Dec 07.
Freddy’s eyes shone with excitement; he couldn’t believe how brave Polly had been. They were going to have some great fun over the next few weeks – he knew it.
Suddenly Jon’s sled stopped; ‘this spot looks good – ok?’ They had arrived at the campsite. Soon Jon would be opening his sled! Freddy decided the best thing was to tell Pat right away – he hoped he wouldn’t mind an extra person on the trip – an extra mouth to feed!
While Freddy was thinking, Jon opened his sled and pulled out the tent; then Clare came to grab the tent stakes and zipped the sled bag shut. Freddy sighed with relief. He was excited and anxious all at once; it would take them about 10 minutes to get the tent up and ready.
He could hear the tent flapping in the wind as the poles were being splinted; the stakes being driven into the snow to keep it in place; the shoveling of snow on the valances (skirt) of the tent to protect it from the wind, the saw cutting the snow for the kitchen… then suddenly, the zipper was pulled open again. Freddy gasped and swallowed hard. He forced a nervous smile. – Clare stood above him looking first at Polly, then staring at Freddy straight in the eyes.
