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platform. Jamka would get the usual prod in the ribs if he snored, which he often did.
    Sulu lay silent for a while, then said, "Papa did not rescue us today. Where was he?"
    "I'm sure he tried if he thought we were still near home."
    Silence again from Sulu, then, "Will we die out here?"
    "Not unless I make mistakes."
    "What kind of mistakes?"
    "Fall off the ice and into the water. Get us mixed up with a bear." It would be easy enough to slip-slide down a hummock and fall in.
    "How long will we have to stay out here?" Sulu asked.
    Good question!
Alika had a choice of two answers: He didn't know how long, or he could suggest they might drift over to Greenland. He chose the latter. Give Sulu some hope.
    "I'd like that," Sulu said.
    "So would I," said Alika.
    Sulu was thoughtful again for a few minutes, then asked, "Why did we leave Grandmother Maani to die?"
    Alika was surprised. Where had this question come from?
    The family had been hunting toward the mountains last spring. There was snow nearby. Grandmother Maani was very old, and she told them it was her time to go. Then she sat in the middle of a small
iglu
as the family built it around her, without an entry tunnel. She closed her eyes as the last block was placed, and the family said words to her spirit and then they went on their way. It was Inuit tradition for the elderly to die alone, with no one nearby to interfere with their spirits. The family returned in five full moons to bury her body in rocks. Burial was never in the frozen earth.
    Alika said, "That was how she wanted it—one less mouth to feed."
    Sulu was silent again, then asked about Nanuki, once more thinking of death.
    Nanuki had died of something wrong with his stomach four winters ago. He was wrapped in skins and dragged up a hillside on his sledge. He was then placed in a sitting position in a big rock hole, with his face to the west and all of his personal possessions laid out around him. Sulu had seen the procession, Alika remembered. During the ceremony, the women expressed their sorrow by inserting a small bunch of dried grass into their left nostrils, and the men inserted grass into their right nostrils.
    "That's enough thinking about death, Little One."
    Jamka had begun to snore again, and Alika poked him.
    Sulu asked, "What shall we name our ship of ice?"
    "I have no idea," Alika answered. What would his brother think of next? "You decide." Sulu was full of surprises.
    "What about
Polar Star?
"
    "
Polar Star.
That's a good name," said Alika. The spirits would approve.
    There was silence for another few minutes. Then Sulu said, "I need to keep talking."
    "About what now?"
    "Anything. I can't stand this terrible silence." No wind was blowing.
    Alika sighed. He shook his head in frustration and tried to think of something else to talk about. Sulu had been on caribou hunts with their parents and other villagers.
    Alika blew out an exasperated breath. "Caribou live on our tundra all year. They have round hooves so they can walk more easily on the snow. Some of our caribou go south, swimming rivers after the thaw. Others go up to the tree line to winter. They dig through the snow for plants to feed on."
    "Tell me about wolves," Sulu insisted.
    Alika said tiredly, "Wolves move with the caribou herds. The caribou know the wolves are there and can do nothing about it. A wolf picks out a single caribou, and the caribou cannot escape. The wolf rushes, leaping at the caribou's neck and tearing it open. The wolf feasts on the raw meat while the caribou herd moves on. Then the ravens feast."
    Sulu said, "I've seen it."
    "Then you didn't need me to tell about it."
    Sulu said, "I know."

    The night would never be solid black. Even in the
middle of winter, there was always faint light below the
southern horizon. And each montk there was always
the reflection of the snow, the northern lights, and the
familiar moon shining down to comfort the Inuit.

8
    For almost an hour, in the scant midday twilight, Jamka had