The Polar Bear Explorers' Club by Alex Bell (life changing books to read txt) 📗

could perish or injure themselves. He’d become a bit obsessed with the topic since his father disappeared. He also, unfortunately, seemed to have an endless ability to recall gruesome facts, figures and numbers. On their first day of school, Beanie had walked right up to Stella and said, ‘You can die from eating too many eels, you know.’

‘Oh,’ Stella had said. ‘Can you?’

Beanie had nodded. ‘Yes. Dr Winston Wallaby Scott from the Ocean Squid Explorers’ Club died thirty-one years ago after feasting on eels at Salty Ridge Harbour. I thought I’d better tell everyone. Mum says being nice to people is how you make friends.’

Unfortunately, their classmates found Beanie a bit odd. Stella thought he was nice and odd. In fact, Felix said that all the most interesting people had a little oddness about them, one way or another.

Stella and Beanie found a clear patch of deck, where there weren’t too many sailors stomping about. The snow on the ground was white and crisp and sparkling, so they set to work and soon had a fine-looking family of snow penguins. Stella had just completed a particularly happy looking penguin mum to go with Beanie’s penguin baby when a familiar, cold voice said, ‘What exactly are those things supposed to be?’

Stella turned and saw Ethan Edward Rook leaning against the rails, watching them. He wore his black Ocean Squid robe and had the same superior expression on his thin face as before. His pale hair was brushed straight back, his collar was pressed and starched, and even here on the ship he looked immaculate. Stella felt the same prickle of dislike she’d felt before, but, remembering her promise to Felix, she said, ‘They’re snow penguins. Do you want to join us?’

Ethan’s lip curled. ‘Aren’t you a bit old for building snow penguins? They look more like snow lumps, besides.’ He flicked a gloved hand towards Beanie and said, ‘Who’s that?’

‘This is my friend, Beanie.’

‘You can’t be serious?’ Ethan replied, already curling his lip in disdain. ‘What’s your real name?’

‘Benjamin Sampson Smith,’ Beanie said, but the words came out so quietly they were practically snatched away on the wind, and Stella felt obliged to repeat them. Stella could tell Beanie was feeling anxious because he took Aubrey back out from his pocket and started to fiddle with the wooden narwhal.

‘I’m Ethan Edward Rook,’ Ethan said, looking pleased with himself. ‘I’m a magician, you know.’

‘I like jellybeans,’ Beanie said, desperate to make a contribution to the conversation but not quite sure how he ought to go about it.

Ethan gave him a puzzled look. ‘Doesn’t everyone?’

‘My cousin, Moira, doesn’t,’ Beanie said. ‘But Stella says that’s just because she’s a snot.’

Stella had only met Moira once, at Beanie’s last birthday party. He’d optimistically invited the entire class from their school and, as usual, everyone had made excuses, or come up with a sudden change of plans, or else simply didn’t bother to reply to the invitation at all. So when Beanie turned twelve, there were exactly two guests at his party: Stella and Moira. Moira turned her nose up at the jellybean birthday cake, saying it was babyish and Beanie was weird and that she didn’t even want to be there. So Stella called her a snot, and said she and Beanie would eat the cake all by themselves. Which they did, although they both felt a little bit ill afterwards.

‘I’ve got some jellybeans somewhere,’ Beanie said, fumbling in the pockets of his grubby cloak. ‘My mum gave them to me before I went.’ He drew out a handful and held them out to Ethan. ‘Would you like some?’

The magician recoiled. ‘Heavens, no! I don’t know where they’ve been.’

Beanie looked puzzled. ‘They’ve been in my pocket.’

Stella was strongly tempted to tell Ethan to go away, but felt she ought to make one last attempt to be nice, whether he wanted her kindness or not. She took a jellybean from the pile in Beanie’s cupped hand and said, ‘We should arrive at the Icelands in another week or so. Are you looking forward to the expedition?’

Ethan shrugged. ‘What’s there to discover? The Icelands are just ice. They can’t possibly compare with the secrets of the sea. Still, I suppose it will be dangerous enough, what with all the yetis stomping about. There’s a good chance that many of us won’t make it back at all. Even if you manage to escape being eaten by a yeti, many explorers before us have got lost in the snow and starved.’

Beanie flinched and dropped the remaining jellybeans, which scattered into the snow at his feet. Stella knew he was thinking of his father, lost somewhere out on the Black Ice Bridge. ‘You shouldn’t talk about starving at the start of an expedition,’ he said, nervously. ‘Dad always said it was bad luck.’

‘I don’t give two hoots what your father thinks,’ Ethan replied. ‘Magicians don’t care about silly superstitions like that. Don’t you know who you’re talking to?’

Beanie frowned, even more confused. ‘Ethan Edward Rook,’ he said. ‘The magician. You told us that four and a half minutes ago. Don’t you remember? Perhaps you’ve got a memory problem. That can happen sometimes, although usually not until you’re very old and have to take your teeth out to put them in a little glass by the side of your bed at night.’ He looked at Ethan and said, ‘Do you have to take your teeth out and put them in a glass by the side of your bed at night? Because I might be able to help with that. I’m training to be a medic, you see.’

‘Good lord,’ Ethan said, staring. He turned to Stella. ‘Is he an absolute freak, or just a plain idiot?’

Freak, idiot, weirdo, nutcase … Beanie had been called all of these things and worse at school, and it never failed to make Stella absolutely hot-blood-furious. Beanie was easily the cleverest child in their class – probably in the entire school – as well as one of