well…except Sam. He was still anxious and worried about what would happen to them. But now that the Nome dogs were actually talking to him and befriending him, he was able to keep his mind on other things than worrying.

 

But more than anything else, Dingo thought about Liko. Their relationship had never been an easy one. First it threatened Dingo’s friendship with Matteo. And now, after that problem had been solved, there was a new one: Dingo and Liko would probably never see each other again.

 

Dingo was startled when he suddenly heard a voice right next to him. “How’s it going?” it asked. Dingo turned and saw that it was Sam.

 

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Dingo replied. “I’ve just been thinking about a lot of things…” Then he added without realizing that he was actually saying it out loud, “Especially Liko.”

 

Sam’s ears perked up. “Liko? Who’s that?”

 

Dingo blushed. “Well…she’s my girlfriend back in Nome…”

 

“Oh…” Sam said. “You miss her, don’t you?”

 

Dingo nodded. “A while ago I was forced to move to Anchorage. My owner’s parents sold me because they needed the money. I was so lonely…and I missed my sister Saba more than I thought anyone could miss someone else. But that was nothing compared to this…”

 

“Wow…” Sam said, staring at the ground. “Well…I think you’re lucky to have someone in Nome that’s waiting for you to get back, even if that may never happen. I don’t have anyone…my whole family, my mother, father, and three sisters, all died when I was young. And I’m too shy to make any friends…” He shifted his gaze from the ground to Dingo. “Dingo…you’re the best friend I’ve ever had in my entire life…I know that doesn’t seem to mean much, because you’re one of the only friends I’ve ever had…but you really are a great friend, and I’m so glad that I met you. I’m honored to be on your team.” 

Dingo smiled. “Thanks…I’m really glad that we’re friends, too.”

 

There was silence for a few seconds. Then Sam motioned toward the musher and looked at Dingo again. “Is he okay? He must be under a lot of stress right now.”

 

“He’s been looking at a lot of maps lately, but apparently he still hasn’t figured out where we are,” Dingo replied. “I can’t take this much longer. If we don’t get moving again soon I’m going to go insane!”

 

“Me too,” Sam said. “Even though we’re lost, I can’t stand just sitting here. We should at least be going somewhere, even if we’re not sure where.”

 

“I wonder how the other teams are doing right now,” Dingo said. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll end up being ahead of them after this storm is over.”

 

-----

 

It had been a day since Saba and Kodi had stood up to all the dogs in Nome. News of a huge storm had spread all throughout Nome, and Kodi was getting worried about his brother and the rest of the Nome sled team. So he came up with an idea.

 

Saba, however, did not respond very well to his idea. When he told her what his plan was, she spit out the water she had been drinking. “You’re going to do WHAT?” she asked, shocked.

 

Kodi repeated his plan. “I’m going to get a search party together and go out and find Dingo. It’s been days since they left from Anchorage. They must be lost.” He stared into Saba’s eyes. “Our brother is out there, Saba. And I have to go find him. I have to!”

 

Saba shook her head. “Kodi…I might be losing one brother because of this storm…I don’t want to lose two! Please don’t go…I will.”

 

Kodi walked up to his sister and nuzzled her. “I can’t let you go. You’re my little sister. I’m older than you…and Dingo. It’s my responsibility to take care of both of you. That’s why I need to go out and look for Dingo, and why I can’t let you go.”

 

Saba sighed. “Okay…” she said. “Just make sure that you don’t get lost, too. Who are you planning on taking with you?”

 

“Probably Kirby, Ralph, and Dusty,” Kodi replied. “I know what a good team they are, and I know I can trust them.”

 

“Sounds good,” Saba said. “When do you plan on heading out?”

 

“Hopefully later today,” said Kodi. “I want to find Dingo as soon as possible. He and his team could die out there if no one finds them soon…”

 

“Well…goodbye…and good luck.” Saba embraced her brother one last time. Then he ran off to find his teammates. As she stared at him running off into the distance, she muttered, “Please don’t let Dingo…or me…down…”

 

-----

 

‘Finally,’ Dingo thought as he watched the musher hooking up the team to the sled. ‘We’re going to start moving again!’

 

Dingo had been anxious to leave ever since they had stopped. Now they were ready to set out again, and the whole team was excited to be back in the race.

 

After a few minutes of preparation, the musher yelled to Dingo. They were off. Dingo was so eager to go that the other dogs had to struggle to keep up with him for a while. But soon enough they were all running at a fast pace, hopefully in the direction of Nome.

 

Nothing could be heard for a long time except the dogs’ paws hitting the ground, their panting, and a few occasional yells from the musher. Then Matteo spotted something and called out to Dingo, who was right in front of him. “Hey, Dingo, do you see something moving up ahead?” he shouted.

 

The snow had cleared up, and now there was only a little falling from the sky, making it possible to see clearly again. Dingo looked at the wilderness in front of him but couldn’t see anything moving. “What is it?” he called back to Matteo. “I can’t see it.”

 

“Look closer,” Matt said. “Can’t you see a man up there?”

 

Dingo squinted and looked again. This time he could see something. “It’s not just a man, Matt,” he said. “It’s a whole sled team! Let’s speed up so we can see who it is!”

 

Dingo and his team were going in the same direction that the other sled team was going in, so he thought it might be another team from the race. The dogs picked up speed until they were almost right next to the other team.

 

Dingo searched among the dogs on the other team for someone he knew. When he finally recognized one, he gasped.

 

“What is it?” Matteo asked.

 

Dingo was almost in shock. “Matt, this is the White Mountain team! They were in first place when we left Anchorage! We’re back in the race!”

 

 

Chapter 13

 

It was a few hours later. Kodi and his company had already left Nome and been searching for Dingo’s team for a while. They hadn’t seen any sign of the team or anyone else the whole time. The others were starting to lose hope, but Kodi kept pressing on.

 

“How do we know that they’re even out here, Kodi?” Ralph asked. “Who knows? They’re probably dead by now. Or maybe they’re perfectly fine and they’re still in Anchorage.”

 

“They can’t be in Anchorage,” Kodi replied, frustrated. “I heard news that all of the teams left Anchorage a few days ago. If our team was still there or went back, we would have heard about it.”

 

“Ralph’s right,” Kirby said. “This is pretty hopeless. I mean, if the team really is lost, they could be anywhere in Alaska. We don’t even know which direction to go in.”

 

“Anchorage is southeast of here, so that’s where I think we should be going,” Kodi said.

 

“But you can’t know for sure,” said Dusty. “Maybe we should just give up. There’s no hope of finding them, Kodi.”

 

Kodi had reached the end of his rope. “Guys, I know what I’m doing, okay? Stop complaining and start looking around again. You can’t say there’s no hope of finding the team. We’ve only been out here for a few hours!” He sighed. “Look. If you guys want to give up and go back to Nome, go ahead. But I’m not going back. I’ll search for the team by myself if I have to. My brother is out there…and it’s my responsibility to make sure nothing bad happens to him. If I give up this search, I’ll be letting my whole family down.” Then he walked off to continue looking for his brother’s sled team.

 

The three other dogs sat there for a few seconds, thinking about what they were going to do. Then suddenly Dusty shouted, “Hey, Kodi, wait for me!” She ran up to him.

 

Kodi rolled his eyes. “Now what?” he said. “Are you going to try to tell me that I don’t know what I’m doing again?”

 

“No…” Dusty said, staring at the ground and nervously tracing

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