rest peacefully without hard-pressed paws against the sides of their heads.
Above Kirby and far to the left, Kip and Fell lay tightly snuggled against one another for the shared warmth and comfort. Every ten or fifteen minutes Kip would wiggle and squirm, followed closely by pitiful whimpering that would grow and grow until Kip woke himself; then, startled at his own whining, would close his eyes and rest it against his brothers shoulder, mouth open, drool dripping down, until he slipped into sleep again.
Ralph – seemingly the only one who slept normally – had drifted over to the opposite corner than Kirby, and rested with his tail and back legs curled around and his face turned towards the boiler like a normal dog, sleeping without a sound.
Dusty, even though her eyes fluttered with exhaustion, still sat in front of the boiler thinking about what had happened in the previous days. Her face was now dry as a desert and twice as warm, which went along with the rest of her body. Several times she had almost fell forwards into the hot metal of the boiler - which would have left a nasty looking scar on her face. But each time she neared the heat she’d awake and sit bolt upright.
“I got to lie down before I hurt myself.” She chided herself in an upbeat, almost comical, manner. But the drollness died as her mind drifted back to the events that had changed the team. In some way she felt that all this had been her fault. Maybe I didn’t let him know that I liked him well enough, maybe I should have come right out and said it to him? She thought. But yet she knew that none of this was at her fault; this was just some arrogant rambling from a dog she used to love.Yeah, used to love. There’s nothing that can change a male dogs mind; and if that’s how he sees me, then so be it. She thought.
Then from across the room a loud expulsion of flatulence emitted from Kirby’s sleeping form. Dusty turned and looked at him just as a deep-sleep smile crossed his face. “Oh,” Dusty winced. “That’s so gross.” She watched Kirby for a moment more as he rolled over away from her and emanated a pleased groan.
“I suppose I should get some sleep.” Dusty said surrendering to the urge and coming to her feet. She turned away from the boiler and walked lazily over to the high set benches on the far side of the room from Kirby, and quiet close to Kip, Fell, and Ralph. She jumped up onto the bench and curled herself around until she felt comfortable, which didn’t take much, and let her eyes clamp shut. Sleep came instantly.
The door to the boiler room opened quiet suddenly with a groan that brought everybody’s ears upright, and eye wide open. Snowy wind blasted across the floor of the room and a cloud of ice cold white wind jetted from the open door into the room, so thick, it was like a dream, or a nightmare. Whoever had opened the door remained hidden behind the cloud until the figure appeared through the mist.
“Kodi.” Kirby said rolling over onto his side. “What are you doing? It’s colder than frozen salmon out there. Close the door.”
Kodi stepped into the room in front of the cloud with a prideful stance, and then turned back into the cloud at Kirby’s command. The door shut noisily and the cloud vanished in just a few moments, leaving Kodi standing at the door in the wispy feathers left by the steam.
Kirby pushed his front paws up under his body and came to a sitting position. “Do you have any idea how late it is?”
“Uh, No.” Said Kodi, seemingly unaware of any concept about time of night. He looked about the little room at his friends who all looked at him with less than happy faces. “I’m sorry I woke you guys. I tried to come in as quiet as possible.”
“Boy, are you going to have a hard time tomorrow.” Grinned Kirby with a pleased tone. “Out all night after a hard day’s work, with nothing to look forwards to tomorrow except another hard day’s work. It’s going to kill you.” Kirby finished with a little laugh deep back in his throat.
Kodi smiled, feeling his lead-dog status burning inside him. “What are you,” He joked to Kirby, “My mother? I’ll be fine.” He brushed off with an arrogant swish of his tail as he began to move across the room.
“I don’t know about that.” Kirby turned away condescendingly.
Kodi examined Kirby from his spot by the door, seeing that Kirby knew something else he wasn’t exactly thrilled to share. Or maybe he was willing to share just to get the upper grasp of things.
“Oh yeah,” Kodi asked stepping closer with a curious lowering of his left eyebrow, and holding a certain friendly dominance over him. “And why’s that?”
Kirby turned his head slow and examined Kodi out of the corner of his eye with a superior shine to his smile and low-cornered eye. “Because tomorrow we’re going to start training for the race.”
Kodi laughed mockingly and turned away towards the opposite side of the room, busting Kirby’s bubble of dominance. Kodi stop a few feet away and turn back to Kirby. “And you think that is going to bring me down. I’m ready for any training that comes my way. I don’t need that much sleep. Besides, I’ll lick all comers” Kodi yawned.
Looking like he was at a loss for words, Kirby stood and began to move up behind Kodi to speak to him. “Hey look Kodi, this isn’t something that you’re going to be able to just wing. You’re going to have to do a lot of training to even have a chance.”
“Yeah.” Dusty suddenly spoke to Kodi. She had been listening to the conversation progressing for some time, and all the while she had been feeling an anger growing inside her. Even though it wasn’t her natural tendency to become angry, for what appeared to be no apparent reason, she was. It was most likely Kodi’s overconfident attitude toward what was likely to be one of the hardest things she ever did that began to set her off. It was probably just Kodi’s confidence in speaking that set her off.
Kirby looked at Dusty with a mild shock; Kodi looked with complete shock, but remained silent with the memories of what his dad had said.
Dusty moved off the shelf onto the floor like water pouring over a rock. Her toes clacked against the cold wood as she moved towards Kodi, her face full of contempt; much like Kodi’s mother when they met in the alleyway earlier. Dusty stopped in front of Kodi so they faced each other, Kirby stood to the side waiting.
Kodi opened his mouth. “Dusty … I …” He tried to formulate his apology
“-Save it,” Dusty barked back at him. “I wouldn’t accept your apology even if you could say it.” She growled. “Now I don’t like you Kodi, and I defiantly don’t like that attitude.”
“What attitude?” Kodi shot back speculative.
“That attitude.” She growled. “Do you think that any of us here like that kind of mind-set from you. That’s the kind of attitude that makes us loose, rookie.”
“Hey, I’ve been on this team just as long as you Dusty!” Kodi growled back.
They both stared at each other for a moment, tempers building and expounding atop one another, just waiting for the other to crack and begin the attack.
“Come on you guys,” Kirby stepped in between them before something got started. “Let’s break it up before we send fur all over this room.”
“Yeah.” Kodi agreed sturdily, and then moved around Dusty’s right side with an angry glare. Dusty watched him go all the way to the other side of the room and lay down. She turned her head back around to find Kirby standing in Kodi’s old place just in front of her nose.
“Come on Dusty, let’s get some sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow. You’ll need your rest” He urged quietly and moved forwards, almost pushing Dusty, but she didn’t move.
Dusty shook her head. “No. I need to walk some of this off. I don’t know what got into me” She said in a confessing tone. “I guess Kodi got me angry.” Dusty lowered her ears and moved around Kirby towards the door. She stopped and looked one more time at Kodi before pushing the door open with her shoulder. Steam filled the room and Dusty vanished.
Kirby turned and looked and Kodi disdainfully.
Kodi, who lay on his stomach under the back bench, felt Kirby’s resentment flowing across the room to him. He rolled his eyes away from the scorn, and set his head down on his paws. Closing his eyes, he feigned sleep instantly.
Kirby shook his head and turned back to his sleeping spot. The thought that his team was falling apart because of one bad apple was eating him away at him in some microscopic way. He knew though that it would get worse, it just depended on how long, and in what way.
9. Training Day
Morning came to the town of Nome like all other mornings. The dark of the
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