Polar Bears Past Bedtime (5 page)

Now only the moon shone on the snow.

Jack looked around for the polar bear.

She was gone.

“Where'd she go?” asked Annie.

“I don't know,” said Jack. He looked over the tundra. There was no sign of the giant bear or her cubs.

“Maybe she's not interested in scientific reasons,” Jack said.

Annie sighed. She took off her bear mask and handed it to Jack. He put both their masks in his pack.

“Now what?” asked Annie.

They looked around. The vast fields of snow ended in darkness. Jack had no idea where they were.

He shrugged. “I guess we just have to walk and hope for the best.”

“Wait—listen,” said Annie.

From the distance came howling sounds. They grew louder and louder.

“Yay! We don't have to wait long!” said Annie. “The huskies are coming!”

Howling filled the night as the dogsled came into view.

The seal hunter was running beside it.

“We're here! Over here!” called Jack. He ran toward the sled. Annie followed.

“I was afraid you were lost,” said the seal hunter.

“We were!” said Annie. “And we got stuck on thin ice, too! But a polar bear helped us.”

“Yeah,” said Jack. “And we wore your masks and they made us feel like bears—”

“Yeah, the masks made us brave,” said Annie. She caught her breath.

“Oh, man, wait—” said Jack. Annie's words sounded familiar.

He took out his notebook and read Morgan's riddle aloud:

“A mask!” Jack and Annie said together.

The seal hunter smiled.

“You knew!” said Annie.

“It was for you to discover,” said the seal hunter. “Not me.”

Jack pulled the bear masks out of his backpack.

“Here,” he said. “Thanks a lot.”

The hunter took the masks and put them inside his parka.

“We can go home now,” said Jack.

“Do you mind taking us back to the tree house?” said Annie.

The seal hunter shook his head.

“Climb on,” he said.

Jack and Annie climbed onto the dogsled.

“Mush!” said the seal hunter.

“Mush!” said Annie.

“Mush!” said Jack.

Snow began to fall as they took off across the dark ice.

By the time the dogsled arrived at the tree house, the snowstorm had become a blizzard.

“Can you wait just a minute?” Jack asked the seal hunter. “So we can check something?”

The hunter nodded. His dogs whined as Jack and Annie climbed through the tree house window.

Jack grabbed the scroll that held the riddle. He unrolled it. The riddle was gone. In its place was one shimmering word:

“We did it!” said Annie. “The tree house will take us home now.”

“Great!” said Jack. “Let's say good-bye to the seal hunter and give him back his clothes.”

They quickly pulled off their sealskin clothing and their boots.

“Thanks for letting us borrow these!” Jack called through the window.

The seal hunter walked to the tree house and took the clothes from Jack and Annie. They stood shivering in their pajamas and bare feet.

“Th-th-thanks for everything!” said Annie, her teeth chattering.

The seal hunter gave them a wave. Then he walked through the swirling snow to his sled.

“Mush!” he shouted.

The dogs took off through the stormy night.

“Let's get out of here!” said Jack. He hugged himself. “Before we freeze to death!”

Annie grabbed the Pennsylvania book that always took them home. She pointed to a picture of the Frog Creek woods.

“I wish we could go there!” she said.

They waited for the tree house to start spinning.

Nothing happened.

Jack shivered.

“I wish we could go there!” Annie said again.

Again nothing happened.

“Wh-wh-what's going on?” said Jack.

He looked around the tree house. The four scrolls with the solved riddle answers were in the corner.

Then he saw it—a
fifth
scroll.

“Where did
th-th-that
come from?” he said.

Jack grabbed it and unrolled it. On it were the words:

“Oh, no!” said Annie. “Another riddle!”

“Okay, okay. Let's stay c-c-calm,” Jack said, shivering. “
Look at the letters: the first, not the rest.
Okay, the first letters in this riddle are
L-A-T-L-T—
”

“That doesn't make any sense,” Annie broke in.

Icy winds battered the tree house. Snow blew inside.

“We have to hurry!” said Annie.

Jack was freezing. He looked around wildly.

“Letters, letters, letters.
What
letters?” he said.

His gaze rested on the scrolls in the corner.

“M-m-maybe we should look at the letters of the
answers
,” he said.

“Right,” said Annie.

They began unrolling the scrolls.

The scroll from their adventure under the ocean said:

The scroll from their trip to the Wild West said:

The scroll from their journey to Africa said:

Their scroll from the Arctic said:

“Oyster, echo, honey, mask,” said Jack. “Their first letters are
O-E-H-M
.”

“That doesn't make any sense, either,” said Annie.

“Yeah, but maybe we have to unscramble those letters,” said Jack. “
O-E-H-M
 …  They could spell
hemo
.”

“Or
meho
,” said Annie.

“Or
home!
” said Jack.

“HOME!” cried Annie. “That's the place we love the best!”

Jack unrolled the fifth scroll again. The riddle was gone. In its place was one shimmering word: