Stay:The Last Dog in Antarctica by Jesse Blackadder Page B

refuelling was done, Nuts packed everything carefully away and clambered into the pilot seat again.
    ‘Now let’s get you looking your best,’ he said. ‘That’s no way for a celebrity to travel.’
    Nuts pulled Stay out of the mailbag and settled her properly on the front seat. He clipped the seatbelt across her chest and then positioned a pair of heavy earphones on her head. ‘There you go, dude,’ he said. ‘An official V-I-D. Very Important Dog.’
    He flicked the switches again and the rotors began to spin. Now that Stay could see everything it was much more exciting.
    ‘Ready for liftoff?’ Nuts looked over at her. ‘Now we don’t have an audience, we can really have some fun.’
    You bet, Stay thought.
    ‘Up, up and away!’ Nuts said. This time they lifted up in such a fast takeoff that Stay had trouble keeping her eyes focused. In a matter of seconds they were in the sky and she was looking down on Antarctica.
    It was majestic! Ice and snow stretched out as far as she could see, glistening in the sunshine.
    ‘That’s the Amery Ice Shelf,’ Nuts said. ‘Beautiful, eh? Now we follow it towards the sea and remember to turn left!’
    They flew across ice and snow for what felt like a long time, until eventually Stay saw the ocean ahead. It was a deep blue, sparkling in the sunlight. A huge rock formation was coming up ahead of them: three big mountains rising out of the sea around a frozen bay.
    Nuts dropped the helicopter into a steep dive to take them closer. ‘That’s Scullin Monolith. Biggest seabird breeding site in East Antarctica. Douglas Mawson landed there back in 1931 and claimed all this land for the British Empire. He was travelling by ship and I don’tthink he had dogs on that trip, but he was a great dog man. Used huskies on all his earlier exploration trips. Pity he ended up eating so many of them.’
    He laughed and gave her a punch on the shoulder. ‘Joke, Stay. No one will be eating you, don’t worry. No one will have a chance to eat huskies either after this season. They’re all going home. There’ll be no more dogs in Antarctica.’
    He pulled the helicopter up sharply and swung it into a swoop to the left. ‘Can’t go any closer than that. One of those special protected areas. I’m not allowed to go anywhere near nesting birds. I suppose I’d better get you to Mawson.’
    He picked up the handheld radio microphone and put it up near his mouth. ‘VJM-Mawson, this is Alpha-Foxtrot-Oscar.’
    The radio crackled into life. ‘Alpha-Foxtrot-Oscar, this is VJM-Mawson, reading you loud and clear.’
    ‘Hi, dudes. Me and Sierra-Echo-Sierra are about twenty minutes away. I’ve got a local celebrity with me, so you’d best have a greeting party ready.’
    Uh-oh, Stay thought. That didn’t sound like she’d be kept a secret. She hoped nobody else would pinch her before she had a chance to get out to Chills.
    ‘Looking forward to it. Thanks, Alpha-Foxtrot-Oscar. VJM-Mawson out.’
    Nuts clicked the handset back into its holder and looked down at her. ‘Well, girl, sorry, but the cat’s out of the bag. Or should I say the dog’s out of the mailbag?’
    The pilot seemed to find his own jokes very funny. But Stay didn’t mind. The sky was brilliant blue above them, the snow and the sea glistened below them, and, by the way Nuts was taking the joystick again, it looked as though he was going to show her some stunts before they landed.

Chapter 20
    Stay could see a small group of people waiting at the helipad as Bluey and Stretch landed their helicopter first. Nuts lowered the second Squirrel slowly and smoothly to the ground, touching down with hardly a bump, as if he’d flown the whole trip in such a well-behaved way. He switched off the engine and the rotors slowed down and stopped spinning. He gave her a quick pat on the head.
    ‘Glad you don’t have a weak stomach, dude. Nice flying with you.’
    He hopped out. Stay watched as people came over to greet Nuts, Bluey and