spectators were from Nome, but there were also many people who had traveled from other parts of Alaska to see the beginning of an incredibly anticipated race.

 

Dingo’s eyes searched for his friends and family in the crowd. He finally spotted Saba among the huge number of people watching the race. She smiled and waved at him. The rest of his family were close behind (with the exception of Kodi, who once again was nowhere in sight). Dingo’s heart leapt as he saw a gray husky next to Saba. It was Liko. And she was smiling, which he hadn’t seen her do for weeks. ‘She must be in a better mood,’ he thought.

 

Saba noticed that Dingo and Liko were smiling at each other. She was a little worried whether they would be all right without each other. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder…” she muttered.

 

Jenna, who was standing behind her daughter, spoke up. “What did you say?” she asked.

 

Saba’s eyes darted from Dingo and Liko to her mother and back. Smiling warmly, she responded, “Oh, it was nothing…”

 

Suddenly the loud voice called out again. “The race will now begin!” it said. “As you know, these teams will run to the city of Anchorage and back here to Nome. The race was going to be postponed due to rumors of an upcoming snowstorm, but we’ve decided to start the race today anyway.”

 

Saba rolled her eyes. “Great,” she whispered to Liko. “As if we didn’t have enough to worry about with all the problems here! Now we’ll probably be worrying about the sled team getting lost in a storm, too.”

 

“And now,” shouted the voice, “is the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Teams, on your mark! Get set!”

 

After a few seconds’ pause, a gunshot was heard. The sled teams charged ahead. “The race has begun!” yelled the voice.

 

The crowd went wild as the teams ran past them. Since most of the people in the crowd were from Nome, Dingo could hear them cheering for him and his team. The husky felt like he was on the top of the world.

 

-----

 

As the last of the sled teams went past, Saba turned to Liko. “Well, we’ve got work to do,” she said. “We have to keep the Nome dogs and the Anchorage dogs from killing each other while Dingo and Matt are gone.”

 

“Great,” Liko said, rolling her eyes. “And, to make it worse, I don’t know if I’m even going to be able to focus on keeping the peace.”

 

Saba gave Liko a weird look. “What do you mean?”

 

“Dingo’s gone,” Liko said. “We don’t even know when he’s coming back. I’m just afraid that with him gone I’ll be too distracted thinking about him to concentrate on anything else.”

 

“Don’t worry about him,” Saba said. “Dingo can take care of himself. Don’t think about him being gone. Think about the day that he’ll come back, and how happy you’ll be on that day. In the meanwhile, though, Angel, Josh, and I are going to need all the help we can get to keep everything under control here.”

 

Saba knew that there were going to be a lot of strong emotions during the race. Liko was going to miss Dingo more than she ever had, and Saba knew that Dingo was going to feel the same way. Another thing that Saba didn’t even know about was Matteo’s anger, which could turn out disastrous at some point during the race. With emotions about to run haywire, Saba only knew one thing for sure: this was going to be the most dramatic experience of her life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9

 

The race to Anchorage was a close one, and out of eight teams, Dingo and his team came in fifth. All of the teams reached Anchorage only a few days after leaving Nome, and many clouds were gathering in the sky by the time they arrived.

 

“I’m starting to think that those rumors about a storm coming weren’t just rumors,” Dingo overheard his sled driver say to another man. “Those clouds don’t look very friendly.”

 

“We’re definitely going to have a hard time getting back to Nome,” the other man said. “I’m thinking about waiting the storm out here just to be safe. What about you?”

 

The sled driver of Dingo’s team shook his head. “I’m trying my hardest to win this race,” he said. “I’m not going to let the weather stop me.”

 

The other man shrugged. “Your decision might turn out to be dangerous. But it’s your choice, I guess.”

 

Sam came up and sat next to Dingo. “So, we made it to Anchorage,” he said. “Now what happens?”

 

“Well,” Dingo began, “I think we’re going to stay here for the night and get some sleep. Then we’ll start racing back to Nome tomorrow.”

 

Sam sighed in relief. “Thank goodness,” he said. “I really need some rest. I’m exhausted from all of this racing…and I never have anyone to talk to because you and Matt are the only friendly ones on the whole team and you’re way in front. I’m the very last dog, right in front of the sled. All of the other dogs from Nome are still ignoring me…”

 

“I don’t know what’s wrong with them,” Dingo said. “I’ve known most of those dogs for my whole life. They’ve never acted this way before.” He paused for a second or two. “That reminds me…I wonder how Saba’s handling things back in Nome…”

 

-----

 

While Dingo was thinking about Saba, she was also thinking of him. But her thoughts were interrupted when Josh burst through the door of the boiler room, where she was relaxing. “Another fight started,” he said, apparently out of breath.

 

Saba rolled her eyes. “Again?” she asked, irritated. Ever since the minute Dingo had left, Saba hadn’t gotten a single moment of rest. The Nome dogs and the Anchorage dogs couldn’t get along-not even for five seconds.

 

Josh interrupted Saba’s thoughts again. “Hello? Are you coming?”

 

Saba sighed. “I guess,” she said. “This is really starting to drive me insane. Why can’t they just get along and leave me alone for even ten seconds?” 

Josh walked over and sat next to her. “Sorry,” he said. “I would stop the fights if I could. The only people those dogs ever listen to are you and Dingo.”

 

Saba nuzzled her mate. “I know you would,” she said. “I really wish that Dingo was here right now, though. The sooner he gets home, the better.” Then she got up and walked out of the boiler room and toward where a huge group of dogs was gathered.

 

Saba pushed her way through the crowd until she was standing in front of two dogs who were practically killing each other. “STOP IT!” she screamed at them. One of the dogs, who was lying on the ground, clenching his teeth and waiting for the other one to hit him, looked up at Saba in surprise. The other dog raised his paw to strike the other dog, but Saba caught it in her own paws and glared at him. “I told you to stop,” she snarled at him. The dog whimpered and retreated with its tail between its legs.

 

Saba looked at all of the dogs around her. As always, the Nome dogs were on one side and the Anchorage dogs were as far away from them as possible. Saba shook her head and scowled. “I don’t understand you guys,” she said, not just speaking to the two dogs who were fighting, but to all of the dogs. “I don’t know why you can’t get along with each other.”

 

Saba felt anger boiling up inside her as she continued. “Look at them!” she yelled. “They’re not any more different then you are! I can’t believe you’re being so immature. Just grow up and get along!” With that she stormed off.

 

-----

 

Josh’s ears perked up. He could hear Saba’s voice shouting somewhere far off, but he couldn’t exactly understand what she was saying. He got up and started walking toward the large group of dogs. He got there just in time to see Saba walking off into the distance angrily.

 

Josh stared at his mate walking away until a voice interrupted his thoughts. He couldn’t see who the voice belonged to, but he could hear it loud and clear.

 

“She’s right, you know,” it said. Josh recognized the voice, but he still couldn’t remember whose voice it was.

 

While Josh was still thinking, the voice continued. “I’ve been acting stupid for so long about this whole thing. Saba’s right…just look at the dogs sitting across from you. What makes them any different? They’re just the same as me, you, and the dogs sitting next to you. What are we fighting about? Just because we’re from different cities? Don’t you realize how stupid that is?”

 

“What’s going on?” Josh whispered to a

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