around. I pulled my pillow over my head. “This isn’t fair. Aunt Margaret said I could sleep in.”
“Never mind. You can sleep on the plane,” she said.
I lifted my head slightly and watched her shove my clothes into the suitcase.
“Okay, that should be enough shirts and pants, undies and warm sweaters. Oh, where’s your raincoat? I’ve looked everywhere for it.”
I sat up and stared at her. “Have you finally lost your marbles? What are you talking about?” I asked, now completely annoyed. “It’s a perfectly sunny summer day. Why would I need my raincoat? Mom, stop. Why are you packing my suitcase?”
Mom just beamed at me, then looked at her watch. “We don’t have much time for this, but here’s the short version. Last night Eddy called.” I sat up quickly and could feel my heart pounding under my pajamas. “As it turns out, the field school is in need of a cook’s assistant. Apparently, they had someone lined up, but after just one day he suddenly quit. Eddy said that as soon as she heard she thought of you.”
I didn’t say anything, just stared at her.
“Peggy! You’re going to Newfoundland!”
“What? But …” My brain was shorting out. “Cook’s assistant? I’m a terrible cook.”
“Anyone can cook. And besides, you made that wonderful chili for dinner the other night.” What Mom didn’t know was that Aunt Margaret salvaged what she could from the chili I’d burned and prepared the rest.
“Seriously, Mom, I can’t really cook. And even if I could, why would I want to go all the way to L’Anse aux Meadows just to get stuck cooking while everyone else was out excavating?”
“Look, Peggy, when you get offered a free trip —”
“Free trip?”
“That’s right. Eddy said the field school is willing to pay for your airfare and give you free room and board in exchange for being the cook’s help. The catch is that you have to leave today and be willing to start tomorrow morning.” I frowned. “Oh, and she did warn that the cook is pretty overbearing, but I figured that she can’t be much worse than your Aunt Margaret.”
I sat on the edge of my bed, hugging my pillow, not quite sure what to make of it all.
“Peggy, think about it. You’re not going to be cooking all day and all night. This is your big chance to actually see the place where the Vikings explored and lived … not just look at some artifacts in a museum case. And who knows, maybe you’ll be able to excavate with the students in your spare time. Peggy, it’s a chance of a lifetime and is full of potential!”
Though I still felt like a deer in headlights, I was finally starting to get the picture.
“Now get up, girl. Everything’s been arranged. I booked your plane online and it leaves at nine, but we have to be at the airport no later than seven-thirty.”
A half hour later I’d showered, finished packing, and was standing at the front door, waiting for Mom who was frantically trying to find the keys to the car. Aunt Margaret sat on the stairs, frowning.
“This is crazy, Lizzy. What mother packs her daughter off to Newfoundland on a moment’s notice? You haven’t thought this thing through. And, besides, what does Peggy know about being a cook’s helper?” She looked at me when she said that.
“I know, that’s what I said, too,” I agreed sheepishly. “But I do know how to peel potatoes and carrots. And, besides, you’re the one who said cooking’s easy.”
“Found them,” Mom said, rattling her keys as she dashed down the hall toward me and the door. “Sorry, Margie. I don’t have time to argue about this again. As I said, they were looking for someone who could go immediately. This is Peggy’s big chance. I had to take it.” She kissed Aunt Margaret and pushed me and my suitcase out the door. “C’mon, c’mon, we’ve got to get going.”
“Wait,” insisted Aunt Margaret. A moment later she came out to the car and handed me a book, Cooking Made Easy for Kids, along with a toque and mittens. “After your experience in the kitchen the other day, I got this cookbook as a little surprise.”
Oh, wonderful, I thought, just the kind of surprise every kid likes to get!
“Now that you won’t be around, you might as well take it. Might come in handy.”
I seriously doubted it, but did my best to give her my out-of-this-world happy look.
“You don’t fool me. I know you’d be happier if it was some book about bones or arrowheads. Anyway, basically it’s true, cooking is easy — if you follow the recipes. I stuck in GAB’s best chili in the world recipe, too. Don’t lose it!”
“GAB?” Mom questioned.
“GAB … short for Great-Aunt Beatrix,” I explained. Suddenly, all three of us were snort-laughing our heads off like a pack of piglets. When we finally pulled ourselves together, I asked, “What’s with the hat and mitts?”
“You’re going to Newfoundland, Peggy,” Aunt Margaret said.
I was about to remind her that it was summer when she put her hand over my mouth.
“Trust me on this one. If it’s overcast and windy, even summer in Newfoundland can feel cold. There will be days when you’ll be glad you have them.” Then Aunt Margaret shoved them into my carry-on case, and I thought for once it was best not to argue.
As we drove to Vancouver International Airport, Mom gave me my flight itinerary and all the instructions I needed to get to Deer Lake, Newfoundland, where someone from the field school was meeting me.
“I know it might look overwhelming, but you’ll be in the care of airline staff the whole time. They do that for underage travellers flying on their own,” explained Mom. I’d only been on a plane once before and that was with Mom when we went to Edmonton for my cousin Ava’s wedding. “So you’re flying to Toronto and then have a one-hour layover. From there you’ll fly to Deer Lake.”
I did the math on my fingers. A four-hour flight to Toronto, plus a one-hour layover, plus a three-hour flight to Deer Lake. “That’s not so bad. I’ll be there before suppertime.”
“Ah, well, actually more like bedtime — a very late bedtime. Don’t forget, there’s a four-and-a-half-hour time change, and, well … there’s a bit of a drive from the airport to the field camp.”
“A bit of a drive … like what, an hour?”
“More like five hours,” she said, wincing.
“What? No way! Five hours. That means I won’t get there until way after midnight!” I could already feel my sore butt.
After lots of hugs and kisses, Mom passed me over to a flight attendant who promised I would be in safe hands. I was lucky to get a window seat. During the flight, I spent most of the time with my nose pressed against the window, watching the Canadian landscape change from mountains to rolling hills to fields of wheat to what looked like an ocean but was really Lake Superior. I followed our flight path on the screen in front of me, too.
