We Sled With Dragons by C. Alexander London

Author:C. Alexander London
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-06-26T04:00:00+00:00

22

WE CLIMB THE OCEAN

THE SLED STOPPED in front of a giant wall of ice, five times as tall as Oliver and Celia. The dogs rested. The twins got off the sled and studied the barrier that stretched as far as they could see in both directions.

“It’s like giants built a wall to keep people out,” said Oliver.

“There is no such thing as giants,” said Celia. She flipped through the book. She found the part she was looking for and read it out loud. “There is a place in the far north where the land ends and the frozen ocean begins. A great wall of ice, at least twenty feet high, marks the border. It is a frozen wave, crashing ashore in slow motion. The ice floes beyond grind and crash into one another, pressing upward, forming great ridges, ever shifting, mountains of ice raised and torn down—moment to moment, day to day—so the landscape is never the same twice. Every explorer in the Arctic sees a new place, one that has never been seen before, one that will never be seen again.”

“Huh?” said Oliver.

“This is the ocean,” said Celia, putting her hand on the ice. “It’s just frozen. But it’s moving.”

“Great,” said Oliver. “But how do we get over it? I don’t think it’s just going to move out of the way.”

From within the ice came a groaning, the pressure of the entire frozen ocean pushing against the land. A boulder of snow tumbled down the side. The dogs whimpered, eager to run but frightened of the grinding and crashing in front of them.

“We’ll have to climb,” said Oliver. “And then we’ll haul the dogs up one by one. And then we’ll all pull up the sled.”

Celia didn’t answer. She knew they weren’t strong enough to lift even one of the dogs, let alone all of them and the sled loaded with supplies. “I want to look in the journal one more time,” she said.

“You and that book!” Oliver complained. “That book is just making this adventure more and more like school! Put it away! Let’s climb!”

“We can’t climb,” said Celia.

“Just because you hate climbing doesn’t mean we don’t have to do it!”

“You hate climbing too.”

“Not all the time.”

“Name one time you’ve liked climbing.” Celia crossed her arms and waited. She tapped her foot in the snow. The wind howled.

Oliver couldn’t think of a time. He really did hate climbing. “Fine,” he said. “You have a better idea?”

“Listen.” Celia read aloud from the journal again. “To the edge of the land now, the great wall of ice is before me, and I hesitate. The pressure ridge rises higher than I or my sled can go, and alone I will not be able get the dogs over. I must find a way up soon, before the polar bear stalking me makes its attack.”

“Polar bear?” Oliver glanced over his shoulder. He didn’t believe in dragons, but he knew polar bears were real. He also knew they were some of the meanest, fiercest, most powerful predators in the world.

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