Mohican Brave by Chris Blake

Author:Chris Blake [Chris Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2013-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

“What has he done this time?” Zuma asked, her teeth chattering.

“He’s made the temperature drop,” Tom said. He looked up at the sky, where the glowing moon was now lost behind thick clouds.

Rising Sun approached them. “It’s time to go into battle,” he said. “It will be very dangerous. You are welcome to join us, but I will understand if you wish to remain here.”

Zuma shrugged off her blanket and stood up. “Just try and stop us!”

Tom, Zuma and Chilli followed Rising Sun and the others to the water’s edge. Tom’s toes felt frozen in his leather moccasins and the wind off the river was so cold his eyes began to water. They got into the canoes and started paddling, but this time they weren’t going on a jolly fishing trip – this time they were going to war.

And then he saw them – snowflakes.

Normally Tom would be excited at seeing snow, but this time he realised it would make their mission to save Laughing Brook even harder. He suddenly remembered the words of the riddle: You’ll shiver with your quiver in an early snow.

“What in the world …?” breathed Zuma.

“Snow,” said Tom.

Zuma looked puzzled and Tom realised why – she had never seen snow in ancient Mexico, where it was always hot.

“Basically, it’s frozen rain,” he explained.

“How strange,” said Rising Sun, frowning as more flakes began to spiral out of the sky. “It is very early for snow. Autumn snow is not unheard of, but the sky was clear until a moment ago.”

It was clear until Zuma annoyed an Aztec god with magical weather powers, thought Tom grimly.

“We’ve been expecting a hard winter,” Rising Sun went on. “We’ve seen the signs in the changing of the leaves and in the thickness of the animals’ coats.” He flicked a few snowflakes off his painted face. “But we did not expect snow to come before the leaves fell from the trees.”

The river became slushy as a coating of ice began to form on the water’s surface. The storm had become a blizzard by the time they reached the far bank. Ducking into the wind, they hid their canoes behind some bushes, in case any Mohawk scouts were about.

“We don’t want to give them any warning,” Gliding Eagle explained. “We want to have the element of surprise on our side.”

Tom looked down at the ground, now covered by several centimetres of fresh powder. “What about our footprints?” he asked nervously.

Gliding Eagle shook his head. “The fringe on our leggings and moccasins will wipe away our tracks.”

“Cool!” said Zuma, shaking her leg to make the fringe swish.

Then Gliding Eagle handed out thick fur cloaks to protect against the freezing air and gusting wind. “These will keep us warm, and help to camouflage us,” he said.

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