Read Online Stay:The Last Dog in Antarctica by Jesse Blackadder - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jesse Blackadder
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Kaboom.’
Stay felt Kaboom’s hands tense around her body. The heavy piece of wood scraped and wrenched and then slid into place. Bear wedged her new foot into the depression on the fibreglass platform that supported Stay. He gave it a tug. It fitted perfectly.
‘I’ll just put a little glue around the edge to make sure it doesn’t move.’ Stay felt the cold glue glugging around the socket where the new leg was fixed. Bear rubbed it carefully with a rag and gave her new leg a final polish. Then he turned her up the right way again,to Stay’s relief. He carried her across the room to the bench and sat her up.
‘There!’ Kaboom said, and clapped her hands. ‘You’ve done a fantastic job, Bear. It looks just like the other leg.’
Bear dusted his hands on his pants and grinned. ‘No problem. It was fun to have a little project.’
‘You’re a good carver,’ Kaboom said, looking closely at his handiwork. ‘You’ve made an exact match. Even the paw is the same. Now can I take her over to the Met office?’
‘Sure,’ Bear said. ‘I want to get started on carving something else anyway.’
He gave Stay a quick pat on the head and turned away. Stay had the feeling he was going to miss her, though he didn’t say anything. He’d spent hours on her new leg. He liked to listen to guitar music while he was carving. ‘The blues,’ he’d told her. ‘Best music in the world.’ Stay had quite enjoyed the long hours of music as Bear chiselled and sanded.
Kaboom picked Stay up and headed out of the machinery shop. On the way through Stay noticed there were lots of people working. One section seemed to be for carpentry, another for mechanics and another for plumbing.
‘I hope you don’t mind leaving here,’ Kaboomsaid. ‘It’s a very cool place. People work on all sorts of interesting projects, especially over winter when they can’t go outside as much. But the Met office is nice too. We have a view over the bay, and everyone drops in to ask us what the temperature will be. Plus we let off a weather balloon twice every day.’
She opened a heavy external door and the sunlight came blazing in, dazzling Stay for a moment. There was a rush of cold, crisp air as they stepped outside. Davis Station’s colourful buildings looked even brighter than usual.
Kaboom set off down the road towards the frozen bay, treading carefully over the icy bits. Snow had fallen, melted and refrozen on the road, making a messy patchwork of icy mud. Stay felt a bit nervous about Kaboom slipping and dropping her — the last time she’d been dropped on the ice had been a disaster — but Kaboom knew the best way to get around the scary bits and they soon reached the Meteorology building. Kaboom pushed open another heavy door with her hip, stamped her feet on a metal grille just inside to remove the mud and snow, and carried Stay inside.
‘Ta da!’ she said when they reached the main office.
Three people sitting at desks looked up and when they saw Stay they jumped to their feet and came over to make a fuss.
‘Oh, didn’t he do a good job?’ one of them said. ‘Perfect match.’
‘Stay, meet the Met Fairies,’ Kaboom said. ‘These are Rain and Hail, our weather forecasters, and this is Shine, the other weather observer with me. Shine and I have the important job of recording all the weather. The weather guessers are only here so they can tell the pilots if it’s safe to fly.’
‘Very funny,’ Hail said. ‘Is she staying here with us now?’
‘Sure is,’ Kaboom said. She looked around. ‘How about we put her in front of the window? Then she’ll have a great view outside, and people passing by can see her.’
They all agreed and shortly Stay was sitting in front of what felt like her own special window, looking out at the sea ice in front of Davis Station.
Shine looked at her watch. ‘Shift change,’ she said. ‘Kaboom and Rain, you’re on duty. Hail, want to come to the LQ?’
‘Sure,’ Hail said.
Stay felt Kaboom’s hands tense around her body. The heavy piece of wood scraped and wrenched and then slid into place. Bear wedged her new foot into the depression on the fibreglass platform that supported Stay. He gave it a tug. It fitted perfectly.
‘I’ll just put a little glue around the edge to make sure it doesn’t move.’ Stay felt the cold glue glugging around the socket where the new leg was fixed. Bear rubbed it carefully with a rag and gave her new leg a final polish. Then he turned her up the right way again,to Stay’s relief. He carried her across the room to the bench and sat her up.
‘There!’ Kaboom said, and clapped her hands. ‘You’ve done a fantastic job, Bear. It looks just like the other leg.’
Bear dusted his hands on his pants and grinned. ‘No problem. It was fun to have a little project.’
‘You’re a good carver,’ Kaboom said, looking closely at his handiwork. ‘You’ve made an exact match. Even the paw is the same. Now can I take her over to the Met office?’
‘Sure,’ Bear said. ‘I want to get started on carving something else anyway.’
He gave Stay a quick pat on the head and turned away. Stay had the feeling he was going to miss her, though he didn’t say anything. He’d spent hours on her new leg. He liked to listen to guitar music while he was carving. ‘The blues,’ he’d told her. ‘Best music in the world.’ Stay had quite enjoyed the long hours of music as Bear chiselled and sanded.
Kaboom picked Stay up and headed out of the machinery shop. On the way through Stay noticed there were lots of people working. One section seemed to be for carpentry, another for mechanics and another for plumbing.
‘I hope you don’t mind leaving here,’ Kaboomsaid. ‘It’s a very cool place. People work on all sorts of interesting projects, especially over winter when they can’t go outside as much. But the Met office is nice too. We have a view over the bay, and everyone drops in to ask us what the temperature will be. Plus we let off a weather balloon twice every day.’
She opened a heavy external door and the sunlight came blazing in, dazzling Stay for a moment. There was a rush of cold, crisp air as they stepped outside. Davis Station’s colourful buildings looked even brighter than usual.
Kaboom set off down the road towards the frozen bay, treading carefully over the icy bits. Snow had fallen, melted and refrozen on the road, making a messy patchwork of icy mud. Stay felt a bit nervous about Kaboom slipping and dropping her — the last time she’d been dropped on the ice had been a disaster — but Kaboom knew the best way to get around the scary bits and they soon reached the Meteorology building. Kaboom pushed open another heavy door with her hip, stamped her feet on a metal grille just inside to remove the mud and snow, and carried Stay inside.
‘Ta da!’ she said when they reached the main office.
Three people sitting at desks looked up and when they saw Stay they jumped to their feet and came over to make a fuss.
‘Oh, didn’t he do a good job?’ one of them said. ‘Perfect match.’
‘Stay, meet the Met Fairies,’ Kaboom said. ‘These are Rain and Hail, our weather forecasters, and this is Shine, the other weather observer with me. Shine and I have the important job of recording all the weather. The weather guessers are only here so they can tell the pilots if it’s safe to fly.’
‘Very funny,’ Hail said. ‘Is she staying here with us now?’
‘Sure is,’ Kaboom said. She looked around. ‘How about we put her in front of the window? Then she’ll have a great view outside, and people passing by can see her.’
They all agreed and shortly Stay was sitting in front of what felt like her own special window, looking out at the sea ice in front of Davis Station.
Shine looked at her watch. ‘Shift change,’ she said. ‘Kaboom and Rain, you’re on duty. Hail, want to come to the LQ?’
‘Sure,’ Hail said.
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