away, without trying to deal with the problem herself, felt like cheating. Ella wanted to have a go on her own. Glancing at the ground she suddenly realised there were tracks in the snow. They weren’t very clear as the falling snow was filling them in, but if she hurried she could follow them. Ella noticed that the tracks were much wider than the ones made by her own sled and interestingly they led away from the town.
“If we follow the tracks they might lead us to the owner of this crate,” she said to Acer.
Acer seemed pleased with the suggestion. With a surge of excitement Ella climbed back on the runners and picked up the gangline.
“Hike,” she said, leaning forward as she urged the dogs on.
As Ella journeyed away from Port Nanuk it stopped snowing. Ella loved the snow, but was pleased it had stopped, as it meant she still had a trail to follow. Keeping her eyes to the ground she concentrated on following the wide tracks. Sometimes they disappeared completely, then Ella would stop and glance around until she picked the trail up again. Ella hoped she was following the right trail, but didn’t think there would be too many people travelling out here. Soon she heard a whispering noise that grew steadily louder. Ella kept going until the whispering revealed itself as a wide river. The water was semi-frozen and chunks of ice clanked against the banks. Ella and her dog team followed alongside the river for ages until the tracks snaked one way and the river flowed in the opposite direction. The dogs pulled Ella up a hill, then effortlessly slid down the other side. The landscape here was bleak with a few distinctive-looking trees dotted about. There were three that looked like people gossiping and one with a dramatic Y-shaped trunk. Ella urged the dogs on until far in the distance she saw a thick forest of coniferous trees.
“Look!” she cried, excitedly pointing at a curl of smoke rising from them.
“A camp fire in the forest.”
Chapter 3
Excitement gave Ella a new energy and she pushed the dogs on. They ran faster, their harness creaking and their paws crunching in the fresh snow. The forest was further away than it looked and for a while Ella thought they would never reach it, but eventually they drew close enough to see inside. Suddenly Ella wished there was another route to follow. The forest looked dark and uninviting. What if polar bears were sheltering in there? The dogs hesitated, sensing Ella’s nervousness.
Bravely she urged them on, calling, “Hike.”
They entered the trees and Ella slowed the dogs to a walk. It was an eerie place to make a camp. The forest seemed too quiet. There was none of the rustling of unseen creatures like there was in the Country Park near Ella’s home. Hoping that she would be able to find her way back, Ella steered the dogs deeper. A little while later she heard an unfamiliar noise. Ella suppressed a shiver. Whatever was going on?
“Whoa,” she whispered.
The dogs stopped immediately, ears pricked waiting for their next command.
Acer threw back his head, his whiskers twitching as he sniffed the air.
“I can hear a machine. And I can smell smoke,” said Ella quietly. “We must be nearly at the camp.”
She climbed off the sled saying, “Wait here while I take a closer look.”
“Be careful,” Acer warned her.
Swallowing back her nerves Ella crept through the trees. Soon she heard voices – a man and a lady, both with strong Canadian accents, were talking earnestly. Using the trees for cover Ella crept closer until she reached the edge of a clearing and stopped in surprise. She’d stumbled upon a camp consisting of several sturdy tents, three snowmobiles and a large amount of machinery. Her eyes widened as she took it all in. There were cylinders, pipes, a small generator and a large red machine that looked like a portable drill. It was the drill that was making the noise. Ella stared at it for ages, but she couldn’t work out what it was drilling for. In one corner of the camp were several wooden boxes, all identical to the one Ella had found. One box was open and inside was a mountain of cooking utensils and tins of food. The man and the lady were still talking, sitting round a camp fire clutching mugs. Ella listened to them for a bit, but the conversation didn’t make any sense as it was full of unfamiliar words that she guessed must be connected to the machinery. But at least she’d found out who owned the crate. Ella guessed it contained supplies and it had obviously fallen from the vehicle that had transported all the other things here. Eager to share her news with the Starlight Snowdogs she made her way back to her sled.
“What will you do now?” asked Acer, when Ella finished telling him what she’d discovered.
Ella thought about it. She didn’t want the drilling team to know she was there in case they asked awkward questions. No one had actually said that the Starlight Snowdogs were a secret, but instinctively Ella knew they were.
“I know,” she said at last. “I’ll leave the crate on the edge of the camp for the people to find.”
“Won’t they wonder how it got there?” piped up Blue.
“They’ll probably think that’s where they lost it,” said Ella.
“What are they doing?” asked Honey curiously.
“They’re drilling for something.” Ella wished she knew what. The hidden camp had made her feel uneasy. “Acer, how far can you take the sled without being heard?”
“Right up to the clearing,” said Acer confidently.
“Let’s go,” said Ella, leading the way.
On silent paws the dogs stepped forward, pulling the sled behind them. At the edge of the clearing Ella put up her hand for them to stop. Once more she leant over the crate and cleared her mind of everything else.
I can do this, she told herself.
Blue was watching Ella and tilted his head in encouragement. Ella smiled back. Her confidence was so strong that she lifted the box as easily as if it was a box of tissues. She put it on the ground, then stood back. She was hot with exertion and unzipped her coat a short way, welcoming the feel of the chilly air on her neck. The dogs watched her expectantly, waiting for their next command. Silently Ella pointed back the way they’d come. There wasn’t much room to turn, but with a few shunts they managed it and, once the sled was facing in the right direction, Ella climbed on to its runners with her hands resting on the driving bow. No one spoke until they were out of the forest and back in the open.
The weak autumn sunlight reflected off the snow, dazzling Ella. She screwed up her eyes and called, “Easy,” to the dogs, who immediately slowed down.
Ella was pleased she’d found the crate’s owners, but a niggling feeling told her that her task wasn’t over. Her initial surprise and unease at finding a drilling camp in the middle of nowhere had now turned to suspicion. Exactly what were the people looking for and how would their activities affect the Arctic wildlife? There was one person Ella knew who might have the answers to her questions.
“Acer,” she called. “Can we go to Port Nanuk? I want to talk to Saskia.”
“Yes, of course,” said Acer.
Ella guided the sled back the way they’d come and although the tracks she’d followed earlier had been wiped out with fresh snow she recognised certain landmarks. There was the coniferous, Y-shaped tree, the three trees huddled together like gossiping friends and the gently sloping hill. The dogs were panting as they reached the top and Ella called them to a halt to let them catch their breath. There was an amazing view from up here. A bubbling feeling rose in Ella’s stomach as she stared at the brilliant white world stretching before her. It was so beautiful and so unspoilt. Leading the Starlight Snowdogs and exper iencing this wild landscape was the most wonderful thing ever. For a split second Ella wished that Isabel was there to share it with her too. But at least she had Saskia. Ella couldn’t wait to see her new friend again. Gathering up the gangline she prepared to send the dogs forward, but before she could, something caught her eye. A long dark line that from this distance resembled marching ants was heading towards