"No..." 

     Ace ran as fast as his legs could carry him.  Daisy was on his heels, and Victor on hers. And of course, the humans were following them.  The scent was getting stronger, and stronger, and stronger!

     Just as they thought they were right in front of him, the snow picked speed.  Ace growled aloud and started running.  It felt as if ice was forming inside his lungs, but he had to ignore it if he wanted to find that boy.  His stomach ached, he hadn't eaten since breakfast.

     Breakfast! He thought.  He looked up, the sun was setting!  It would be dark soon, and little David was still out their.   Linette and Waylon were also still gone, what if they couldn't find them either?  If something happened to either of them...

     He shook that out of his head.  Nothing was going to happen to them.  They had thick fur, they were smart, they had been trained for moments just like this.  So they could survive a night out in the snow, right?  Couldn't they?

     Just then, their was a voice.

     Ace stopped, dead in his tracks.  So sudden and fast, Daisy bumped into him, and Victor into them.  "What the hell, Ace?"  Daisy said, a confused and slightly annoyed tone in he voice.  "I heard something"  Ace said, not even looking at her.

     "What?"  She asked, twitching her ears, then she heard it, too.

     "Is...That Waylon?" Victor asked, looking towards the sound. 

     It started to get louder, then, a dark figure came through snow.  It was running, puffs of air coming out of it's mouth.  The three stared at it for a moment, then it came into the light.

     "Ace!"  The figure spoke, it was Waylon!

     Waylon ran up the group of smashed-together dogs.  He was panting, heavily, and his legs seemed to be shacking from exhaustion.

     "Waylon!  What are you doing here?"  Ace asked, angrily.

     Waylon was taken aback a bit.  "Um.. Well I-"

     "Is that blood on you?  What happened? Wait-Wheres Linette?" Ace asked, frantically.

     Waylon sighed,  "The blood isn't mine, it's hers.-"  Just as he said it, the others gasped.

      "She hurt her paw, she's fine.  But you guys gotta hurry! We found David!"  He said as he ran off.

     They all just sat there for a moment.  They looked at each other as if to say "Did he just say what I think he said?"

    Waylon turned around to see if they were coming.  "What are you guys doin'?! C'mon! I don't know how much longer he can hold on!"  That was all it took to get them on their feet.

    They ran as fast as they could.  "We need to be careful.....Theres a steep hill...That we need to..Go around." Waylon said between breaths. 

     The sky was now a dark pink and orange color.  The sun has almost set, and Linette was starting to get buried in the snow.  She'd been lying on top of little David to try and keep him warm, but that wouldn't do much good if she herself was freezing as well, would it?

     She started to shiver.  It started with a few small shakes here and there, then it started to become uncontrollable.  She prayed that the snow would stop falling, but she knew that if it was going this fast, it wouldn't stop for a while.

     She looked at little David's face.  His little nose was red, and tiny ice sickles had formed at the tips of his eye lashes.  His cheeks were red, and ice was forming around the edges.  The little hat he had put on was just long enough to covered his ears.   He looks so innocent Linette thought.

     She rested her head ontop of his, hoping to melt off some of the ice and snow.  She looked down at his eyes, they were still closed.  She closed her eyes as the wind grew stronger, blowing some of the snow off of them.  She gritted her teeth, and her shivering went out of control. 

     Suddenly, something touched her back.

     "Ace?"  She immediately though.  Nothing was their.  She looked on her back, and saw a little hand.  She looked at David.  His eyes were still closed.  But they were twitching.  The little hand on her back started to move, back and forth.  She gently poked his face with her nose.  One eye opened.

     "D-Doggy?"

-----

     The sky was now dark.  They new that had to find David soon, or he would make it through the night.  Waylon was leading the way, but he could only run so fast in that kind of weather. 

     "How much farther, Waylon?"  Ace called out from behind.

     "Not much...The hill should be coming up soon!"  He called back.

     The weather was getting to them.  Their legs aicked, their stomachs grumbled, and their eyes burned against the icy winds.  But that didn't stop them.

     Waylon slowed his pace, he looked around for a moment, then continued until they came out of the woods.  There was the hill!  He could see it only a few yards ahead.  He darted over, then, remembering the ice, stopped just before reaching the edge.

     "Do you see them?"  Ace yelled against the wind.  Waylon squinted his eyes.

     Just then, John and the others caught up to them.  They watched as the dogs went around the ice-covered part of the hill, they followed.  Ace nearly jumped over Waylon trying to get down the hill, everything was happening so fast, that he really didn't care.

     The hill came to an end, and they ran for the round figure lying in the snow.  "Linette!"  Ace called, not even realizing it.  But the figure didn't move.  Ace picked up speed.  He reached them, and began pushing them with his muzzle.

     "Linette! Wake up!"  He yelled.  Her head shot up and looked around, confused.  When she saw that it was Ace, she calmed herself.  Their attention left the other and went to the David.  They smiled.

     John rushed over, several blankets in his hands.  Linette jumped off of David when John went to pick him up, he wrapped him up in the blankets.

     "David?  Can you hear me?"  He yelled.

     -----

      Mrs. Blake sat on the front porch of the cabin, sipping the cup of coffee her husband had made her.   He eldest son, Jake, sat next to her, while her husband was inside, getting more blankets for them. 

     "Don't worry, mom, they'll bring him back."  Jake said, rubbing his hand on his mother's back.

     "God I hope so."  She cried.  "It's dark out, though, what if-"

     "Honey!"  Mr. Blake called from inside.  "Uhh-Want more coffee?"

     She sighed, "No thanks, I have plenty."

     Suddenly, two headlights came into view.  It was the Rescue van!  Mrs.Blake held her breath.

     When the car came to a stop, Scarlette went around and let out four dogs, then jumped in the back to care for Linette's paw.  Then, Nick got out of the drivers seat, Sofi and Joey got out of the back.  And John went around the other side of the van, something in his arms.

     He came around the van, holding little David in his arms.

     "My baby!"  Mrs. David cried, jumping to her feet and running to John.

     "Mommy!"  David coughed as she wrapped her arms around him.

     The four dogs smiled as they watched the family reunite.  Ace looked back into the van at Linette, who was getting her paw looked at by her master, she looked at him, and winked, over hearing the excitement and knowing why he was looking at her.

     "Thank you! Thank you so much!"  Mr. Blake said.

     "You're welcome.  You should take him to the hospital soon, just to check on everything." John suggested.

     "We will!  Thank you sir, thank you!"

     The two men shook hands, and everyone gathered back into the truck, and headed back to the station.   Waylon sat next to Lin, who was lying down, looking at her bandaged paw.  "Hey, Ace?"  Daisy asked.  "Don't you have something you want to say to these two?"  They both looked up at