Beware, the Snowman (6 page)

“Jaclyn—what’s wrong?”

“I—I—I—” I sputtered. “Aunt Greta—where
were
you? I got so
scared.”

She pulled off her coat. “Didn’t you see my note?”

“Huh? Note?”

“I left it for you on the refrigerator,” she said. “I met a nice couple this
morning at the general store. They came by and invited me over for dessert and
coffee.”

“Oh. That’s nice,” I choked out. My heart still pounded in my chest.

“Why did you get scared?” Aunt Greta demanded, hanging her coat in the front
closet. She straightened her long, white braid behind her sweater.

“Well, I was in your room. Looking for you. And I stepped in a cold puddle on
the floor,” I replied.

“Puddle? Show me,” Aunt Greta demanded.

I led the way to the bedroom and pointed to the wide wet spot on the floor.
Aunt Greta gazed up at the ceiling. “Maybe the roof leaks,” she murmured. “We’ll
have to examine it tomorrow morning.”

“I—I thought it was the snowman,” I blurted out. “I know it’s crazy, but I
thought he had been here. I thought he’d broken into the house and—”

I stopped when I saw the shock on my aunt’s face. Her mouth dropped open and
she uttered a silent gasp.

“Jaclyn—what are you talking about?” she demanded. “What have your friends
been telling you? More nonsense about a snowman?”

“Yes,” I confessed. “Rolonda and Eli, the two village kids I met. They both
told me a crazy story about a living snowman who stays in an ice cave at the top
of the mountain. They said—”

“It’s all superstition,” Aunt Greta interrupted. “It’s all old tales that have been handed down. None of it is true. You’re
smart enough to know that, Jaclyn.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “But Rolonda and Eli seem so frightened. They really believe
the story. And Eli begged me not to go up to the ice cave.”

“Probably good advice,” Aunt Greta said. She crossed the room and placed a
hand tenderly on my shoulder. “You probably shouldn’t go up to the mountaintop,
dear,” she said softly.

“Why not?” I demanded.

“There must be some kind of real danger up there,” she replied. “Not a living
snowman. But something else dangerous.”

She sighed. “That’s how these old stories get started. Something bad happened
on the mountaintop. Then the story changed each time it was told. Years later,
no one remembers what
really
happened. And now everyone believes a crazy
story about a living snowman.”

She shook her head.

“Have you seen all the strange snowmen in this village?” I asked her. “All
the snowmen with scars on their faces and red scarves? Don’t you think they’re
spooky?”

“It’s a strange village tradition,” Aunt Greta confessed. “Very quaint. I
think they’re very interesting looking.”

“Interesting?” I frowned at her.

“Well, make me a promise,” she said, yawning.

“Promise?”

“Promise me you won’t go running up to the mountaintop to explore the ice
cave. It probably is a very dangerous place.”

“Well…” I hesitated.

“Promise,” Aunt Greta urged sternly.

“Okay. I promise,” I agreed, rolling my eyes.

But a few minutes later, I decided to break that promise.

I was lying in my attic bed, my eyes shut tight. Listening. Listening to the
strange howls from the mountaintop.

Were they animal? Were they human?

I hate mysteries. I
have
to know the answers to things.

I’m going up there, I decided.

I don’t care what I promised my aunt. I’m climbing up to the ice cave.

Tomorrow.

I didn’t dream of snowmen that night. I dreamed about fluffy white kittens
with sky-blue eyes. Dozens of them. The whitest kittens I ever saw.

They began climbing over one another. Silently at first. And then they
started to screech and hiss. A frightening, ugly sound.

Suddenly they all wore red scarves around their necks.

They clawed at each other, arching their pure white backs. Hissing and
screeching.

Until I woke up.

Yellow morning sunlight poured through the round window at the other end of
my bedroom. I could smell bacon frying downstairs. Aunt Greta was already up and
about.

I decided to climb the mountain right after breakfast. I didn’t want to think
about it anymore. I wanted to go up there and solve the mystery.

I knew that strange, white-bearded guy Conrad was a problem. If he saw me, he’d try to stop me. He and his wolf.

But I had a plan to take care of Conrad.

If only Rolonda and Eli would help…

As it turned out, I didn’t get out of the house till after lunch. Aunt Greta
needed me to hang curtains with her. And then we put up the paintings and
posters she had brought from Chicago.

The house was tiny and cramped. But it was starting to feel a little more
like home.

“Where are you going?” Aunt Greta called as I pulled on my parka and gloves
and started out the door.

“Uh… nowhere really,” I lied. “Just going to hang out with Rolonda and
Eli.”

As I said their names, I saw them walking up my front yard.

I closed the front door behind me and hurried out to greet them. Eli carried
a snow shovel. Rolonda dragged two slender tree branches. She dropped them at my
feet.

“What’s that for?” I asked. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We have to build your snowman,” Rolonda replied solemnly.

“Excuse me?” I cried.

“You won’t be safe until you have a snowman in your yard,” Eli said.

“Listen, guys…” I started.

“The snow is very wet,” Rolonda reported.

“Good packing snow. It shouldn’t take long. Eli and I brought everything we
need.”

“But I don’t have time to build a snowman,” I protested. “I want to climb up
to the ice cave this morning.”

They both gasped. Eli gripped the shovel handle and gaped at me.

“You can’t—!” Eli cried.

“Jaclyn, I warned you—” Rolonda said.

“I have to see it for myself,” I told them. And then I added, “I want you to
come with me.”

“No!” Eli gasped.

Rolonda just shook her head. “You know we won’t go up to the ice cave,
Jaclyn. And we don’t want you to go, either.”

“But if we all go together…” I urged.

“No!” they both cried.

I could see real fear on their faces. Staring at them, I suddenly had an
idea.

“Okay, okay,” I said. “I’ll make a deal with you.”

They eyed me suspiciously. “What kind of deal?” Rolonda demanded.

“I’ll stay here and build the snowman—if you will help me when we’re done,”
I said.

“No. We won’t go with you,” Rolonda insisted. “You can’t get us to go up to
the ice cave, Jaclyn.”

“No deal,” Eli added sternly.

“You don’t have to go up to the ice cave,” I told them. “You just have to keep Conrad busy so I can sneak past him.”

“Huh? How are we going to do that?” Eli asked, leaning on the shovel.

“We’ll think of something when we get up there,” I replied. “If you can keep
him talking to you, maybe I can sneak past and get up to the cave.”

“But we don’t
want
you to go to the ice cave!” Rolonda insisted.

“I’m going to do it one way or the other,” I told her. “With or without you.
So are you going to help me or not?”

They glanced tensely at each other. Eli whispered something to his sister.
Rolonda whispered something back.

Then Rolonda turned to me. “Will you build the snowman first?” she asked.

“You won’t be safe without the snowman,” Eli added.

I wanted to tell them that building a snowman wouldn’t protect me against
anything. I wanted to tell them how silly the whole thing was.

But I needed their help. I knew I could never get past Conrad and his wolf
without them.

“Okay. Fine. First, we’ll build the snowman,” I agreed.

“Then Eli and I will help you,” Rolonda promised.

“But we won’t go any farther than Conrad’s cabin,” Eli insisted in a
trembling voice.

“Great!” I replied. “Let’s get started.”

I bent down and started rolling a snowball for the snowman’s body. Rolonda
was right. It was good packing snow. I rolled the ball across my snowy yard
until it was big enough for two of us to roll. Rolonda and I worked on the body.
Eli worked on the snowball for the head.

Building one of the strange snowmen gave me a creepy feeling. I felt as if I
had become part of the superstition. I was taking part in some kind of ancient
village tradition. A tradition built on fear.

The people of the village all built these snowmen because they were afraid.
And now here I was, building one, too.

Should I be afraid? I wondered.

I felt glad when the snowman was finished. Rolonda pulled a red scarf from
her coat pocket, and we wrapped it under the scarred head.

The snowman’s dark eyes seemed to glare at me. The mouth was turned down in
an angry sneer. The arms bobbed softly in the wind.

“Okay. Good job,” I told my two new friends. “Now let’s get going.” I
motioned toward the mountaintop.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Eli asked in a tiny voice.

“Sure, I’m sure!” I declared loudly.

But as we started making our way along the road, I didn’t feel as sure as I
pretended.

The road curved up the mountain. Soon the houses ended and we were walking
through snowy woods.

We didn’t talk. We kept our eyes straight ahead.

The afternoon sun was slowly lowering itself behind the trees. Blue shadows
stretched over the snow. The air grew colder as we climbed.

When Conrad’s low cabin came into view, my heart began to pound.

I tried to keep my mind calm and clear. But question after question whirred
through my brain.

Was Conrad inside the cabin?

Where was the white wolf?

Would my plan work?

All three of us stopped at the end of the road and stared at the cabin up
ahead. The late afternoon sun had fallen behind the trees. The snow billowed in
front of us in shades of gray.

To the left of the cabin, I saw a row of low evergreen shrubs, covered in
snow.

“I’ll hide behind those shrubs,” I told Rolonda and Eli. “You run up to the
cabin and keep Conrad and the wolf from seeing me.”

“This isn’t going to work,” Eli muttered, his eyes on the cabin.

“It’s getting kind of dark,” Rolonda fretted. “Maybe we should come back in
the morning.”

“Maybe we should forget the whole idea,” Eli suggested. I saw his chin
quiver. He shuddered.

“Hey—you promised!” I exclaimed. “A promise is a promise—right?”

They didn’t reply. They both stared across the gray snow at the dark cabin up
ahead.

“I came this far. I’m not going back,” I said sharply. “Are you going to help
me or not?”

I gasped when I heard a low growl from the cabin. The wolf must have heard or
smelled us.

I knew it would come running out any second.

“Come
on
!” I urged in a loud whisper. And I took off for the
snow-covered shrubs.

I ducked out of view just as Conrad and the wolf burst out of the cabin.

“Hello!” Rolonda cried to Conrad.

“Hi!” Eli echoed.

I watched Rolonda and Eli go running up to Conrad.

The wolf lowered its head, watching them carefully.

I saw Rolonda and Eli, both talking at once, chattering with Conrad. I
couldn’t hear what they were saying.

They’re doing it! I told myself, my heart pounding. They’re keeping his
attention.

Time for me to move.

Time for me to make a run for it.

I could hear Rolonda talking to Conrad. I glanced over the top of the bush.
The wolf had its back to me.

Conrad was scratching his gray hair, listening to Rolonda. I couldn’t see his
expression. But I imagined he was very confused and surprised.

I knew he didn’t get any visitors.

He must be wondering what Rolonda and Eli were doing up here!

I forced all of these thoughts from my mind.

It was time for me to make a run for it.

I took a deep breath.

Then, still crouching, I began to run.

My legs felt like Jell-O. My boots sank into the deep snow.

Ducking my head, I darted up the steep mountainside.

Up, up.

I had just passed the bushes when I heard Conrad’s angry shout—“Hey,
wait
!”

I stopped so suddenly, I fell over backward!

I landed hard. The snow seemed to fly up in my face, sweep over me, surround
me. Everything went white.

I’m caught, I realized.

My plan didn’t work.

I stood up and turned to face Conrad.

To my shock, he wasn’t coming after me. He and the wolf were running
downhill. Chasing after Rolonda and Eli.

I heard the wolf utter a high growl. Then they disappeared around a curve.

I stood frozen in place, staring at the spot where they had just been.

Would Conrad harm Rolonda and Eli?

Should I run after them and try to help them?

No. I had to keep going.

This was the plan. This was my chance.

Taking another deep breath, I turned and started to run up the mountainside.
The climb was steep for a while. So steep I wasn’t sure I could make it.

But then the ground leveled off. I found myself on a wide ledge. The ledge
was slick. My boots slipped on the ice.

I pressed my back against the mountain wall.

And gazed up at the ice cave.

Yes!

There it stood above me. A cave as tall as a building. Smooth and glassy, it
reflected the clouds in the sky above it.

I couldn’t see the entrance from here. I was staring at one of the sides.

The ledge narrowed as it curled up to the cave.

I kept my back pressed against the wall and slowly—step by step—inched my
way toward the top.