Holidays with my aunt in Spitsbergen and a criminal scandal. Big emotions and stunning nature [FRAGMENT KSI¡¯KI]

It was supposed to be a quiet vacation with your favorite aunt. Unusual, because in distant Spitsbergen, among reindeer, puffins and fjords. Twelve-year-old Daniel did not expect, however, that when he landed on an Arctic island, he would fall into the middle of a criminal scandal. Someone is killing polar bears and the local police are unable to identify the perpetrators. Is it possible to be idle in such a situation, especially when you have free time, the soul of an explorer and a journalist aunt who knows the island inside out?

Ilona Wiśniewska “A Friend of the North”, Agora for Children Publishing House – excerpt:

– You fell asleep, soldier. Good morning! – Auntie lights the stove.

– Yhm. – I stretch in the chair in which I fell off a few hours ago. At first, I am confused and have to remember where I am. In the mornings, I am usually more silent than usual. And it’s not about being in a bad mood, although it might be like that.

We’re peeing outside – I heard yesterday right after my arrival, so I go outside, where the cold immediately pierces me. I can see that the tops of the mountains are gone and the clouds are sitting on them like berets. The sky is gray and low, the windmill is not spinning and only now you can hear how quiet it is here. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anything like that in such a vast space. Apart from the trees, there is something else missing here. Yeah. Birds don’t sing.

– There was supposed to be a lot of birds here – I notice after returning to the hut.

– And there are a lot of them, they only mask themselves well. But there is only one singing, fact. – Auntie pours water from the bucket into the kettle and sets the cups on the table. – It’s called Snow White and it looks like a fluffy white sparrow. I have built a shed for them under the roof here, but this year they have not made a nest. They are very shy, they need peace, and I do small renovations here all spring and summer.

– And the other birds are?

– You will still run from them! Yesterday we passed eider nests, but you didn’t notice them because they lie on the ground and blend in with the color of the tundra. I’ll show you today on my way to town. You need to buy waders.

– So we’re going on this trip ?!

– Since the morning I have been struggling with my thoughts, is it a good decision, but if you want to accompany me, then … I think these bears need us.

– Yeah! – Until I jump with joy. – But then you will explain yourself to mom.

– Relax. I have ways on it. I don’t ask for details because it looks like my aunt has everything under control. The water in the kettle is bubbling while we prepare breakfast. When my aunt starts mixing the pancake dough, I wonder if it’s a coincidence or if she can just read people’s minds.

(…)

Today I am relieved to note that the dirt road to Longyearbyen does not bother my stomach anymore. We are going on the 40th, but we have to stop halfway, because a flock of geese passes in front of us.

– Barnacles come here in May and eat a lot first. – Auntie turns off the engine, because the herd stops in the middle and does not think about going any further. – The whole area looks like a strainer then, because they peck everything that can be eaten. Now the chicks are coming, but in a month the first flights will start and it’s just fun.

– Aunt, no one says “fun” anymore … – I sigh. – And what is actually happening? – I ask, however, because these geese interested me a bit.

– Chicks that learn to fly are very funny. You can see that they get nervous when they fail, show off in front of others and do it all in front of our eyes. Arctic birds live in a constant hurry, because summer is short, and they have to raise their young in time and fly away before winter. And winter, you know, even though it’s just over, may come in two months.

Finally the herd moves on. And while the last hesitant goose remains on the road, the Honda’s restarting engine prompts it to run to join the rest. We drive slowly and just around the bend we stop again. This time near the kennel. Now a lot of cars are standing here, dogs are barking, jumping or chasing each other down the runway. Rosie would like it here, I think, even though neither of them are Labradors like her. Rosa is two years old and I try to go for a walk with her every morning. Only sometimes I can’t wake up and dad comes out. Okay, my dad usually leaves, but I take her out after school and we go round the neighborhood. OK, sometimes I just let her out in the garden. We also have a female, Szprotka, but she moves out alone. She had been with us before Rosa, and at first she couldn’t believe that we had brought this monster home. Now, two years later, they are friends, they even sleep together.

Near the kennel it smells very bad, and to be honest: it stinks. It’s probably the first time since yesterday that I can smell any smell outside. Nothing smells in Todalen.

– Now watch your feet. – My aunt grabs my arm.

Between the pens and the road, only now do I see birds in their nests on the ground. Some are looking around, others are sleeping with their heads on their backs.

– But they found a place! – I say, amazed.

Eider nests near the kennel because they feel safe here. Look, the females are almost invisible in the field, the black and white ones are males.

– What are these nests from?

– Mainly down, which they peck themselves from their breasts, so the chicks feel warm like under a quilt.

– Aren’t they afraid of people?

“People are less afraid than foxes, because at least we don’t steal their eggs and chicks from them.”

At this point, the wings of one of the incubators rise, a beak protrudes from them, and then a fluffy head. The duck scoops the chick with its wings to keep it in peace, but it keeps sticking out in a different place. In the end, she gives up and no longer tries to run away, and the mother of the bird closes her eyes. We crouch next to the nests to look at them. We stay there until our legs ache. It is amazing that the ducks do not move a step, despite passing cars, coal trucks and a few people who also want to see them up close.

It is a pity that scythes in Poland are not so patient. Blackbirds are my favorite bird. I sometimes listen to them when I wake up before dawn. Mum says I can whistle as well as they do, and if she were a scythe, she would have come to my windowsill every morning.

Our watches, meanwhile, show eleven o’clock and my aunt orders her retreat. We still have to go shopping and get ready to go. This is the first time I will carry my backpack alone, but apparently it should not be heavier than the one on Tuesdays when I have seven lessons.

We drive into town and park in the square in front of the supermarket, which is called Svalbardbutikken. In the parking lot, my aunt meets a few friends. They introduce themselves, but I forget their names immediately. Anyway, they are so absorbed in the conversation that I think they hardly noticed me.

– Hear that? – ask aunt. “They found the fourth bear yesterday on the other side of the valley. They have all been killed in the last month. The first is about a hundred kilometers south from here, the second by the glacier less than forty kilometers from the city, the third is on the shore near Grumantbyen, it’s just around the corner. And now this one – so close to Longyearbyen that it was almost impossible no one noticed.

“Yes, everyone talks about it,” replies the guy with the red beard. – But nobody wants to take care of it. As if they had colluded. – I wonder who he means, I wonder. Inhabitants? Policemen? – I even heard one who said it was good, because bears are a threat to the inhabitants and the fewer of them, the better.

– What bullshit! Rather, there are too many people here, my aunt exclaims.

“I called Jens yesterday and he said that nothing will happen until tomorrow and they will investigate it during working hours, although it is known that it may rain and wash off the marks,” adds a very tall lady in a gray striped cap. – Who is this policeman? After all, nothing is happening here, he is not overworked.

So I was right, the point is, the police are not doing anything about the killed bears.

“By the way, someone must have known the local helicopter was broken and that they wouldn’t be looking for them from the air,” notes my aunt. – It’s not worth talking. You have to go out into the field yourself, because soon only these teddy bears will stay here. He points to the entrance to the store where a stuffed polar bear is standing. I see the other one in the souvenir shop window. “We’re going north with Daniel, maybe we’ll find out something, maybe we’ll notice something, because the others couldn’t dissolve into thin air. They must have a boat somewhere, they must have left a mark. Have you seen Birger?

“He was going to Vindodden this weekend, I don’t think he’s back yet,” the redhead says goodbye.

(…)

We pack backpacks for the next hour. Heavier things to my aunt, lighter things to me. It goes with: a tent, four thick sticks with metal tips, ropes and metal containers, dried fruit, food in bags, cooking kit, cutlery, first aid kit, satellite phone, sleeping bag with an air mattress and a change of clothes, including waders. I take my sleeping bag and mattress, my food and my clothes. Each of us gets a bottle of water and a thermos with tea, as well as sweets, which we stuff in the side pockets. I’m stealing one of these supposedly bad candies. Nasty indeed.

It sticks to the palate and I have to scrape it off with my fingernail. Aunt attaches two more poles for hiking in the mountains to her backpack, because they are said to be useful when crossing the river. I can swim, but I’ve seen in the movies that if you hit the current, it won’t help, and there’s usually a waterfall at the end of the river. (…)

– And now the most important thing. “Auntie is holding a shotgun in her hand when I go back to the cabin.” – This is a Mauser, which we take with us just in case we meet a curious bear and have to scare him away. Only I touch it, you never go in front of the barrel, you don’t come closer, it is invisible to you. And from now on it’s gonna be like a real trip to trust the guide, okay?

– Okay. And can the guide not call me a bunny on this occasion?

My aunt’s expression shows that it is not so obvious. When we leave the hut, we lock the door only with the handle, and I don’t even ask why not the key. I say it would be nice not to have an alarm at home or to lock my bike every time I leave it in front of the store. My aunt says that when she bought a bicycle here and asked for security, the seller said they didn’t have anything like that and almost took offense.

We go deeper into the valley, which could be seen from the windows. Everything seems closer than it really is. It is difficult to determine from a distance whether something is large or small, because there is nothing to compare it with. If someone can see me from a distance now, they might think I am an adult with a backpack, not a child.

I am now 158 centimeters tall, but I still only reach my aunt’s shoulders. They are with their mom of the same height and they both have a habit of resting their chin on the top of my head. Since I flew in, my aunt has done this three times. We are going at a good pace. We stop only when more and more small pink flowers appear on green tufts under our feet.

“It’s a stalkless mucilage,” explains my aunt.

– Sounds like a disease! – I shudder.

– It is also called blooming moss. It’s better now, huh?

– And why does it only have flowers on one side?

– Because it is a natural compass and it blooms from the south. If we suddenly get lost during the polar day, it will point us in the right direction of the world.

“So now we’re heading north.”

– To the northwest. You have to take the correction for the precision of the flowers. (…)

A Friend of the North – cover mat. press releases