. Finn would never leave me behind.

  “What does the boy want from the Bear?”

  Nana knows that too. What she needs to know is whether I am brave enough to do this one last thing. Will I reach out and take what I want more than anything? I touch Grandfather K’eyush’s necklace and Nana sees my answer.

  “I want to travel with Asmund to the green lands,” I say.

  Asmund nods and in his eyes I can see all the places he’s been and the places I want to go.

  But Nana’s magic is not complete.

  “Our village cannot spare two boys,” she says, staring at Bjalki’s middle son.

  “With Father’s permission, I will go with the Too-lee,” Leif says. “I’ll learn to hunt the whale and caribou and when I return next summer, I’ll teach my own people.”

  Miki’s eyes shine. Bjalki’s son will take more than hunting skills home next year.

  Finally, the Northman Bear nods. “I give my blessing.”

  Nana gestures to Papa, but Mama interrupts. “What about me?” she asks timidly. “Doesn’t my opinion count?”

  Surprised, Papa nods and takes her hand. Mama rarely speaks out, so when she does, he always listens.

  “I do not want to lose my so
n. I do not want to grow old wondering what happened to my Illy,” says Mama, her voice trembling.

  Putting her arm around her daughter’s slumped shoulders, Nana comforts Mama. “Iluak cannot stay. His heart has already moved on and we all must follow our heart.”

  When Mama looks into Papa’s eyes, she sees her own heart and understands.

  “Today I am a proud father of three sons,” Papa says. “Leif will join my family while Iluak and Finn will go with Asmund and Bjalki. My Too-lee sons will return explorers and heroes and my Northman son will learn the ways of the ice. Next year we will sit together and sing songs about them all.”

  Just what I always wanted! Miki singing songs about me.

  Now our people are bound together whether they like it or not. Are we hostages? Or exchanges of trust? A son for a son, three times over. Leif, Finn and me. Northman, Too-lee and one who is already a joining of both.

  Tuaq slowly beats his drum and the dancing begins. Celebrations swirl around me. Most people don’t even know what Nana has done. “Truly great things happen softly,” she whispers. “You have to listen hard to hear what really matters.”

  I need to listen now. Away from the noise.

  Outside on the ice, I’m all alone. Scanning the horizon, I find nothing. No polar bears are waiting for me. No raven murmurs in my ear. I’m free. I’m going away from the ice, maybe even further than Nana’s green lands.

  I’ll miss her. I’ll miss her most of all. She’s so old, what if she dies before I return?

  Nana coughs quietly beside me. I open my heart so she can listen to how much I love her. And I bury my face in her chest because there’s no better feeling in the whole world. I can’t help it. I start to sob.

  “Shhh.” Nana holds me close. Then she lifts my chin, raising my eyes to the stars.

  The brightest one, in the eye of the bear, winks and slowly slips from the sky.

  “A falling star is a sign of wondrous things to come,” whispers Nana.

  But it’s even more than that. The bear isn’t watching me any longer and the stars are not mapping out the paths I must take. Finally, I can go wherever I please. I’m still a little afraid of what lies ahead. But that’s good. The fearful survive.

  Behind me, the snow crunches.

  Finn wraps his arms around both of us.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

  I am grateful to the people who travelled every word with me – all the way to Alaska and back in the middle of winter – my sons Jackson and Cassidy, my friends and writing accomplices Di Bates, Bill Condon, Ann Whitehead, Vicki Stanton, Mo Johnson and DC Green, my editor Sue Whiting, and the wonderful team at Walker Books Australia.

  No man is an island, and neither am I.

  Published in 2008

  by Walker Books Australia Pty Ltd

  Locked Bag 22, Newtown

  NSW 2042 Australia

  www.walkerbooks.com.au

  This ebook edition published in 2014

  The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.

  Cover © 2008 Wayne Harris

  Text © 2008 Sandy Fussell

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

  Fussell, Sandy, author.

  Polar boy / Sandy Fussell.

  For children.

  Subjects: Polar Eskimos – Juvenile fiction.

  A823.4

  ISBN: 978-1-921977-37-4 (ePub)

  ISBN: 978-1-921977-36-7 (e-PDF)

  ISBN: 978-1-925081-74-9 (.PRC)

  For Blake the Brave and Tyler the Bear