Chapter two

The next day Catila woke up by the sound of heavy suitcases being dragged down the stairs. She looked around, not finding Jack in the room and quickly jumped out of the bed and ran towards the hallway. Before she got to the door, Jack entered and placed a foot in her way.

“Woah girl, where’re ya going?” He stepped inside and closed the door. “Come here, let’s get you something to eat.”

Catila looked at him; something was defenitely going to happen today. Something really bad. She slowly turned, watching him as he went to the kitchen and took up her bowl to give her some food.

“Come here girl, ya hungry?” Jack put the bowl down, now filled to the edge with food. It was more than the usual ration that she got, but he knew this was the last time that he would ever give her food. Catila walked very cautionly towards the bowl, as if he’d put something bad in it. Jack sat a few meters away from the bowl on his knees, watching her.

“Cmon Catila, what’s wrong? You usually swallow it all at once?”

Catila finely got to the bowl and very slowly began to eat, without losing her sight of Jack. When she started to eat properly, Jack smiled and patted her gently.

“I’ll come back to see you soon again. I promise.” With those words he got up and brought his keys out of his pocket. Catila turned around, watching what he was doing. Jack turned in the door opening, waving to her and before she knew it he had closed the door and locked it.

‘No!’ Catila ran towards the doggie door but instead of sliding straight through it, she found herself bumping against the hard door and hitting her head. He had locked it! He was leaving her! Thomo had been right! Desperatly Catila began to bark, scratching at both the doggie door and the human door rapidly, trying to get out. ‘Please don’t leave me! Please!’

Catila barked again before running to the bedroom. It had a window pointing towards the main street. She jumped up on the bed, placing her both front paws on the window frame, looking out. There was no sign left of him or his car. He’d already gone. Catila whined, her ears dropping. She couldn’t believe he had left her... she should’ve trusted Thomo... The thought of Thomo made her look around. She had to meet him. Tell him that she was sorry, ask him for advice. An idea shot through her and she jumped down from the bed in a rush, running to the basement. There was always a window open in the basement to keep the flesh from the animals that they’d hunt down in a good condition. And it was still open. With a lot of effort, Catila succeded to squeeze herself through the tiny window and found herself on the backside of the house. A sad feeling struck her when looking at the house; she’d lived there almost her entire life, at least of what she could remember. Her mum had taken care of her the first 9 weeks, and she remembered very little from that time. Now she was totally alone with no home at all. She left the house quickly to search for Thomo. She’d start looking at the post office were he usually hang around, waiting for some work to appear. It wasn’t a long travel

and within 5 minutes she could see a black and gray dog laying on the porch of the post office. Her heart speed up a bit. At least she still had her best friend.

“Thomo!” Catila called out. Thomo turned, looking at her direction. When he saw it was Catila a smile brightened up his face and he stood up to greet her.

“Catila, hi! I thought you were angry at me and didn’t want to see me anymore after last night?”

Catila shook her head and again her ears dropped when she thought of how stupid and idiotic she had been not listening to Thomo. “I’m sorry Thomo, for not listening to you...”

Thomo nudged her gently, looking at her.

“It’s ok Cati, I shouldn’t have said anything before knowing for sure. I mean what Jack said didn’t have to mean that he was leaving or...”

Catila interrupted him. “No you were right. He did.”

Thomo became silenced. Catila sat down, looking at the ground, her heart sinking.

“He left today. I woke up when he had dragged the last suitcase out to his car but didn’t get a chance to get out. He stopped me and gave me food. And before I knew it he...was gone. I tried to get him back, I yelled for him to come back. But he didn’t hear me.” She looked away. “Or he just chose to not hear me...”

“Hey don’t say that Cati...” Thomo tilted his head; he felt sorry for her. Even though he had seen this coming he had hoped that he had been wrong this time. But it seemed like not. “It’s not your fault. Both you and me knows that he loved you more than anything. Maybe he still does, but he just couldn’t bring you were he was going?”

“Maybe...” Catila laid down. She didn’t want to talk about it. She felt depressed knowing that her only owner had left her. She must’ve done something wrong. She went through their life together; from when she’d been 8 weeks old, the first time she went on a hunt with him, everything that they’d done past by in her mind. But there was nothing that could’ve made him leave her like this.

“Hey... Catila..” Thomo nudged her gently with his nose, wagging softly on his tail. “Don’t worry ok? I mean. You still got me right?”

Catila raised her head and tried on a half hearted smile. “Yeah. Yes I do.” She rose up to sitting position and nuzzled him friendly. “Thank you Thomo. You’re the best friend I could ever have.”

Thomo froze as Catila put her head under his chin but a warm, tingling feeling jolted through his body. Best friend? He glanced down on the toller female who now leaned towards him. How long had they known each other? Thomo thought back on when she had arrived with Jack to Nome. She’d been one of the cutest puppies he had ever seen and had voluntary taken part in her life as a play mate. However, during the months and years that had passed he had watched her grow up to a very beautiful, stunning female. The hunting trips with Jack had made her in such a great shape; her muscles were well grown and strong and she could keep a quick pace for hours before she got tired. Thomo carefully put his head on her neck, closing his eyes for a short moment, enjoying the presence.

“Nevertheless.” Catila suddenly mumbled and unwrapped herself from Thomo’s soft embrace. “Jack taught me to never lose my sight of him. It was a promise we made for each other.” Her eyebrows furrowed as she continued into deeper thoughts. Thomo took a step back, feeling a bit uncomfortable and confused about what she was heading with her words.

“So..? What are you saying? That he’ll come back for you?” Thomo asked.

“No.” Catila looked towards the direction where Jack’s car had headed towards. “I’m planning to go after him.”

Thomo widened his eyes after hearing her words.

“You can’t be serious?”

Catila turned her attention to the hybrid. “Why not?” A sting of frustration covering her voice.

Thomo felt even more unsure about the situation and stood up, his ears a bit back.

“Well eh.. I just. Such a long distance travel could be dangerous for you. Who knows what you might meet out there? You might get attacked by bears, or wolves! Besides, it’ll take you at least 2 weeks to get there. Where would you get food from?”

Catila snorted and stood up, her frustration not only showing in her voice but also in her body language now. “I’ve been out in the wild before. When me and Jack hunted, you think we brought tin food?”

“Well no.. but I’m just saying that...” Thomo started but was snapped off by Catila.

“Of course not! We ate the things we found in the forest, and sometimes we had to eat what we hunted down. Apart from other dogs in this town I am used to eating fresh meat or hunt down rabbits on my own. So don’t you dare telling me that I wouldn’t survive this trip! Because I would, and I will!” She spun around and jumped down from the porch.

“Catila! Please hold on!” Thomo took a couple of steps towards her. “Don’t go alone. Please? Just, stay over the night and think over what you’re considering to do. If you’re still sure about your trip, well maybe I could come with you?”

The both dogs were silent for a moment. Thomo thought that maybe he had gotten her to stay. The thought of her being all alone in the wild and traveling the long distance to White Mountain made his gut twist and turn of fear. Catila twitched her tail, raising one eyebrow and huffed.

“I don’t need your company right now. I can take care of myself. I’ll prove it.” She turned to walk away but stopped after just couple of steps and turned back again. “You know. I really saw you as my best friend. But that was when I still thought you’d support me in everything instead of calling me weak!” The last word she spat out as if it was poisonous. Before Thomo got a chance to explain himself she’d already turned and run away from there.