Recap: Mr. Greenspan has a nephew, Ernest, who is the type of kid everyone makes fun of. He wants to be friends with Akiva, but Akiva makes excuses not to get together with him. His grandfather tells him that he and Betzalel are going on an adventure in Denali National Park. They’re going to go on a dogsled ride in the park.
The next morning, Joe appeared at our door. We hopped into his jeep, and then I peppered him with questions about the dogsled.
“They’re all trained, the Siberian Huskies. Great dogs. We’ve got eight of ’em for the sled,” Joe said. “We train a new litter every summer. I have your snowshoes, and you’ll need sunglasses. The glare from the snow is strong.”
“Wait till I tell Ima about this.” I grinned.
“It’s good that you’ll tell her after,” Betzalel said. “She’d worry before.”
“Bye, Zeidy,” I called as we started moving.
“Have fun,” he said. He stood in the doorway waving to us.
We headed down the block, and then Joe stopped in front of a house. “I’m getting one more passenger.”
He knocked on the front door and Teddy, the boy I had seen in shul before, traipsed across the yard and joined us.
I nodded at him.
He didn’t nod back. He sat in the back.
Some of the fun was already sucked out of the trip if we had to go with this unfriendly boy.
Betzalel sensed my distress and tried to distract me. “This is going to be a real Alaskan adventure with a real Alaskan forest ranger. And we get to ride in a dog sled.”
When we arrived at the entrance to the park, it was snowing lightly.
“Do you have the bag with our food?” Betzalel asked.
I had packed sandwiches and a thermos of hot cocoa to take on our trip. He had an early chavrusa, so I’d said I’d bring the bag of food. Only…
“Uh…”
“You didn’t forget it?” Betzalel asked.
“I meant to bring it. With all the excitement and the rush this morning… I’m sorry.”
Betzalel shook his head. “We’re going to be hungry.”
Joe handed us each a pair of snowshoes and said he would demonstrate step by step how to put them on. It was during the demonstration that I realized I only had one mitten. I must have left one by Zeidy or it might have fallen out of my pocket.
Joe was explaining how to put the snowshoes on, but my mind was on my lost mitten. I was mad at myself for forgetting the food and now for losing a mitten. All that on top of misplacing the silver dollars!
“They’ve got markings for the left and right feet,” he said. “Now open all the straps. You want to slide the ball of your foot on the hinge – like this. Tighten the toe strap and pull it tight but not too tight. Then slide your heel here and ratchet it tight. Pull the instep strap and you’re ready to go.”
I whispered to Betzalel, “I only have one mitten.”
My brother sighed. “Where did you lose it?”
I shrugged.
“I have an extra pair in my pocket because I was going to double my gloves. Here, take it.”
Betzalel had to help me with my snowshoes, because I had trouble with the instep strap. Teddy was ready way before me.
Joe motioned for us to follow him. The dog sled was parked a little way into the park. We trekked behind him, sliding along in the snowshoes.
Teddy trailed behind. He was studying everything around us.
Joe hopped on. He showed us where to sit on the dogsled. There was enough room for all three of us; Betzalel sat between me and Teddy. In front of us was a large group of beautiful Siberian Huskies, fur coats gleaming in the sun. Joe pointed ahead. “Up there is Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain in North America. It’s so high that it has its own weather system. You can make out some of it but, like today, it’s usually fogged in.”
There was a cleared path of snow ahead of us. Snow-veiled evergreens dotted the landscape. Joe called a command and the dogs moved in unison. I heard the sled gliding over the snow and the panting of the dogs as we flew along the path. The breeze was cold and refreshing. I kept taking big gulps of cold air. I took a lot of photos.
Teddy sat mutely.
“Nice dogs, no?” Betzalel said to Teddy.
He studied Betzalel for a minute and then he nodded.
Strange, I mused. What an unfriendly boy.
The snow, which had started as gentle flakes dancing in the wind, picked up and there was an icy bite in the air.
I pulled my scarf tighter around my nose and mouth.
Joe yelled commands as the dogs slid along. Suddenly, he stopped abruptly.
We’d been traveling for quite a few hours when suddenly Joe cried out, “One of the harnesses broke. Ach! I have to go back to the jeep and get a replacement.” He turned to Betzalel. “You make sure everyone stays put. I gave the dogs a command to stay. I’ll be back soon.”
He glided quickly away on his snowshoes propelling himself like an Olympic skier.
The wind howled and I moved closer to my brother. “I don’t like it that he left us alone.”
“It’ll be fine. Look, it’s still broad daylight.”
“It’s snowing so hard.”
Just then, Teddy dismounted. He started trekking away from the sled.
“Hey,” Betzalel called to him. “Don’t go away from us. It’s dangerous.”
Teddy didn’t answer and plodded forward.
Now what?
My brother looked at me. “What should we do?”
He was the older brother. I didn’t know.
“Look, it’s dangerous for him to wander away like that. I better go after him. He’s too impulsive. I don’t know what he’ll do. ”
“No, no. Don’t leave me alone.” My heart was pounding and I was so angry at Teddy for running off like that. I should have been worried about Betzalel’s safety but I was more worried about being left alone in this frozen tundra with no companion but a bunch of dogs. Wolves could come. Anything could happen. I could freeze to death.
The snow was falling in sheets like a blizzard. Would we freeze alone in this white wilderness?
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of an historical fiction novel, Flight of the Doves (Menucha Publishing, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha Publishers, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha Publishing, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha Publishers, 2020), Denver Dreams (a novel, Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha Publishers, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021-2022), and Alaskan Gold ( 2023-2024).