her. She leaned in close to him “So I guess I’ll see you then, right?”
“Of course you will.” Sarge whispered back as he closed in for a long heartfelt nuzzle.
Kodi’s eyes moved over to Kirby and Ralph with the expectation for an answer to this. Kirby met his look and shrugged his shoulder and face in unknowing. Ralph did the same.
“Well I don’t want to keep you from doing your job.” Sarge began to step back from Dusty. “I’ll be waiting for you when you get back okay?”
“Okay.” Dusty grinned. “Love you.”
“Love you to.” Sarge began to turn away when he stopped sidelong to the team. “And you two in the lead be sure to get her back here on time.”
“Sure thing.” Kirby responded instantly.
Sarge paused for a moment and changed his voice to the subtle tone of seriousness Kodi had heard earlier. “And Kodi, you be good to Dusty. Got it.” Sarge turned and walked away before a possible answer could come. But Sarge hadn’t worded it as something to be responded to.
As soon as the large dog was long out of sight, and most likely long out of hearing range, Kirby and Ralph both coiled around and faced Dusty with a swirl of questions. “Who was that?” “Where did you find him?” “He’s huge.” “How did you get him?”
Dusty just grinned. “Boy’s, boy’s boys … I’ve known him for quite a while, since we were pups. He’s always been interested in me.”
“Really?” Ralph beamed. “What does he do? I mean he’s clearly a working dog …”
“Does he run sled like us?” Kirby threw in, both genuinely interested in Dusty’s new love.
“No, no. He doesn’t run sled. He’s actually a fighting dog.”
Kirby’s eyes opened wide and his ears stood on end. Ralph on the other paw dropped his face and ears to the side of his head while squinting his eyes. “So, he’s …?”
“A fighting dog.” Dusty almost laughed. She let her eyes creep over to Kodi to see his reaction to this. And just like she wanted there seemed to be a hint of terror in him. “He fights other dogs.” She continued telling Ralph. “He fights other dogs in the barn outside of town where they have the dog fights every week. He’s very good. He’s been doing it since we were pups.”
“Wow.” Was all Kirby could say. “Aren’t you afraid of him? I mean some of those dogs are really mean and … well, mean.”
“No,” Dusty scoffed. “He’s just a big puppy. He’s really nice to me, always has been. And he knows exactly how to treat a girl.” She glanced once again at Kodi out of the corner of her eye. Kodi had a look of anger and frustration, but the terror of Sarge obviously kept him silent. “I think he would probably do anything for me if I asked him to.”
“Really? Do you think you could get him to teach me some fighting moves? I’m not very good” Ralph confessed, then began to growl and twirl around and throw his paws out like he was fighting an invisible enemy. Then quite suddenly he dropped onto his back and began kicking his legs into the air. “AHH, AHH HE’S GOT ME.” At which everyone laughed and giggled, all except Kodi who just looked away into the snow. An uncontrollable pain hurt him deep inside, and there seemed to be no bottom to the pool of self pity and silent superficial hate he was floundering in.
“OKAY, let’s get going.”
Everyone turned to the corner of the post office where Mr. Simpson appeared with two sacks of mail and clothed to the teeth in his cold weather gear. “Let’s get this gravy train under way.” He moved briskly over to the sled and threw the mail on, then paused. A thought crept up Mr. Simpson’s brain stem and he looked at his dogs with a grin. Turning, Mr. Simpson walked to the sled and harness shed and entered, only to reappear several loud metal clanging seconds later with an armload of scrap-metal pieces. He returned to the sled and began slipping the different shapes of metal into the many open spots in the sled basket until everything he held was gone. Mr. Simpson grasped the back of the sled when he finished and yipped to his dogs. “HIKE.” The training had begun.
10. Jenna's Question
“Just hold on a minute Jenna.” Rosy said from the heart of the living-room with a tone of mixed anger and boredom. She set the doll she had been combing endlessly on the floor, laggard to her feet, and walked into the kitchen.
Jenna stood at the door in the kitchen scratching the paint from the door and yipping quietly so as not to anger her master, or her masters parents. Emotions inside the house had grown tense, and Jenna didn’t want any part of them since she had her own problems with her family.
Rosy’s demeanor seemed to improve drastically at the sight of Jenna in the kitchen, and she even let a smile cross her face. “You know girl, I wish I had fur like you. Then I could go outside whenever I wanted.” She walked up behind Jenna and gave her a scratch on the back of the head. “You know what I mean girl?”
Jenna yipped louder and hopped up onto the door slashing her nails against the wood.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Rosy’s voice turned back into her mixed anger and boredom. She grabbed a woolen mitten off the nearby counter and placed it over her right hand, then grabbed the frosty brass doorknob. “Now don’t have to much fun, because I wont.” Rosy opened the door just a crack, a gust of snow and cold blew in as Jenna curved her body around the door and slipped out. The door closed with a rather rude slam just after Jenna’s tail cleared its edge.
Jenna moved into the grey light of the day without hesitating in the least. The cold air rushed around Jenna, bringing her fur once again straight stiff so she looked puffy and fat. Her paws instantly grew cold and stung like needles pierced the soft flesh of her underfoot.
She moved through the streets quickly, passing by large stockpiles of wood and under golden windows that cast bands of light into the skinny alleys. As Jenna passed under the windows the light from lanterns inside the homes titillated her fur until a golden halo surrounded her before she continued on into the darkness, and the light subsided.
Reaching the edge of the town, Jenna didn’t even pause to second think or examine the trail out to Balto’s boat. She plunged in full force out onto the arctic tundra with blowing snow, darkness, and cold. The boat she aimed for came clearly through, big and hulking like a haunted house silhouetted against a grey sky and flat and solid Arctic Ocean.
Jenna pumped her skinny feet along as fast as she could muster them to go. Yet it didn’t seem to be moving her any closer any faster. It took several minutes for her to cross the great span to her mate’s boat, and she didn’t hesitate to yell out as she passed under the bow. “Balto.”
Not even waiting for an answer, Jenna continued on around under the bow of the boat and to the bent plank on the side. “Balto.”
An answer didn’t follow, and Jenna continued up the plank and onto the deck. “Balto.” She commanded, then made a beeline for the wheelhouse. There she found Balto tucked back against one of the corners in as small a space as he could fit; his entire body secluded under the warmth of his wool blanket except for the very tip of his wolfish tail that jettisoned out from one corner.
Jenna opened her mouth wide like she was about to drop hell on Balto; but she snapped her jaw shut before she could speak, a flash of malevolent cunning crossed her face. Then, quite slow and careful, she crept forwards, inching and pacing her way towards Balto with the utmost care until she stood over the tip of his exposed tail.
Raising her left paw up until it matched the height of her chest; she slammed it down as hard as she could on the bony, fluffy, tip of Balto’s tail.
“YEEOW!!!” Balto sputtered to life and began throwing his paws out from under his body as hard and fast as he could, trying with all desperation to stand up and get away from the terrible pain that ran like cold water up his back. The blanket flew to the side as Balto bounced up and locked his eyes on Jenna. “What did you do that for?!?!” He hardly cared for the answer as he examined the tip of his tail, nothing appeared to be broken or out of place, but the pain still lingered and made him shiver. Or was it the sudden burst of cold air that had done that?
Jenna couldn’t help but start laughing as she backed out of the wheelhouse onto the deck. Balto followed her out with a wary look, letting his tail swish back and forth with the thought that maybe the motion might ease it.
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