As soon as he had finished speaking, there was a terrible growl at the back of the cave.  The Musher knew what that sound meant and ran for his gun. As he was just grabbing his gun the bear ran out of the shadows and hit The Musher knocking him off his feet. The bear was about to continue his attack when Nakota jumped on it along with Brigham. Brigham latched his jaws on the bears paw, as he was about to strike The Musher. But the bear only swatted him off with his other paw. Nakota took advantage of his distraction and bit down on the bear’s neck. He was able to puncture the jugular but the bear only become more irate. The bear started to back quickly towards the wall on its hind legs. Brigham was saw what was about to happen and bit down on the bear’s foot making it start to fall over. Nakota was given enough time to jump off but the bear wasn’t finished. The bear took a swipe with its claws to Nakota’s hind leg when he was jumping.

            Nakota was shot through the air landing hard against the cave wall. He was knocked unconscious but a couple of the dogs guarded his body as the rest joined Brigham in cornering the dying, enraged bear. The bear was taking mindless swipes at the encroaching dogs, but they were easy to dodge. The bear slowly began to fall as he lost more and more blood. However, before the bear had succumbed to the coming death The Musher shot him with his gun. The shot startled all the dogs and made them jump.

            The Musher was breathing hard holding his chest, “That’s why I hate bears!” He bent down and leaned on his knee as the dogs began licking him out of gratitude and concern. “I’m fine, he just knocked the wind out of me. But where is Nakota?” The dogs cleared a pathway to Nakota’s body where Brigham was sitting next too. Come on Nakota, I can’t lose you, my first real friend. The Musher walked over to him and examined his body. Nakota’s back leg was broken and bleeding slightly, but he had a steady pulse.

            “He’s fine, he’s just unconscious, but we do need to quick fix his leg.” The Musher made a splint out of the potential firewood and wrapped Nakota’s leg. “The weather has cleared enough for us, and Nakota needs some better help. Brigham you’re lead dog now.” The Musher secured Nakota onto the sled and wrapped him up in his blankets. After all the dogs were in their harnesses and adjusted positions, they set out, back into the roaring snowstorm.

            The other team was having equal difficulty with the run to Pilgrim Springs. Kodi’s son Sean was leading the team but it was not going as he had planned his first big run to go. Unlike Brigham’s team who had to face ravage bears, Sean’s team was facing crevasses and other harsh terrain. At this point, the team was off course. The Musher was unable to see where he was going and was forced to stop many times. Sean knew the children in Taylor were running out of time.  If only we had more time, or maybe this storm could let up. Those kids will die if we don’t get the medicine to the halfway point. And it doesn’t help that we are of course.

            At that moment Sean saw something within the storm. The image looked to be a figure of some animal. He squinted his eyes to try and focus more, and upon further inspection he was able to make out a white wolf. He quickly turned to his fellow sled dogs, “Do you guys see that? Up ahead, there’s a white wolf” The other dogs responded unanimously with confusion and expression of the fact there isn’t anything there. He looked back again but the wolf had vanished. Wha?.... That can’t be, I just saw it.  But no matter how hard he tried, he could not find the wolf anywhere. Am I seeing things? “You’re not seeing things young one.”

            The celestial voice seemed as if it came from everywhere, but Sean couldn’t find who was speaking. He turned to the other sled dogs, “please tell me you guys heard that.” But once again, they all looked confused and began to whisper amongst themselves. One of his friends spoke up, “Are you ok Sean?” Sean was naturally embarrassed and angry, “No! I’m fine.” He quickly faced forward, agitated and annoyed, only to see the source of his problems once more. “No one else can see me because no one else has hope Sean. You have a pure heart full of courage, but you must not lose faith because others do.” Sean spoke in a whisper because he didn’t want the other dogs to hear, but they wouldn’t have heard him anyway in the midst of the storm.

             “Who are you?” “I am Aniu, The Great White Wolf. I’m here to guide you to Pilgrim Springs, but you must trust in me.” “I… I think I can do that.” “No, if you do not fully trust in me, you will never make it to Pilgrim Springs. Which will result in the deaths of many children in Taylor.” Sean felt a surge of courage fill his body like an outpouring of a geyser. “I trust you Aniu, with everything I have, just please get us to Pilgrim Springs…. Those children won’t last much longer.” At that moment the scenery around Sean became clear and the storm ceased. However, Sean was the only one that was able to see this miracle. Alright, time to get to Pilgrim Springs.

            Unlike Sean’s team, Brigham had a little more difficulty finding Pilgrim springs, but they eventually made it to the town. Nakota was being tended too by the veterinarian while the other dogs rested. The dogs had only a short time to rest, before Sean’s team arrived with the medicine. It was 11pm when Sean’s team arrived in Pilgrim Springs exhausted. Instead of heading out during the middle of the night in the already treacherous storm, the mayor decided to wait till morning. This way, all the dogs could recuperate and be rested for their run back to Taylor in the morning. Brigham visited Nakota while he was in the Veterinarians office.

             Nakota was sleeping on a few pelts in a small room with a wood stove to keep him warm. He awoke at the sound of Brigham’s footsteps, “Brigham, I know it’s you.” Brigham smiled, he was happy to see that his old friend was fine. “Well if you’re well enough to be that acute, then I know you’re well enough to run with us.” Nakota looked down, “Not entirely, the vet says I won’t be able to run for at least a few weeks. Seems the bear cracked a rib or two… oh and my leg.” Even though Nakota was chuckling, Brigham could sense the sadness in his voice. “Hey… don’t worry, we will get the medicine to Taylor tomorrow. I’m sure the vet will let you ride on the sled to Taylor with us.” “Yeah, I think that’s what they were planning on doing, if I heard right.”  “Well it’s settled then, you get some sleep; I’ll see you tomorrow.” “Night Brig.”

            Brigham left the room and began to make his way through the waiting room when he saw Sean. At the sight of Brigham, Sean made his way towards him. “Hey Brigham, I heard about Nakota, is he gonna be ok?” Brigham smiled, “Yeah, he’s fine. He’ll actually be riding with us on our way back to Taylor. I heard you had a rough run over here too.” “Yeah…” Brigham noticed that Sean trailed his voice, “Something wrong Sean?” Sean shook his head as if in a trance, “What?... oh yeah well the weirdest thing happened to me while we were making our way here. The storm was really getting really bad, but then this white wolf appeared.”

            As Sean continued talking, Brigham lost track because he was internally laughing at how his grandmother had appeared to him numerous times. But before Brigham could wade more in thought, Sean spoke to him. “Is that weird?” Brigham laughed, which probably was not the best decision seeing as Sean turned red in embarrassment. Brigham caught it and explained, “I wasn’t laughing at you Sean, I was simply laughing at the fact the Aniu has somehow appeared to almost everyone I ever come in contact with.” At the sight of Sean’s confusion, Brigham continued speaking. “Well, Aniu is my grandmother, and frankly… your great grandmother.”

            Sean looked even more confused, so Brigham at the beginning of it all, with his dad’s story and his own story. The two talked long into the night, but not once did Brigham become tired. He enjoyed telling someone his life story and how Aniu had worked in it. It felt revitalizing to his spirit to know that someone was benefiting from his story and that Aniu really was helping him. But she was not just helping him physically, but with moral support of his peers.