by carole marsh · christina and grant crunched on pretzels and snack mix and gulped bottomless...

byCarole Marsh

Copyright © 2003 by Carole Marsh

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or copied inany form without written permission of the publisher. For informationcontact Gallopade International/Carole Marsh Books, P.O. Box 2779,Peachtree City, GA 30269.

Carole Marsh Mysteries and its skull colophon are the property ofCarole Marsh. All rights reserved.

Published by Gallopade International/Carole Marsh Books. Printed inthe United States of America.

Editorial Assistant: Carrie Runnals

Cover design: Vicki DeJoy; Editor: Jenny Corsey; Graphic Design: SteveSt. Laurent; Layout and footer design: Lynette Rowe; Photography: AmandaMcCutcheon.

Also available:The Mystery on Alaska’s Iditarod Trail Teacher’s GuideWinter: The “Wow!” Season

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1 A Long Way From Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Gold Dust Soup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Glaciers Galore! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Wild for Wasilla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Dogs, Dogs Everywhere! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 The Most Fantastic News! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 Hold on for Your Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418 Missing Malamute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499 Sourdough and Sick Dogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5310 Sigh of Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6111 Good News! (And Not-So-Good News) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6512 Busy, Busy, Busy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6913 Anchorage Ahoy! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7314 Gold—Gone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7915 Happy Trails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8516 The Big Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9117 Runaway Sled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9918 Moose on the Loose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10319 Safety Shock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10720 The Home Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11121 Finish Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11721 Reindeer Stew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Iditarod Trivia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Iditarod Trail Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Inuit Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Scavenger Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Write Your Own Real Kids Mystery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134Six Secret Writing Tips from Carole Marsh. . . . . . . . . . . 135Be a Carole Marsh Mysteries Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Excerpt from The Mystery at Kill Devil Hills . . . . . . . . . . 137Excerpt from The Mystery at the Boston Marathon . . . . . . 142

Contents

Christina was so excited to get out of school for yetanother trip with her grandparents and little brother,Grant, who was seven. She was nine years old and in fourthgrade and though she loved school, she always found the‘real’ world much more interesting. Her grandmother,Mimi, wrote mystery books and always took Christina andGrant along when she went on trips to do research abouther books. It seemed that most every time, Christina andGrant would get into some sort of mysterythemselves–giving Mimi even more to write about!

This trip promised to be one of the most excitingyet. Mimi was taking them to Alaska, ‘The Last Frontier.’She was writing a book about the world’s most famous dogsled race, the Iditarod.

They had all awakened very early that morning,

Yay! AnotherTrip!

To The LastFrontier

1A Long Way

From Home

1

while it was still dark outside, left Peachtree City–wherethey lived, and flew out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield Internationalairport. Their flight to Seattle, Washington took about fivehours where they had a layover before leaving forAnchorage. Christina had to set her Carole MarshMysteries watch back three hours to make up for the timedifference between Georgia and Seattle.

A layover is just another word for ‘hurry up andwait,’ Christina thought. It sure seems to take a long timeto get anywhere on the big commercial airlines. You haveto wait in so many lines and wait to be called to find yourseat on the airplane and then wait for the flight attendantsto show you the safety rules and then wait until the pilotstarts the engines and then wait your turn on the runwaybefore you ever even get a chance to get off the ground.

Christina liked flying in her grandfather’s little redplane, My Girl, much better. But My Girl would nevermake it all the way to Alaska. “So, a girl has to do, what agirl has to do,” Christina said aloud to herself.

They hardly had time to get settled in their seats forthe last leg of the trip before Grant whined, “When are wegoing to get there? We’ve been flying for days.”

“Grant, please stop complaining,” said Mimi fromacross the aisle. “I know hours seem like days when you’re

2 The Mystery on Alaska’s Iditarod Trail

To The LastFrontier

Last Leg OfFlying

on an airplane, but we’ve only got a little while before weland in Anchorage and then we’ll be on a whole newadventure. I promise it will be well worth the wait.”

“Let’s ask the flight attendant for some moremunchies,” Christina suggested.

Christina and Grant crunched on pretzels and snackmix and gulped bottomless cups of lemonade, as theywatched a movie and played card games of Crazy Eights.They giggled at Mimi and Papa as their heads bobbed intandem, snores erupting from their open mouths.

“This is going to be so cool,” Grant whispered inChristina’s ear, so as not to wake Mimi and Papa. “We getto explore Alaska and go to the Iditarod.”

“Yeah, but Mimi’s going to have the most fun,”Christina said sulking. “She actually gets to ride along witha musher on the Iditarod Trail in the real race and writeabout her experience. She’s sooooo lucky.”

“Musher? What’s that?” asked Grant, “Sounds likethat squishy stuff with the marshmallows that Aunt Cassidymakes on Thanksgiving.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.” Christina scolded, “You knowit’s the person who drives the dog sled in the races. But, Ibet you didn’t know that dog sled racing is the official statesport of Alaska,” Christina added.

A Long Way From Home 3

Last Leg OfFlying

EntertainingOurselves

“You always have to know everything, don’t you?”Grant grumbled.

“Oh, Grant,” Christina said. “I’m just kidding withyou.”

“Okay,” said Grant. “But I bet you didn’t know thatLibby Riddles was the first woman to win the Iditarod, in1985!” He pumped up his chest like a proud rooster andtucked Mimi’s My First Pocket Guide: Alaska behind hisback so his sister couldn’t see it.

“That may be true,” said Christina. “But, SusanButcher is a four-time winner and the first person ever towin three Iditarod races in a row.”

“Oh, you think you are so smart. But, did you knowthat the capital of Alaska is Juneau?” Grant asked.

“I know, but do Ju-neau?” Christina popped back.“You are so funny, I forgot to laugh,” Grant said, as

they both broke into giggles. A loud snore escaped from Papa’s mouth, and the

children erupted in laugher.Mimi snorted awake. “What are you two laughing

about?” she asked.“Oh nothing,” Christina said, sneaking a knowing

glance at Grant. They both covered their mouths withtheir hands, unsuccessfully stifling their laughter.


EntertainingOurselves

What’s SoFunny?

“We will be starting our descent into Anchoragemomentarily,” the pilot’s voice announced over theirheads, distracting Mimi just in time.

Christina looked over Grant’s shoulder through thesmall oval-shaped airplane window. She could see thepeaks of snow-covered mountains and the telltale aqua blueof glaciers. The sky was clear with billowy clouds thatlooked like the fluffy cotton that she pulled from the holein her pillow at night when she couldn’t sleep.

“Oh, great!” shouted Grant. “We’re here. We’rehere! I thought this day would never come.”

“You mean hour, right?” Christina corrected.“Whatever,” Grant answered, too excited to quarrel.As the airplane taxied in from the runway, the

children fidgeted in their seats in anticipation. Mimi andPapa gathered their things, picking up wayward playingcards, papers, and markers from under the seats.

“Be sure to set your watches one hour behind,”instructed the pilot. “You are now on Alaska Time,” hisvoice sounded smiley to Christina as she moved the handsof her watch backwards until another hour was erased.Wouldn’t it be great to do this whenever you wanted? Youcould just keep resetting your watch and play as long as youliked, Christina thought.

What’s SoFunny?

We’re InAlaska!


When the airplane came to a complete stop, Grantand Christina waited until they heard the bell that indicatedit was safe to unbuckle their seatbelts. Then theyscrambled for their carry-on luggage. Once Mimi was surethey had all their belongings, they stepped into the aisleand followed the other passengers to the front of the plane.More waiting, thought Christina.

Finally, they disembarked, thanking the pilot as theystepped off the airplane.

“Have a wonderful stay in Alaska,” the pilot said.“Oh, we will,” Mimi said, “We always have fun

wherever we go. It’s just part of having grandchildren.”As they stepped though the passageway, the cold air

hit them square in the face. They would need to unpacktheir warm winter outfits as soon as they got the rest oftheir luggage from the baggage claim.

Christina had the feeling of being in another countryas she walked through the airport with Mimi and Papa andGrant. She stared at the people around her. She’d neverseen so many parkas and flannel shirts in her life. Not tomention all the slushy dripping boots, snowsuits, hats, andgloves—it all seemed so strange.

Christina couldn’t help but think they were in for agreat adventure. A mysterious adventure, most likely, if this

We’re In Alaska!

Like AnotherCountry

6 The Mystery at the Boston Marathon

trip turned out to be anything like the other trips they’dbeen on with Mimi and Papa. Though this one would nodoubt be the coldest of them all. Brrr!

They walked through the airport, chatting excitedlyabout the newness of everything. Just a few paces behindfollowed a tall, dark-haired man with a moustache,matching them step for step being very careful not to benoticed!

Like AnotherCountry

Brrr!


The drive from the airport to the hotel was shortbut boasted beautiful scenery. The rocky mountainstowered into the sky, capped with icy white frosting likeone of Mimi’s yummy cupcakes.

Papa had rented a SUV, so they could all sitcomfortably and have room for all the luggage. It took a lotmore suitcases to carry winter clothes than it did theirusual attire of t-shirts and shorts. Plus, the SUV had thefour-wheel drive they needed to get through the ice andsnow.

After they settled into the Gold Rush Hotel, with itshistorical gold nuggets displayed in the lobby, Mimi, Papa,Christina, and Grant set out to find a place to eat. Theydecided to take a stroll through Anchorage and show off thewarm snow boots and parkas that Mimi had mail-ordered

Anchorage,Alaska

Gold RushHotel

9

2Gold Dust

Soup

from a catalog. No one in Georgia sold snow boots orparkas in March or any other time, for that matter.

The snow crunched under their feet. It hardly eversnowed in Georgia. If it did, it would melt almost as fast asit hit the ground, so this knee-deep stuff was new andexciting. Grant stomped up and down with each step,making loud cracking noises as the icy surface broke underhis feet.

“I’m sure glad we brought these parkas.” Mimi saidwith a shiver, as she wrapped her red fur-lined hood moretightly around her neck. The wind blew over the streetscausing sheets of fine powder to rush past them, like sandblowing off the dunes on a blustery spring day at the beach.Only a whole lot colder!

“Papa, I thought you said it was going to be darkhere most of the day,” Christina said, squinting from thebright sun.

“Yes, but that’s not until we get further north,” Papasaid. “Here, in Anchorage in March, they have abouttwelve hours of daylight. As we get closer to Nome it willbe less and less. I think Nome has about five hours ofdaylight a day.”

“Yuck!” Grant said. “Those kids must feel likemoles playing in the dark all day.”

Gold RushHotel

Cold Winds



Cold Winds

Let’s Eat!

“Well, I’m sure they’re used to it,” Papa said. “Theyreally don’t have a choice.”

“In the summertime, the sun barely even goesdown,” Mimi said.

Wow! Now that would be great fun, Christinathought. She wished that they had come in the summer. Itwould be really cool to have daylight for almost twenty-fourhours. You could play outside all night long. On secondthought, then they’d miss the Iditarod.

“Yes, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to fish orplay golf until three o’clock in the morning?” Papa said.

The kids laughed in agreement, but Mimi rolled hereyes.

They walked and walked until finally Mimi saw arestaurant and said, “Hey, here’s a place to eat. Let’s goinside and get a bite.” Papa held open the heavy woodendoor while the weary travelers ventured inside.

The hostess sat them in a booth by the window witha view of the parking lot.

“Boy, this isn’t really what I thought Alaska wouldlook like.” Grant said, his head hung low.

“Oh, just you wait, Grant” Mimi assured him.“Anchorage is a city, just like any other big city in theUnited States. We’ll see our fair share of glaciers and

mountains, just be patient.”“Even I knew that,” Christina said under her breath

to Grant, so her grandparents couldn’t hear. Grant kickedher foot under the table.

“Hey kiddos, let’s all fight nice,” Mimi said.The waitress approached the table and asked with a

cheery smile, “So, will you folks be having our Gold Dustsoup this evening?”

“Wow! What’s that?” Grant asked, forgetting hisusual shyness around strangers.

“Haven’t you heard that gold rush story?” thewaitress asked, then continued when they all shook theirheads. “Well, back in the days of the Gold Rush thatstarted in 1872, it has been said that a restaurant ownerearned more money than most of the prospectors byserving his Gold Dust Soup.”

“What’s a prospector?” Grant asked.“Those were the folks who came in hopes of

discovering gold,” Mimi said“That’s right,” said the waitress. “Anyway, the

restaurant owner kept a pot of soup boiling on the stove,”she continued, “And each time a prospector would pay forhis dinner with gold dust, the restaurant owner wouldmeasure the dust with his greasy spoon and rinse it off in

Gold Dust Soup 13

Let’s Eat!

Gold DustSoup


Gold Dust Soup

Mimi’s GoingOn The Trail

the soup. By the end of the season, a great deal of golddust had settled to the bottom of the soup pot and therestaurant owner closed up his restaurant and headed backto the ‘Lower 48’—much richer than many of theprospectors!”

Papa smiled, “That’s a great story. But, I think I’llstick with a good ol’ fashioned steak.”

Delighted, Grant said, “I’ll have the Gold Dust soup,please,” and spent the rest of the meal studying eachspoonful of the seemingly ordinary vegetable soup beforeslurping it down.

“Mimi, when are you going to go meet with themusher?” Christina asked between bites.

“Well, I thought we’d spend some time lookingaround Anchorage and then we’ll head out to Wasilla to thedog sled training camp to take a ride on the Iditarod dogsleds. That’s where I’m supposed to meet up with Mr. JoeRutledge, the musher.”

“I can’t wait!” Grant said.“Are you sure you don’t need me to come along and

help you on the Iditarod Trail, Mimi?” Christina pleaded.“Hey, that’s not fair!” Grant wailed.“Trust me, you two. If this trip ends up like any of

our past trips, you’ll end up with plenty of adventure on

your own,” Mimi said. “What is the Iditarod, anyway?” Grant asked. “I

mean, I know it’s a dog sled race, but how did it ever getstarted?”

Before Mimi had a chance to answer, Christinainterjected. “You remember Grant. It’s just like that story,Balto, we read.”

“Oh, you mean about the dog who saved the sickchildren?” asked Grant. Christina nodded her head. “Thatis one of my most favorite stories.”

“Yes,” Mimi said. “I think it was in 1925. A horriblevirus called diphtheria hit the children of Nome and thetown had to rely on dog sleds to travel from Anchorage toNome with the antidotal serum to cure them.”

“Dip-what-ee-ah-?” asked Grant.“Dip-thee-ree-ah,” said Mimi. “It’s the ‘D’ in the

DPT vaccine—the vaccination shot the doctor gave youwhen you were little.”

“Oh,” Grant said, vaguely remembering the ouchiesting of the shots at the doctor’s office.

“How far is Nome from Anchorage, anyway?” askedChristina.

“I think it’s just over one thousand miles.” Papastrained to recall.

Gold Dust Soup 15

Mimi’s GoingOn The Trail

What Is TheIditarod?

“One thousand miles! One dog ran one thousandmiles?” Grant shouted in disbelief.

“No,” Papa said. “They had a bunch of dogs andstopped at different check points and passed the serum onto the next dog sled. Sort of like when you ran that relayat school on field day.”

“Oh, cool,” Grant said, slurping his soup.“Remember when we went to New York and saw

Balto’s statue in Central Park?” Christina reminded Grant,as she dredged one of her last fries through a huge puddleof ketchup. “He was the lead dog that ran extra far andlong, something like twenty hours without stopping,” shesaid as she popped the fry in her mouth and wiped theketchup dribble from her chin.

“It will be awesome to see where the story actuallytook place,” Grant said, stifling a yawn.

Papa paid the tab, tipping the waitress extra for herfun personality and entertaining stories. She smiled athim, then looked at Christina and said, “Be sure to walk bythe National Cemetery in Eklutna Village National Park onyour way home. You may get to see some native ghostssearching for their long-lost gold.”

Christina’s stole a glance at Mimi who was standingand attempting to pick up a now sleeping Grant.


What Is TheIditarod?

NativeGhosts?

Native Ghosts?

Back To TheGold Rush

“Oh,” Christina said, sighing. “Too bad my brotheris already asleep. I wouldn’t want him to miss all the fun.Maybe we can do that another time.” She looked up at herPapa, hoping he would back her up.

“Yes, I think you’re right, Christina,” he said. “Wemay need to save that for another night. We all need to getsome rest to be fresh for tomorrow.”

Across the restaurant, sitting in a dark corner, thesame moustached man that had followed them through theairport ducked behind his menu. He quickly threw somecrumpled bills on the table, and waited a few minutesbefore tracing the steps of the four tired Georgia touristsback to the Gold Rush Hotel. What was he up to?

Gold Dust Soup 17

Room Service!

Going To SeeGlaciers

The next morning, Mimi woke the children with asurprise breakfast in bed.

“Room Service!” she exclaimed. She had orderedsourdough pancakes for Grant, and Christina’s favorite,waffles. Mimi and Papa shared an omelet and toast anddrank hot steaming mugs of coffee. Christina couldn’tunderstand why they would ever choose yucky old eggsover sweet fluffy waffles. Adults could be so weird!

“Before we leave for the dog sled training camp, Ithought it would be great fun to take you on a little daycruise so you could see the glaciers up close and personal!”Mimi said. “What do you think?”

“Yay! Yes! That sounds awesome!” Christinaexclaimed, dripping syrup on her pink pajamas. “Oops.”

Grant enthusiastically agreed, and they hurriedly

3Glaciers

Galore!

19

finished their breakfast and dressed as quickly as theycould, which was actually very slow, since they had so manylayers to put on. Mimi told them that by dressing in layers,they would create pockets of air to help keep their bodieswarm. They had to wear tight waffley shirts and pantscalled long underwear (the mere mention of the name sentGrant into fits of giggles), and turtlenecks, which Christinahated pulling over her head. After they put on gazillions ofother clothes, they had to pull big snow boots over theirpants, so the snow wouldn’t slip down in their shoes andmake their toes freeze.

By the time they all were finally fully dressed, theywaddled out like ducks into the bright sunlight and coldbreeze. Fine snowflakes floated from the sky like downygoose feathers, making Christina feel like she was insideone of those glass snow globes.

“Let’s see who can catch the most snowflakes ontheir tongue,” Christina challenged. They all joined her insticking out their tongues and tilting their chins to the sky.

“I won!” exclaimed Grant.“No way!” Christina said. “I got more than you,

definitely.”Grant dropped to the ground and started flailing his

arms and legs wildly.


Going To SeeGlaciers

What AreYou Doing?

“What are you doing, Grant?” Mimi asked. “I’m making a snow angel,” he said, as he swished

through the snow.Then the rest dropped to the ground and joined

him, leaving their angel masterpieces on the sidewalks ofAnchorage.

Finally Mimi said, “Let’s go, guys! We’ve gotglaciers to see!” She had booked a mini-cruise throughKenai Fjords National Park to see some glaciers.

The boat had indoor heated cabins, but outside,where Christina and Grant preferred to be, it was freezingcold. Even though the thermometer read thirty-sixdegrees, which is actually a few degrees above freezing—thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit–the wind made it feel muchcolder. That’s what they mean by wind chill factor. Today,the wind chill factor was six degrees below freezing. Brrr!

Christina and Grant ran outside on the deck andthen slipped back inside to warm up, only to head back outagain. Papa and Mimi took turns going outside with themwhile the other would take long slow sips from a shared cupof hot chocolate.

Papa brought binoculars in hopes of seeing all kindsof wildlife. The brochure boasted Dall porpoises, eagles,sea lions and otters, and humpback and orca whales, but it

Glaciers Galore! 21

What Are YouDoing?

AlaskaWildlife

ended up being too cold for wildlife. Christine and Grantwere content to marvel at the glaciers. The captain tookthem close to the active tidewater glacier so they couldhear it cracking and moaning like a squeaky old bed.

A tall man in a dark green hooded parka stood onthe deck watching the shoreline. He’d turn every now andagain, glancing in their direction. But Christina and Grantwere too enthralled with the scenery around them tonotice.

“Thank you so, so much, Mimi!” Christinaexclaimed, as they walked down the plank from the boat,her eyes still stinging from the cold. “That was the coolestthing I ever saw in my life.” And she meant it.

“Me, too,” said Grant. “It was really cool and reallyCOLD!”

“Well,” Papa said. “I guess we can just turn aroundand go home then, Mimi. What do you think?”

“No way!” both kids screamed in unison.“No way, is right,” Mimi said. “We’re off to pack up

our stuff and head on to Wasilla to the dog sled trainingcamp. Mush! On you, Huskies! Mush! Mush!”


Alaska Wildlife

Cool AndCold!

by carole marsh · christina and grant crunched on pretzels and snack mix and gulped bottomless...

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