Kodi turned back towards the voice. “Hey! I’ll have you know that I was the leader of this team for nearly a year and a half.”
“Is that so?” The lead dog laughed. “So what happened?”
Kodi didn’t like the way the dog talked, it belittled Kodi and made him feel inferior to this dog. Although this leader obviously had some years on Kodi, it didn’t seem right that he should be talked down on like he was. “None of your business.” Kodi snapped.
The dog laughed. “That sounds like a leader.” He laughed more. “Don’t worry, I don’t care how you ended up where you are. I’ve been put down a few times in my life.”
“Thanks.” Kodi felt a little better. “You just sounded very proud that you are a leader and I’m not right now.”
“That’s how a leader should sound.” The dog turned dead serious. “He should take command at all times, teach his team what’s what, and never take no for an answer.”
“That sounds like good advice, but I could never just take command of my friends. We always make decisions together.” Kodi realized he was still speaking of his team as his friends. They hadn’t been his friends, and they never were. He looked at Dusty who had her head on her paws in the snow resting, Kip and Fell followed suit, and Kirby and Ralph looked to busy in some meaningless conversation over snow quality to know if it were day or night.
The dog laughed. “And it’s that kind of thinking that will never get you in the lead.”
Kodi shook his head. “I suppose that’s true-”
“So take it!” The lead dog snapped forward until his black nose came into Kodi’s sight. “When you see an opportunity, seize it by the throat and don’t let up until it’s yours.” The dog in the shadows took a long breath and laid back over on his side. “But I’m getting ahead of myself.” He chuckled. “What may I ask is your name?”
“Kodi.”
“Sounds like a good name, Kodi. Tell me, where are you from?”
Kodi could feel the cackles on the back of his neck standing. It was that evil voice again. “Nome.”
“Nome.” The dog said excitedly, then breathed out as if reciting an old story. “I once lived in Nome, until I was no longer wanted around those parts.” His voice turned astringent and sad.
“Why?” Kodi asked.
“It doesn’t matter now – hey, you might know some of my old friends. I haven’t been to Nome in years, but I bet they’re still there. ”
“I might.” Smiled Kodi. “Just tell me their names.”
“Let me see … there’s Nicky, Caltag, and Star. They were my closest friends.”
“Sure.” Kodi said excitedly. “I know them; I grew up with them practically.”
“Really.” The lead dog said with real shock. “Then you might have heard about a girl I once knew?”
“Probably.”
“Her name was Jenna.” The dog threw out rather suddenly, expecting it to come back empty-handed.
“Jenna.” Kodi laughed; Kirby glanced over his shoulder at the excitement but continued with his story to Ralph. “She’s my mother.”
Silence befell the dog in the shadows. For a long while it continued and Kodi wondered if he had said something he shouldn’t have.
“Might I ask, who your, father, is, then?”
Kodi felt it odd that the dog had to enunciate his sentence, as if fighting something back with everything he had, yet wanting to know even though he could only say it through clenched teeth. “Uh – yeah, Balto. Do you know him?”
Another moment of silence, the shadow of the dog watched Kodi. “Yeah, I know him.” He finally said after nearly thirty seconds of nothing. “Me and him go way back.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” The dog said without conches thought on it. “We knew each other quite well.”
“Wow,” Kodi laughed. “I don’t know why I’ve never heard my dad talk about you then.”
“We separated on bad terms. He probably just doesn’t like brining up the past to much, especially about me.”
“So what happened to you and my dad to break up a friendship?”
“Your mother.” The dog said flatly. “Me and your father both loved her. But your father stole her away from me; so I left town.” A growl came from deep within the dog’s throat, but stayed low. “Let’s not dwell on the past though, I want to get to know you better Kodi, what are you doing out here?”
“Oh here comes my husband.” Bonnie said pointing into the woods far to her left. A great hulking mass came through the trees carrying a bundle of four inch thick logs dressed to the teeth in furs. Bonnie stood and left the warmth of the fire to her husband’s side. He dropped the logs and all of a sudden a great pile of wood appeared, enough to keep a fire lit for a day and a half.
The man caught the stranger in his sight. “Who are you?” He snapped with a thunderous voice.
“Don’t worry.” Bonnie pleaded at his side and threw her arm loosely around him. “He was just cold and saw my fire so I offered him some coffee.”
The man turned to his wife. “I told you not to trust anyone! What if he tried to hurt you or take you away from me?”
“Oh don’t be like that. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. Besides, I can handle myself”
“I don’t care.” The man locked his eyes on Mr. Simpson and stepped forward out of his wife’s grip. “You got your coffee and you got to warm up, now get out of here before I shoot you and take your dogs!” He fingered an object under his coat that had a long handle which stuck out of his side.
Mr. Simpson didn’t need to be asked twice and he stood quite slowly, trying not to show the fear that pumped violently through him, and walked to the tree where his dogs were tied.
“I guess I got to go.” Kodi said standing.
“Don’t worry.” The dog smiled. “I’ll see you in Nome here, maybe you can come hang out with us. Just remember what I told you about getting your lead back.”
“Wait, I didn’t get your name though.” Kodi said stretching his muscles out.
The dog leaned forward out of the shadows. Black and white fur covered his face and his long muscular muzzle. “My name’s Steele.” He grinned. “Tell your dad and mom I said hi.”
“Will do.” Kodi grinned.
“COME ON HIKE HIKE!!!” Mr. Simpson yelled and the team moved on down the trail back towards Nome.
12. Steel's Threat
Night came with an invigorated strength from the darkness of the northland beyond the mountains and tundra. A wind packed with bits of ice that had been picked up across the Arctic Ocean pummeled the town, driving razor sharp tines through any opening in loose clothing or lousy constructed buildings with little insulation. Inside the houses stoves burned with red-hot intensity against the cold and darkness; wood stood in great piles near the fire thawing so they could eventually be warm enough to burn. Lanterns grew dim with use and people grew sick and tired of the endlessness to everything. Death stalked every man, women, child, and dog like the cackles across their very own necks.
They came like ghosts across the land; their breath thick and ghoulish against their eyes which shimmered against the lights of town. Their ears and noses keen against every outside source. Animals, lusting for pleasures and rest which came little and far between for this certain team of dogs. Behind the dog a sled bounced along across the snow creaking, cracking, and scratching; a human form steadily attached to the very back of the sled kept his intuitive eye on all his dogs, his wife who sat in the sled basket, and the trail ahead.
As the team entered town the lantern light which hovered above them
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