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leader, and a trail of wooden sled runners following it. The red dog panted as he led his fellow team through the path that he had run many a day. This was their usual turf – the road they always traveled; there was no chance in hell that they would allow a human and his man-made craft defeat them so easily.
It was at a long clearing in which the red pup finally saw the metal creature in flight, riding the transparent waves of the wind like a man bareback-riding on a horse – it suddenly lowered itself near the flowing river, almost touching it as the pilot gave the musher a salute, ascending again into the cirrus clouds above, and passed the team as if they were nothing.
At that moment, never had Kodi seen such a sight that made him nervous. At that moment, he began to feel as if maybe they were being too confident about their power. At that moment, he began to doubt . . . .
Maybe . . . this is one race we can’t win . . .
Dad . . . what if I let them down?
What if I can’t make them proud?
Or make you proud?
The town of White Mountain was right on the horizon as he watched the plane begin its descent to the flat, snowy ground at the edge of the town limits. He wasn’t the only one that noticed this shocking sight.
“Oh no!” Ralph gasped as he panted hard. “The plane! It’s already landed!”
“This is bad,” Dusty also panted out. “We’re not gonna make it with this speed! This could cost us the race right here!”
The leader let out a sigh as he heard the words of his teammates behind him.
She’s right . . . That plane passed us by as if we were nothing more than rooted weeds on the plain . . .
But . . . . His brown eyes closed only for a moment as something had caused his sudden fears to fade into the wind.
“We can’t give up yet, you guys!”
Everyone looked forward at the now-determined pup.
“We still have the race back home! We all know the trip from White Mountain to Nome is our strong point, right? We can do this!”
Ralph and the others nodded as they began to slow down, passing by the large wooden sign post, welcoming them into White Mountain. He looked at the plane while they entered town – it had stopped as the pilot stepped out of his flying machine with the mail sack in tow. By the time the sled team stopped at the Postal Office to deliver their mail, the blond human had already made the exchange and was heading back to the plane, almost ready to take-off for the finish of the race.
I hope we can do this . . . .
“Damn,” Kodi muttered under his breath as he glared at the pilot. “I really don’t like him for trying to take our jobs from us . . .” His voice grew louder as each word escaped his lips. “But he sure is fast, that’s for sure! I've never seen anything soar so swiftly before!”
“Kodi?” Dusty responded to his last sentence. “Are you switching sides on us? I hope you’re not, because we’re halfway through this race, and there’s no time for us to give up without our leader, right?”
“Yeah, don’t abandon us now, Kodi!” The other dogs behind him only caused his doubts to grow.
"I'm not!" He turned back to his team, speaking in an almost angered tone. "It's just that . . ." He was interrupted by the sound of Mr. Simpson's voice calling him.
"All right, Kodi! Mush! Hee-yah!"
He barked back to his musher and began to run, but first he wanted to reassure his team that he wasn’t a traitor. "Let's make this one count, you guys!"
“Yeah! Let’s do it!” The other huskies barked back as their leader began to lead them out of the city limits of White Mountain. What the others didn’t notice was that Kodi peered back at the plane when they passed it by.
Wow . . . it’s so shiny, sleek and fast, he thought as he ran by the front of the plane, looking at the metal gleam of the human’s machine. To think that such a thing could beat us . . .
He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought, but he knew that no matter how focused he was on the race, his peaking curiosity about the flying machine continued to remain on his mind.
But it didn’t move when we left it . . . it should have at least started by now if it wants to really beat us . . . right?
Kodi noticed this, but said nothing as he led his team through the forest and perilous mountain terrain ahead of them.
Hours had passed before the voice of one of his teammates noticed something odd.
“Hey, guys. Have you noticed that we haven’t heard that plane ever since we left White Mountain?”
“Yeah,” Ralph answered back to the brown male beside him, while the gray looked up at the cloudy gray sky with a concerned glare. “That’s not a good thing, is it?”
“Well, it could only mean two things,” Dusty replied, panting until the team finally reached the safe section of the mountain path.
“The plane is either behind us, or . . .” Kirby awaited for a conclusion to his thought.
“In front . . . . Whoa!”
Kodi had been so focused on his silent thoughts of the plane’s location that he didn’t notice a slippery spot on the rocky trail. His large claws emerged from his paws, but to no avail; they weren’t enough to keep him on the safety of the trail as his body began to slip out of his harness and off the side. He let out a howling scream as he fell; the other huskies had also began to slide near the edge, but kept their bodies on the trail, watching in horror of their leader going over the snowy mountainside.
“Kodi!”
“Kodi!”
“Oh no!” Kirby yelled out as the other dogs pulled him away from the edge. “Kodi!”
“Whoa! Kodiak, no!”
Mr. Simpson, who saw his lead dog go over the side, was stunned, afraid that his dog was a lost cause, but he knew that there was still a race to be won . . . and sometimes sacrifices had to be made.
“C’mon, guys,” he said, holding back tears. “Let’s mush. We’re only a couple of hours from home.”
But the team refused to move. They stood steadfast and barked back at their musher, as if to tell him, “No. He’s part of the team too. We can’t leave him behind.”
Mr. Simpson let out a long sigh, knowing that he couldn’t fight the strong companionship that his team had. “All right,” he gave in with a smile. “We’ll wait for him then. If you guys have faith in his strength, then I will too. We’ll cross the finish line together – all of us.”
The other six dogs barked gladly, understanding that their musher understood. But all of their worry was to their rusty-colored friend who had gone over the edge; all they could do was hope and pray that he was still alive.
Please, Kodi . . . Please be all right . . . We need you . . .
Oh, Kodi . . . Don’t be dead. The team isn’t the same without you in front!
Come on, kid . . . We’re a team! We all have faith in you . . . and you’d better not give up on us now! Come on . . . Come on . . .
You can make it . . . I – No, we all hope you’re alive . . . May your father’s strong spirit be with you . . . somehow . . . .
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