Eve of the Emperor Penguin

by Mary Pope Osborne

  “Forty million years!” said Jack. “So what time have we gone back to? A million years ago? A thousand years ago?”

  “I don’t know,” said Annie. “But I’ll take a picture of them for my family project. They look like a little family, don’t they?” She pulled her camera out of her pocket and aimed it at the penguins. “Smile, everyone.”

  As Annie took a picture, a shadow moved over the ice. The penguins squawked loudly and clustered together.

  Jack and Annie looked up. The shadow belonged to a giant bird circling above them. The bird was brownish gray with a long beak. It let out an eerie cry.

  “What is that?” Annie asked with alarm.

  “I’ll look it up,” said Jack. He flipped through the pages of their book to find a photo. “Here!” He read quickly:

  Giant petrels are the vultures of Antarctica. They eat dead birds and animals. Sometimes they even attack young seals and pen—

  “Oh, no!” cried Annie.

  Jack looked up. The petrel was diving toward the penguins. It hit the smallest one with its wing and swooped back into the air.

  The penguin squawked and waddled away from the group. The petrel spread its wide wings and dove again.

  “NO!” Annie cried.

  The petrel swooped away but circled back toward them.

  Jack dropped the book and scooped up a handful of snow to make a snowball. Before he could throw it, the petrel attacked again. Jack leapt toward the small penguin. He fell on his knees and threw his arms around the fluffy little body.

  Annie charged at the petrel. “Go! Get out of here!” she yelled, waving her arms.

  The petrel cawed, then rose high into the sky and disappeared over the ice cliff.

  Jack let go of the small penguin and stood up. The penguin peeped and waggled its head at Jack.

  Jack laughed. “You’re welcome,” he said. “Now go back to your family. Go—”

  He shooed the penguin back to the group. “All of you guys, back in the water now. You’ll be safer there. Go, go.”

  The penguins squawked and flapped their wings as if saying good-bye. Then they waddled across the icy shore, taking quick, tiny steps toward the sea. One after another, they dove between cracks in the ice until they all disappeared.

  “Bye, guys,” said Annie.

  HONK!

  “What’s that?” said Jack.

  HONK!

  “It sounds like some kind of horn,” said Annie.

  “That’s weird,” said Jack.

  “It’s coming from over there,” said Annie.

  Jack picked up their book and followed Annie up the side of an icy slope. The metal spikes on his boots dug into the ice and kept him from slipping. When he and Annie reached the top, they looked down.

  “Oh, man,” said Jack. “We haven’t gone back in time at all!”

  In the icy field below the slope were yellow, brown, and green buildings; telephone poles; metal pipes; and storage tanks. Tractors and bulldozers moved along gravel roads. It looked like a small town.

  HONK! The sound came from a red bus with gigantic wheels that was parked nearby.

  “What is this place?” asked Annie.

  Jack looked in their book and found a photo that looked like the scene below. The caption read: McMurdo Station. Jack read the paragraph under the photo:

  Antarctica has many scientific research stations, representing countries from all over the world. The largest is named McMurdo Station. Researchers live there for weeks or even months at a time.

  HONK!

  Jack looked up. He saw four people come out of a yellow building and start toward the bus. They were all bundled in red parkas with hoods, goggles, and masks. They carried backpacks and camera bags.

  “They must be researchers,” said Jack.

  “Let’s go talk to them,” said Annie.

  “We can’t,” said Jack. “They’ll ask why two kids are traveling alone in Antarctica.”

  “Maybe they won’t know we’re kids,” said Annie. “If we put our goggles and masks back on, we’ll look just like them, only shorter. They’ll think we’re short grown-ups.”

  “Uh … I don’t think so,” said Jack.

  Just then someone jumped off the bus. “Hi, folks!” a woman shouted to the four researchers. “I’m Nancy—your bus driver and guide today!”

  Nancy caught sight of Jack and Annie. She waved her arms at them. “Hello!” she called. “Are you two part of the group going up to the volcano?” She pointed toward a mountain looming in the distance.

  “Did you hear that?” Jack said to Annie. “A volcano!” He cupped his gloved hands around his mouth. “Yes!” he shouted back in his deepest voice. “We’re coming!”

  “We are?” Annie asked with surprise.

  “A volcano—get it?” said Jack. “A volcano is ‘a burning mountain’!”

  “Oh, right!” said Annie. “Like in the rhyme—the burning mountain! Got it!”

  “Quick, cover up your face!” said Jack.

  Jack and Annie covered their eyes with their goggles and pulled up their face masks. Then they started walking toward the bus.

  “Try not to talk to anyone unless we have to,” Jack said quickly. “And if we do, talk in a really deep voice.”

  “No problem,” Annie croaked in a really deep voice.

  “Um … maybe you shouldn’t talk at all,” said Jack.

  “Hurry!” Nancy called to them.

  “Coming!” Jack shouted in his deepest voice, and they started running across the snow.

  By the time Jack and Annie arrived at the bus, everyone but Nancy had climbed aboard. “Good. You made it just in time!” Nancy said. “Follow me!” She bounded up the steep steps of the red bus and sat in the driver’s seat.

  Without a word, Jack and Annie climbed on after Nancy. Walking down the aisle, Jack glanced at the others in the group. A couple of them nodded and he nodded back. Everyone was hidden behind goggles, ski masks, and bulky parkas. Jack couldn’t tell anyone’s age, or even whether they were male or female.

  Jack and Annie sat a few rows behind the others. Jack took off his backpack and put it at his feet.

  “All set?” Nancy asked, looking in the bus mirror.

  Jack and Annie nodded.

  Nancy closed the door and started the engine. As the bus’s giant wheels moved slowly over the gravel road, Jack looked out the window.

  The sun shone brightly on the wide, snowy fields. Glittering ice crystals blew in the wind. All the world around them seemed to be sparkling.

  “How’s everyone doing?” Nancy called over her shoulder. “Are you all happy campers?”

  Everyone, including Jack and Annie, nodded.

  “Good. I like travelers who don’t complain!” Nancy joked.

  So far, so good, Jack thought. No one seemed to suspect they were kids.

  “We have a short ride,” said Nancy. “But enough time for you all to introduce yourselves to me. I’m Nancy Tyler, and I work here in Antarctica as a guide, a bus driver, and a flight mechanic.”

  “Cool,” whispered Annie.

  “I know you all come from different countries as researchers and journalists,” said Nancy. “Start from the front and tell me who you are.”

  The woman in front pulled down her face mask. “I’m Lucy Banks,” she said. “I’m an American, and I’m a space scientist. I’m writing a paper on the use of robots on the crater of Mount Erebus. Hopefully this will help our work on Mars someday.”

  Oh, brother, thought Jack. What can we say? That we’re Jack and Annie from Frog Creek and we’ve come to Antarctica to find the fourth secret of happiness to save Merlin the magician in Camelot?

  “Wonderful, Lucy!” Nancy said. “Antarctica is as similar to Mars as any place you can find on earth. Next?”

  “Ali Khan, biologist from Turkey,” said the man sitting behind Lucy Banks. “I’m researching heat-resistant bacteria in the crater of Mount Erebus.”

  Quick, think! tho
ught Jack.

  “Very good!” said Nancy. “Next?”

  “Tony Sars from Sydney, Australia,” another man said. “I’m a travel writer for the Sydney Morning Herald.” He held up a notebook.

  “Good!” said Nancy.

  Yes! thought Jack. He yanked off a glove and pulled his notebook and a pencil out of his backpack.

  “Kim Lee,” said the woman sitting behind Tony. “I’m a photographer for a Korean magazine.”

  “Great,” said Nancy. “And my friends in the back?”

  Without taking off his mask, Jack shouted in a deep voice, “Frog Creek Times, USA!” He held up his notebook. “Story about Antarctica. She’s … uh …”

  Annie held up her camera. “His photographer!” she called in a deep voice.

  “Excellent!” said Nancy. “A great group! We’ll hear more introductions later. Now, I know you’ve all heard this before, but I have to tell you again. It is very important to remember the rules here in Antarctica.”

  Jack opened his notebook and got ready to write down the rules.

  “Never rush,” said Nancy. “You should always think about where you’re going and what you’re doing.”

  Jack scribbled:

  “Never walk on snow and ice fields alone,” said Nancy. “In many places beneath the snow, there are deep, hidden cracks in the ice.”

  Jack wrote:

  “And remember, all of Antarctica is a nature preserve,” said Nancy. “Never, ever touch or disturb the wildlife.”

  “Oops,” said Annie.

  Jack frowned. “We really broke the rules with those penguins,” he whispered.

  “I know, but we won’t do it again,” Annie whispered back.

  “Right,” said Jack. He wrote down:

  “Got all that?” Nancy asked the group.

  Everyone nodded.

  “Good,” said Nancy. “I look forward to sharing Antarctica with you today. I know you’ll all find some great information and stories!”

  As the bus rolled along, no one gave Jack and Annie a second look. “Nancy called us ‘friends,’ ” Jack whispered to Annie. “The others must think she knows us.”

  “Yeah, and she thinks we’re friends with them,” said Annie.

  “We’re getting away with this,” said Jack. He could hardly believe it.

  “It reminds me of our last mission,” Annie whispered, “on the ship with the ocean scientists.”

  “This is better,” said Jack. “Here everyone’s treating us like grown-ups, and I don’t feel like throwing up.”

  “And nowadays women get to do really cool stuff, too, like men do,” said Annie.

  “Good point,” said Jack. “But there’s still stuff about our rhyme I don’t get.” He pulled the rhyme out of his pocket, and he and Annie read it silently:

  For the final secret, you must go

  To a burning mountain of ice and snow

  On wheels, by air, then all fall down,

  Till you come to the Cave of the Ancient Crown.

  Then speed to Camelot by close of day,

  Lest grief take Merlin forever away.

  “See, it sounds like it’s talking about a magical world,” said Jack. “But Antarctica is a hundred percent real. It’s filled with scientists!”

  “I know, but some of the rhyme fits,” said Annie. “Like you said, the ‘burning mountain of ice and snow’ is the volcano, Mount Erebus.” She pointed out the window of the bus. “And there it is.”

  A white mountain loomed in the distance. Ice and snow covered its slopes, and puffs of smoke rose from its peak, drifting into the blue sky.

  “It’s burning, all right,” said Jack.

  “And we’re on wheels,” said Annie.

  “Yep,” said Jack. He looked at the rhyme again. “Okay, ‘burning mountain of ice and snow,’ ‘on wheels’—but then what about ‘by air’? What’s—”

  “Oh, my gosh!” said Annie, craning her neck.

  “What?” said Jack.

  “Look over there!” said Annie.

  Touching down onto a flat, snowy field was an orange and white helicopter. The helicopter had skis on the bottom so it could land on the ice and snow. The bus came to a stop at the edge of the field.

  “We must be going to the volcano in a helicopter!” said Annie.

  “By air! Just like the rhyme says!” said Jack. “Great!” Jack had always wanted to fly in a helicopter!

  Nancy stood up. “For those of you getting off the bus now, please remember,” she said, “the helicopter blades are extremely dangerous. Always wait for a signal from the pilot before approaching the chopper.”

  Everyone watched as the spinning blades slowly came to a stop. The pilot waved from the helicopter window.

  “Okay, Pete says we can go!” said Nancy.

  Jack put their rhyme back into his pocket. He pulled on his backpack. Then, carrying his notebook and pencil, he filed down the aisle after Annie and the others who would join them in the helicopter. They all scrambled off the bus into the dazzling sunlight.

  “Jump aboard!” said Nancy.

  Jack and Annie followed the four other adults up the steps of the helicopter and squeezed into a small cabin. Sitting in two rows of seats behind the pilot, everyone buckled their seat belts.

  Nancy pulled the door shut and turned the latch. Then she sat next to Pete and put on a set of headphones. “Headphones on, everyone! They’re under your seats,” she said. “They’ll protect your ears from the chopper noise, and also serve as a radio so I can talk to you.”

  Everyone reached under their seats and took out headphones. Jack and Annie pulled off their hoods. Without taking off their goggles or face masks, they placed the headphones over their ears. The thick pads muffled the sounds around them.

  Jack heard Nancy’s voice over his headphones: “Testing, one, two, three. Can everyone hear me?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “Okay, Pete, take us to Mount Erebus!”

  Pete the pilot started the helicopter. Even with his headphones on, Jack heard the roaring of the engine and the spinning of the blades. He held his breath as the chopper trembled and lifted off the ice and snow.

  The helicopter shook and tilted. Then it buzzed forward through the blue sky.

  Annie aimed her camera out the window and took pictures. The Korean photographer did the same, and the Australian journalist scribbled in his notebook.

  Jack was too excited to take notes now. This is great, he thought. All the words in the rhyme are coming true. As they flew toward the burning mountain of ice and snow, he tried to remember what words came next. He slipped the rhyme out of his pocket and read:

  … you must go

  To a burning mountain of ice and snow

  On wheels, by air, then all fall down …

  “All fall down”? Wait a minute. What does that mean? thought Jack. Does that mean the chopper falls down? Do we fall out of the chopper?

  As these thoughts swirled through Jack’s mind, Annie turned and gave him a thumbs-up.

  Jack didn’t want to scare her, so he nodded and shoved the rhyme back in his pocket. He watched anxiously out the window as the chopper approached a bright orange-red circle on top of Mount Erebus.

  “Below is one of the world’s most famous lava lakes,” said Nancy over the headphones.

  The chopper hovered motionless above the crater of the volcano. The lava lake bubbled and boiled. “That burning lava is miles deep,” said Nancy. “Its temperature is over seventeen hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Can you guys on this side see okay? Pete?”

  Pete tilted the helicopter to one side and then the other. Everyone but Jack oohed and aahed. Kim Lee and Annie took pictures.

  Go! thought Jack. Before we all fall down!

  “Okay, Pete, that’s great,” said Nancy. “Let’s land at the lower field camp now!”

  The helicopter tilted upright and began moving down the side of the volcanic mountain. Jack saw a small orange building sticking up
from the snow. Colorful snowmobiles were parked near it.

  Moments later, the chopper touched down onto the slope. It rocked and shuddered, then came to a stop. Whew, thought Jack. They’d landed without falling from the sky into a burning lava lake. But then what could “all fall down” in the rhyme mean?

  “Stay seated till the blades come to a complete stop!” said Nancy.

  Everyone remained in their seats with their seat belts and headphones on.

  “As you know, we’ll be driving our snowmobiles up to the summit,” said Nancy. “Driving a snowmobile can be very dangerous on these steep, icy slopes. Please remember everything you learned in your snowmobile training yesterday.”

  As the others nodded, Annie nodded, too. Jack nudged her. They’d never had any training with snowmobiles!

  “Another warning,” said Nancy. “I know you’ve also been training this week to prevent altitude sickness. But still—it can be very dangerous. So please let me know if you feel any symptoms.”

  Altitude sickness? Jack wondered. He pulled off his glove again and opened up his backpack. He took out the research book and looked up altitude sickness in the index. He turned to the right page and read:

  Altitude sickness, also known as mountain sickness, is caused by a lack of oxygen at great heights. Symptoms include headaches, dizziness, and shortness of breath. Climbers traveling up Mount Erebus train for days by climbing to gradually increasing heights.

  Oh, no, thought Jack.

  The spinning of the helicopter blades had come to a stop.

  “Okay, happy campers,” said Nancy. “All clear! Before we drive up to the top, we’ll gather in the hut!”

  Nancy opened the helicopter door. Everyone took off their headphones, undid their seat belts, and followed her down the steps of the chopper. Jack was last as he struggled with putting the research book away, getting his glove back on, and then pulling his pack onto his back.