nervously tracing a pattern in the snow with her paw. “You were right. We can’t give up hope this easily. I know I’m not going to. I’m going to keep up the search with you until we find the team…dead or alive.” Then, after hesitating, she added, “Hopefully alive.”

 

Kodi smiled. “Thanks, Dusty. Come on, the sun is about to set. We should search some more before we find a place to rest for the night.” The two walked off, keeping an eye out for any sled teams.

 

After an hour the sun was gone. Still having had no success, Kodi and Dusty were forced to find a cave to spend the night in. They found a large one which was wet, cold, and dreary. But it was better than nothing, so they prepared to stay there.

 

The dogs had just settled in when Ralph and Kirby ran in through the entrance. “We changed our minds,” Kirby said. “We don’t want to let you down, Kodi.”

 

Kodi rolled his eyes and smiled. “And I’m sure the fact that we’re almost a hundred miles away from Nome now didn’t affect your decision at all,” he said sarcastically.

 

“Well…uh…maybe it helped us make up our minds a little bit,” Ralph said sheepishly. “But after we thought about it, we knew that we couldn’t let you down, Kodi. You’re our friend, and you’ve never let us down before. So it would be pretty mean of us to just abandon you.”

 

Kodi smiled. “Thanks, guys. I was hoping you would come through. Now get some rest so we’ll all be especially alert tomorrow. The sooner we find my brother’s team, the better.”

 

-----

 

While Kodi and his companions were resting, Dingo and his team were also settling in for the night. Dingo was right when he thought that the team they had found was the White Mountain team. While the other dogs were off talking to each other, he listened to a conversation between his musher and the White Mountain musher.

 

“That was a pretty bad storm,” the White Mountain man said. “I stopped almost right after I left Anchorage, and as far as I know, so did all the other teams. We all camped near each other for a few nights. I don’t remember seeing you and your team there, though.”

 

“That’s because we weren’t there,” the Nome musher said, half proudly and half sheepishly. “We tried to keep going through the storm.”

 

The other musher’s eyes widened. “You went through that storm?” he asked in disbelief. “Either you are a very brave man, or an incredibly stupid one.”

 

“We couldn’t see a single thing in front of us, but we kept going anyway,” the musher said. “But we had a long delay when one of my dogs almost fell off a cliff. The other dogs hauled him back up, but then I realized we didn’t know where we were. I let the team rest for a day or two and tried to figure out which way to go. Then the storm finally cleared up, and I decided that I should just head northwest. Hopefully we’re somewhere between Anchorage and Nome and not completely lost.”

 

“Well, I can at least confirm that,” said the White Mountain musher. “I waited out the storm so I could make sure I was going the right way. And, well, since we’re both going in the same direction, you must not be as lost as you think you are.”

 

“Great,” said the Nome man. “But what about the other teams? If I remember correctly, you were the first one to leave Anchorage. Have any other teams passed you up?”

 

The other musher sighed. “I wish I knew, but you’re the first team I’ve seen since I left the camp we were all staying at.”

 

The Nome musher shrugged. “Well, no news is good news, I suppose. I’d better get some sleep. Good luck to you and your dogs for the rest of the race.” Then he walked off and settled down to get some rest.

 

“Well, things are looking up,” said a voice behind Dingo. He turned around and saw that it was Matteo. Sam was standing right next to him. 

“What are you guys doing over here?” Dingo asked. “I thought that you would be talking to the other dogs over there.” He motioned toward where the other members of his team and the White Mountain team were lying down and talking.

 

“We were wondering where you were,” Sam said. He smiled. “Dingo, you really have to stop sneaking off on us.”

 

“I was just listening to the mushers talking to each other,” Dingo replied. “It seems like we’re the only team that decided not to wait out the storm. And we’re not lost anymore; in fact, we’re headed straight for Nome. We must have just gone a little off course during the storm.”

 

Sam grinned. “That’s great! We’re going to make it back to Nome! I’m so excited!”

 

Matteo nodded. “This is just what the team needed. Wait until they hear about this…”

 

“I’ll go tell them right now!” Sam said excitedly. He ran off to the other dogs.

 

Dingo watched Sam running off into the distance and smiled. “He’s so different from when we met him,” he said. “He was always off by himself, as far away from other people as possible. And look at him now…surrounded by a whole group of friends he thought he would never get along with…and he’s happy.”

 

“Yeah,” Matt said. “He’s definitely made a big change. And you know why? It’s because you helped him. I’ve seen you talking to him before. I heard when he said that you’re one of the only friends he’s ever had. Well, let me tell you something, Dingo. I don’t know about anyone else, but I would take having you as my only friend in the world over having everyone else in the world be my friend. You’re the best friend anyone could ever have, and you’ve proved that more than once.”

 

Dingo blushed. “Thanks, Matt,” he said. “You know, before today, I felt like I let the team down. After all, I’m the leader, and I’m the one who kept pushing everyone to keep going through that storm. But I don’t feel so bad anymore, I guess. We’re heading in the right direction and we’re back in the race. But I still feel like I should have done a better job leading the team up to this point.”

 

“You did a great job, Dingo,” Matteo said. “Sure, maybe you made a few mistakes, but no one’s perfect. You tried the best you could, and you always tried to make the best decision about everything. You didn’t let the team down at all, Dingo.”

 

Dingo smiled again. “Thanks…but from now I’m going to try even harder to do the best I can as the team leader.” He yawned. “We should really go get some rest now. We can’t run at top speed tomorrow if we’re not completely awake. Good night, Matt.” He walked off to get some sleep.

 

“Good night, Dingo,” Matt muttered. “Hopefully you won’t be so stressed tomorrow.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 14

 

It had begun to snow once again, and Kodi had an uneasy feeling that another storm was coming. The first storm was bad enough-after all, Dingo and his team had been out in the storm, perhaps lost…or even dead. But at least Kodi and his companions had been safe back in Nome during that storm. But they weren’t safe now. If another storm did hit, what would happen to them?

 

Kodi’s thoughts were interrupted when he was nudged by Dusty. “We should head out,” she said. “We should cover as much ground as possible before it starts snowing harder.”

 

Kodi nodded. “Good idea,” he said. The sun was just starting to rise in the sky, and Ralph and Kirby hadn’t woken up yet. Kodi gave both of them a playful kick to make them get up. “Come on, guys, it’s time to set out again,” he said.

 

Kirby groaned and rolled over to face the wall. “Just a few more minutes…” he said groggily.

 

Kodi rolled his eyes and gave Kirby another kick which was harder than the first one. “We don’t have any time to waste,” he said. “The sun’s already up and I can feel that there’s another storm coming. We have to do as much searching as we can before it hits.”

 

“Just forget him, Kodi,” Dusty said, winking at Kodi. She didn’t mean what she was saying, but she wanted to scare Kirby into getting up. “We can carry on the search without him. Let him stay here if he wants. He can stay in this nice little cave, and when the storm hits, I’m sure he’ll be able to find his own way back to Nome and not, well, starve to death or anything.”

 

Kirby immediately jumped up. “Okay, I’m good to go now,” he said nervously. Kodi tried his hardest not to burst out laughing at the dog’s reaction.

 

“Come on, guys, let’s get going,” Ralph said, now wide awake and

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