The cubs whimpered louder.
"They want to go to her, but they're afraid of theice," whispered Jack.
Annie petted the cubs.
"Don't be afraid," she told them. "You'll get back toyour mother."The big polar bear growled. She paced back andforth, sniffing the air.
Annie kept patting the two cubs and whispering tothem.
Jack looked in the book for anything that mighthelp. Finally he found something:
Even though a female polar bear can weigh asmuch as 750 pounds, she can walk on ice too thin tohold a person by balancing her weight and sliding herpaws over the ice.
"Oh, man, that's incredible," whispered Jack.
He watched the mother polar bear walk down thesnowbank.
On large silent feet, she crept about at the edge ofthe frozen sea.
She tried to step onto the ice. But each time she did,it cracked, and she had to retreat. At last, she found afirm spot.
Then the polar bear stretched out her four legs andlay on the ice. Slowly she moved forward, pushingherself with her claws.
"Is she coming for her babies?" said Jack. "Or is shecoming to get us?""I don't know," said Annie. "Hey, let's put on themasks.""What for?" said Jack.
"Maybe they'll protect us," said Annie. "Maybeshe'll think we're polar bears, too.""Oh, brother," said Jack.
But Annie gave him a bear mask. He took off hisglasses and slipped it on.
Jack peered through the mask holes. It was hard tosee the huge white bear sliding over the frozen sea.
He squinted. That helped.
The polar bear looked at her cubs and let out a deepmoan.
The two little bears carefully went to their mother.
She licked the cubs and touched her nose against eachof theirs. Then they crawled onto her back.
"They're safe now," said Jack. "Even if the motherbreaks through the ice, she can swim with them tothe shore.""Yeah, I just wish she wouldn't leave us behind,"said Annie.
The mother bear slowly turned her body around.
Then she pushed off with her hind legs. With hercubs on her back, she began sliding away.
"Let's try moving like her " Annie said.
"But we could break through and freeze to death,"said Jack.
"If we just stay here, we'll freeze, too," said Annie.
"Remember, the seal hunter said his people hadlearned from the polar bears."Jack took a deep breath.
"Okay," he said. "Let's try it."He lay on his stomach. He spread out his arms andlegs.
Then he copied the bear. He pressed his mittensagainst the ice and pushed off, sliding his feet.
Amazingly, there was no cracking sound.
"Grrr," he growled. And he pushed off again.
Jack heard Annie sliding behind him. He keptgoing. He pushed and slid. He pushed again and slidagain.
He made the movements over and over, untilsomething happened: He didn't feel like a boyanymore. He felt like a polar bear.
Then Jack felt something even stranger. He felt likea flying polar Bear.
Jack swirled along as if his arms and legs weregiant wings--and the moonlit sea ice were a glassysky.
He remembered what the seal hunter had said:
Polar bears can fly. |