Jean-Paul’s heart jumped. If anything had gotten his mother and his dog! He got down on his hands and knees and took a deep gulp of cold air. “I’ll go first.”
Chinook squatted next to Jean-Paul. “See anything yet?”
“Just a small light. But there was a lamp going when I left.” He took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m going in now.”
Jean-Paul had no sooner stuck his head inside the tunnel when something cold and damp touched his nose. He jumped, and backed out faster than a fish on a hot griddle. He felt the air sizzle out of his bravery.
“Something’s ... there’s something in there!”
A black nose suddenly appeared at the entrance, followed by a pure white muzzle and a pair of cool blue eyes. Sasha wiggled through the opening and trotted up to Jean-Paul, wagging her tail. He threw his arms around her neck and buried his nose in her fur. He didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
“It’s only Sasha!” exclaimed Chinook. He tweaked her ears as Jean-Paul hugged her. “We were afraid of your husky!”
A shrill cry came from inside the igloo, a very angry-sounding cry. Jean-Paul released Sasha and stood up. “What do you think that is?”
Chinook laughed, his dark eyes crinkling with mischief at the corners. “I think maybe it’s your baby brother or sister!”
Jean-Paul’s mouth fell open. “You mean that’s what they sound like? It sounds like a pig squealing. Do I have to listen to that for the rest of my life?”
Chinook thumped him on the shoulder. “Only till it learns to talk. Then you might settle for the pig.”
“Gosh!” said Jean-Paul, turning toward the igloo. “I’ve never been around a newborn baby before.”
“And when it learns to walk,” said Chinook with a chuckle, “then you’ll have bigger problems. Babies tag around after you and get into your things. They never leave you alone.”
They heard a loud grunting noise and saw Arnayak squeezing through the tunnel opening. It was so funny that Jean-Paul nearly burst out laughing. For a minute he thought she was going to get stuck. If the haunted igloo was going to be used as a birth place, someone should make the opening bigger.
Chinook helped his mother up. She held onto his arm till she got her balance. Her hood was thrown back, her face happy. She spoke quickly to her son, and Jean-Paul wished he could understand Inuktitut. When she had finished, she came to Jean-Paul and spoke, pointing to the igloo.
“She wants you to go inside,” said Chinook. “She says your mother hears your voice and wants to see you.” Chinook pushed at Jean-Paul. “Go now! Hurry!”
Sasha went inside ahead of Jean-Paul, barking for him to follow. And a moment later, he was kneeling beside his mother. She smiled and held a small bundle against her chest. For a moment Jean-Paul couldn’t speak. Then finally the words tumble out. “I couldn’t find the doctor, Ma! You sent me for Dr. Morgan, but he wasn’t there and ... and the hospital was closed ... and ... and…”
Lise beckoned, and Jean-Paul moved closer. Her face was flushed. Her voice was warm and kind when she spoke. “Shhh, everything’s fine now, Jean-Paul. I never needed the doctor, you see. A small miracle took place in your haunted igloo.”
She began unwrapping the blanket. A small head with fuzzy black hair appeared, then a tiny red face with eyes screwed up tightly. A small round mouth made sucking motions, and a pink little fist—no bigger than a pup’s paw—shot into the air as if waving at Jean-Paul. Jean-Paul watched in amazement as the infant cried out. How could anything so small make such a loud noise? He looked at his mother and smiled.
“Is—is it all right for me to touch it?”
Lise held the baby closer to Jean-Paul. He took a small fist into his bigger one. Tiny wrinkled fingers opened and closed around his own. Suddenly, Jean-Paul was the happiest boy on earth.
“It’s strong! See how it holds my finger? And, look. It’s even got fingernails!”
“How do you like him?” asked his mother.
“Him?”
Lise laughed softly. “Yes, dear, your baby sister turned out to be a brother.” She covered the baby again. “It’s cold in here. We must keep him warm.” She looked at Jean-Paul with love in her eyes. “And do you know what?”
“What?”
“Well, your beautiful Sasha helped keep him warm until you came back. She lay down next to me and I put your brother next to her warm fur. What a lifesaver she was! You should be very proud of her.”
Jean-Paul looked at Sasha, who now lay next to Lise. Her pointed ears came erect at mention of her name.
“I told her to stay by you,” Jean-Paul said proudly. “She didn’t want to, but she did anyway. Now I’m glad I walked all the way to Chinook’s.”
Lise touched Jean-Paul’s soft, curly hair. “I’m sorry about that, honey. But you did the right thing. And Chinook’s mother came to help.” She smiled. “I couldn’t understand much of what Arnayak said, though.”
“Was she in time to help? Chinook said she knows all about babies.”
Lise looked down at her infant, who was sleeping again. “This child wouldn’t wait for anyone. I was alone, except for Sasha.”
“Oh.”
“But it’s all right now,” she told him brightly. “Do you know Sasha almost didn’t let Arnayak inside the igloo? She was very protective.” Lise lay back and closed her eyes. Jean-Paul thought she had gone to sleep. But after a moment she opened them. “Something else happened. I’m not sure what—a fight or something—outside. Sasha tangled with some other animal just before Arnayak came. Of course, the poor woman couldn’t tell me what happened.”
Jean-Paul leaned over and watched the baby, although he couldn’t see much more than its nose. He still could not believe he really did have a brother after all those years. How long would it be before he could take the little one for a ride in the sled? Then his mother’s voice cut off his thoughts. “What are you thinking?” she asked.
“What? Oh, I was thinking about the baby. And the fight. I think that must have been a wolf. Chinook and I heard a wolf howling before we got here. There are bloody tracks outside.”
Lise looked thoughtfully at Sasha, who lay with her nose on her paws. “She didn’t have blood on her,” she said.
“Then it must have been wolf blood. Sasha must have bit the wolf to make it run away.”
Lise scratched Sasha’s ear. “She saved your life once, now mine and the baby’s. I hate to think what might have happened if she hadn’t been here and the wolf had come inside.” She looked around the igloo, at the shadows where the lamplight didn’t reach. “This place isn’t so bad, Jean-Paul. I didn’t see a single evil spirit.”
Jean-Paul grinned, knowing his mother was teasing. “Maybe there never were any. Maybe I was just being a baby, like when I have to leave a light on all night.”
His mother smiled. “Perhaps it’s time to put some childish habits behind you. What do you think?”
Jean-Paul didn’t answer the question. But he had an idea what that answer might be. If there was a new baby in the family, then he, Jean-Paul Ardoin, would have to be the big brother. He would have to set a very good example. Now he stood up.
“Is it all right if Chinook comes in to see the baby?”
“Of course it is.”
In a moment Chinook and his mother were squatting beside Lise and her new baby. Arnayak kept speaking Inuktitut and pointing to the baby, then to Sasha.
“She’s telling us that Sasha almost didn’t let her come near your mother and the nutaralak. I mean enfant!” Chinook grinned at Lise. “And she threw the pail of hot seal stew at the wolf. Then Sasha ate some of it. Only then would she let my mother come inside.”
Lise brushed her hair away from her forehead and beckoned for Arnayak to come closer. She pointed to the baby, smiled at the woman, and said, “Nakomik, Arnayak, nakomik!”
Arnayak clapped her hands and spoke rapidly, her face blooming with delight. She pointed to Lise’s blond hair.
Then she reached out to gently stroke it.
Chinook laughed. “My mother says she wants hair that color of mush. She says how do you make yellow hair?” Everyone laughed. Chinook looked seriously at the baby. “This one will have the hair of his brother.” He stood up and wrapped his arm around Jean-Paul. “My best friend isn’t so tall, but his heart is very big! He was concerned about his mother and her new son.”
Lise smiled and took Chinook’s hand. “I’m happy you’re Jean-Paul’s friend, Chinook. And if you will teach me Inuktitut, your mother will be my friend, too.”
Chinook repeated that to his mother, then he said, “She will like that, Mother Ardoin. There’s no word for Ardoin in Inuktitut, so she calls you ‘Yellow Mush’!”
“Oh, no!” cried Lise. “Wait till Cordell hears that! He will never stop laughing!”
“She means it as a compliment,” Chinook said.
Suddenly, Arnayak was bustling around, picking things up and putting them in a pile. She spoke to Chinook, who began to help.
“She says it’s time to take you home. She says tiny baby can’t stay in a cold apudyak. Apudyaks are for Inuit nutaralak, not kablunak enfants.” Chinook was quite pleased with himself for making such a funny mixture of French and Inuktitut. “We’ll take you home, then my mother will come to your log apudyak and help.”
Lise smiled at Arnayak, and Arnayak squeezed her hand.
“How do you like my brother?” Jean-Paul asked Chinook.
Chinook studied the sleeping infant. “I think he is small. He won’t amount to much until he gets on his feet and runs like the wind, and gets into his brother’s stone collection.”
“His feet!” Jean-Paul turned to his mother. “You didn’t show me his feet! I want to see if his feet are normal.”
“Of course they’re normal.” She pulled back the blanket. “See for yourself. His feet are perfect.”
Jean-Paul stared at the tiny pink feet. He could not imagine they might someday wear size fourteen boots. His mother covered them again, saying, “We don’t want them to freeze, do we?”
Jean-Paul was happy that his brother would not have to walk like an okalerk. “You should put his new boots on him, Ma. They’ll keep him warm.”
Lise agreed. “He’ll get dressed after he has a bath.”
“What are we going to name him? Did you and Pa think of a good name? Pa’s going to be very surprised when he comes home.”
Lise’s eyes sparkled. “We’re going to call him Pierre, after your Uncle Pierre.”
Jean-Paul groaned. He did not like that name. He liked the uncle, but thought the name was terrible. “I think we should name him Chinook, after my friend.”
Chinook stopped what he was doing and grabbed his throat. “Ukk!” he cried, sticking out his tongue. “That’s no good name for a French baby, Jean-Paul Okalerk! You better stick with Pierre! Chinook Ardoin? Ukk!”
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About the author:
More than thirty years ago, while living in Michigan, Bonnie Turner’s family adopted a husky named “Sasha,” the same name as Jean-Paul’s dog in the book. This exciting event led to a lasting interest in Inuit culture and life in the Arctic, and to the writing of The Haunted Igloo.
For a number of years, the author visited grade schools with a life-sized Inuit doll, where she lectured students on the importance of reading and writing, and offered “polar bear hugs” along with her autograph.
For Bonnie Turner, this new edition of The Haunted Igloo was a labor of love, dedicated to the real Sasha, who died at age thirteen.
Bonnie Turner lives in Wisconsin.
Other books by Bonnie Turner
Spirit Lights (sequel to The Haunted Igloo)
Juvenile fiction; Arctic Regions.
First edition: 2004.
Down the Memory Hole
Juvenile fiction; Contemporary; Alzheimer’s disease.
First edition: 2005.
Footprints in Time: A Walk in Sacajawea’s Moccasins
Juvenile; Non-fiction Biography; History.
First edition: 2006.
Face the Winter Naked
Adult fiction; Historical; Literary.
First edition: 2010.
Thank you for purchasing this book. If you enjoyed it, please tell your friends. You will also enjoy its sequel: Spirit Lights.
Connect with me online:
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BonnieTurner
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bonnie-Turner-Shaping-the-Spirit/315081997495?ref’ts
My personal home page: http://my.athenet.net/~aurorawolf
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