now and not even give him the chance.”

Mrs. Warren sighed and shook her head. “You can’t do that, Ray,” she said. “You know what that dog means to Sandy. She would be even more miserable than she is now.”

Warren shot a look at her. “Why do you think she’s miserable?” he asked.

“Just look at her!” Mrs. Warren said. “She’s always cooped up in that dark, musty room all alone. Haven’t you noticed how skinny and pale she looks?”

“She’s still alive, isn’t she?” Warren growled. “I give her enough food to live, and a place to live in. She should be happy enough.”

Mrs. Warren’s jaw dropped. “Ray, she’s your own daughter! Don’t you even care about her?”

“Why should I?” Warren asked. “She’s just another thorn in my side. I would’ve put her up for adoption if it wasn’t for you.”

Mrs. Warren hung her head and started to sob, her shoulders shaking. “Please don’t talk about adoption,” she said. “It reminds me of little Jason…and now…” She broke into tears.

Dingo perked up his ears. Jason? Could this be the same Jason that was his former owner? Suddenly Dingo began putting it together. The picture of Sandy’s family. Sandy’s big brother that was put up for adoption. Was it really the same Jason that Dingo had grown so close to? ‘Oh well,’ he thought. ‘There’s no way that I can find out for sure anyway.’ 

-----

Josh sighed. He had already spent half the day teaching Saba how to hunt, and she wasn’t making much progress. “Let’s try this again,” he said. “Number one: you must be as quiet as possible. You don’t want your prey to know that you’re coming.” He caught sight of a small bird and leaned forward. “Just watch me and do what I do.”

Saba watched as Josh sneaked up behind the bird stealthily and pounced on it. Josh turned around with the little bird hanging by its foot on his teeth. “It’s easy,” he said. “Now you try.”

Saba bit her lip as she tried her best to sneak up on a different bird without it sensing her. But when she pounced, the bird flew away just in time. Saba pounded the ground in frustration, sending a bunch of birds in some bushes a few feet away from her flying. She shook her head and turned to Josh. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I’m just wasting your time. I’m never going to learn how to do this right.”

Josh walked up to her and put his foreleg around her shoulders. “It’s okay,” he said. “You’ll get it eventually. You know, it took me forever to learn how to hunt.”

Saba stared at him in disbelief. “But you’re so good at it!” she said. “How could it take someone like you a long time to learn how to hunt?”

“Hunting is a hard thing to do,” Josh said, smiling. “It takes everyone a while to learn how to do it.” He leaned closer and whispered into Saba’s ear, “And there’s no one else that I would love to teach more than you.”

Saba shifted uncomfortably and pulled away. Josh bit his lip. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing…” Saba said nervously. “It’s just…well, from the way you’ve been acting toward me in the last few days, I’m starting to get the feeling that you want to be more than friends. And…well, I…”

“You don’t want to be more than that?” Josh asked.

“Well, yeah,” Saba said. “I mean, I like you, and I think you’re a great friend. But I want it to stay that way. For now, I just want to be friends.”

Josh nodded slowly. Saba could see the disappointment in his face. “Well…I guess that’s enough hunting for today,” he said, his voice cracking. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then he ran off to his owner’s home.

“Josh, wait!” Saba shouted. But it was too late. He didn’t even slow down or turn around to look at her. Soon he disappeared from her sight.

Saba had really blown it this time. Maybe she and Josh could become more than friends. She didn’t know why, but she just didn’t want that to happen…at least, not yet.

-----

Jenna heard a scratching noise on the door and smiled as she saw her daughter walk in from the cold outside. “Hi, Saba,” she said. Then she saw the depressed look on Saba’s face. “What happened?”

Saba sighed. “I’ve been having more problems with Josh,” she said. “He really likes me, but I told him that I just want to be friends. He seemed really brokenhearted afterwards.”

Jenna motioned for her daughter to sit down beside her. “I thought you liked Josh,” she said.

“Well, I do,” Saba said. “But I don’t like him at much as he likes me. I just like him as a friend…at least for the time being.”

Jenna raised an eyebrow. “So you’re saying that you might want to be more than friends some day?”

“Yeah,” Saba said. “But not right now! I mean, I hardly even know him! I just met him a few days ago!”

Jenna smiled. “So, how did your first hunting lesson go?” she asked.

Saba groaned. “It was horrible,” she said. “I can’t do anything right. Josh made it look so easy, but whenever I try to do anything he does, I can’t even come close to doing it. I wish that I was part wolf. I bet that hunting would be a lot easier to learn for me then.”

Jenna laughed nervously. “Well, it’s funny that you should say that…”

Saba’s eyes widened. “No way,” she said. “Are you saying that I’m really part wolf?”

Jenna nodded. “Your father is half wolf,” she said. “We didn’t really want to tell you or your brothers and sisters until you were ready. I guess that this is a pretty good time to tell you.”

Saba shook her head in amazement. “Now it all makes sense!” she said. “I always thought that Dad looked different from all of the other dogs. And that’s why Aleu looked so much like a wolf!”

Saba’s mind was reeling. She was part wolf. She had to go find Josh. Something inside her told her that she could really learn how to hunt. Now all she needed to do was find her teacher.

Chapter 11

Now that Dingo had been tied up for two whole weeks, he had a lot more time to think. He mainly thought about one thing he had said to Saba the day before he left. He promised her that he would do whatever it would take to get back to her. Up until now, he hadn’t remembered about keeping that promise. Now that he knew that his days were numbered, he had to get out of Anchorage and back to Nome. Back to Nome…and Saba…and the rest of his family…

Tears sprung to Dingo’s eyes as he thought of the life he had left behind. Then he started thinking about the possibility of getting back to all of the loved ones that were just a memory now. Could he really pull it off?

He wouldn’t do it by himself. He would have to bring Liko, so she could start over fresh and finally find an owner, which she wanted more than anything. He would also have to bring Sandy and her mom with him. They didn’t deserve the horrible treatment that Warren gave them. But Sandy’s mother would probably never go along with the idea. ‘I should try to look for anyone else who would want to go to Nome,’ Dingo thought. ‘Maybe Matteo would…’

Dingo smiled. Maybe he could get back to Nome after all. But there was one huge problem with his plan: he was tied up. Before he could escape from Anchorage, he had to escape from the rope that held him. But how? Only humans could untie it, and Dingo’s teeth weren’t as sharp as Liko’s. Unless he could get Sandy or her mother to untie the rope, he would be stuck there.

Dingo’s thoughts were interrupted when Warren walked into the room. The dog growled as the man approached him. Warren slapped Dingo across the face. “Quit growling,” he snapped at the dog.

Dingo winced in pain as Warren walked to the telephone on the other side of the room. The man picked up the phone and dialed. “Hello?” he said. “Is this Charlie? Good. You know that dog that I bought in Nome that I told you about? Well, it ends up that he’s more trouble then we thought he would be. Can you come by tomorrow and pick him up? Great! Now he’ll be out of our hands.” Warren hung up the phone and grinned evilly at Dingo. “Well, boy,” he said, “now I bet that you’re regretting the fact that you ran off, aren’t you? Well, you won’t have to worry about it much longer. By tomorrow you’ll be out of our hair…for good!” He laughed.

Dingo was shocked. The skinner was going to be there for him the next day. He had to get out before then. He had to get to Sandy and somehow make her understand his plan, and he had to do it now!

-----

Dingo tried not to gag as he