"Jack, you can get up now," said Annie.

Jack opened his eyes. Annie was standing over him.

She still had her mask on.

"We're on safe ground," she said.

Jack felt as if he'd been dreaming. He lookedaround. They had reached the tundra at the edge ofthe frozen sea.

The cubs were romping in the distance. But theirmother was sitting nearby, gazing at Jack and Annie.

"She waited to make sure we were safe," saidAnnie.

Jack stared at the polar bear in awe. The words ofthe seal hunter came back to him:

Always thank the animal spirits.

"We should thank the polar bear spirit now," hesaid.

"Of course," said Annie.

Jack scrambled to his feet. Still wearing his bearmask, he stood before the polar bear and pressed hishands together.

"We thank you," he said, bowing.

"Yes, we thank you forever," said Annie, alsobowing.

"We thank you beyond the moon and the stars,"said Jack.

"And beyond the deepest sea," Annie added.

Then she threw out her arms and twirled around.

Jack did the same. They both danced around in thesnow, honoring the bear. Finally they stopped andbowed one last time.

When they looked up, the polar bear rose up on herhind legs. She was twice as tall as Jack. She loweredher huge head, as if she were bowing back to them.

At that moment, the sky exploded. The nightbecame a giant swirl of red, green, and purple lights.

It looked like a genie coming out of a magic lamp.

The sight took Jack's breath away. He stared inwonder as the dazzling lights lit the tundra.

"Is it the polar bear spirit?" Annie asked in a hushedvoice.

As far as Jack could see, the sky and snowshimmered. Even the bear's fur shimmered thestrange light.

"No, it's not a spirit," said Jack. "There's got to be ascientific reason. I'll find out."Shaking, he reached into his backpack and pulledout the Arctic book. He took off his bear mask andput on his glasses.

By the greenish glow, Jack found a picture of thesky lights. The picture didn't c e close to the realthing. He read aloud:

One of the most amazing sights in the Arctic is thenorthern lights. The swirl of light is caused byelectrically charged particles from the sun strikingatoms and molecules in the earth's atmosphere.

"See, there is a scientific reason!" said Jack. "It's notthe spirits."Then suddenly all the dancing lights were gone, asif someone had blown out a candle.