Up at the top pond, all the animals had disappeared.

The old man who had been watching throughout the night had gone down the hill and Gammelnok was snoring contentedly in the long grass.

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Gammelnok was dreaming. He had just left the ice expanse and was resting in a small clump of stunted trees under which there was a deep carpet of moss and lichen.

Something was licking his face. A rough tongue. Gammelnok shook his face to get away, wanting to carry on dreaming. He was back in his village and his mother was washing his face, ready for a new day. Then she gave him a big push, but when he opened his eyes, it was not his mother but a fierce looking animal with big antlers nudging him. 

Gammelnok scrambled upright and scooted backwards to get away, but banged right into a tree. The animal followed and trapped him against the trunk with a large antler on either side of his face.

Now as we know from previous chapters, Gammelnok and animals normally get on well and are able to communicate.

We might not know that Gammelnok has a ferocious temper and a tendency to use strange words.

'Who are you and what do you want for the love of Bixemad?' hissed Gammelnok. 'Let me go or I will get really annoyed and let me tell you, that is not a nice thing to experience'.

'Calm down, I mean you no harm. I am a reindeer and believe me there are thousands more where I come from. I am part of a herd and we roam the top of the world year in, year out.'

"So can you make it rain?" asked Gammelnok. 'Or if it is really cold can you make snow?'

'Don't be silly, I am a reindeer not a rain-deer and by the way my name is Rudolf' said the reindeer. 'Come meet the others and I will introduce you to the herd master and his family. They are Sámi people and very friendly. Maybe they will let you join our herd. Come on get on my back and we will race to them.

Rudolf kneeled down, Gammelnok climbed on board and holding on for dear life to the antlers whispering to himself: 'vandcycle'. They raced across the landscape, Haversack flying behind in the slipstream.

Now this is where we leave Gammelnok for a while as he spent the next many years following the Sámi tribe and their reindeer herd across the top of the world, summer and winter, back and forth wherever the grazing was good.

Saami Reindeer

Sámi Reindeer