squealed.
“Nanuq,”
corrected the old lady, for Darby could now see that this must be the missing grandmother. “Inside!” she commanded, and Sha’achi’s face disappeared as the others thrust Nukum into the black tunnel and scrambled in after her.
And in what had to be the strangest moment of Darby’s entire life, she turned to find herself face to face with a polar bear.
Darby had done her share of school reports on Canada’s mammals. In grade five she did a huge project on the Kodiak, a very large type of grizzly bear found in the North. She distinctly recalled writing in her report that Kodiak bears were the biggest bears in Canada, even bigger than polar bears.
Standing on his hind legs, this guy was the biggest thing she’d ever seen. Seconds before, she had been terrified of plunging back into the black tunnel, but it was amazing how the close-set eyes of a polar bear gazing at her changed her mind.
The bear bounded up to the spot where the snow was flattened and suddenly stopped. With careful steps and a rolling gait, he moved toward the tunnel, shaking his massive head back and forth as he walked. Down on all fours, she noticed he was a little pigeon-toed, but the size of his paws soon drove anything resembling a clear thought out of her mind. They looked as big as frying pans, withclaws as big as—well, as big as any claws she had ever seen.
He paused to one side of the tunnel, with his body directly between the snowdrift where Darby was standing and the tunnel. He put one front paw on the roof of the snow structure. In a moment he was towering over her, standing on his back paws and full out leaning on the top of the snow house behind the tunnel. The fur on his belly was pure white, or at least a little less yellow than the rest of him against the white ice of the snow house. She could actually see where his skin was almost black under the thick layer of fur, a black that seemed to emerge only with his sharp nose and again within his tiny eyes.
At that point she thought he might roar, or rip the top off the house and devour the inhabitants like a giant frozen people-pot pie, or turn and swallow her whole. But he did none of these things. Instead, he looked around in a nearsighted manner and, with his mouth open, noisily sniffed the air.
Darby stood frozen to the spot. Was it possible the bear hadn’t seen her? A creature this size had to have an awesome sense of smell. If he hadn’t seen her, then surely he could smell her now. It would only be a matter of seconds before she became a nice light snack.
He did see Darby. Saw her and smelled her. She knew he did, because he swivelled his head around and looked right into her face. He closed his mouth and made a kind of sing-song noise, half groan, half greeting. And then he tucked one shoulder under androlled over into the snow, kicking his legs joyfully in the air like a dog asking for a belly rub. He rolled again, this time onto his feet, and lumbered around to the back of the snow house.
Suddenly, the power of movement returned, and before she could think about it twice, Darby dove into the tunnel.
The darkness she feared did not really materialize, because once Darby regained her feet she found herself crab-walking beneath the low ceiling toward a flickering light. Not a bright, beaming light this time, but two dancing flames, each contained within a small lamp. The smell from the lamps was very strong and her eyes watered with it. As she scrabbled into the room she could see there was a celebration of some sort underway.
Though most of the people had removed their outer clothing, Darby still felt cold. In fact, the inside of the little house didn’t seem any warmer than the outside. All around her was much laughter and conversation—and not a glance was sent in her direction. She sidled along one wall to where Gabe sat off to the side, a little apart from the celebration.
There was a lot of happy noise, so she risked whispering to
“Nanuq,”
corrected the old lady, for Darby could now see that this must be the missing grandmother. “Inside!” she commanded, and Sha’achi’s face disappeared as the others thrust Nukum into the black tunnel and scrambled in after her.
And in what had to be the strangest moment of Darby’s entire life, she turned to find herself face to face with a polar bear.
Darby had done her share of school reports on Canada’s mammals. In grade five she did a huge project on the Kodiak, a very large type of grizzly bear found in the North. She distinctly recalled writing in her report that Kodiak bears were the biggest bears in Canada, even bigger than polar bears.
Standing on his hind legs, this guy was the biggest thing she’d ever seen. Seconds before, she had been terrified of plunging back into the black tunnel, but it was amazing how the close-set eyes of a polar bear gazing at her changed her mind.
The bear bounded up to the spot where the snow was flattened and suddenly stopped. With careful steps and a rolling gait, he moved toward the tunnel, shaking his massive head back and forth as he walked. Down on all fours, she noticed he was a little pigeon-toed, but the size of his paws soon drove anything resembling a clear thought out of her mind. They looked as big as frying pans, withclaws as big as—well, as big as any claws she had ever seen.
He paused to one side of the tunnel, with his body directly between the snowdrift where Darby was standing and the tunnel. He put one front paw on the roof of the snow structure. In a moment he was towering over her, standing on his back paws and full out leaning on the top of the snow house behind the tunnel. The fur on his belly was pure white, or at least a little less yellow than the rest of him against the white ice of the snow house. She could actually see where his skin was almost black under the thick layer of fur, a black that seemed to emerge only with his sharp nose and again within his tiny eyes.
At that point she thought he might roar, or rip the top off the house and devour the inhabitants like a giant frozen people-pot pie, or turn and swallow her whole. But he did none of these things. Instead, he looked around in a nearsighted manner and, with his mouth open, noisily sniffed the air.
Darby stood frozen to the spot. Was it possible the bear hadn’t seen her? A creature this size had to have an awesome sense of smell. If he hadn’t seen her, then surely he could smell her now. It would only be a matter of seconds before she became a nice light snack.
He did see Darby. Saw her and smelled her. She knew he did, because he swivelled his head around and looked right into her face. He closed his mouth and made a kind of sing-song noise, half groan, half greeting. And then he tucked one shoulder under androlled over into the snow, kicking his legs joyfully in the air like a dog asking for a belly rub. He rolled again, this time onto his feet, and lumbered around to the back of the snow house.
Suddenly, the power of movement returned, and before she could think about it twice, Darby dove into the tunnel.
The darkness she feared did not really materialize, because once Darby regained her feet she found herself crab-walking beneath the low ceiling toward a flickering light. Not a bright, beaming light this time, but two dancing flames, each contained within a small lamp. The smell from the lamps was very strong and her eyes watered with it. As she scrabbled into the room she could see there was a celebration of some sort underway.
Though most of the people had removed their outer clothing, Darby still felt cold. In fact, the inside of the little house didn’t seem any warmer than the outside. All around her was much laughter and conversation—and not a glance was sent in her direction. She sidled along one wall to where Gabe sat off to the side, a little apart from the celebration.
There was a lot of happy noise, so she risked whispering to
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