wait till it was their turn. Kari saw dogs come and go as they walked onto the stage. She could hear the claps of the people of Nome, cheering the dogs. Suddenly, Kari’s owner called her over and she walked along the side of her. They walked up the steps and onto the stage. The people began to clap. Kari looked around nervously and saw her parents at the very back. She realised that she was looking nervous. A nervous dog is not a beautiful dog. Kari turned her nervous walk into a delicate trot, and held her head high. She smiled sweetly and trotted around the stage happily. Kari soon got the hang of it, but before she knew it, her turn was up and she was off the stage. Jess and Sasha greeted her back in the tent.

“You were fantastic, Kari! Absolutely marvellous!” Sasha said.

“You did soooo well, Kari! You are going to win for sure!” Jess said.

Kari reddened in the face. She sat down and listened to her two friends talk. She was glad that it was over. More dogs went up as time past and soon they were nearly all done. Kari saw a beautiful fluffy white husky walk down from the steps.

“Oh dear, look at that one there,” Jess said watching the dog sit down elegantly, “That dog’s gonna be hard to beat,”

“That’s one of the best show dog’s around. I’ve heard of her. I think she’s all the way from Anchorage, touring Alaska’s husky shows,” Sasha said.

“Is this a husky dog show?” Kari asked.

“Yes, of course it is, Kari! Didn’t you wonder why me and Jess weren’t in it?”

“Oh, I didn’t really think about it I guess,”

“Oh, oh! Their announcing the winners!” Jess butted in as the judges on the stage decided who they wanted to win. Kari listened closely as the commentator spoke.

“In 3rd place! We have Tika!” Suddenly, there was a loud boom of cheers and claps. “And in 2nd place!” She heard the man call, “We have lovely red husky Kari!” Kari suddenly gasped in astonishment as she heard her name called for second place she was taken onto the stage with the roaring crowd cheering her on and she was pushed onto the second place podium. She saw at the back, Balto and Jenna, barking and cheering her on. She could also see Kodi, who had obviously got back just in time to see her. She was astonished and wasn’t able to keep a beautiful, or even a normal, face! The man called out the champion of the dog show,

“And in 1st place! We have this beautiful dog, all the way from Anchorage, Dove!”

Kari saw the fluffy white husky walk onto the stage in all her glory. The cheers raised in volume as the ultimate, 1st place, champion stood on her podium and shone with pride and beauty. Kari wasn’t surprise that Dove, which seemed to be her name, got 1st place. As she looked out into the cheering crowd, she suddenly saw something gleaming at her. Bright, blue eyes. She gazed at the eyes and saw they belonged to a handsome, muscular black and white husky. But in a minute, he had gone.

 Soon, the dogs were able to leave and Kari walked off to go find her family.

 “Well done, Kari!” Jenna said,

“You did so well! I’m so proud of you!”

Jenna nuzzled into Kari and smiled. “Yea, well done sis!” Kodi laughed and also gave her a nudge. “You did good today,” Balto said and smiled.

“You must be glad it’s over, eh?” Kodi laughed. Kari nodded, then began to laugh as well. Kodi barked and Kari barked to. Suddenly the two of them were chasing each other and rolling in the snow barking and yipping happily. Kari was messing up her fur, but she didn’t care. She was just glad the whole thing was over. Balto and Jenna watched as they rolled about in the snow yipping and giggling.

“Their both just big pups inside, aren’t they?” Balto chuckled.

Chapter 2  New Dog in Town

The sun was setting on the small town of Nome, and everyone was snug and cosy in their homes, except for Kodi and Dusty. They were strolling down the shore by Balto’s boat. “That was a good run today, wasn’t it Dusty?” Kodi said.

“Yea, you were really fast. Unlike Kirby and Ralph!” Dusty said angrily.

“I wonder why they are arguing so much? They’re not usually like that,” Kodi said.

“You know them, Kodi. We will never understand them,” Dusty laughed and Kodi laughed again too. Balto heard their laughs and looked over the side of the boat. He saw Dusty and Kodi talking, walking side by side. He smiled at them. Boris waddled over and stood next to Balto. “What are you looking at?” He said.

“Kodi…   and Dusty,” Balto sighed.

“Ah…   this is love,” Boris said.

“What?” Balto chuckled, “Nah!”

“Yes, yes! They are just like you and Jenna,”

Balto looked at Kodi and Dusty. Maybe Boris was right, maybe it was…  love.

“It’s getting dark. You better go home,” Kodi said to Dusty.

“Yea,” She said and looked Kodi right in the eye.

The two of them stood in silence for a while, until Kodi said,

“I guess I will see you tomorrow,”

“Yea! Tomorrow! Do you want to come down here again? The sunset was so beautiful, and the sky…” She stopped and stared back at Kodi.

“Tomorrow, then,” He said, and Dusty nodded, then ran off into Nome.

Kodi sighed and began to walk back himself.

Kari laughed with joy as she and her friends talked about the show. They were sitting inside the Old Mill. All the dogs would hang out there, but it was just the three of them that night.

“Honestly, he was such a handsome dog! Looked a bit like Steele actually,”

Sasha said.

“Steele?” Kari asked.

“Yea! He wasn’t as big though,”

Suddenly they were interrupted by Jess,

“Steele?! Well let’s hope he looks like Steele!”

“What do you mean, Jess?” Kari asked.

“Haven’t you ever seen Steele? He is such a handsome dog! Even though my mum, who used to like him too, said that he’s a two-timing liar, I still can’t help to love him!”

“Love him?! How can you love him?!”

“Hmm, I guess your family are on the ‘I hate Steele Club’ aren’t you,”

“What do you mean by that?! Nobody likes Steele! What’s to like!”

Kari was getting a little annoyed. Jess just laughed.

“Kari, please. If you ever saw him, it would be hard not to fall in love with him! If you do see him, I promise you, that you will fall in love with him and never want to be apart from him!” She said, still giggling slightly. That tipped Kari over and she stood up in rage.

“I would not fall in love with Steele! I would never do that to my dad, or my mom! Your wrong, Jess!” She shouted then ran out the door.

Kari rushed out into the street. The sun was down now, and the sky was pitch black, with the moon beaming down on her. Kari walked in the direction of her house. She was furious. How could Jess say something like that? She stomped through the snow. She was so angry that she didn’t pay any attention to where she was going. Suddenly she bumped into someone and fell backwards into the snow.

“Watch it!”

 Kari looked up and in her rage couldn’t help blurt out, “No, you watch it!”

Suddenly the figure came into focus as it stood into the light of the moon. It was a dog. He was large and strong looking.

“Hey, your that dog who came second today in the dog show,” He said. Kari stood up and stared at him. His eyes were bright blue, and stood out on his dark face.

“The name’s Shadow. Who are you?” He said, in a proud tone, like he was really proud of himself and his name. “Eh…  Kari,” She said.

“Nice to meet you, Kari,” He said with a grin.

“I’ve never seen you here before? Did you come with the dog show?”

“Do I look like a poodle to you?”

“That’s not what I said, was it,”

“I’m a champion sled dog! Well, champion to be. I’m here to race, and beat, other dogs! I heard some of the fasted dogs were here and I want to run against them,”

“Where are you from?”

“Anchorage. There’s no excitement there though. So my owner took me here, to race with Nome’s dogs. Nome is where he got my father,” He said.

“Oh, that sounds cool. Well, I have to go. I guess I’ll see you around then,”

“Wait!” Shadow shouted as Kari began to walk off, “Can we meet up?”

Kari looked back at him surprised. “Tomorrow? In the morning?”

“Well, I guess I’m not working tomorrow. Ok then,”

“Great! Tomorrow morning, in this spot,”

“Alright, I will see you tomorrow then. Bye,” Kari said, then walked off back home forgetting about all that anger and fury she had a couple of minutes before.