I don’t think he’s ever been mad at me before. What’s wrong with him?”

 

Saba shrugged. “I don’t understand why he doesn’t like the Anchorage dogs,” she said. “Angel, Matt, and Liko are really nice. I’m glad they came here. Why can’t everyone else get along as well as we do?”

 

Dingo opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was Angel. “Hey, I want to introduce you to some friends,” she said. She pointed to three dogs a few feet behind her. They all looked exactly like Angel. “These are my sisters.”

 

Dingo’s jaw dropped. “You never told me that you had three sisters!” he said. “I thought that the only sibling you had was Devon.”

 

Angel shook her head. “No,” she said. “In my litter there were four, and there were five in Devon’s litter. But I don’t know where Devon’s littermates are now.” She pointed to each of her sisters respectively as she said, “These are Love, Music, and Baby.”

 

Dingo squinted at the four sisters. “Love, Angel, Music, Baby…” he said, thinking. “Why does that sound familiar?”

 

Suddenly a voice pierced the tension in the boiler room. “Help! He’s attacking me!”

 

Dingo ran outside the boiler room just in time to see a tough-looking dog springing on another dog.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

Dingo rushed over to the two dogs and stood between them. “What’s going on here?” he said.

 

One of the two dogs was on the ground, clearly afraid. “That…that Anchorage dog!” it stuttered. “I was just minding my own business and it attacked me!”

 

“That’s not true!” shouted the other dog, who was standing his ground angrily. “He insulted me! He called me an idiot and told me to go back to Anchorage!”

 

“Grow up,” the dog on the ground said with a sneer. Dingo recognized him as a dog named Bruce from Nome.

 

Dingo glared at both of the dogs. “Stop it, both of you!” he said. “Why can’t you get along with each other?”

 

The Anchorage dog reluctantly started to back off a little. “Whatever you say, Dingo,” he muttered.

 

Dingo felt a sense of relief pass through him. Ever since he had led the Anchorage dogs to Nome, most of the dogs started to treat him with authority. There were others who refused to listen to him. The leader of this group was a Nome dog named Tair. Dingo had had a few bad experiences with Tair before.

 

Dingo suddenly felt dizzy. Everything around him appeared to be running in circles. Then he fell to the ground, unconscious.

 

-----

 

“Dingo? Dingo, wake up!”

 

Dingo’s eyes popped open. What happened? Where was he? What time was it?

 

Someone next to him sighed in relief. “You’re awake,” they said. Dingo turned his head to look at the visitor. It was Liko.

 

“Where am I?” Dingo asked in a haze.

 

“You’re at the vet’s office,” Liko said. “You fainted back by the boiler room. Matteo and I brought you here, but he left a few minutes ago.”

 

Dingo blinked. He still felt dizzy. “I remember…I think…” he said. “There was a fight between the two dogs…and then I stopped it…and then…everything started spinning…”

 

“Well, you’re going to be okay now,” Liko said, nuzzling him. Dingo pulled away nervously. Liko hesitated. “Is something wrong?”

 

“Uh…no,” he said. “It’s just…well, that was a little too close for me…”

 

Liko bit her lip. Dingo could tell that she looked a little disappointed. ‘Wait a minute,’ he thought. ‘I thought she liked Matt…’ Soon he shook the thought from his mind and tried to change the subject. “Does the vet know what’s wrong with me?” he asked.

 

“Not exactly,” Liko said. “He said that your heart is pretty weak. He doesn’t really know anything else.”

 

Dingo looked worried. “Is that really bad?” he asked.

 

“It’s bad, but it’s not that bad,” Liko said. “The vet said that the worst that will happen to you is that you’ll faint every once in a while.”

 

Dingo frowned. “I guess I won’t be running in a sled team, then,” he muttered to himself. He felt disappointed because he wanted very badly to run as a sled dog.

 

Liko lay down next to him. “There are always plenty of things to do here,” she said. “Nome is a pretty exciting place. I’m sure that soon you’ll forget all about running on a team.”

 

Dingo bit his lip. He felt that Liko was getting too close again. “Okay, I can’t take it anymore,” he said. “I thought that you liked Matteo. Why are you flirting with me all of a sudden?”

 

Liko sighed and looked away. “I thought that I liked him, too,” she said. “I mean, for a while. Then…well, I started getting the feeling that he wasn’t the one for me…”

 

Dingo sat wide-eyed, knowing what would come next. “And you think that I am?”

 

Liko hesitated for a moment, and then nodded her head. “I really like you, Dingo,” she said. “You’ve been a great friend…but I want to be more than that…”

 

Dingo shook his head. “I’m sorry, Liko,” he said. “I really don’t want to have a girlfriend right now. Besides, I don’t want to intrude between you and Matteo.”

 

Liko stamped her front paw in frustration. “But I don’t even like Matteo!” she said. “I don’t care what he thinks…I don’t care what anyone else thinks…because the truth is…I love you, Dingo.”

 

Dingo groaned. “Liko…” he said. “I don’t know what to think. I mean, I only met you a few weeks ago. I barely even know you.”

 

Liko stared into Dingo’s eyes. “That didn’t stop your sister and Josh,” she said.

 

Dingo groaned. “I’m sorry, Liko,” he said. “Maybe I love you, too. I can’t even tell yet. It’s too early.”

 

Liko looked out the window. “I understand…” she said slowly. “I mean, we’ve only known each other for a short time…I was just so sure that you were the right one for me…”

 

Dingo slowly stood up and walked over to her. He took her face in his paw and looked straight into her eyes. “Maybe you’re right,” he whispered. “It’s just too early for me to tell.”

 

Liko nodded. Then she began to leave the room, only to be met by Saba and Josh, who were coming in the door.

 

“Hi, Liko!” Saba said in her usual cheerful mood. “Is my brother okay?”

 

Liko looked away. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” she asked, as if in a trance.

 

“Okay…” Saba said slowly, giving Liko a strange look. Then Liko walked out the door and ran off. “What’s wrong with her?” Saba asked Dingo.

 

“Um…she’s a little…depressed right now, I think,” Dingo said. “I’m sure she’ll be back to normal soon.”

 

Saba shrugged and sat down with Josh under the window. “I wonder where Angel is…” Josh said.

 

“Oh, she’s probably with her owner, Maria Stefani,” Dingo said. “Maria’s a nice girl. She took in Angel and her sisters as soon as she got to Nome. Her family just moved up here from the South.”

 

The conversation between the three dogs continued, but Dingo was thinking mostly about something else. He hoped that Liko wouldn’t feel too heartbroken. ‘She’s tough,’ he thought. ‘She’ll be back to normal tomorrow for sure.’

 

Dingo was wrong. Very wrong…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3

“Is it just me, or has Liko been acting strange lately?” Matteo asked. It was the next day, and the vet had let Dingo walk around Nome a little so he could get out of the musty room for a while. Now the husky was relaxing in the boiler room with Matteo.

“Yeah,” Dingo said. “I guess it’s because of what happened yesterday…”

Matteo raised an eyebrow. “What happened yesterday?”

Dingo hesitated. “Uh…” Should he tell Matteo? He decided not to. “She had a bad day, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh,” Matteo said, with his eyebrow still raised. “Well, I hope she gets over it soon. I hate seeing her like this. She seems so depressed and upset. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like this before.”

“She’ll get over it, I’m sure,” Dingo said. Then he decided

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