The last place he’d expect to find a group of frum families is the north pole, but this place looks like his family’s last Chanukah party

Eli: Well, we managed to escape the polar bear.

Nellie: Thanks to Eli’s quick thinking and my quick running!

Squizzle: Thanks to you? I’m the one who escaped onto the boat, where we actually found other people!

Eli hadn’t realized how freezing he’d been until he steps into the trailer. Inside, there is some kind of heating system, so warm that there’s no need for a coat. Nellie nearly cries. “No more snow. No more cold.” She looks happier than she’d been since they’d first found themselves here. “I love it.”

Eli laughs. Nellie is so dramatic sometimes. And she definitely knows how to hold a grudge, even against snow. “What is this place?” he wonders, looking around.

The last place he’d expect to find a group of frum families is the north pole, but this place looks like his family’s last Chanukah party. There are a bunch of adults and loads of kids, most of them older than the twins. The trailer opens up into a large dining room, with rows of tables and a kitchen on the side. The kids sit at tables, playing cards and kugelach. They smile when Eli and Nellie come in and then return to their game like it’s perfectly normal to see a set of strangers here.

“You must have come with the other group,” says the boy who brought them inside. “I’m Nachi Teichman.” He’s older than Eli, at least 16 or 17, and has blond hair and a smattering of freckles on his nose. “Did you get separated from your family?”

“Yep,” Eli says truthfully. “What are you guys doing here?”