Stay:The Last Dog in Antarctica (9 page)

The preparations for their trip to Rumdoodle Hut were nearly done and a group of people from the station had come out to see them off. Despite her worries about the huskies, Stay was quite excited. This would be her first field trip in Antarctica. She wasn’t going on a quad bike or in a Hägg but on a real dog sledge.

‘There won’t be too many more sledging trips in Antarctica,’ Baldy said as he carried her to the sledge. ‘This is a historic moment, Stay. One of the last chances to be like the old-time explorers.’

Windy waved at them. ‘Can you lash her on?’ he called. ‘I’m just going to get the dogs.’

Baldy put Stay on top of the heavily loaded sledge and began tying her down. Like everyone else in Antarctica, he knew how to tie good, strong knots, and Stay felt him pull down hard on the ropes to make sure she was securely attached.

‘Don’t want you falling off,’ Baldy said, giving her a pat on the back. ‘OK, folks, she’s ready for photos.’

Everyone who’d come to wave goodbye started taking pictures. Stay heard a bark and saw that Windy was bringing the first husky down. He held Cocoa by her harness, keeping her front feet in the air so she could only walk on her back legs. Stay watched, fascinated, as Windy took Cocoa to the front of the sledge and clipped her to the tow rope.

‘There you go, girl,’ he said, and patted her. ‘Don’t worry, your puppies will be fine on station.’

Meanwhile Baldy had gone to get the next dog and he returned with Blackie, holding him up in the air by the harness too. As each dog was secured, the team barked and snarled furiously. One dog managed to pull away from Windy and started a loud fight with another member of the team. Baldy and Windy had to pull the dogs apart and Stay was shocked. Guide Dogs never fought with each other, but it looked like a regular occurrence among the huskies.

Blackie was at the front and Stay hoped he might not see her. But as Baldy brought the last dog out, Blackie turned his head and saw Stay sitting up on the sledge.

He froze. His hackles rose and his upper lip lifted in a snarl. Stay was too far away to hear what he said, but
she was sure it wasn’t friendly. The other dogs turned their heads and stared at her, then all started barking.

‘They don’t like you much, do they?’ Windy said. ‘I guess they can’t figure out if you’re real.’

I am real,
Stay thought indignantly.

But the dogs hadn’t stopped barking and Stay could see Baldy was having trouble getting the last one harnessed. The huskies snapped at each other and turned in circles and he had to yell at them.

‘Are you ready?’ he called out to Windy. ‘I have to get the huskies running.’

Windy gave Baldy the thumbs-up. ‘Ready!’

‘Righteo, folks,’ Baldy called. ‘One of the final Mawson sledging trips is now departing. Stand clear. Windy, get behind me!’

Everyone laughed then, though Stay couldn’t understand why. She didn’t have time to think about it, as Baldy yelled, ‘Are you ready, dogs? Mush!’ and let go of the harnesses. The huskies sprang forwards, barking. The sledge lurched and they were off, passing a blur of waving hands and faces. Windy ran alongside the sledge and jumped onto the back, standing on the runners just behind where Stay was lashed. Baldy kept running alongside the dogs, calling out commands and struggling to keep up with them.

Once the huskies were moving, they seemed to forget about Stay. They spread out in a fan shape in front of the sledge, running at a steady pace. She saw how much they loved their work, throwing themselves hard against the harnesses, pulling the sledge across the snow as if they could run forever.
They’re just like the Guide Dogs,
she thought. Loyal and hard-working creatures. She wished they didn’t dislike her so much. Couldn’t they see they had lots in common with her?

After a while, Stay forgot about the huskies and started to notice the land around them. The wind rushing past her face was cold, but it was a clear sunny day and Stay could see for kilometres. They were heading inland, away from the station and up towards the plateau. She could see a big mountain range ahead of them. It looked quite close. Metal drums marked parts of their route so they could pass safely around the dangerous crevasses, which looked like big, dark blue cracks in the ice.

After the huskies had hauled the sledge for four hours, Stay realised that distances were deceptive in Antarctica. The faraway cliffs didn’t look any closer than when they’d started out. Baldy and Windy had swapped places so now Baldy rode on the back and Windy ran beside the team, and they’d stopped for a few breaks to rest the dogs.

Eventually the steep cliffs rising out of the ice looked closer and then Stay saw a battered green box come into view on a rocky hillside ahead. Windy looked back and pointed.

Baldy waved to show he’d seen it. ‘There’s Rumdoodle!’ he said to Stay. ‘Best place for a jolly in the whole of Mawson.’

It wasn’t long before they pulled up near the hut. It looked just like one of the shipping containers that the
Aurora Australis
had carried down full of cargo, except there were windows cut out of it and a door on one side, with a little porch. Stay saw it was bolted to the rocks beneath and held in place with heavy steel cables. She supposed that was to keep it anchored during a blizzard, and was pleased with herself for working it out. She was starting to get the hang of Antarctica.

Baldy unharnessed the dogs one at a time and ran them to a tether line near the hut. Each dog was secured to its own holding spot, out of reach of the other dogs. By the time he’d finished, Windy had unlashed the pack on the sledge that held the dogs’ food, and in a matter of minutes he had a block of Antarctic dog food, called pemmican, in front of each dog. Neither Baldy nor Windy had stopped to eat or drink, Stay noticed. The dogs came first.

She was glad, for the dogs were so busy eating that they’d forgotten about her for a while. Windy lifted her down onto the snow, and she waited while they unpacked the sledge and carried boxes and bags inside. Although the sun didn’t set, it was low on the horizon and the temperature had dropped. The breeze was picking up, and Stay could feel how cold it was getting. She wondered how the huskies kept warm.

At last the unloading was done and Baldy came around and picked her up. ‘Coming in? Windy’s got the heater going and dinner’s on the way.’

That sounds great,
Stay thought. She looked across at the huskies. Each one was curled up in the snow. They were all staring at her silently, except for Blackie.

He snarled in her direction.
A real dog, eh? No real dog goes inside. No real dog rides on the sledge. The real dogs are out here. We’ll be waiting for you, tomorrow. Don’t forget it.

Stay’s heart sank. Her chances of making friends with the huskies were more remote than ever.

That night a blizzard blew in and the wind roared around the hut, making it rock. When Stay looked out the window, all she could see was white.

Baldy, Windy and Stay remained inside all the next day. The gas heater made it warm and cosy, and the men read books, played cards and Scrabble and cooked up delicious-smelling meals and mugs of hot chocolate on the tiny stove. They spent hours unpacking the stores they’d carried with them and restocking the food supplies of the hut for future visitors. Windy, who was bored with being stuck inside when he wanted to go exploring, rearranged the cans and packets of food and blocks of chocolate, making patterns.

‘Check out this one!’ he said, waving a block of chocolate in the air. ‘The use-by date is nearly ten years ago!’

‘That’s nothing,’ Baldy replied. ‘We found a depot with old ANARE ration packs in it a few years back. The jam was over twenty years old. It was the station favourite for months.’

Windy opened the chocolate, broke off a row and stuffed it in his mouth. ‘Tastes fantastic.’

‘Chuck it over,’ Baldy said.

Windy threw him the chocolate. ‘I guess we’d better take all the pemmican back to the station,’ he said sadly. ‘Won’t be any more dog trips out here.’

‘Is it time for the sched yet?’ Baldy asked.

‘Yep. I’ll get it started.’

Stay pricked up her ears. Morning and night they made a ‘sched’, a scheduled radio call back to the station to report they were all right and check on the weather. When Baldy switched on the radio, they sometimes heard other field parties making their scheds and chatting to each other as well as to Mawson Station’s comms operator.

Stay listened to a lively conversation between Baldy and Windy and two other groups — one in the Prince Charles Mountains and another at Fang Peak field hut. She was starting to feel sleepy by the time the last radio sched came in. But she was suddenly wide awake when Chills’s voice crackled over the radio.

‘VJM-Mawson, this is VJM-3 sitrep.’

‘Hi, VJM-3. Hearing you loud and clear. VJM-Mawson standing by.’

Baldy held his finger to his lips and nodded in Stay’s direction. ‘Don’t mention Stay. Keep her a surprise,’ he said to Windy.

The radio crackled and Stay strained to hear Chills’s voice as he did his sched. ‘We’re still in the apple huts on Beche, surprise surprise,’ he said. ‘All fit and well. We’ll be playing a few more rounds of rummy if this weather keeps up. Next time someone comes out, can you bring us a jar of Vegemite? Beakie’s eaten the lot. Night, everyone. Out.’

‘Thanks, VJM-3. VJM-Mawson out.’ The radio went silent.

Windy peered out of a window into the whiteness. ‘We’ve got to head back tomorrow,’ he said. ‘Not much of a jolly.’

‘Are you kidding?’ Baldy asked. ‘One of the last sledging trips in Antarctica? Anyway, just getting off station is a jolly as far as I’m concerned.’

Windy started to make baked beans with melted cheese for dinner. A while after they’d finished eating and washing up, a loud blast ripped through the hut. Stay looked around to see where the noise had come from. Baldy jumped to his feet and started waving his book in front of him, while Windy kept reading calmly.

‘Can’t you go outside to fart?’ Baldy asked, holding his hand over his nose.

Windy shrugged. ‘Not in a blizzard, mate. You’ll have to put up with it.’

Baldy shook his head in disgust. ‘You must have been eating pemmican. You smell worse than a husky.’

‘Be grateful you can run in front of me when we’re sledging,’ Windy said. ‘There’s no getting away from husky farts when they’re pulling you on a sledge.’

Now I know where Windy’s nickname came from,
Stay thought. But she wondered how the huskies were managing. Surely anything out in the storm would freeze to death? Windy and Baldy took it in turns to go out and check on them and take out food and freshly melted snow for water, so they were obviously still alive, but Stay hadn’t seen any shelter for them. She wondered how cold it would need to be before Windy brought the dogs inside to keep them warm.

By the second morning, the blizzard had blown itself out. When Baldy carried Stay outside into the sunshine, she looked around to see where the huskies were. Snow lay thickly all around the hut like a white blanket. She couldn’t see a single one of them and started to panic.

Windy gave a whistle and suddenly there was a stir in the snow. A head broke through and there was a deep
‘woof’ that Stay recognised as Blackie’s. He pushed up until his whole body appeared, his fur covered in white like talcum powder. He gave a huge shake, sending snow flying in all directions, and then barked.

All around him the snow moved as the rest of the huskies woke up, broke through the surface, stood up and shook.

‘What do you think of that, Stay?’ Windy asked. ‘Tough little critters, aren’t they? Just dig a hole in the snow and sleep through the blizzard. But they’ll be desperate to get moving today after lying still all day yesterday. So we’d better get packed quick smart and leave for Beche. Christmas is coming and we don’t want to get stuck out here in another blizzard and miss it.’

He put Stay down in the snow and went over to the sledge. It had frozen in place and he had to lean on it and rock back and forth to crack the runners free. Baldy started to check the dogs, rolling each over on its back to inspect its paws.

For a while Stay thought the huskies might have forgotten about her, but when Blackie had been inspected and patted by Baldy and was standing again, he looked over in her direction and growled. Many of the other dogs growled too, following his lead.

Stay decided to ignore the huskies. It seemed there was nothing she could do to make friends with them.
The sledge was going to Bechervaise Island and she’d be back with Chills. He was the human who most understood her. She could hardly wait.

‘Right, let’s get loaded,’ Baldy called out to Windy. They both turned around and headed into the hut.

Stay watched them go inside and then heard another growl, much closer this time. It sounded like Blackie. She glanced backwards and saw that he must have slipped out of his collar. He walked up to her, his legs stiff and his head low, the way the huskies walked when they were about to start a fight. Stay tensed, hoping he wouldn’t wee on her again. It had been embarrassing enough the last time.

Blackie bared his teeth.
Had a nice time inside the hut? All warm and cosy?

Yes,
Stay gulped. She didn’t know what else to say.

You know nothing about Antarctica.
He circled her. The fur on his neck was standing up and Stay wanted to shrink away from him.
You can’t even stay outside in a blizzard. So don’t call yourself a dog!

Stay said nothing. Blackie kept circling.
You think you’ve got those people just where you want them, carrying you around, keeping you inside, taking photos, putting you on the sledge. Well, they can’t protect you all the time.

Stay shivered. Blackie’s growls were scary and it was a horrible thought that he was waiting to get her. She’d
seen how viciously the dogs fought each other even though they were on the same team — and she couldn’t fight back. She was relieved when Baldy appeared at the door, loaded down with bags, and started walking towards the sledge. Blackie scampered away and stood at his place on the tether line so no one could see he’d been near Stay.

Baldy and Windy went in and out of the hut with the baggage and stacked it on the sledge. Windy tied it down, working quickly to knot the ropes and pull down on them hard so everything was securely fastened.

Baldy headed off for a last trip to the toilet and Windy picked Stay up and put her on top of the baggage. He looped a rope around her legs, pulled it down tight and knotted it so she was held in place. Then he stood up straight. ‘Now where’s my camera?’ he murmured, patting his pockets. ‘Must be inside still. Got to get a shot of you at the hut, Stay.’ He headed back into the hut.

As soon as Windy disappeared, Blackie ran back to the sledge. He stuck his snout near Stay’s leg, sank his teeth into the rope holding her in place and started gnawing it. He braced himself in the snow and shook his head back and forth, growling. His teeth must have been very sharp, for Stay could feel the rope giving way beneath his attack. She sent a frantic thought in Windy’s direction for him to come out quickly.

The door of the toilet creaked open and Baldy stepped out. He was carrying a black plastic bag that was tied shut. ‘Are we ready to go yet?’ he called.

Blackie let go of the rope. Stay could feel that he’d damaged it badly, but it was still holding. He ran back around to the other dogs and stood in his usual place, his tail wagging and his tongue hanging out as if nothing was wrong.

Windy came out of the hut, clutching his camera. ‘We’re ready!’ He shoved the door firmly shut and stomped across the snow to the sledge. ‘Smile, Stay!’ he called, and took her photo, lining it up to get the hut in the background. He shoved the camera in his pocket and went across to the tether line. ‘How did you get out of your collar?’ he asked Blackie, grabbing the harness. ‘Bad dog.’ He walked him to the front of the sledge and attached him, then went back for the next dog.

Baldy came over to the sledge with the plastic bag. ‘Now where will I put this?’ he mused.

Check my rope!
Stay thought.

Baldy opened a box and put the bag inside, being very careful. Stay couldn’t get his attention, no matter how furiously she sent him her thoughts.

‘Poo bag packed?’ Windy said, looking up from the dogs.

Baldy made a face. ‘Can’t believe we have to carry it back to the station.’

‘It’s the new environmental protocol,’ Windy said. ‘A lot of things are going to change around here. Soon the satellite system will be working and then you’ll be able to just pick up the phone and call home. Nothing will be the same. And no huskies.’

‘Have you picked up the huskies’ poo?’

Windy shrugged. ‘We don’t have to take theirs back. There’ll be no fresh dog poo on Antarctica after the end of summer.’

Please look at my rope!
Stay thought again, trying Windy this time.

‘At least Stay doesn’t poo,’ Baldy said. ‘Best thing about her. Are we ready to go? Everything lashed tight?’

‘All good,’ Windy said. ‘Let’s go.’

He came around to the back of the sledge, released the brake and called, ‘Mush!’

There was a lurch as the sledge moved forwards. Stay wobbled a little, but the rope held her in place. Blackie hadn’t had time to gnaw right through it, she realised. Windy jumped on the back of the sledge right behind her. If the rope did snap, he’d catch her. It only had to hold her for as long as it took to get to Bechervaise Island, and to Chills.