Snowy Wishes (6 page)

Sea Princess
docked at a small port the next morning and Robyn, Storm, and her parents made their way to a
smaller boat, which was waiting to take them to see a large glacier.

Passengers piled into the boat and lined the rails. Robyn looked down into the dark, freezing water, which was so much closer to them on this small boat, and shivered. It looked very cold and very scary—she held on to the boat rail as it set off. On the way to the ice cap, the vast, frozen expanse that stretched its arms down into a number of deep valleys, they sailed between islets and skerries.

Robyn was waiting excitedly for her first-ever glimpse of a glacier.

“We should see it in a minute,” she whispered to Storm, who was in her shoulder bag.

Storm nodded.

Robyn was unprepared for the amazing sight that met her eyes. The frozen river, cutting through the huge snowcapped mountains, ended in a breathtaking wall of towering ice, which was reflected in the sea.

“Oh my gosh!” Robyn’s jaw dropped. “That’s awesome!”

Sounds of cracking, like pistol shots, rang out in the still air and some of the passengers looked worried. Storm whimpered, and Robyn glanced down to where he sat with his front paws looped over the bag. He was twitching his ears nervously.

“That noise is just the sound of boulders getting crunched under the ice,” the guide explained to the worried passengers.

“Did you hear what that man said? It’s nothing to be scared about,” Robyn whispered reassuringly to Storm. But when he continued to stare at the glacier intently, she frowned. “Storm? Did you hear me?”

There was an extra loud
bang!
and an ominous grinding sound—Storm’s entire
fluffy white body tensed, and his hackles rose along his back. “There is great danger!” he barked urgently, leaping down on to the deck.

Robyn felt a familiar warm prickling flow down her spine as big golden sparks bloomed in Storm’s fluffy white fur and his ears sparked with electricity. Suddenly, the little boat shot forward in a dazzling burst of speed.

Robyn grabbed hold of the rail again and clung on for dear life.

Storm whimpered as his claws skittered across the deck, and he slid toward the rail, about to fall overboard into the freezing, bottomless sea.

Robyn acted without thinking. Still hanging on with one hand, she swooped down and reached out.
For one heart-stopping moment, she thought she had lost Storm. But then her fingers closed on the scruff of his neck. Yes! Robyn hauled the terrified puppy to safety and tucked his trembling little form safely back inside her bag.

“Thank you for saving me, Robyn!” Storm
barked, looking up at her gratefully with his big blue eyes.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” she replied, trying to stay on her feet and steady her shoulder bag at the same time.

The other passengers were bracing themselves as best they could as the small boat suddenly zoomed back out to sea in a shower of golden sparkles before stopping abruptly near one of the small islets.

“Storm! What’s going on?” Robyn asked in a shaky voice.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous cracking sound, and massive slabs of ice parted from the glacier and dropped into the sea with a resounding
splash!
To everyone’s horror, a huge tidal wave began rushing toward the boat.

Robyn felt the color drain from her face as the wall of water bore down on them with the speed of an express train.

Storm calmly lifted both front paws and sent another fountain of sparks whooshing across the sea at the tidal wave, which immediately sank without a trace. The small boat rocked gently as normal-sized waves brushed harmlessly against its sides.

No one else could have seen Storm’s magic, and the stunned passengers all began speaking at once.

Robyn looked down fondly at her little friend. “You were amazing, Storm! We could all have been really badly hurt, and you nearly were. Thank you.”

Storm gave a little shake as every last spark faded from his thick fur. “I am
glad I was able to help.”

“Are you all right, honey?” asked Robyn’s dad, putting his arm around her shoulders. “I’m a bit shaken up myself!”

“I’m fine now,” Robyn said.

Beside them, Robyn’s mom shuddered. “I dread to think what would have happened if we’d been right under
the glacier when that sheet of ice fell off! Thank goodness the captain had the presence of mind to put on a burst of speed.”

“Whoever was responsible for saving us was very brave, wasn’t he?” Robyn said meaningfully, reaching one hand into her bag to stroke Storm’s warm fur.

She felt so proud of her friend. It was just a shame that no one else would ever know how wonderful he was.

Robyn stood on deck, bathed in the night’s moonlight, with Storm cuddled in her arms inside her coat. She was still a little nervous after saving Storm the other day and was determined to keep her little friend safe.

It had grown colder as
Sea Princess
steamed further north, and this was the coldest weather Robyn had ever
experienced. The icy air prickled inside her nose as she breathed in. It was a strange sensation.

Storm’s ears were pricked up, and his breath fogged in the air as he gazed up at the millions of silver stars that seemed so close you could reach out and touch them.

“
Brrr!
” Robyn said, trying to hide a shiver. She was thinking of going inside to get warm, but the tiny puppy was obviously having such a good time that she didn’t want to spoil his enjoyment.

“You are cold, Robyn,” Storm noticed. “I will make you warm.”

A familiar warm tickling sensation ran down Robyn’s backbone as tiny gold sparks bloomed deep within his fluffy white coat. Instantly, she felt a thick layer of fur lining her jeans, her jacket, and even her gloves, and she was as warm as toast.

“Thanks, Storm, that’s much better. Oh, look!” Robyn breathed in wonder as a shifting curtain of glowing greenish lights appeared and began rippling across the clear winter sky. “Those must
be the Northern Lights. Aren’t they amazing?”

“They are like the lights of my homeland. We often see them in the sky,” Storm woofed softly, sounding a little sad.

Robyn wondered what Storm’s home world was like. Perhaps it was a land of ice and snow, too. It must be a strange and wild place, where the great magical wolves that lived there fought over their lands. She felt a pang as she thought that Storm might be homesick and thinking of his wounded mother and the scattered Moon-claw pack.

Bowing her head, Robyn kissed the top of Storm’s silky little head and held him close.

“Robyn? Is it really you?” called a voice.

Robyn almost jumped out of her skin. She spun round to see the slim, dark-haired girl from the knitwear shop standing there with a broad smile on her face.

“Krista!” she said delightedly. “What are you doing here?”

Krista smiled. She wore a red parka with a fur-trimmed hood. “I am on my way back home, with my uncle and aunt. I did not realize that you were on a cruise around the coast. We use the coastal steamers, like
Sea Princess,
as local ferries to get around.”

Robyn remembered seeing that
Sea Princess
had a ferry and car deck. “Where do you live? Is it very far
away?” she asked, hoping that there might be time for her and Storm to get to know Krista better.

Krista told her. “We will reach the port in two days, on Christmas Eve. My village is a short distance inland. I live there with my mother and father, my brothers and sisters, my aunts, uncles and cousins, and all the rest of my family.
I will be very glad to see them again.”

“You live with
all
of your family?” Robyn asked curiously. She did get a bit lonely with her dad away a lot of the time, but Robyn wasn’t sure she’d want to live with a whole lot of other people. “Do you travel around a lot after your reindeer herds? Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound nosy. I’m just interested,” she said, blushing as she realized that she seemed to be asking lots of questions.

Krista laughed. “That is all right. At this time of the year, we live in houses, but others, like my grandmother and grandfather prefer to live in a
lavvo—
that’s a traditional tent,” she explained. “Lots of other Sami families live in the village, too. We make things to sell, until the season for calves to be born,
and then everyone helps out with the hard work.”