I was looking for Sam because she had my book so I asked my uncle.

“Do you know where Sam is?

“I think she’s with the navigator in her office.”

“Why?”

“She’s made friends with the navigator and spends a lot of time with her.”

“What about John?”

“He’s feeling neglected so he’s taken to sulking in the galley with the cook.”

“Oh.”

I set off for the navigator’s office and when I opened the door there was a quiet, rhythmic beeping noise.

“And this is how you-“

“Excuse me.”

“Oh, hello, do you want to learn about sonar too?”

I was going to say no but the control panel looked pretty interesting. There were lots of flashing lights and moving objects. I could hardly count all the levers and buttons. Suddenly, there was a loud beeping and a bright red light moving towards a green light very quickly.

“What’s that all about?” I asked.

“Huh. What, oh, that? That’s nothing.” She hit a button and the noise stopped. “Actually, you better get ready for lunch now, goodbye.” She pushed us out the door and the only thing we could do was go to the galley for lunch.

As we opened the door to the galley we heard the sizzling of oil and smelled the warm smell of mashed potatoes, peas, and steak. There was John talking to the chef and vigorously stirring a bowl of batter. Portly was pushing the steak around in a skillet.

“And then she just goes and spends all her time with that crazy navigator.”

“Oh, you poor little boy, hear have a piece of candy.”

John took a peppermint and smiled at the cook.

“I think-“

Then they noticed that Sam and I had entered.

Oh. Well dinner is ready,” he said “help yourself.” And left the room.

This boat was starting to get boring. Originally, it was really fun, but then Sam and Jonny got bored of hide and seek and decided to get me as annoyed as possible, then run to small places where I couldn’t get to them to wring their little necks. Man! They get me mad. Currently I had chased them to under their bunks, but they were bound to come back soon.

“JacobJacobJacobJacob!” High pitched laughing voices interrupted my thoughts.

“Poke, ha-ha! Poke, ha-ha!”

“GAH” I yelled, “Go away and stop poking me!” John shoved in front of Sam and said, “No”. Just then I felt pounding on my legs and feet and realized that Sam had crawled back behind me and started punching me.

“Get off!” I jumped away from those smallish fists and hoisted John on my shoulders. I was going to carry him to Uncle Steve and tell him that John and Sam were being annoying, but as I started walking to the galley, I thought that it wouldn’t be very convincing if I was carrying John on my shoulders. On the other hand, if I let them out of my sight they would go and start playing a game, and claim that they had been doing that the whole time, and that mean Jacob was just trying to get them in trouble. AAAAAAGGGGGGHHH! This was torture! I put John down on his back and rolled him over at Sam. As soon as my hands were off of him, I sprinted down the deck, dropped down the ladder, dashed into my room and locked the door. I plopped down on my bed and grabbed a book from the huge pile. This was going to be a long trip.

Arriving at CaribbeanIsland

We have arrived at Jamaica. I really hope that my cousins don’t make this trip through the Caribbean Island. I tried to flick away the thought of it.

I thought and decided to take a look around. I saw amazing things, better than Grandma’s house in Florida which was really fun. I looked out at the beaches; it was full of palm trees and dark brown sand. There was a gentle thud, we docked!

I ran, I mean walked quickly, toward the exit and jumped off onto the wooden dock. I almost slipped because of the algae that were growing on the planks. My dad followed me along with Sam and John. “We are going to be here over night, I want you to watch your cousins.” My dad said. I gave him a sarcastic smile.

“Are you hungry, would you like to eat something? There are a lot of bananas here, and citrus fruit. Do you want any?” He tried to sound nice because he thinks my cousins are a pain too.

We went to go get something to eat; the down side is my cousins got to choose. We ended up going to McDonald’s. And it wasn’t one of the better ones either. I guess it was Ok, or maybe I just thought it was because I was really hungry. I had chicken and fries, although I wish we could have gone to a better place. After we ate we had to go back to the boat. I wished I could sight see more, but I had to go help with cargo. My plan was to help with the cargo but dad insisted that I play with my cousins.

“It’s better to play with your cousins then to break you back” Dad told me. Sam and John were being annoying and asked me to take them to get ice cream. Of course, Dad made me, and I had to use my own money too! After I got them ice cream, it was time to go to the hotel, where they will be staying the night. I’m glad that the rest was done with cargo, now I could go to the beach and do stuff by myself.

I walked down to the shore line and sat on a log, listening to the waves as they lapped up onto shore. I took out my book, it was so peaceful, and I don’t have my cousins around to disturb my reading.

When I got back from the beach, it was time for dinner. I had delicious fish for dinner. Dad caught some fish on the way here. I smiled, it was good.

After dinner, we went to bed. As usual, I had to share a room with my cousins, while the adults shared a room. As I was in bed, I hoped I would help with cargo tomorrow, like I hoped I did today.

It was like that the next day also. While everyone helped, I was stuck with the crazy cousins.

Soon it was time to go I was very relieved. It means I don’t have to watch my cousins 24/7. I looked out back onto the beach before I went on the boat, “It must be nice to live here all the time.” I thought to myself, and then I got on Endeavor II. “Where are we going again?” I asked my dad. “We are heading to the Panama Canal.” He told me.

We started the engine and the boat was off. “Turn the boat toward due Southeast!” I heard one of the crew members say. I started to wonder about how the Artic would be like. Would it be freezing cold, and would I notice it even if I still wore the proper clothing? I wondered for so long.

I snapped out of it only when my dad called me to help him with something. I stumbled to the other side of the boat to see what he wanted. My dad was at the edge of the boat pulling a thick rope onto the boat. He reached the last foot of line and fell over as if someone was holding on to the other end of the rope and suddenly let go. I ran to help him up but he was already standing and regaining his balance. “The rope was snagged on something under the boat.” He mumbled.

“Yah just keep telling your self that!” I giggled.

“You have a job to do; I didn’t call you over here to laugh at me. You are going to hold this rope while I push us off the dock.”

“That sounds exciting,” I mumbled sarcastically “I wish I got an exciting job.”

He jumped off to the dock and untied the rope from the wooden post. He quickly jumped back on as the boat started to slowly drift away. I gave him the rope then absent-mindedly walked away. I decided to go hunt for a good book. “Do you have any good books I can read, Katie? I ask the navigator. “Well, it depends; do you like books about underwater Arctic life? If you do, I can lend you a pretty cool book on it.” “Yes please.” I replied. Anything would be good.

Katie walked into her room and came out with 2 books. It seemed that they were both about underwater life. She gave me both, I said thank you. Afterwards I took the books and went to my quarters to read them, and before I knew it we were in the Panama Canal. I was actually surprised that my cousins didn’t disturb me.

As I went out onto the stern and tried to find my dad, I found John and Sam instead. They were playing Tag; I hoped they wouldn’t be here. However, I really wanted to see the canal, so I put up with them and looked off the bow of the boat.

I still can’t believe were going though the Panama Canal! It’s a terrific experience, but it would be better if Sam and John kept quiet and enjoyed the ride instead of yelling their heads off playing Tag.

“Can you maggots keep quiet and let me enjoy the view!” I scolded them.

“We don’t have to if we don’t want to!” Sue remarked. I ignored and looked out to the shore. It was beautiful! There were farms and forest land everywhere! All the delicious looking fruit trees stuck out of the rest with their red and yellow fruits. It smelled exotic.

I just wanted to stay here forever, and maybe I can when I get older. I closed my eyes and enjoyed all the sights and smells, or I was, when John ran into me. I felt myself slipping of the handrails of the boat. I was terrified when Samantha and John ran up and pulled be back. When I was onboard again, I turned around to look at them, they were smiling, expecting praise for helping me, but their faces fell when they heard what I had to say.

“Samantha and John Cook! You guys are the most annoying kids on Earth! Get a life! Start helping people for a change and not wrecking everything you see!” I snapped at them.

“At least we aren’t not loud mouths like you!” Sam snapped back and they both ran down to their room. At least there gone, I thought, but unfortunately dad heard us and came up out of his room, I knew I was in big trouble.

“I’m sorry Dad! John just pushed me off the handrails and I just got mad! I didn’t mean to snap at them like that!” I said quickly before Dad had a chance to say anything.

“Come with me Jacob” Dad said with an odd tone. Dad and I walked down into his room and Dad sat me down on the bed.

“Let me tell you something. One time when I was a kid, I always yelled at my little sister. We were always fighting, but not bad until one day when she took my book and I just yelled at her. It hurt her so much that she did not talk to me for a month. One day I was outside when a bear came into the yard. My sister was on the porch and I told her to get Mom and Dad. She said nothing, did nothing like she did not hear me, just stare at me blankly. The bear was moving in on me, but I knew that if I moved I would be attacked. I yelled at her again, but this time to shoot the gun by the door that we use for emergencies, but she still did nothing but stare. The bear decided then that I was a worthy lunch and charged me. I got up and ran in the house just in time, but the bear did score some points” Dad said sternly and pulled up his sleeve, uncovering a huge scar of a gash that went down 1/4^th of his arm before adding, “I got this right before I got on the porch, the bear reached out with his big claws and tried to grab me. I ran faster, but it was too late, his claws were in my arm and tore a big hole open. After that happened my little sister ran away into the woods one night and was never seen again. It is not me you need to say sorry to, but your cousins, it was an accident when John pushed you off, it is not worthy of you anger.” I sighed, knowing dad was right. I stalked slowly out of Dad’s room and walked up to my cousins. I opened the door to a crack to see what they were doing. John sat on his bed crying while Sam soothed him, a tear slid down her cheek. I opened the door all the way and Samantha looked at me. Wiping the tear off her cheek, she yelled,

“Go away loud mouth!” I sighed and walked in, sitting by John, I said,” I’m sorry guys, I knew it was an accident, I did not mean to snap at you guys. Will you forgive me?” Sue looked at me as if she could not believe what she was hearing.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a while” I said before leaving the room. I decided then that I was hungry; I went down toward the kitchen.

“I heard you had trouble with you cousins” Portly said, raising his eyebrows at me. “Just a little bit, but it’ll be ok as long as they forgive me.” I told him. Portly put a plate in front of me and on it was a sub sandwich, bacon, eggs, ham, American cheese, with salt and pepper inside of it. I thought it was pretty good. Portly was always making strange but good dishes. After I finished the good meal, I asked Portly why he likes to cook instead of any other job in the world.

“Because I knew that if I was a cook, I knew that I could travel the world in somebody’s boat cooking for them” Portly replied, with a strange tone in his voice, almost like he was lying. I shook the thought out of my head; Portly was one of my favorites to go to out of the whole crew. I went back up to the bow of the ship to enjoy the sights again. The water was churning as the boat raced down the canal. I can’t believe it was man-made! It must have taken a long time. There was a voice behind me,

“Sorry for calling you a loud mouth” Sam said suddenly. I turned around to see Sam and John looking at me. “No, I’m sorry for snapping at you, come here, let me tell you about the canal” I said. As soon as they were beside me, I started telling them about the canal,

“The Panama Canal extends across the Isthmus of Panama from Colon on the Atlantic Ocean side, to Balboa and the Pacific Ocean. It was built in two stages; 1881-1888 by the French, followed by the Americans, they completed it in 1914. During the invasion of Panama by the United States in 1989, their successful effort to remove the de facto ruler General Manuel Noriega from office, the canal was closed for the first time in history. It was managed for decades by the U.S. The canal was returned to Panama on December 31, 1999.” I finished, Both Sam and John clapped their hands, making me blush a bit.

“Let’s go to the wheel house!” John exclaimed unexpectedly. We all walked up the stairs to the wheel house. There we saw Captain Rick steering though the water.

“Hi Rick!” Samantha greeted politely, looking out the window.

“I told you call me Captain!” Rick scolded Sam with lots of anger in his voice, before taking his place back at the wheel. I rolled my eyes, he was so grouchy, I thought.

Just then, John ran up to the wheel and spun it off course, turning the boat toward land.

“DON’T DO THAT!” Rick boomed shoved John out of the way.

“WE COULD GET KILLED YOU DUMB LITTLE BOY!” Rick boomed again. John looked utterly hurt.

”I just wanted to go to shore and get some of the fruit on the trees…”John cried out, looking helpless and shocked by the sudden scold.

“WE HAVE NORMAL FRUIT IN THE KITCHEN!” Rick scolded yet again. Samantha took John out of the wheel house and down to their room.

“I just wanted to see what it was like on land…” John muttered hopelessly.

“Let’s just play a nice quiet game now” Sam said, soothing John for the second time today.

“I know!” I exclaimed, “Let’s make our own board game! I have cardboard in my room and I’m sure Sam has markers, and you, John, have the creativity!” I announced, watching the look on Johns face change when he heard me. We all agreed and I went to my room to get the cardboard while Sam went to find the markers, John was sitting on his bed thinking hard of what to do.

As soon as I got back, John had an idea.” Let’s have the people on the board be us and the crew! And it will have all the places of Captain Cook’s adventures across the sea!” John exclaimed.

With that idea, we all started, John making the pieces, Sam making the pictures, and me, making the path that Captain Cook traveled. As soon as we were done, we started to play.

“Haha! I’m almost to the North Pole!” John yelled happily.

“Oh ya! I’m almost to Australia!” Sam shouted back. Just then we heard Dad calling to come to dinner.

We all rushed downstairs to the kitchen for dinner, Dad was sitting on the far end of the table, discussing something with Uncle Steve while Rick talked with Portly, and the rest of the crew would come later for their dinner. My cousins and I sat down at the front of the table and looked down at our plates of fish. It seems like we have fish every night, I thought while Sam and John complained. I sunk my teeth into the fish. , I thought it tasted like salmon.

After dinner, we went up to our rooms to get ready for bed. It’s too bad that in the morning we’ll have left the great canal and gone into the Pacific. I brushed my teeth and said good night to Dad and the cousins before I drifted into a deep sleep.

I woke up with a start. Something, I don’t know what, woke me up. I looked at the clock; it was 2:00 in the morning. I groaned and tried to sleep, but then there was a loud thud like something big hit the boat. I crept up stairs and carefully walked to the bow of the ship. When I looked down I was amazed at what I saw. It was a dark night, and yet the water was bright with bioluminescence everywhere in sight! But that was not the reason I was amazed, a bigger-than-average Blue Whale was swimming right though the glowing water. It was singing, making wonderful noises. Just then I realized that we had left the canal and was cruising in the Pacific Ocean toward Alaska. The blue whale made another noise. I bent down to get a better look. I heard somebody approaching and I turned around to see John staring at the whale.

“What are you doing up John? Tell you what, come here and sit on my coat, I’ll tell you a little about blue whales. The Blue whale is a marine mammal and averages about 33 meters long and is believed to be the largest animal alive today. It eats things like krill and shrimp; it’s hard to believe that such a large animal eats something so small but still has the will to go on.” I finished, glad that I remembered my report on the whales in school. As John and I watched the magnificent whale disappear into the ocean once more, I noticed that it must be really early, because dawn was just breaking over the horizon and the crew would be waking up soon.

“Let’s go back to bed, we won’t want to get in the crews way, we will tell the others a little later about this wonderful experience.

About 12:00 in the afternoon, I went down to have lunch. John and I were going to meet the others down there. After a good lunch and after we explained what happened last night I took my cousins up to the wheel house. Luckily Rick wasn’t there and Luke was on driving duty. We went up and sat in some chairs by the window and watched as we moved on toward Alaska. It’s going to be a long ride, I thought. As soon as Samantha and John left, I took out my book and started reading.

The rest of the boat trip up the west coast was boring and uneventful. My cousins were just as bouncy and it was a lot like the trip through the Atlantic. I guess it was a great voyage but I’m not really a boat person.

Seattle to Anchorage

I heard the motor start and raced upstairs. We are in Seattle and we are going to Anchorage, Alaska. We were driving out of the harbor on our Endeavor 2 that was especially made for us. While we were driving out we saw Orca whales jumping out of the water. I was watching them until my two immature cousins snuck up and scared me death. My uncle came and asked, “Why are you guys screaming”. I told him that they snuck up and they scared me. He laughed and went away. That night the seas were rough and I got very sick.

Next morning I woke up and looked outside and there were no waves. Upstairs the cook made some pancakes and boy, those were delicious. At about 11:00 AM John and Sue came up and they were still sick. Out of nowhere my dad rushed into the cabin. He said “There is a big storm coming and we have to tighten everything on the shelves so nothing could fall out”. We started right away and we finished just in time the big waves came. We were already by Juneau, the capital of Alaska when we hit something. We went down to see what was happening. We saw a little hole and water was coming in. We called the engineer and he quickly sealed it with a special combination of glue and caulk. Then after that I went up and read a book called “Hatchet”. When I was like halfway through I heard some rustling behind me. I knew they were my cousins but I still looked and they jumped out and scared me again. I hit them a little bit and then went to read my book again.

When I finished it I went outside and looked out into the water and from time to time I saw fish. I had just remembered I hadn’t seen my cousins yet and I got a little worried because what if they fell into the water, or they could be planning to scare me again. So I went to the cabin and checked there then I went down and checked there. I looked everywhere and he could not find them. Then I remembered the captain’s cabin and when I was just about to open the doors Sue and John jumped out and scared me.

By that time we were already by the Kenai Peninsula so that meant we would be in Anchorage. So they got ready to dock in Anchorage and that seemed forever to me because my cousins always tried to sneak up on me.

Stopping at Anchorage Harbor and Getting Supplies

We arrived at the Anchorage harbor. It gave me the sight of my life. Not that I‘ve never seen a harbor before. But this one had every boat you can think of. I saw a barge slowly pass by with drums of oil. There was a cruise ship with tons of people getting on, and a tug boat drifted past us. Our boat —Endeavor II— drifted onto the dock. A gentle bump caused me to jerk forward. We’re in Anchorage. “Finally,” I sighed, under my breath. John rolled his eyes. I guess he heard me.

“Big whoop-di-doo! I don’t see what the big deal is!” said John.

“So what! It’s none of your concern.” I replied.

“Now guys, let’s stay on track” My Dad said.

What dorks my cousins were, they never take things seriously. Why did my family have to bring these snobby little animals of cousins?

My cousins and I got out of the boat and the adults unloaded. The Disastrous Pair started running around in circles, chasing each other. Dad called a few minutes later to grab a bag and get into the cab. I sighed and picked up a bag.

We went to R.E.I. ® to get our first batch of supplies. We walked around the store, looking for the right stuff.

I suggested that we go to Title Wave to get some books for the plane ride to Barrow. Dad said it was a great idea. My cousin pair thought different. “I don’t want to go!!” John wined. ‘Then respect Jacob’s opinion and go with the flow!” Dad replied. You go Dad.

I got my books we went off to the airport. Even John and Sam found something interesting to read! My cousins could be so light headed sometimes.

After an hour of shopping, we finally got out of the store and loaded into the cab. We went to the next shop to get the other things. Sheesh, I didn’t know shopping could be so boring.

FINALLY!!!!! We got done with the shopping. I was starving. “Can we eat somewhere? I’m starving!” I asked my dad. He thought a moment, and then gave in. “All right we’ll stop at McDonald’s for a burger.” Dad replied.

I finished my burger faster than the others. I was about to drink my soda when Sam said, “Why don’t you eat an elephant while you’re at it?” she sneered. I gave her my best glare. So what if I’m hungry. I can’t help it. I sipped the rest of my soda grudgingly.

We finished eating and went to go to the airport. As we drove there, the animal cousins started hitting each other. Too bad I was in the middle of them. I finally separated them and got them to do something else “more fun” to do.

After we got out of the car and got our luggage, we checked in. I sat down in an airport chair. Ouch. These are uncomfortable. Dad had a worried look on his face. I don’t blame him. I’d be worried too if I had to bring my only child to Antarctica, Arctic, and a lot of other places.

I got my backpack out and searched for my book on the Civil War. It’s a cool book. I’m almost done with it though.

Leaving anchorage/getting on boat

My dad said he made sure that we were on the big plane to Barrow. We went to the terminal where our plane boarded. Sitting out side was a little plane. I looked at my dad. “This is the big plane?” I said to my dad. I could not believe this was the big plane. Still the group of us got on the plane. I could not believe it, there was only 6 other seats left. In which 3 of them were filled up by 2 men and one woman. One of the 2 men was a tall man in a black business suit on and a short French mustache and a beret. He looked French. The other man was traveling with the woman both wore big fur coats and had black hair and tan skin. I guess that they were natives. The ride was long and bumpy; it felt like I was in an old car on a pothole filled road. As I sat and looked out the window and saw some big furry horned things that the pilot said were musk oxen.

The pilot also said that we were in Barrow and that we could get off the plane. It was really cold, if I stood outside I would probably freeze. We walked to a small building that turned out to be the airport. We grabbed our luggage and went to the harbor and got onto the boat. The boat was a huge tug boat, (called a Crowley Tugboat) in my opinion it looked pretty old but it looked sturdy. The boat had tires running up and down the side of the boat and one big tire that had been taken apart and attached to the bow. The name of this boat was the “Iceman”. My cousins and my aunt got on the boat while my dad and uncle went back and got the rest of the supplies for the trip. As we boarded the ship I noticed that the engines were running and that there was someone in the wheel house. My aunt said that me and my cousins could explore but not get off the boat. I immediately run up the stair to the wheel house and there was Captain Rick from the Endeavor II. A cold breeze blew threw and I shivered. He looked at me and said in a gruff voice,

“Where is the rest of the crew? Are we leaving today?” just then my uncle and dad got back with all the supplies. After a few minutes the rest of the crew got there. To my surprise it was the 2 natives, Frenchman and the fist mate named Luke were the crew. The Frenchman was the engineer. The native man was the cook. The native woman was the second mate. Then there was my family. As we left my cousins ran around in the cabins. It was vary annoying. As I got my down jacket on and all my warm clothes, I went out on the deck to watch our bow break the thin ice. I went to where the life boat was and looked inside the life boat out of curiosity. In the life boat was a bunch of blood. I almost screamed but I held it in. in the middle of the blood was a small crippled blood stained ball of white fur. I new it was a polar bear. I decided not to tell anyone about it, yet.

Our boat continued until it ran into a storm. I had gotten inside when the first of the wind started. Now it was a huge storm our boat was at an almost 90 degree angle. I looked out the window and saw that huge waves were breaking over our bow and coming onto the deck. Then the captain’s voice came onto the speakers, “Steve cook, William Cullen, and Jacob Cullen, please come to the wheel room.” I ran up the stairs to the wheel room followed by my dad and uncle. The captain pointed to the deck and bow.

“Our boat is icing up. The ice is knocking our balance off. I need you three to put on you rain jackets and warm cloths, and you’ll need the ice cleats to break the ice off the deck.” We nodded and went to our cabins to get dressed. Then the captain came onto the speakers again. “The ice chippers need to tie themselves to the ladders so that if they fall overboard we can retrieve you easily.” So we got the ropes and the ice pick and went out side. As we struck of the ice my dad yelled, “Get of the deck and hold onto something a huge wave is coming.” Then I saw it. The wave was twice the size of our boat and was coming at us fast. Then SPASH! I heard my dad yell and my uncle yell. And all the sudden I felt that my rope was tight and that I was under water. Then all my sight went black.

“Almost got swiped over.” “I think he’s coming round.” I opened my eyes and saw all the crew looking down at me. I sat up and my leg hurt like crazy. “Owwwwww!” I yelled. Then I looked at my leg it had a long scratch down it. My father said, “You let go of the ladder you were holding onto and was almost swiped over board abut when the wave retreated your leg scratched against a sharp corner.” I my head I wondered, ‘how long will it be before I can walk?’ as if my dad had red my mind he said, “You can walk in a few days. You didn’t break anything.” I was relived, I could still walk.

Our boat continued onward. We had all sunny and smooth days. When my leg healed my dad, my uncle, and I went back onto the deck and cleared of all the ice. My cousins talked to me like I was a hero.

“You were in the water.” said Sam.

“You took on a wave twice the size of our boat.” said John. I was not proud of doing this for it could have been way worse. I then went to bed

Arriving/Set up Camp

“ICE HO” My cousins yelled as I threw up off the starboard side of the bow of the tug boat. I rolled my weary eyes as my cousins yelled. I then looked off the ice covered bow and saw the ice my cousins were yelling about. I couldn’t believe that we were going on ice that was just inside the Arctic Circle.

We arrived at our destination ten minutes later. We packed our provisions off of the boat that seemed like they had 10 anvils in each bag. By the time we reached a flat spot a long way from the edge of the water, I felt like my arms where going to freeze solid and break off because of the coldness and the weight of the bags.

We started to unpack the tent and cook a minor meal. My cousins did not help at all by tripping constantly on the wires and tearing down the tents. They giggled continuously and never stopped annoying me. I decided to spend some alone time in a crevice in a little hill just up a bit from our campsite. I brought a journal and then started writing: We have just arrived at our campsite after very long hours on a tug boat. I am very fed up with my cousins and I am about ready to just leave! I wish my Aunt and Uncle or Dad would give some sense and make them to some work and leave me alone. I better get off to dinner now so I guess that is all. I then crunched down to the camp and ate some hot stew. I don’t think it was going to be that bad, not bad at all.

I changed my mind as soon as my cousins started talking and getting on my nerves again. I decided to leave and take a walk without them. I waited for them to disappear behind the tent. As soon as they did I began my walk through the freezing snow. I kept walking in the barren land even though the wind was starting to pick up. A chill ran down my spine as the wind blew the powdery snow down past my hood into my shirt.

I then saw a crevice in the snow and decided to take a look. I walked up to the crevice and looked into its icy depths. I decided to take a closer look. I took one more step but my foot did not lodge itself into the ice like normal. It slipped. I fell, and that was the last thing I remember.

I came back to consciousness in the bottom of a very large crevice. I tried desperately to climb out of the deadly hole. It was so rocky and slippery and wet that I fell. I gave up and decided to look around. I looked into the back of the crevice. There was a small hole in the wall that I thought an average person could easily fit through. The tunnel got bigger and bigger as I descended deeper in the icy ground. Now there was an eerie light coming from the end of the tunnel.

The tunnel opened up into a big chamber large enough for a 7 ft man to stand up. Light was coming from a kerosene lamp nailed into the top of the icy cave. I looked at the other end of the chamber and saw a cage with things that looked like marshmallows huddled inside. I walked over to it and then felt searing pain as a claw slashed through my left arm and I fell to the ground several feet away from the cage. The claw struck again but I dodged it and rolled away even farther. Then it came back, the magazine…. polar bears….poachers! I knew what was going on. I ran back to the crevice in which I had fallen into. I saw two faces peering down at me. My cousins! They saw my arm and screamed. I shushed them and said, “Are you crazy? Stop screaming like 2 year olds and shape up.”! The poachers could come back anytime now.” My cousins helped me climb out of the deep crevice with a rope they had brought in their backpack. I climbed out and told them about what I had seen and what had happened to my arm.

I stumbled through the freezing snow of the Arctic, clutching my gashed arm and tried keep track of my cousins at the same time. I tramped until we had reached the campsite. Looking around, I saw the small tents and the little fire pit. I looked into one of the tents and saw my aunt and uncle asleep, with heavy bags under their eyes from looking for us all night. I lightly shook my aunt’s arm and put a hand over her mouth. “Aunt Lucy,” I whispered, “My arm.” Her eyes opened wide and she quickly began to gather up her doctor’s equipment.

“Where are Sue and John?”

“They are here with me. Safe. They followed me out of camp. I didn’t know they were there! Honest!”

She then disinfected my arm and started to bandage the wound. “How did this happen?” There was a long and deafening silence. I sighed, knowing she would be disappointed no matter what I told her. I decided to lie. “I was walking around when the ice and snow collapsed beneath me. My jacket was torn through on a sharp piece of ice.”

Save the Polar Bears facts sheet

After Aunt Lucy had finished cleaning my arm, I told my uncle about the polar bears. “Uncle Steve, we have to go help the polar bears!” I said. “The poachers are going to kill them if we don’t.”

Once I convinced my uncle to come and help us he felt the same way I did. We started to get our snow gear on. The wind had started to pick up and my uncle thought it might start snowing. Uncle Steve told Aunt Lucy that if we weren’t back in a few hours that something happened, but he didn’t want her to come looking for us. “Bye mom!” said Sam and John. “You two be careful and don’t cause any problems.” said Aunt Lucy with a smile on her face. “Well, let’s get going everybody.” Uncle Steve said slowly.

When we were walking I knew that Uncle Steve was worried but knew we could save the polar bears at the same time. He didn’t say much besides, “Keep up you three” every once and a while. While my uncle and I were trying to be serious about the situation, my cousins on the other hand were goofing off the entire way there. They were hitting each other and making all sorts of noise. “Would you two please be quiet?” I yelled. “We are on a very serious mission to save animals and you think it’s funny?” They both looked at me with their eyes filled with tears. All they had to say was “Okay.” We went back to playing. We got to the entrance of the place where the poachers had the polar bears. “Ready everyone?” My uncle asked. “Yes.” I said looking into the icy tunnel.

We started to walk in. There were so many tranquilizer guns and traps everywhere. Our footsteps echoed on the hard icy floor. We were trying to be quiet but even when we tip toed it still made a noise. Sue and John were doing better then I thought they would but were still trying to touch things. “Don’t touch anything you two.” I said madly. “If we get caught we will get in so much trouble.” They just looked at me. We came to the cage with the polar bears. The mother and the two cubs were asleep. My uncle was looking around for something to get them out. “How are we going to get them out of here?” I asked. “We’re going to have to use a tranquilizer gun to get the mother away from the cubs.” He said worried. “But how are we going to get the cubs out?” Sue and John said. “They’re small so we could tie ropes around their necks and lead them out.” I said looking at them. “We can get the mother out by putting her on that cart over there.” I added.

My uncle went to grab a tranquillizer gun and went to the cage. The mother was awake now and was being very protective over her cubs. Uncle Steve slowly pulled the trigger and the mother didn’t do anything accept move closer to her cubs. She slowly began to wobble then she fell down and was a sleep. Her cubs gathered around her looking to see what happened. We opened the cage and put the ropes around the two cubs. “Now we have to get the mother on the cart.” Said Uncle Steve with a worried face. It took a while but we got her on the cart. Now we had to get out without any one noticing. I lead the cubs and Sam and John helped Uncle Steve push the cart. We had made it outside and stopped to take a breath.

My uncle got the mother off the cart and pushed the cart back into the entrance. We waited a while until the mother had started to wake up so the cubs wouldn’t run off when we took the ropes off. The mother was fully awake now and went to see her cubs. Once they had seen each other they started to walk away. We had to walk back to our camp which seemed like forever. Aunt Lucy was outside waiting for us when we arrived. “How did it go?” She asked.

“It went fine.” We said. ‘The polar bears are back into the wild and are safe.” Said Uncle Steve gladly. ”But wait,” Sam said” where’d the poachers go?”.

Poachers Get Away

We came back inside the camp to get warm after our journey to save the polar bears. It felt good to feel warm again. We were all huddled around the fire waiting for Aunt Lucy to get us something hot to drink. “So, where did the poachers go?” Aunt Lucy asked. Uncle Steve was about to say something but then paused with a very confused look on his face. “I really don’t know where they went.” He said with an eyebrow raised. “What do you mean you don’t know where they went?” Aunt Lucy said worried. “They could be out there poaching some other animal!” “You need to find out where they went before it’s too late.” Aunt Lucy yelled. “Okay.” Said Uncle Steve. “We’ll go back to the poachers head quarters out and find out where they went.” Everything was quiet until we left for the poachers head quarters. Aunt Lucy was worried and so was Uncle Steve. “Were leaving Jacob.” Uncle Steve Said. “I’m coming.” I said rushing outside. “Bye Aunt Lucy.” I said from outside. “Be careful.” She said while hugging my cousins.

It took only about an hour or so until we reached the poachers head quarters, again. We went inside and found a room that was almost filled with snow. There was a snow built table with a piece of paper that had a plan on it. The poachers were going to Antarctica to poach a flock of penguins. “Some how we need to get to Antarctica or the poachers could leave and we wouldn’t know where they were.” I said while holding the piece of paper. “I know.” Said Uncle Steve. “But how are we supposed to get to Antarctica.”.” We need to get back to the camp.” Said Uncle Steve. “Aunt Lucy needs to know.”

Our boat raised anchor and we were off.  We went on the same route as we did before.  I was glad that this time there was no storms or anything else.  Then we arrived in Barrow free of any dangers.

As our tugboat pulled slowly into the Barrow harbor I cradled my arm. It had healed a little bit but it still hurt. As we got of the boat I noticed that my cousins were a lot quieter than they had been for the trip. All of the crew got off the boat and we went to the airport. Although the two natives stayed the rest of the people got on the plane to go to anchorage. As we took off I looked at the pilot and the people on the plane instead of looking out the window. I noticed that the first mate was fidgeting with his hands and seemed nervous. At least I think. Our plane shook and we landed. As I got into the airport I noticed that the captain and the first mate shuffled out of the airport in a hurry.

Finally! Back somewhere warm! If you can count Anchorage as warm. The point was, I was no longer in the North Pole. My arm hurt like crazy when it warmed up though. Dad said I could get a better treatment when we got into Anchorage, so I was looking forward to that. Anyway, I was walking up the ramp to the station, trying to get on the other side of a grown-up than Sam and John, but they jumped on my suitcase for a ride. It was really annoying, but at least we were hopping in a car to go to the doctors soon.

The car dad rented was top class! It had big wide seats and everything that a fancy car would have; it’s almost like a small limo! I was glad the seats were big, that way I didn’t have to have a seat by my cousins, it’s not like I hate them or anything, but they get a little wild in a car. The drive to the doctor’s office was okay, a little boring because I forgot to take my book out of my bag and my bag was in the very back of the car.

When I got to the doctors office, I got a little nervous. I knew it probably won’t hurt, but was a little creepy. I walked into the doctor’s office where Doctor Scott was sitting on his desk. He greeted me with a smile and showed me to a room. He had me sit down on a table and asked me to show him my arm. I pulled up my sleeve and let him examine it. First, he put painkiller on it, which made it feel a lot better, then he put germ remover, which stung a little, then he took some bandages and started to bandage my arm with white cloth that he tied on my arm. It felt a lot better as we were saying goodbye, it’s like the trouble with the bear never happened! We all agreed to stay the night in a hotel and get up early in the morning for our plane to Hawaii.

It was early when we left, still a little dark out. We went to the airport where we boarded an early plane to Hawaii. The plane ride itself was pretty boring, luckily I had my book, How to Speak Hawaiian, with me, unluckily I finished it before the flight finished. Luckily the flight attendant said there were spare seats in first class and John, Sam, and I got to ride first class for the rest of the way.

It was so cool, going to Hawaii; it’s going to be HOT! As soon as we landed, I bought a bottle of water and drank it all. Soon we were off to look for Cooks grave. Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii was really cool. We went straight to a hotel and checked out before we did anything else. After that we went to the beach to relax and have some fun before we have to get to work again. We all had such a great time that we agreed tomorrow we would look for the grave. The hotel we stayed at was fancy and expensive, I felt rich, even if I wasn’t.

At dinner, we all enjoyed an all-you-can-eat buffet downstairs of our room. I had fried rice and corn chowder with fresh picked-and-made mango juice. It was some of the best food I have ever had. Sweet, yet not too sweet, spicy, yet not too spicy, tender, but not over-cooked. As we ate, we talked about finding the grave. After dinner, we went to bed. What was even fancier about it was that our beds were water beds, with fake but real looking fish in it.

At about 11:00pm, Uncle Steve shook me awake and told me to come outside. I went out onto the balcony that was by our room and looked across the town. It was peaceful, almost nothing stirred. Uncle Steve told me to look down, as I did, I saw Rick and his mate leaving the hotel with something in there hands. Uncle Steve said I should keep an eye on those two for now. I don’t know why, maybe they were just going for a walk. I yawned and went back to bed, wondering why Uncle Steve was suspicious of them. That was my last thought as I drifted into a deep sleep.

In the morning, we went down to the buffet for breakfast before we went to search for the grave. After a good meal, Rick, Uncle Steve, Dad, and I went to search for the grave. We traveled on a trail found his grave stone. There was as big and white grave stone with lots of inscriptions and details on it. It was amazing, seeing Cooks grave. Palm trees swayed in the breeze, making it sound like whispers whispering gently to me. I walked up to the grave and put flowers in front of the stone. We all walked up said kind words to the grave; I hoped that Captain Cook got our message. After that, we went back go to the hotel; I said I was going for a walk before lunch.

I walked down the Hawaiian beach hoping to find something interesting to do. I got a great idea! I went back to the hotel and got my money. I was going into town and looking around at all the interesting things to buy.

As soon as I got to town, I knew what I was going to spend all my money. I went up to a stall in a market that sold fruit. I bought a mango for lunch and continued on my way. I was passing right passed a toy stall when my cousins jumped out of some near by bushes and asked me to buy them some stuff. I got really mad, but I must have grown up a little because I didn’t snap at them for following me. Instead, I went up to the toy stall and got a stuffed animal for Samantha and a toy plane for John. I walked around with them a little longer before heading back to the hotel, we should be leaving soon.

As soon as I got back, I showed Dad what I bought, a hat for Mom, sunglasses for him, a T-Shirt for Uncle Steve, and sandals for me, and of course, Sam and John’s toys. Soon I was all packed and ready for the next trip, we were going on a boat this time!

Going to  Pago Pago

I couldn’t wait! We were getting on a plane to go to Polynesia. Polynesia is a bunch of islands in the North Paciific Ocean. Captain Cook spent twelve years sailing around the Pacific Island.  He had a theory that the Polynesians had originally migrated from Asia.  This was later proved to be correct.  The island we visited was called Pago Pago.

Dad said that we were going to Australia next.  Captain Cook was the first European to to visit the Eastern coastline of Australia. I begged dad to let us go to the little island down at the bottom of Australia called Tasmania. I liked to call it the Apple Isle.

“Flight 421 to Pago Pago, we are boarding now, repeat Flight 421 to Pago Pago, we are boarding now,” a woman called out over the loudspeaker.
“Good” I shouted, I was getting bored of listening to Uncle Steve telling the most awful jokes.
“Yeah we are going to a tropical island,” sang Sue and John.
“I can surf better than you Sue,” John spat
“Can not, prove it then” Sue hissed.
I whispered under my breath, “Those animals. They are so immature.” “Come on Jacob. We can sit beside each other on the plane,” dad said. Dad could almost read my mind; the thought of getting on another plane gave me the shivers. I have kind of developed a fear of flying.

We were half way through the flight when the boy in front of us threw up. I fell asleep after that. I had the weirdest dream ever. I dreamt that I saw Captain James Cook. He was in Hawaii at Kealakekua Bay. He was killed by natives. I woke up when I heard a voice say, “Ladies and gentle men, we have now landed.”

At Pago Pago

We had landed at Pago Pago International Airport.  It was amazing; the landing strip was on the water. Well basically, it sat suspended on the sea. We had to drive for hours until we got to our hotel (Sadies Hotel by the Sea), but it was worth it. It was beautiful.  The sand was shock white and the water was bright blue. I stared, totally amazed by this spectacle.

“BOO!” screamed Sue and John I had got out of the car and had jumped out and hit my head on the car door.
“AWW!” I screamed, you rascals they stared up at me, and then ran off. I grabbed my bags then followed dad.

A big man in a red suit opened the door for us.
“Thank you,” said Aunt Lucy curtly. We went through.
Wow - was all I could manage. It was beautiful, almost as nice as the beach. A woman at the desk gave us our keys and told us our room numbers.

I couldn’t believe it. I had to share a room with those little animals. We went and unpacked. Later, I went down and told dad I was going for a walk. I wandered down to the beach and wrote in my journal.

Dear Journal,
We have arrived at Pago Pago.  It’s beautiful; I have been sitting on the beach. John and Sue are so annoying. Tomorrow we are going to Australia. I can’t believe it. How cool! Well got to go. Bye.

I had closed my book and looked around. I saw a couple walking along the sand and a strange man staring at me. He was kind of familiar; maybe he might just look like…..
“HI JACOB” I turned around and saw Sue and John coming towards me. I sighed and got up.
“Mum had told us to come and get you for tea.” They laughed at my journal.
“It’s not called a journal it’s called a diary ha,” Sue sniggered. I walked away from them.

The dinner was amazing and dessert was a cream pie. Yum! We all talked for a while then Aunt Lucy had sent us off to bed. Sue and John asked what I was reading so I told them. They yawned and said “BORING!” so I kicked them off my bed and told them to go to sleep.                                                    .

When I woke up Sue was jumping on my bed and John was squirting the complementary toothpaste all over the bath room. I yelled at them and told them to clean it up. I went down to breakfast while they were still washing the bathroom walls. I had fruit salad then after we all finished (including the rascals) we packed our stuff and left for the airport.

We had been sitting in the terminal for hours until they called our flight.
“Flight DJ 372 boarding now, I repeat flight DJ 372 boarding now.” We got on the plane and sat down. Dad sat next to me, he held my hand.
“Don’t worry, just don’t think about it” he told me. I read my book and ate some plane food, then read again. It had got dark outside.

Australia

“Got to stay up five more minutes to finish my book,” I thought to myself half asleep.
“Ding, ding, ding, ding.”
“Oh not time to get up yet,” I whispered, disappointed while shaking all over in fright. I dropped my book in front of where my two foolish cousins were fighting and…
“No” I screamed, as John stepped on my book and ripped it to shreds.
“You foolish baboons,” I screamed at them both. I could tell that they felt very guilty.

“Flight DJ 372 prepare for landing in Sydney, Australia. I repeat prepare for landing” went a voice over the loudspeaker. I started to feel plane sick and my ears were popping. Dad told me to chew bubblegum but it didn’t work. I walked out of the plane; my ears were compressed with the pressure.

I saw a big building. Dad told me that it’s called the Sydney Opera House or something like that. I thought Australia was all bush, desert and filled with people saying ‘G-day mate’ but I guess I was wrong.

We got on another plane to go to Tasmania (the Apple Isle). I was so, so excited. I wanted to find out a lot about culture In Tasmania. We arrived in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. I really liked it but Sydney was much warmer!

We stayed in a place called the Hotel Grand Chancellor. Nearby was the port with lots of wharves, boats of all kinds including the ice-breaker Aurora Australis!

We went to a place called the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. There was an exhibit on an animal which many believe to be extinct, called the Tasmanian tiger. It made me cry. Then we saw an exhibit on the indigenous people of Tasmania. They are called Aborigines. The Aboriginal word for Tasmanian Aborigines is called palawa. I found out that one of the last full blood Aboriginal people was called Truganini. She and a few other Aborigines were taken to a place called Oyster Cove.

The next thing I did was I wrote in my journal:
Dear Journal,
Australia is really pretty. I have learned a lot about the people who used to live here and the people who live here now. It has been a really great experience but dad said it’s not over yet. Tomorrow we are going to the movies to see a movie called “Australia.” looks really cool! Well time to go. Bye!
PS  Sue and John are being the usual annoying selves! Bye

On Monday we went to a place called Bruny Island which is south east of Hobart. The beach we went to was called Adventure Bay. Captain Cook visited in 1777 and spent four days on the island.  Dad had organised to go on an eco-boat called the Bruny Island Charters. We saw a seal colony, a pod of dolphins and a wandering albatross. In the early years of European settlement Bruny had a whaling industry.  There were once four whaling stations but we only got to see the remains of three.

Off to New Zealand

We went back to Hobart and stayed one more night. The next morning Dad told us we were going on a special flight circling around New Zealand. He had got a cheap deal and couldn’t let it pass.  Captain Cook had been the first European to circum-navigate New Zealand and prove it wasn’t attached to a larger landmass to the south.

We left at 6.00 at night. We flew across the Tasman Sea to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand and then went south to the South Island.  We stopped to refuel and got some supplies at Christchurch. We flew over New Plymouth. Captain Cook had visited New Plymouth. As we flew around New Zealand I thought of my ancestor and how long it would have taken him to sail around in his ship.  And we thought our trip was so long and boring! The trip on the plane only took about 10 hours.  The next day we arrived back in Tasmania.

South to Antarctica

Captain Cook was one of the first to cross the Antarctic Circle.  He almost reached the mainland of Antarctica in 1774 in his ship the Resolution. However, he couldn’t make it because of all the ice.  We would probably be faced with the same problem.  The Australian Government was very interested in our journey, retracing our descendant’s trail and gave us special permission to join the iceship, theAurora Australis to take us south to Antarctica.  Special consideration was given to the crew of Endeavour 2 and they were allowed to join us.

The ship was to take about eight days.  On board the ship were quite a few scientists.  We met some scientists who were heading to Casey Station to drill for ice core samples.  They hoped to collect ice samples to research on climate change.

We saw the Hobart lights fading into the fog. Not far out of Hobart we entered the waters of the Southern Ocean.  As the ship moved closer to Antarctica, we wondered what was in store for us.

The captain warned us that a storm was about to hit. Lots of people were feeling queasy and woozy.  The crew handed out sea-sickness tablets.  Sam and John were feeling very sick and were confined to their bunks until they felt better. An hour and a half later we went to have dinner. Sam and John weren’t feeling so well so they didn’t have anything to eat..

The next morning I got up at 7 am.  I saw a wandering albatross gliding over the dark blue waters of the ocean. I walked around the boat looking over the edge looking for marine animals of any kind. I only saw a few fish. My Dad, Uncle Steve & Aunt Lucy come and said “Good morning.” They took me down to breakfast with my cousins. For breakfast I had scrambled eggs with bacon. Then I grabbed a mango and went up to the deck. Dad came up with me. He said that I should build up my blubber layer for the cold Antarctic weather. The temperature was already dropping.

Hijackers Hijack Boat

We were now on the boat. Everyone was just putting things away and looking around. My uncle heard a noise, so he went out on the bow and saw five or six men coming at him. Uncle Steve ran inside but tripped over a box and broke his ankle. I heard a scream and I knew it was my uncle. I went to Aunt Lucy and told her we had to hide somewhere, but when we went out the door the men were standing there with the captain tied up. “Don’t move.” One of them said. “The captains coming with us.”

A man went into the captain’s room and took out the radio. The radio was the only way to contact anyone and they had taken it. Four of the hijackers went around the corner and came back with the 1^st mate Luke and the entire crew. The hijackers just looked at us and left.

We were alone now. No captain and no radio. “Uncle Steve!” I yelled and went running down the hall. Uncle Steve was lying on the ground holding his ankle. “Aunt Lucy!” I screamed and she came rushing along with my cousins behind her. “I think his ankle’s broken.” I said, worried.

“How did this happen Steve?” Aunt Lucy asked.

“The hijackers came after me, so I ran, but when I ran I tripped over that box over there.”

Aunt Lucy went and got her first-aid kit and wrapped it up in a cloth. “We have to go find them, but your uncle can’t go.” Aunt Lucy said. “It’s either we go home, or stay here and go find the captain.”

Decide: Stay or Go?

Aunt Lucy and Dad decided that we would stay here and they would go look for the captain and the crew. They went and got their gear and came back to say goodbye to us.

“Bye you three. Be careful and take care of your uncle.” Aunt Lucy said. “If anything or anybody comes hide somewhere, Okay?” We all nodded and smiled. Aunt Lucy and dad went out the door and were gone.

We sat with Uncle Steve making sure he was okay. I made my cousins go every once and a while to get some ice for his ankle to keep the swelling down. Most of the time Uncle Steve just laid there and made some noises when he moved his foot. “I’m fine you guys.” My uncle said. “Your aunt needs help so I should go.” “Uncle Steve you can’t go anywhere.” Sam said. “Your ankle is broken and if you walk it could damage it even worse.” John said. “I don’t think he can even walk, you two.” I said, looking at them with my eyes squinted. “You two go get something soft so we can put it under his foot.” I said quickly. They ran off and came back with a coat. We placed it under his foot and positioned him against the wall with another coat.

A few minutes later Aunt Lucy and dad came back with loads of boxes and food. “What is all of that, you guys?” I asked confused. “We went to the poachers head quarters and took all of their food and their equipment.” Said Aunt Lucy. “Now they won’t have any choice except to come here and we’ll trap them.” Now we had to make the trap.

All these strange things were happening. I was suspicious; maybe there was a plot going on. I know it sounded silly, but I had been reading a lot of mysteries lately. I decided to do some detective work. I decided to start with the captain. I snuck off to his quarters. I tried the door. It was locked, kind of a lousy start. I concluded to go to the mechanic’s room and while I was there I could get some rope for getting into the captain’s room. The door was open and I went in. I flipped the light switch and an amazing sight met my eyes.

The whole room was a clutter with tools, spare supplies, and drill presses. There was that weird knife thing he had earlier, I took a closer look. The edge was serrated on both sides, but wasn’t angled. Duh, it was a machete; I guess I had been a little superstitious. I noticed, but failed to register the spot of red (paint maybe?) on the blade. It would take to long to look through the whole clutter so I decided to grab some rope and go. I found a sturdy length of rope and tied a board on the end. I also grabbed a hammer incase I couldn’t open the window. I went up on the deck above the captain’s room and dropped the rope down I climbed down until I was level with the captain’s window.

I stood on the board and held on the rope with one hand while I smashed the window with the hammer in my other hand. I swung back and forth and jumped inside. What I saw was worse than the mechanics office. Every thing had been upturned and there were many broken things like there had been a fight. I found the captain’s coat and the white fur had been ripped off the hood. Something white caught my eye. It was the fur of the hood except it was ripped up. I tuned it over and say nylon fibers. It was fake fur. Had the highjackers thought it was real and tried to take it? Were they also the poachers we discovered in the Arctic?

The Capture

We were all positioned in our spots as we saw dark figures crossing the snowy barren land. I was going to help push the lifeboat that weighed 1000 lbs overboard along with my ecstatic cousins. The men where getting nearer and we could tell that they were very angry by the way they looked at each other and by how they walked. I was very glad that this mystery was about to be over.

As the men neared the ship we all tensed. Even my cousins stopped shuffling their feet. I was nervous. The plan was that when the men came on board they would walk on the net that was strewn about on the deck. When they were all on me and my cousins would push off the block which was attached to a rope that hooked on to four comers of the net. Hopefully, the men would fly into the air with the net that was under them. This was the plan. The men had now reached the boat and were clambering up the port side. This was perfect! They were hollering

“Come out Come out wherever you are!” We did not say a word. The first mate Luke had now reached the net and was stepping on it. One of the men said,

“Wait cap’n, this may be a trap, we can’t risk it!”

“Come on you tulip, get your sorry soul over here!” Soon all of the men had walked on the net. Dad gave us the signal and we pushed the block over with a sickening creak! The next few seconds were hard to catch. I heard men hooting and screaming at the top ofthere lungs. I also heard someone say,

“I told you cap’n.” “SHUT UP!” “Sorry cap’n.”

I shouted with glee. We had done it! The men were all tangled in the net that we had placed on board. It had worked perfectly, we were heroes!

My dad walked up to the bundle of people hanging in a net above the deck and demanded, “We have a suspicion that you captured our captain and are holding him in a base some where around here.” He picked up a pile of snow and held it threateningly close to a poacher’s face. “If I were you I would tell us where to get our captain back.” “Don’t do it, Ronald!” called a poacher.

“We’ll never give in!”

“Uh,” stuttered the hesitating poacher, “I won’t tell.”

My dad ripped back the poachers face mask and shoved the snow in his face. The poacher endured it for as long as he could until my dad sprinkled snow down his neck. The poacher cracked and spilled the beans.

“Our head quarters are two miles north of the South Pole research base. There is a little hump in the snow and you get in by-”

The poacher fell unconscious as Luke hit him on the head. Our old first mate pulled out his knife and started cutting part of the net. We hadn’t thought of that. There was only one thing we could do, run. We ran of the boat and luckily my dad had a GPS so we could find the research base. It took a long time to run to the base but when we got there we decided to rest. The door was locked but we made our self a snow cave against the wall. After we took swigs from our water bottles we started the two mile walk to the base. We had seen many traps before us and we had to watch our steps. We supposed the poachers had gotten out of the net we set so we tried to hurry. We saw a hump in the ground about were the base should be but we couldn’t find any way to get in. John jumped up and down on the hump and nothing happened. I was angry. We had come so far but we couldn’t get in. I saw a loose ice block and I kicked it. It hurt my toes which made my mood even rottener. I stomped off a little while away and sat down. John ran over to me and said they had found it. I got up too quickly but lost my balance and stumbled back. I knocked and ice block back and fell in a hole.

“Oh my gosh Jacob, you found the entrance! We were just coming to tell you we found a smoke hole.”

I crawled along the downward sloping tunnel that was lined with a culvert. I came out into a large room that was just like any other bad guy hideout with wooden walls instead of snow. They had built a house under the ice and snow. There was a table with a safe in the middle and lots of rooms that I guessed were for animals, supplies, and weapons I heard a muffled snoring coming for one room so I tried to open the door but it was locked. I banged on the door,

“Captain, Captain Rick, are you in there?”

“Mmmph, rrrrr, mmmmm!”

My dad and my cousins had come into the room and looked around in surprise. “Dad, come help the captain is in here!”

My dad ran at the door trying to break it down. The door didn’t budge. I guess it was really thick to keep the meat and bait fresh. We decided that we might be able to break through the ice above him so we found some pick axes in the comer and the captain shouted so we could find the room he was in while we were above ground. The work of breaking the ice was slow and we knew the poachers could come any minute. We heard the ice creaking below us and finally my dad made us step back.

We don’t want to fall through when the ice breaks so lets stand aside and throw ice chunks at it. Captain Rick move aside and hide under something. It wouldn’t be any good if we rescued you only to burry you under a pile of snow.”

We heard an agreement from beneath our feet and my dad threw the first ice chunk. I broke through and the whole room of the ceiling collapsed. We had done a good job pick axing. Captain Rick was in a supplies room and he looked pretty sorry and cold. At one side of the room there were tool and the other side was polar bear hides and bottles of penguin oil. He could have huddled under the polar bear fur but it was disgusting and illegally poached.

We didn’t have a rope and the captain was tied up so he couldn’t throw us one.

The room wasn’t that tall so I lowered my self down as far as I could go and jumped. I fell three feet but I was okay. I untied the captains bonds and took out his gag. “Thanks,” He praised, “I thought I would be there forev-”

“Yeah, Yeah. We better get going because the poachers are coming.” I grabbed a rope from the tool section of the room and threw it up to my dad. I tied the captain to it in a sort of a harness because he was to cold and weak to climb. My dad hauled him up and lowered the rope again. I scampered to the top but then we didn’t know what to do. We couldn’t go back to the boat or the poachers would get us. We decided to try and break into the research center. Just then we heard the roar of an engine and coming towards us was a troop of large strange looking snow machines. They stopped by us and asked, “Are

you William and Jacob Cullen? Are you Sam and John Cook? Are you captain Rick McAllen?

“Yes.” Was the unison reply.

“We are the New Zealand law enforcement and your wife called because you didn’t come into port on schedule and she couldn’t contact you aside from a GPS which showed you were in Antarctica. There have been rumors of hijacking poachers around so she paid for and investigation. If you will lead us to the poachers we will capture them and take you back to New Zealand.”

Epilogue

Jacob, his dad, and the captain told the police that the poachers were on there way from the boat to their headquarters. The police laid and ambush in the poachers’ underground base and when the poachers came by the police jumped out and surrounded them.  Jacob and a policeman with a snow machine went and got the rest of the crew and family on the Aurora Austrailis. We drove the poachers to the police boat and took them to an international prison for the courts to deal justice to them later. Jacob and his family, now glad that their adventure was over, flew from New Zealand to Oklahoma. When they were back home Jacob stayed home for days on end relaxing in bed overjoyed that finally he was away from his cousins. Jacob decided to write his own book about the travels. After four years, he finished the book and became an author. He went on to write three more books that all contained exciting adventures almost as good as this one. When Captain Rick recovered from his time stuck in the poacher base he decided to educate other ship captains about what to do in emergencies involving highjackers. The government hired him to train oil tanker crews going to the Persian Gulf about how to deal with pirate attacks.

THE END

Here are some more fact stops from the Alaska kids

Adelie Penguins are much more at home in the water then in the air. Instead of wings penguins have flippers that they use as paddles. Penguin’s feathers are waterproof that keeps a penguin dry no matter how long it is in the water.

All 18 different species of penguins live south of the equator, in areas where there are cold currents of water in the ocean. Some kinds of penguins make their homes in the cold waters that flow near Australia and New Zealand.

The first thing a pair of penguins would do is build a nest. To make a nest they make a hollow in the ground. The Adelie penguins build nests in rocky frozen ground. Both male and female lie down on the ground and use the warmth of their bodies to thaw a spot for their nest. When their nests are finished Adelie penguins start their courtship and mating.