her head to look at Dingo. “Good luck in the race tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll be cheering for you.” Then she turned again and walked out the door.

Dingo smiled to himself. He remembered when he had run after his father and Kodi to wish them good luck in the race they were running. He had wanted to be a sled dog all his life, but that was what had really made him start thinking about whether he would really be able to achieve his dream. ‘Well,’ Dingo thought, ‘I guess I’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out…’ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6

“Dingo! Wake up! The race is today!”

Dingo shook himself out of his sleep. ‘So today is the big day,’ he thought. ‘It’s the day for my dreams to come true…or for me to lose hope of ever achieving them…’

“Come on, Dingo! Everyone’s waiting for you!”

Dingo sat up and looked around the room. Matteo was standing a few feet away, grinning. He was the one who had woken up Dingo.

Dingo jumped out of the basket he had slept in and ran to the door. “I’m good to go,” Dingo said. “Are you ready for the race?”

Matteo nodded. “Definitely,” he said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Dingo grinned. “If you can keep up,” he said. “Let’s go find everyone before the race starts.”

The two huskies ran out of the room and through Nome’s biggest street, which was lined with tons of people. Soon Dingo spotted his family and pointed them out to Matteo. Saba ran out to meet them.

“Are you guys ready?” she asked excitedly. “I can’t wait for the race to start! Mom and Dad are here, and Josh is here, and Angel…I think I even saw Liko in the crowds further down the road.”

“We should get ready for the race now,” Matteo said.

“You go ahead, Matt,” Dingo said slowly. “I’ll join you in a minute.”

Matt ran off to the starting line. “I know that you’re going to talk to Liko soon,” Dingo began, “but I just thought of something. We’re going to have to tell Matt about this, too. When are we going to do that?”

“I don’t know,” Saba said. “I never really thought about telling him, either. I guess it really depends on whether you guys make the sled team or not.”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out,” Dingo said. Then he ran off to join the other dogs at the starting line.

“Good luck, big bro,” Saba whispered.

-----

The whole town of Nome seemed to turn out for the dog race. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many people talking at the same time,” one of the dogs near Dingo said, covering his ears.

Suddenly the noise died down when a man walked into the middle of the road right in front of the dogs. “Welcome, citizens of Nome!” the man shouted to the crowd. “We are holding this race today to find the eight fastest dogs in Nome to represent our town in one of Alaska’s most famous sled team races! The dogs in that race will run from this town to Anchorage and back!”

Matteo’s eyes widened. “Wow,” he whispered to Dingo. “That must be a pretty long race.”

The man continued. “Today these dogs will compete in a shorter race to test their speed and endurance. The race will begin when I fire my rifle.”

Dingo quickly looked around at the other dogs in the race. He recognized most of them. He breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered that Tair was nowhere in sight. Then he turned his attention back to the man, who had now stepped off to the side.

“On your mark…get set…”

Dingo could feel his legs shaking. Matteo looked at him and smiled. “Nervous?” he asked. Dingo nodded.

BANG! With a shot from the man’s gun the race had started! The dogs sprinted down the road as people shouted and cheered. By the time they left the town limits, Dingo and Matteo were near the front of the group of dogs.

Dingo’s heart was beating furiously. “Please don’t fail me now!” he said to himself, panting.

Dingo and Matteo passed a few more dogs. Now there were only four dogs ahead of them. “Are you doing okay?” Matteo yelled to Dingo.

“Yeah,” Dingo said, although he thought his heart might give out at any second. ‘I have to keep pushing on,’ Dingo thought to himself. ‘If I faint, then I’ll faint. I can’t control that. I just have to hope it won’t happen…’

A minute or two later the finish line was in sight. Dingo caught sight of his father. He had never seen him look so proud in his life.

Suddenly something inside Dingo gave him the strength to run faster than he ever had before. Matteo strained to keep up with him. He passed the four dogs quickly.

The finish line was only a few yards away now. Dingo strained every muscle in his body. The crowd was amazed. They had never seen a dog run so fast. Dingo heard someone screaming his name. He could tell that it was Saba without having to look.

The crowd went wild as Dingo sprinted across the finish line, closely followed by Matteo. Saba ran out to them. “You did it!” she shouted. “You made the sled team!” She put a foreleg over Dingo’s shoulders and screamed, “My brother rocks!”

Dingo smiled. Everyone was clapping. And they were clapping for him.

Matteo walked up next to him. “You did it,” he said. “You won! You’re lead dog now!”

Dingo’s jaw dropped. “Lead dog?” he said, amazed. “I’ve never even been on a sled team before!”

“You’re the fastest dog here,” Matteo said. “I know you have what it takes to lead our team.”

Dingo smiled again. “Thanks, Matt.” Then he saw the rest of his family and ran toward them. Balto was right there, smiling and looking like the proudest father in the world.

“Dad! Dad!” Dingo shouted. “I made it! I won!”

Balto embraced his son. “My son as lead dog,” he said. “I’m so proud of you, Dingo.”

Dingo nuzzled his father. “I finally achieved my biggest dream,” he said. “I’m a sled dog now. Just like you, Dad.”

Meanwhile, Saba and Matteo were still standing in the road. “You did great, Matt!” Saba said. “Keep an eye on my brother out there, OK?”

Matteo nodded. “Don’t worry, I will,” he said. “And thanks.” Then he ran off.

Saba looked at all of the humans and dogs around her. Everyone was happy that Dingo had won. People around her were laughing and smiling. All of the dogs were congratulating Dingo and Matteo. Everyone was here, and everyone was happy…except one. Even though Saba was happy her brother had won, she felt like there was something missing. It was the one person that wasn’t there that was bothering her…

Kodi…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 7

Liko lay down next to the fire, closed her eyes, and sighed. She wasn’t sure how she felt. Maybe Dingo and Matteo being gone would be a good thing. It would give her more time to think about everything that was going on. But she had to face her problems someday…and with Dingo and Matteo gone, she wouldn’t have any choice except to put it off. What she really needed was someone to talk to…and that’s what she got when Saba walked into the room.

“Hey,” Saba said. “I saw you at the race.”

“Yeah…uh…I was watching it…” Liko said slowly. “Um…there was something I wanted to talk to you about…”

“I came here to talk to you about something, too,” Saba said, sitting down next to her. “What do you want to talk to me about?”

“It’s about Dingo…”

Saba raised her eyebrows. “You’re talking about the situation you’re having with Dingo, about you liking him, aren’t you?” Liko looked shocked. “Aren’t you?” She nodded slowly. “That’s what I came to talk about, anyway.”

Liko still looked amazed. “How did you know?”

“He told me all about it,” Saba replied.

“Oh…” Liko stared at the ground. “So…what do you think I should do?”

Saba put a foreleg around Liko’s shoulders. Liko looked up from the ground and looked at her friend. “The same thing happened between me and Josh,” Saba said. “He told me that he loved me one day, but I wasn’t ready to accept it. I guess it runs in the family, huh?” Liko smiled. “But the whole time I really loved him, too…but I didn’t realize it. A few days later I finally realized that I loved Josh too. Dingo doesn’t think he loves you…but I know my brother pretty well by now, and I know that he’s going to realize that he loves you…just like I realized that I loved Josh.”

Liko looked hopeful. “Do you really think so?”

Saba nodded. “I know that he does. He loves you, but it’s going to take some time for him to realize it himself.”

Liko got up.

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